24 



NATURE 



, [November 3, 19 10 



In his paper entitled " A Search for the Fatherland of 

 the Polynesians," Mr. A. K. Newman endeavoured to prove, 

 partly by the evidence of place names, that the first home 

 of the Polynesians was in the Ganges Valley. 



Two papers of general ethnological interest were contri- 

 buted by Miss Fletcher and Mr. E. S. Hartland. In the 

 former — a sidelight on exogamy — the author directed atten- 

 tion to the exogamic character of the Omaha social 

 ■organisation, while in the latter Mr. Hartland discussed 

 the origin of mourning dress, and held that mourning was 

 worn not so much as a disguise, as suggested by Dr. 

 Frazer, but as a means of typifying the union of the dead 

 -and as an expression of sorrow and abasement, so as to 

 deprecate the malice of a spirit, naturally annoyed at 

 finding itself disembodied. 



It is particularly gratifying to record that the committee 

 appointed at Winnipeg to consider the feasibility of starting 

 an ethnographic survey of Canada reported that, owing to 

 -representations made by the council of the Association and 

 by a deputation of the committee and others, which waited 

 upon Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Dominion Government has 

 included in its estimates the sum of 420Z. to establish a 

 department of ethnolog}' under the Geological Survey. This 

 most gratifying result may be considered as entirely due to 

 Xhe initiative taken by the Association at the Winnipeg 

 meeting. 



Two ethnological papers of great interest were those by 

 Prof. Elliott Smith on the people of Egypt, and by Prof. 

 H. J. Fleure and Mr. T. C. James on the people of 

 Cardiganshire. The latter of these should perhaps be 

 classified under physical anthropology, as the survey was 

 largely an anthropometrical one. 



Prof. Elliott Smith began by urging the impossibility of 

 reconstructing the history of man in Egypt unless the work 

 is based on the study of physical characters, as apart from 

 mere measurements, of accurately dated human remains 

 from the three great divisions of the Nile Valley — Lower 

 and Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia. Of the origin of the 

 ■predynastic Egyptians, all that at present could be safely 

 said was that they showed affinities to both the Mediter- 

 ranean race and to the Arabs. Although just before the 

 end of the predynastic period some slight change in the 

 character of the population can be seen, it is not until the 

 Third Dynasty that the significance of the change can be 

 fully appreciated. At this date it becomes clear that each 

 -of the three divisions of Egypt had its own distinctive 

 population : Lower Nubia, a people identical with the pre- 

 dynastic but tinged with negro ; Lower Egypt, the de- 

 scendants of the predynastic peoples, mixed profoundly 

 with white immigrants, who came in by way of the Delta, 

 while Upper Egypt, though not directly affected by either 

 •of these alien stocks, was yet indirectly affected by both, 

 through the intermingling of its people with those of the 

 two other districts. 



In the time of the Middle Kingdom this white and 

 Nubian influence became more marked in the Thebaid, and 

 thus the gradual gradation of physical characters, from the 

 "black of Nubia to the white of the Levantine population 

 in the north, began to set in, a gradation which has 

 -persisted to the present day. 



Messrs. Fleure and James pointed out in their paper that 

 the basis of the population of Cardiganshire appears to be 

 -the Mediterranean tvne, that is, a type marked by con- 

 siderable dolichocephaly, dark hair, slight prognathism, and 

 -a stature a little below the average. But as the type 

 ■becomes fairer these marked characteristics disappear, 

 prognathism ceases to exist, and the head becomes shorter. 

 Amongst this population there is also a fair type, in which 

 •the heads become still shorter and the stature higher, while 

 the face becomes opisthognathous. 



Physical Anthropology. 



In purely physical anthropology two papers only were 

 presented, there being still the marked decline in papers of 

 this nature which has been noticeable during the last five 

 years. It is very much to be regretted that the anatomists 

 and other workers in the field of physical anthropology 

 "have ceased from presenting the results of their work to the 

 Association, and it is to he hoped that a turn in the opposite 

 -direction will soon set in. 



