Sept. 6, 1888] 



NA TURE 



46. 



and in different, ages applied successive checks to cerebral evolu- 

 tion, which Dr. Fauvelle regards as identical with human pro- 

 gress. — On the hand and figure of native East Indians, by 

 Dr. Mugnier. In this exhaustive article the author gives 

 elaborate measurements based on his own observations of the 

 maxima and minima and the means of every part of the hand 

 specially, and of the body generally, in the six principal Asiatic 

 races, with tables of comparative measurements of Europeans. 

 From these it is seen that the absolute size of the hand among 

 Asiatics is less than in Europeans, the Japanese approximating 

 most closely to the estimates given for the latter, while the 

 Malays exhibit the lowest maximum. In regard to stature, and 

 relative proportions of figure, all Asiatics are inferior to Europeans, 

 the Japanese presenting the greatest divergence, while the Arabs 

 of Yemen approximate most nearly to the general means of 

 European races. — An anthropological and ethnographic study of 

 the kingdom of Cambodia, by Dr. E. Maurel. Shaded maps 

 of the territorial divisions of Indo-China from the seventh century 

 to the present time curiously illustrate the varying supremacy of 

 Siamese, Laos, and Cambodian tribes in that portion of the Far 

 East which lies between the China Sea and the Indian Ocean. 

 The rapidity with which alluvial deposits are formed would seem 

 to justify the author's assertion that the territories now known as 

 Cochin-China and South Cambodia are of recent geological 

 origin, and were possibly submerged till near the dawn of 

 actual historical ages. Interesting information is supplied as to 

 the effect on the land, and the habits and pursuits of the people, 

 of the regular inundations to which the country is exposed by the 

 overflow of the Mekong, the great river which, rising in East 

 Tibet, flows southward till it divides into three branches in the 

 heart of Cambodia, and ultimately forms the important inland 

 sea of Toule Sap, whose area exceeds 3000 kilometres before the 

 return of the current temporarily diminishes its volume. The 

 orography and the climatology of the district are carefully treated, 

 but the materials seem still wanting for supplying us with any 

 exact dataas to the numbers and ethnic character of the population. 

 — Platycnemia in man and the Anthropoda, by M. Manouvrier. 

 After describing the actual anatomical characters of this peculiar 

 lateral flattening of the tibial bone, the writer considers the 

 grounds on which this condition has been regarded as a character 

 of inferiority by which certain prehistoric and other ancient 

 races would seem to show their affinity to the anthropomorpha. 

 This opinion he absolutely rejects, and finally asserts, as the 

 result of his comparative anatomical investigations of fossil and 

 recent Iftrise, that platycnemia has existed and still exists among the 

 most different human races, although it is of very rare occurrence 

 among certain savage peoples, as the Negroes of Africa, and the 

 Indians of California. He denies that it is a special simian 

 characteristic, since, notwithstanding its frequent occurrence in 

 the chimpanzee and gorilla, it does not present the same features 

 in them as in man, and finally he believes that, even if it were 

 originally transmitted from some at boreal anthropoid, it has been 

 maintained simply by the activity of an essentially human 

 function, its survival being most frequent among nations and 

 tribes addicted to hunting and fishing, or compelled by sudden 

 and great differences of elevation, or extreme inequalities of the 

 surface, to make exertions in ascending and descending steep 

 heights, by which the tibial bones are continuously and often 

 violently exercised. Finally, platycnemia manifests itself only 

 in the human and anthropoid adult, the young being free from it. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Sydney. 

 Royal Society of New South Wales, May 2.— Annual 

 Meeting. — C. S. Wilkinson, Government Geologist, President, 

 in the chair. — The report stated that twenty-four new members 

 had been elected during the year, and the total number on the 

 roll on April 30 was 482. — Dr. Michael Foster, F.R.S., Pro- 

 fessor of Physiology, University of Cambridge, had been elected 

 an honorary member. — During the year the Society held nine 

 meetings, at which the following papers were read:— Presi- 

 dential Address, by Christopher Rolleston, C.M.G. — Recent 

 work on flying machines, by L. Hargrave. — Some N.S. W. 

 tan-substances, Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4, by J. H. Maiden. — Notes 

 on the experience of other countries in the administration of 

 their water supply, by II. G. McKinney.— Notes on some in- 

 clusions observed in a specimen of the Queensland opal, by 

 D. A. Porter. —The influence of bush fires in the distribution 



of species, by Rev. R. Collie. — Origin and mode of occurrence 

 of gold-bearing veins and of the associated minerals, by Jonathan 

 Seaver. — Results of observations of comets vi. and vii., 1886, at 

 Windsor, N. S.W., by John Tebbutt.— Port Jackson silt beds, 

 by F. B. Gipps. — On the presence of fusel oil in beer, by W. M. 

