July 28, 1921] 



NATURE 



699 



try, or rather of chemistry in England — for the Browns 

 are the only EngUshmen in it — should be read by the 

 younger generation of to-day. Two photographs show 

 us the now unfamiliar features of Griess and of 

 O 'Sullivan. 



Finally, Prof. Armstrong gives us his views on the 

 best methods for promoting biological inquiry and 

 on the research scheme of the Institute of Brewing. 

 Much of what he says about this is of wider applica- 

 tion, and bears on scientific research in general. His 



views, expressed with great conviction, should be 

 especially considered at the present time, when alf 

 kinds of new research schemes are being started. 

 Some of us cannot always agree with Prof. Arm- 

 strong, but we must all recognise that, if provocative, 

 he is stimulating ; if a fighter, he is sincere. And he 

 is also picturesque ; he does not bore us. Hence this 

 memorial lecture derives a personal interest from the 

 author no less than from his subject, and thereby its 

 value has been increased. 



The Ancient and Modern Inhabitants of Malta. 



AT a meeting of the Royal Anthropological Insti- 

 tute held on June 28, Mr. L. H. Dudley Buxton 

 read a paper on "The Ancient and Modern Inhabi- 

 ,tants of Malta." The paper was a summary of the 

 results of a small anthropological expedition from 

 Oxford which visited Malta in the winter of 1920-21. 

 The expedition was made possible by the generosity 

 of Sir Alfred Mond and by a grant from the Mary 

 Ewart Trust. The work in the island was offered 

 every facility by the Governor, Field-Marshal Lord 

 Plumer, and his staff, and Prof. Zammit, the Rector 

 of the University, put his unrivalled knowledge of all 

 things Maltese at the service of the expedition. 



The history of Malta is bound up with its geo- 

 graphical position, lying as it does on a buttress of 

 the old land bridge between Africa and Sicily. The 

 cave of Ghar Dalam, which is being explored by 

 Mr. Despott, may throw considerable light on man's 

 early history in the island. At present, however, the 

 earliest large collection of human remains belongs to 

 the Neolithip, or more probably ^neolithic, age of the 

 great Maltese megalith builders. Although this cul- 

 ture is, to a certain extent, unique, it offers possible 

 comparison with the allees couvertes of Western 

 Europe. The site of Bahria, which has not yet been 

 properly excavated, may provide a link between the 

 Neolithic and the Bronze ages, remains of which 

 have been discovered actually on top of the Neolithic 

 remains at Hal Tarxlen. The following periods, the 

 so-called Phoenician or Punic, show a close connection 

 with North Africa — a connection which was not broken 

 until the Roman occupation. At the division of the 

 Empire in a.d. 395 Malta was allotted to Byzantium, 

 to which it belonged ethnologically. It was held 

 successively by the Arabs and by the various occupants 

 of the throne of Sicily until handed over by Charles 



Quint to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem in 

 1530. The Knights held it until 1798, when they 

 were dispossessed by Napoleon. It was occupied by 

 the British in 1800, and formally annexed in 1814. 



The megalith builders appear to belong to what is 

 generally known as the Mediterranean race. They 

 show close affinities to the inhabitants of North Africa 

 and Sicily. Probably at the close of the Bronze age- 

 but the exact line is as yet uncertain — a crucial change 

 came over the population and a new type of folk 

 appeared, the contour of whose cranial vault suggests 

 Armenoid characters. In spite of the constant 

 Infusion probably of North African blood in Punic 

 times and of Italian during later periods, this t}'pe 

 has survived in the islands of Malta and Gozo until 

 to-day. 



A study of the modern people shows several remark- 

 able facts : first, that though there are significant 

 differences between the Maltese and the Inhabitants 

 of Gozo, there is practically no difference between the 

 inhabitants of the urban and rural districts taken as 

 a whole. The inhabitants of Valetta and the suburbs, 

 contrary to expectation, do not show more variation 

 than the country districts. Two villages, Zurrico and 

 Siggewi, each taken singly, showed as great, if 

 different, variations from the urban districts as did 

 the men of Gozo from those of Malta, but here again 

 the people of tiny and, to a large extent, endogamous 

 villages were only slightly less variable than those of 

 a cosmopolitan port. 



It may be said then that, generally speaking, and 

 subject to certain reservations, the Maltese present a 

 well-marked racial type — unlike their nearest neigh- 

 bours except in Neolithic times, and much more alien 

 to the Cretans and the inhabitants of the "Islands of 

 the Sea." 



The Rothamsted Experimental Station. 



Visit of County Agricultural Committees. 



ON Friday, July 15, representatives of the county 

 agricultural committees and directors and prin- 

 cipals of the agricultural colleges visited the Rotham- 

 sted Experimental Station at the invitation of Lord 

 Bledlsloe, chairman of the Lawes Agricultural Trust 

 Committee, and Dr. E. J. Russell, director of the 

 station. They were met by Sir David Prain, Prof. 

 H. E. Armstrong, of the committee of management, 

 and Messrs. T. H. Riches, Leonard Sutton, and other 

 vmembers of the Council of the Society for Extending 

 the Rothamsted Experiments. No more representa- 

 tive party has visited Rothamsted since the great 

 jubilee celebrations of 1893, after fifty years of work 

 had been accomplished. The visitors inspected the 

 plots and the laboratories, and saw practically the 

 whole of the work which is being carried out. 



The Rothamsted Experimental Station has expanded 

 considerably during and after the war, and it now has 



NO. 2700, VOL. 107] 



a permanent scientific staff of twenty-six members, in 

 addition to skilled assistants for records, library, and 

 office, and an outdoor staff for the farm and experi- 

 mental plots. The scope of the work has expanded, 

 and now includes the soil and the growing plant in 

 health and disease. In the main the work falls into 

 two great divisions, carried out respectively in the 

 laboratories and in the , fields, with the pot-culture 

 house serving as a close link between them. 



In welcoming" the visitors Lord Bledlsloe stated 

 that this gathering was typical of many which it 

 was hoped to arrang^e in future years, and its pur- 

 pose was to make the work of Rothamsted known 

 to those most intimately associated with the develop- 

 ment of British agriculture. The most hopefut 

 method of helping' the farmer was to furnish him 

 with knowledge about the crops and soils with which 

 he has to deal, and to carry out tests which he could 

 not possibly do for himself. Lord Bledlsloe referred 



