NATURE 



[January 12, 191 1 



bear on the problem of evolution. The different kinds 

 of variation, their nature and their causes, 

 next come in for consideration, and the methods 

 of investigating them are dealt with. Then 

 follows a chapter on the statistical study of heredity, 

 which includes a description of the simplest method 

 of measuring correlation. Chapters v. and vi. treat 

 of the Mendelian form of inheritance, both as it is 

 seen in a single pair of allelomorphs, and when it is 

 complicated, as in the inheritance of coat colour in 

 rats and mice, by the dependence of the character on 

 two separately inheritable factors. This is succeeded 

 by a discussion "on some disputed questions," which 

 range from the apparent incomplete segregation of 

 coat-characters in the descendants of a cross between 

 long-haired (Angora) and short-haired guinea-pigs to 

 the inheritance of acquired modifications. The treat- 

 ment of these problems is suggestive rather than 

 exhaustive. 



The final chapter deals with heredity in man. The 

 more important conclusions obtained by the use of 

 statistical methods are mentioned, and cases are 

 described where the inheritance of particular char- 

 acters may be explained on Mendelian lines. Among 

 the latter are included the presence or absence of pig- 

 ment in the front of the iris observed by Hurst, and 

 Nettleship's remarkable pedigree of "night-blindness," 

 which appears to behave as a Mendelian dominant. 

 Finally, the importance of inheritance in the con- 

 sideration of certain sociological questions is insisted 

 on. Two appendices are added, (i.) " Historical Sum- 

 mary of Theories of Heredity," and (ii.) "The Material 

 Basis of Inheritance." 



The excellence of the print and paper are deserving 

 of especial mention. The latter is thin but opaque, 

 with a very smooth, but not an offensively glossy sur- 

 face. This enables the diagrams of variation and 

 pedigrees, &c., to be reproduced very clearly though 

 on a small scale, while the Jialf-tone blocks are better 

 printed than in many a mord expensive work. 



E. H. J. S. 



EkRLY EGYPTIAN REMAINS. 

 The Tomb bf Two Brothers. By Miss M. A. Murray. 

 (Handbook, Manchester Museum.) Pp. 79 + 21 

 plates. (Manchester : Sherratt and Hughes ; Lon- 

 don : Dulau and Co., 19 10.) Price 5s. 

 IN 1907, during the exploration of a series of tombs 

 at Der Rifeh, . the cemetery of the ancient 

 Egyptian town of Shas-hotep, near Assiut, a con- 

 cealed and hitherto unrifled chamber was discovered. 

 Prof. Flinders Petrie, recognising the importance of the 

 contents being kept together and scientifically examined, 

 suggested that in consideration of a subsidy towards 

 the work at Memphis, the tomb and its contents 

 should be placed at the disposal of the Manchester 

 Museum. Through the liberality of friends the sum 

 required, with a balance sufficient to defray the cost 

 of the present monograph, was provided. The report 

 has been edited by Miss M. A. Murray, who has 

 secured contributions from experts on the many points 

 of Interest connected with the discovery. 



The tomb belongs to the twelfth dynasty, and sup- 



NO. 2150, VOL. 85] 



plies two of the earliest mummies which have hitheito 

 been subjected to scientific examination. They were 

 placed in highly decorated coffins enclosed in elaborate 

 cases, while the viscera were, as usual, deposited in 

 so-called canopic jars. Each of the deceased was pro- 

 vided with a statuette as a home for the Ka, or separ- 

 able soul, and the chamber also contained two figures 

 of girls bearing offerings for the dead, and boats 

 provided for the journey of the soul to its final rest. 



Various novel and interesting questions are dis- 

 cussed by Dr. J. Cameron in his elaborate report on 

 the anatomy of the remains. The inscriptions indi- 

 cate that the bodies are those of two personages 

 named respectively Nekht-ankh and Knumu-nekht, 

 the former an elderly man, the latter middle-aged, 

 both of small stature, about 5 feet 3 inches high. 

 The slimness, delicate moulding, and faintness of the 

 muscular impressions in the case of Nekht-ankh indi- 

 cate a feminine type ; and Dr. Cameron infers that 

 he was a eunuch, or at least he designates the type 

 as eunuchoid. Further, the extraordinary fact is dis- 

 closed that on him the operation of subincision, fami- 

 liar to all students of Australian native tribes, but 

 hitherto not recognised in Egypt, had been performed. 

 In this connection it is significant that the right 

 lateral incisor of the upper jaw had been removed; 

 and it can hardly be a mere coincidence that the re- 

 fnoval of this tooth, possibly as a means of propitiat- 

 ing Nemesis or to subserve some obscure magical pur- 

 pose, is a part of this rite in Australia. These curious 

 facts deserve, and will doubtless receive, due attention, 

 from anthropologists. 



It is also remarkable that the skulls of these two 

 brothers, sons at least of one mother, differ widely in 

 structure. That of Knumu-nekht, the younger, is 

 extremely prognathous, with an alveolar or gnathic 

 index of 104-34, while that of his eunuchoid brother is 

 remarkably orthognathous, with an index of 93"8, 

 that of Englishmen being 96. The obvious explana- 

 tion is that these men were sons of one mother by 

 different fathers, the prognathous type indicating 

 admixture of some negroid stock, such as that which 

 has been recognised by Prof. Eliott Smith in some 

 Nubian cemeteries. It is a proof of the artistic 

 capacity of this early period that the carver of the 

 statues of the brothers clearly indicated these vari- 

 ances of racial type. 



Manchester is to be congratulated on the acquisition 

 of a collection of the highest anthropological interest, 

 on the liberality of the citizens who secured its! 

 possession, and on the skill and learning which thej 

 writers have bestowed upon this admirable mono-| 

 graph. 



PHOTOGRAPHIC PRACTICE. j 



A Primer of Photography. By Owen Wheeler. Pp-j 



vii + 202. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd., n.d.) 



Price 2s. 6d. net. j 



WE have read this volume with much pleasure, be-i 

 cause it consists of a plain and straightforward 

 statement, by a man of experience, of those facts 

 that one who has just begun to photograph will find 

 profitable. The author gives no preface or introduc- 



