April 21, 1898] 



NATURE 



579 



adduced by Dr. Fouquet, as much as upon the archaeo- 

 logical evidence which he himself has carefully sifted, 

 has come to the conclusion that the people whose re- 

 mains he has found are as old as any race known in the 

 world, and that, in any case, they are the earliest in- 

 habitants of Egypt. On the other hand, Mr. Petrie calls 

 them the " New Race," which appellation, viewed in the 

 light of the evidence given in M. de Morgan's book, is 

 clearly wrong, and shows that Mr. Petrie did not under- 

 stand the facts of the case. 



According to M. de Morgan the word " Egyptian " 

 signifies the man who migrated from Asia to Egypt, whose 

 civilisation was peculiar to himself, and whose ethnic 

 history is still unknown. Between him and his predecessor, 

 whom we may call the aboriginal inhabitant, he draws 

 a sharp distinction both mentally and morally, and the 

 former was mesaticephalic and the latter dolichocephalic. 

 It is important to note that the indigenes had smooth and 

 fair hair, and that they belonged to the white race ; thus 

 the old theory that the Egyptians were of negro origin 

 receives another blow, and incidentally it is quite clear 

 that the Cush referred to in the Bible as the home of the 

 Egyptian is not Ethiopia. In the chapter on the indi- 

 genous peoples of Egypt we have a most useful account 

 of the various objects which have been found in the pre- 

 historic sites, well illustrated by scores of woodcuts which 

 will prove invaluable to those who have not the oppor- 

 tunity of studying the originals, and at the end is given a 

 good account of the various methods of burial employed 

 by the indig£nes of Egypt. 



In the earliest times the dead were buried without any 

 attempt being made to mummify the body or to strip the 

 bones of their flesh. Later, the flesh was stripped from 

 the bones, which, were then buried, frequently in great 

 disorder ; sometimes the body was simply hacked in 

 pieces so that it might be packed easily in a small space. 

 Still later, an attempt to preserve the body by mummi- 

 fication was made ; for Dr. Fouquet has found traces of 

 bitumen in the bones which he has examined. In the 

 earliest tombs no metal objects have been found, but of 

 those in which no instruments of iron and bronze have 

 been discovered, the famous tomb at Nakada which 

 M. de Morgan first excavated, and has described in the 

 fourth chapter, is the best known example. It is, of 

 course, quite easy to see from the remains of offerings 

 found in the prehistoric tombs that the belief in a future 

 life of those who made them was both well established 

 and widely known. And if they believed in a future life 

 it seems that they must of necessity have believed in a 

 divine power, and to have the superstitions which take the 

 place of religion among early peoples. The abominable 

 practice of cannibalism which Mr. Petrie attributed to 

 his " New Race," finds no support in the account which 

 M. de Morgan has given of this people, and we agree 

 with Dr. Verneau, who in discussing this subject says — 



" Les faits alleguds a I'appui de cette assertion 

 s'expliqueraient tout aussi bien si Ton admettait simple- 

 ment un ddcharnement k I'air libre, precedant 

 I'ensevelissement d^finitif." 



Mr. Petrie's sensational discovery therefore falls to 

 the ground. 

 Space will not allow us to discuss the objects which 

 NO. T486. VOL. 57] 



M. de Morgan found in the tomb of Nakada, much less 

 to refer to the interesting deductions made by M. 

 Wiedemann from them ; it must suffice to say that quite 

 new light is thrown upon many well-known facts, and 

 that many of our preconceived notions must be aban- 

 doned. Of special interest to the anthropologist is Dr 

 Fouquet's minute description of the skulls of the indigenes 

 of Egypt ; the careful measurements, too, will be in- 

 valuable to him. Neither M. de Morgan nor Dr. 

 Fouquet attempts to assign a date to the occupation of 

 the land of Egypt by this people, and no guess is made 

 at the length of its duration. 



Though M. de Morgan's last work does much to settle 

 the difficulties which his own discoveries have raised, 

 many questions must, we fear, for some time remain 

 open. But to him all students owe a big debt of grati- 

 tude, both for the careful way in which he has collected 

 and stated his facts, and for the zeal with which he 

 carried out his excavations ; his work is of peculiar value 

 from the fact that he never forgets his task as an ex- 

 pounder of facts so far as to become an advocate. The 

 mere Egyptologist would have misread the evidence of 

 the prehistoric graves because he never takes the trouble 

 to realise that a good Egyptologist is not necessarily a 

 good archteologist, and we must be thankful that for 

 once the right work fell into the right hands. All will, 

 however, regret that the French Government has 

 removed M. de Morgan from Egypt to Persia, especially 

 as they did so at the time when he was doing his best 

 work. 



A COUNTY FLORA. 

 The Flora of Berkshire. By George Claridge Druce. 

 Pp. cxcix -I- 644. (Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1897.) 

 . [Published 1898.] 



THIS volume is worth a review, for it has merits 

 found in but few " Floras," and failings common 

 to many. 



In 1886 Mr. Druce published "A Flora of Oxford- 

 shire " — a flora, except for the inclusion of some account 

 of the lower plants, of the very ordinary type. In his 

 second flora, while omitting the lower plants except 

 Characece, he introduces in his critical notes on species 

 a new feature. Every variation has a claim on the 

 botanist's attention ; and where can local varieties be 

 better considered than in a local flora? It is a good 

 feature in the book. And, further, the mania for names 

 or for giving prominence to names does not offend. 

 The varieties are usually mentioned in these notes in 

 a way which gives an appearance of proportion to 

 the enumeration, and so do not appear — undefinable 

 gradations as they often are — in series like so many 

 milestones along the road. 



A county flora must always be considered from the 

 dictionary standard. The main body is of necessity a 

 work of reference. Viewed in this light, we find in the 

 " Flora of Berkshire " merits and demerits. The division 

 of the county into geographical areas is satisfactory, 

 much more so than in the " Flora of Oxfordshire," where 

 they are very unequal. In a level region, such as that 

 of our Midland counties, there are no natural areas, 



