October 7, 1920] 



NATURE 



185 



Eastern Mediterranean at various times, the evi- 

 dence of blue eyes is certainly insufficient to estab- 

 lish their presence as a recognisable element in 

 the population. 



The distribution of other characters, such as the 

 form of the nose and of the orbits, cannot at 

 present be plotted, as the evidence is scanty. Such 

 measurements as have been made on the face 

 suggest that, among the Greeks at any rate, broad 

 faces accompany broad heads, and vice versa. 



If we sum up the evidence afforded by all the 

 physical characters which have been measured, we 

 find that the Greeks probably represent a very old 

 hybrid, older than the beginnings of the Bronze 

 age. In Cyprus the earliest skulls examined were 

 found associated with red polished and white 

 painted ware, and were clear examples of this 

 hybrid. We cannot at present say whether these 

 early Greeks formed this physical type in the island 

 or before they reached it. Elsewhere, so far as our 

 scanty data go, the same tale seems probable. 

 In each little district there is a mixture ; sometimes 

 the population of widely distant spots is similar ; 

 sometimes villages close to one another differ. It 

 must be remembered that the geography of (ireek 

 lands favours the development of local strains. 



communication being often very difficult. There 

 does seem to be a physical background to the 

 differences between village and village in classical 

 times, and to the struggles between Athens and 

 Sparta. Most of the inhabitants of the Eastern 

 Mediterranean, however, are also of this hybrid 

 stock, and so Aristotle's dictum seems unjustified. 

 There is no physical background for Hellas as a 

 whole. Our present evidence suggests that the 

 degree of mixture is fairly uniform throughout, 

 though the results of the mixing may be different. 

 Lycia, however, presents a far greater degree of 

 heterogeneity ; this heterogeneity did not escape 

 the notice of Herodotus, who says that the Lycians 

 were Cretan immigrants into a country with a 

 previous Minyan population, with a third element 

 from Attica. 



There is little reason to doubt the generally 

 accepted statement that the two stocks which have 

 formed this hybrid are Mediterranean and Arme- 

 noid. The former is found in a comparatively 

 pure state to the west and south of the Greek 

 world, the latter sporadically in a pure state 

 among the Greeks of Anatolia, and may even 

 occur, though we have no evidence at present, in 

 the Balkan Peninsula itself. 



Obituary. 



Alfred E. Fletcher. 



By the death of Alfred E. Fletcher, at the great 

 age of ninety-four, the country has lost a 

 .scientitic worker who, in his particular sphere, 

 exercised on chemical manufacture a powerful and 

 healthful influence. Born in 1826, Fletcher com- 

 pleted his school education in Berlin, and was em- 

 ployed for a time on railway surveying. He relin- 

 quished his career as an engineer in order to 

 attend the science classes at University College, 

 London (being debarred as a Nonconformist from 

 attending the older universities), where he studied 

 mathematics and chemistry, for which he received 

 the gold medal in 1851. In the following year he 

 'IS elected a fellow of the Chemical Society, and 

 Merwards began a series of researches on arti- 

 tiiial colouring matters, a field of inquiry which 

 h:id been developed by Ferkin's discovery of 

 mauve in 1856, and greatly stimulated by 

 the work of Hofmann and his pupils at 

 I he Koyal College of Chemistry. Discouraged 

 ''\ prolonged litigation on the subject of a patent 

 r a new colour process in which he was inter- 

 ested, Fletcher accepted in 1863 the post of 

 , assistant to Dr. .Angus Smith, the first Chief 

 f Alk.ili Inspector. The origin of this department, 

 1 which played so large a part in Fletcher's subse- 

 I quent career, was the numerous complaints from 

 I farmers owing to the fumes from alkali and other 

 i chemical works. These fumes arose mainly from 

 i the di.scharge of hydrochloric acid in the manu- 

 I facturc of salt-cake. These and other acid vapours 

 'If'stroyed vegetation over large areas. 



Under the Alkali Act of 1H63 trained chemists 

 urrc appointed to control this industry. The 



NO. 2658, VOL. 106] 



result of such inspection was soon apparent. The 

 acid, which has since become a staple and profit- 

 able product of the process, was absorbed in 

 towers by passing the gases through a descend- 

 ing stream of water. This is not by any means 

 the only example whereby the alkali inspectors 

 have helped the chemical manufacturer to utilise 

 his noxious by-products to his own advantage 

 and to that of the public. 



As assistant, Fletcher devised an ingenious 

 aspirator for extracting flue gases for analysis, 

 and also invented an anemometer for determin- 

 ing their rate of flow. In 1884, on the death of 

 Dr. Smith, he succeeded him as Chief Inspector, 

 and continued in that oflice until his retirement in 

 1895. 



Fletcher's activities were not confined to clear- 

 ing the titmosphere from noxious fumes. He 

 entered upon a campaign against the smoke 

 nuisance, which he continued for thirty years, 

 embodying his views in a series of articles, ad- 

 dresses, and pamphlets. He was, so far as the 

 writer remembers, a strong advocate of a cen- 

 tralised inspectorate of all factory chimneys on 

 the lines of the Alkali Act, and set an example 

 of domestic heating w^ithout smoke by installing 

 a central warm air system in his own house, 

 details of which he published in the Press and 

 technical journals. He also assisted the Scottish 

 Office in the administration of the Rivers Pollu- 

 tion Act. 



Fletcher married in 1858 Sarah Elizabeth, 

 eldest daughter of Richard Morley, of Leeds, and 

 is survived by his wife, six sons, and three 

 daughters. J. B. C. 



