224 



NA TURE 



[August ii, 1923 



taken with the end thrust bearing of this screw, so 

 that no periodic error may occur when it is in the 

 instrument. To ensure this, the end of the screw has 

 a small flat surface optically ground and polished. 

 This rests against a ruby plate to take the end thrust 

 of the screw. The plate is capable of adjustment, and 

 there will be no periodic error when the system of 

 interference fringes which can be observed between 

 the ruby plate and the end of the screw remain un- 

 changed while the screw is revolved. The screw is 

 said to be true to 1/100,000 mm. 



Among other things sepn were the testing of a 

 camera lens for non-axial rays by the interference 

 method recently perfected by Mr. Twyman, and fully 



described by him in one of the catalogues and else- 

 where,' and some extremely delicate thermo-j unctions 

 for spectro-bolometric work. 



Mr. Twyman states that the large majority of those 1 

 who come to inspect Hilger's showrooms, or apply to J 

 be shown over the works, are foreigners, and it is with 1 

 the hope of bringing this exhibition to the knowledge 

 of British men and women who are interested in 

 optical design and spectrographic work in general, 

 that the foregoing has been written. 



C. C. L. Gregory. 



• "An laterferometer for testing Camera Lenie«." Read before ::c 

 Optical Society, April 14, 1921 



Biometry and Mathematical Statistics. 



I 



N the new double number of Biometrika (vol. 14, 

 Parts 3 and 4, Cambridge University Press. 

 Price 30s. net) ample evidence is provided to show 

 how groundless is the charge that the interest of 

 modern statistical work is wholly mathematical. 

 Of the ten memoirs published, only tliree require for 

 their intelligent perusal more than a very moderate 

 knowledge of algebra. The three mainly mathe- 

 matical papers are Mr. Egon Pearson's evaluation 

 of the probable error of a Class-index correlation, 

 Prof. Pearson and Miss Elderton's paper on the 

 Variate-difference method of determining correlation 

 — a valuable contribution to the controversy which 

 has arisen over the applicability of this method to 

 various kinds of data — and Mr. E. C. Rhodes' 

 paper on a particular type of Skew Correlation 

 surface. 



The most important of the biometric papers is 

 Mr. Morant's careful study of the Tibetan skull. 

 Mr. Morant concludes that there are in Tibet at 

 least tw^o distinct races — one closely allied to the 

 Southern Chinese, Malayans, and Burmese, the other 

 not showing any close affinity to any other oriental 

 race, but resembling most the Burmese B and C 

 types. He conjectures that he may here be dealing 

 with widely scattered fragments of a fundamental 

 primitive human type, with a long-headed, broad- 

 faced, rugous and massive cranium. 



Dr. Lucy Cripps, Dr. Major Greenwood, and Miss 

 E. M. Newbold contribute a study of the inter-relations 

 of " vital capacity," stature, stem length, and weight, 

 based upon data furnished by the medical depart- 

 ment of the Royal Air Force. They conclude that, 

 so far as these data are concerned, Prof. Dreyer's 

 modifications of Hutchinson's methods, in particular 

 the substitution of stem length for height, are not 

 marked improvements. Miss Elderton's memoir on 

 the present position with regard to the inheritance 

 of intelligence concludes with the words : " To each 

 of us a limit is set, a limit, as far as one can see at 

 present, due to heredity rather than to opportunity, 

 and to the intelligence of our parents and ancestors 

 rather than to the educational system under which 

 we were reared." 



Dr. Percy Stocks describes — giving a pedigree — a 

 facial spasm inherited through four generations. 

 Two other papers — one a short addendum to a 

 memoir on the sesamoids of the knee-joint, the other 

 on a digital anomaly — are of medical interest. Dr. 

 G. D. Maynard discusses the fertility statistics of 

 the New Zealand census. The miscellanea contain 

 two notes on points of method and reviews of two 

 recent contributions to mathematical statistics. 



There must be very few students of pure or applied 

 statistics who will fail to find anything of interest 

 to them in this issue of Biometrika. 



Glacial Deposits and Palaeolithic Cultures in East Anglia. 



AT a meeting of the Royal Anthropological 

 Institute held on June 19, Mr. H. J. E. Peake 

 in the chair. Prof. P. G. H. Boswell and Mr. J. Reid 

 Moir presented a paper on " Flint Implements at 

 Foxhall Road, Ipswich." Prof. P. G. H. Boswell 

 dealt with the geology of the deposits. The site 

 lies in an oval hollow^ about 120 ft. above Ordnance 

 datum, I J miles E.N.E. of Ipswich station. The 

 surrounding plateau of glacial sand and gravel lies 

 at about 130 to 140 ft. above Ordnance datum. 

 The succession of general sequence of deposits from 

 bottom to top down to a depth of 31 ft. 4 in. is as 

 follows : Dark Chalky- Kimmeridgic Boulder Clay 

 (bored to 2 ft. 6 in.), loamy sand and shingle (6 ft. 

 9 in.), sandy boulder clay and loam (3 ft.), gravelly 

 and sandy brick-earths passing up into laminated 

 brick-earths (15 ft. 3 in.), gravel and subsoils, etc. 

 (3 ft. 10 in.). Mechanical analyses of the respective 

 beds have been made, and as a result suggestions 

 were offered regarding conditions of deposition. 

 The mineralogical characters have also been worked 

 out, the assemblage being of typically glacial 

 character. Reasons for referring the lowermost 

 deposits to the Chalky- Kimmeridgic Boulder Clay 

 were given, and the evidence that the uppermost 



NO. 2806, VOL. 112] 



gravel indicated a recrudescence of cold or even 

 glacial conditions after a period of amelioration 

 were discussed. Finally, tentative correlations with 

 the glacial sequence in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire 

 were attempted. 



Mr. J. Reid Moir described the implements found 

 in the excavations. The number of humanly-flaked 

 flints totals 545 : the latest artefacts in Beds Nos. 2 

 and 3 being referable to the Mousterian epoch ; 

 the unrolled hand-axes of Beds Nos. 4 to 6 are of 

 late Acheulean date ; while those recovered from 

 Bed No. 7 appear to represent examples of early 

 Acheulean workmanship. Associated with the well- 

 finished implements in the beds mentioned were- 

 found a number of simply-made artefacts, such as 

 scrapers, points, and borers. Burnt flints were also 

 recovered from each implementiferous horizon ; 

 while quartzite hammer-stones occurred in Bed 

 No. 7. With the exception of one small and un- 

 identifiable piece of bone, no organic remains were 

 found during the excavations. An examination of 

 the artefacts recovered shows that the specimens 

 were flaked differently at the different horizons 

 mentioned, and that a large proportion of the flints 

 are considerably striated ; the pressure to which 