 Hamlet. — Autographic instruments used in the development of 

 flying machines, by Lawrence Hargrave. — The Medical Section 

 held seven meetings, fourteen papers being read ; the Sanitary 

 Section four meetings, five papers read ; and the Microscopical 

 Section held eight meetings. — The Clarke Medal for the year 

 1S88 had been awarded to the Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods ; the 

 Society's bronze medal and money prize of ^25 had been awarded 

 to Mr. Jonathan Seaver for his paper on the origin and mode 

 of occurrence of gold-bearing veins and of the associated minerals; 

 and the Council has since issued the following list of subjects, 

 with the offer of the medal and a prize of ^25, for each of the 

 best researches, if of sufficient merit ; (to be sent in not later than 

 May 1, 1888) anatomy and life-history of the Echidna and 

 Platypus ; anatomy and life-history of Mollusca peculiar to 

 Australia ; the chemical composition of the products from the 

 so-called kerosene shale of New South Wales ; (to be sent in not 

 later than May 1, 1889) on the chemistry of the Australian 

 gums and resins ; on the aborigines of Australia ; on the iron 

 ore deposits of New South Wales ; list of the marine fauna of 

 Port Jackson, with descriptive notes as to habits, distribution, 

 &c. ; (to be sent in not later than May I, 1890) influence of the 

 Australian climate, general and local, in the development and 

 mollification of disease ; on the silver ore deposits of New South 

 Wales ; on the occurrence of precious stones in New South 

 Wales, with a description of the deposits in which they are 

 found. — The Chairman read the Presidential Address, and the 

 officers and Council were elected for the ensuing year. — A com- 

 pressed air-engine for driving a flying machine was exhibited by 

 Mr. L. Hargrave. The engine weighed only 2 lbs. 7 oz. ; 

 cylinder, 1 \ inch diameter ; stroke, 2 inches. The receiver for 

 the compressed air was o - 2i cubic feet capacity, made of T V-inch 

 steel, single riveted and brazed. The bursting pressure was 

 900 lbs., working pressure 500 lbs., and reduced pressure 

 900 lbs., per square inch. There would be 9200 foot-pounds 

 available for work ; this power would have to be expended in 

 from half to three-quarters of a minute. The charged receiver 

 weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz., wood and paper work about 2 lbs. A 

 small Richards's indicator had been made for adjusting the 

 piston-valve. The machine was intended for a flight of 200 

 yards. 



June 6. — Sir Alfred Roberts, President, in the chair. — The 

 Chairman announced that the Council had awarded the Society's 

 medal and prize of ^"25 to the Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods for 

 his paper upon the anatomy and life-history of Mollusca pecu- 

 liar to Australia. — The following papers were read : — Notes on 

 some minerals and mineral localities in the northern districts of 

 New South Wales, by D. A. Porter. — Forest destruction in 

 New South Wales, and its effect on the flow of water in water- 

 courses, and on the rainfall, by W. E. Abbott. — The increasing 

 magnitude of 77 Argus, by II. C. Russell, F. R.S. — On a 

 simple plan of easing railway curves, by W. Shellshear. — Indi- 

 genous Australian forage plants (exclusive of grasses), including 

 plants injurious to stock, by J. H. Maiden. 



July 4.- — Sir Alfred Roberts, President, in the chair.— A dis- 

 cussion took place upon Mr. W. E. Abbott's paper on forest 

 destruction in New South Wales, and its effect on the flow of 

 water in watercourses and on the rainfall, read at the preceding 

 meeting. The general result of the discussion was to the effect 

 that the destruction of forests had no appreciable effect on the 

 rainfall. — The following papers were read : — On an improve- 

 ment in anemometers, by H. C. Russell, F.R. S. — -On the 

 anatomy and life-history of Mollusca peculiar to Australia, by 

 the Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, in which the author gave 

 evidence as to the existence of eyes in the skulls of many 

 Australian Mollusca. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, August 27. — M. Janssen, President, 

 in the chair. — Observations relative to a previous communication 

 on a general property of elastic solid bodies, by M. Maurice 

 Levy. The author's attention has been called by M. Boussinesq 

 to the fact that the final formula of his note inserted in the 

 Comptcs rtndui of August 13 is found in Prof. Betti's lectures on 

 the theory of electricity. He consequently points out that the 

 theorem, which forms the chief object of that note, must also be 

 accredited to the same illustrious geometrician. — Observations of 