Prof. C. J. Patten described a rare form of divided 

 •parietal in the cranium of a chimpanzee. Cases of this 



NO. 2140, VOL. 85] 



kind are extremely rare, and the one under consideration 

 appeared to be an example of complete division of both 

 parietals, each by a horizontal suture, running the entire 

 length of the bones and joining the coronal and lambdoid 

 sutures. The case is of further interest owing to the way 

 in which the upper segment of each bone is again sub- 

 divided. Correlated with this condition there is a thinning 

 out of the bones of the cranial vault and a reduction in the 

 size and strength of the zygomatic arch and of many of 

 the processes at the base of the skull. 



Dr. W. L. H. Duckworth exhibited a microtome, made 

 by the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company, which 

 provides a means of preparation of anthropological material 

 possessing great interest. Some of the preparations thus 

 made were mounted as lantern-slides and exhibited ; for 

 example, in a section of the leg of an adult man, tissues so 

 distinct in consistency as bone, tendons, and muscles could 

 be seen. Other specimens exhibited were sections of the 

 larynx and tongue. 



Finally, the report of the committee to conduct archa;o- 

 logical and ethnological researches in Crete contained long 

 reports on Cretan anthropology, by Mr. C. H. Ilawes, and 

 physical observations, viz., head form and pigmentation, 

 of Cretan school children, by Dr. Duckworth. Both 

 these reports contained a mass of detailed measurements 

 and observations which it is impossible to summarise. One 

 point may, however, be mentioned. Dr. Duckworth is of 

 opinion that the general physique of Cretan chiWren is 

 frequently, if not always, poor, being markedly inferior to 

 that of British children of the same age. 



AGRICULTURE AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 

 T N drawing up the programme for the Sheffield meeting 

 -*• the organising committee of the Agricultural Sub- 

 section adhered to the lines laid down last year. Certain 

 problems of current interest and importance were discussed 

 at joint meetings so far as possible, and attention was 

 directed particularly to those aspects of the problems on 

 which men of pure science could throw much needed light. 

 There were, therefore, very few general papers, and such 

 as were read were regarded rather as preliminary accounts 

 of work that must come on later for discussion. 



The chairman's address has already been printed in 

 exfenso in these columns (September 8). It dealt with 

 fertility, the eternal and fundamental problem in agri- 

 culture, and traced the history of the views that have been 

 held since the early experimenters of the seventeenth 

 century began their 'work. Fertility depends on several 

 factors, any one of which may at a given time become a 

 limiting factor and determine the growth of the plant. 

 The amount of available mineral food, the supply of water, 

 and the supply of nitrates all enter into the problem. All 

 that science can do as yet is to ascertain the existence of 

 these factors one by one, and bring them successively under 

 control ; it is not Vet possible to disentangle all the inter- 

 acting forces the resultant of which is represented by the 

 crop. . . . 



Dr. Crowther and Mr. Ruston discussed the impurities 

 of the town atmosphere and their effect on vegetation. 

 Rain water falling within the industrial section of Leeds is 

 highly charged with mineral and tarry matter, and also 

 contains a good deal of acid. The rain of the residential 

 districts is much purer, but still not as pure as country 

 rain. Pot experiments, and observations made in gardens, 

 parks, &c., showed that the effect of the impurity was 

 complex; the stomata'of the plants were blocked, especially 

 if they happened to be sunk as in the conifers; the soil 

 also suffered. These actions produced marked results on 

 vegetation ; in extreme cases the plants were actually 

 killed, and even those surviving were much affected. The 

 case of grass was examined in some detail because of its 

 technical importance. It was found that the impure rain 

 reduced the yield and the protein-content of the herbage but 

 increased its fibre-content. The feeding value was therefore 

 much diminished. 



Prof. Berry followed with an account of the ether extract 

 of the oat kernel. It has long been known in a general 

 wav that the ether extract is not all fat, although so 

 labelled as a matter of convenience. Prof. Berry has 



