December 23, 1920] 



NATURE 



549 



The position of the Smalls Light, it may be ob- 

 served, is such that it offers special advantages for the 

 application of the proposed method. A ship rounding 

 the Land's End, bound for the Irish Channel, after 

 passing the Longships Light, has a run of about 

 130 miles for the Tuskar Light, and towards the end 



the tidal currents set across the mouth of the Channel 

 with considerable velocity. In such a case observa- 

 tions of the Smalls Light, should it become visible on 

 the starboard bow, would be of considerable service in 

 checking the course laid for the Tuskar. 



H. B. G. 



Late Keltic Remains from a Mendip Cave. 



AN important series of Late Keltic 'objects has been 

 brought to light by members of the Speleological 

 .Society of the University of Bristol in the course of 

 investigations in a cave in the Mendips. The cave 

 was first discovered in September, 1919, and the work 

 of exploration, which has been done on most sys- 

 tematic lines, has been carried on throughout the past 

 year. The finds, which were described by Mr. L. S. 

 i*almer at a recent meeting of the Royal .\nthropo- 

 It^ical Institute, included objects of worked bone and 

 stone, bronze hubs and bands of chariot-wheels, 

 bronze bracelets and finger-rings, iron slave shackK-s, 

 an iron key, spindle whorls, and similar objects. .\ 

 considerable amount of pottery was also found 

 which in design and technique was comparable to 

 that found in most Late Keltic settlements. It does 

 not, however, exhibit the characteristic curvilinear 

 motives, the chief decorative feature being in the 

 form of an inverted C. Only three human bones were 

 discovered. There was a large number of bones of 

 domestic and wild animals. S. peculiar feature of the 

 'liscovery is that all these objects were found 

 cither on the surface of the floor of the cave or in a 

 thin band of mud which constituted the uppermost 

 layer. There was no evidence of earlier occupation or 

 anv trace of Roman occupation. These facts, taken in 

 conjunction with evidence which points to occupation 

 of the cave having taken place in abnormal circum- 



stances, would suggest that the cavern was used as a 

 temporary refuge. 



The discovery is of great importance in connection 



with the question of the relations which subsisted 



between this country and the Continent during the 



Iron age. The character of the finds, and in particular 



the close affinity exhibited by the pottery to that of 



Brittany, pointed, in Mr. Palmer's opinion, to the site 



' having been occupied by a tribe of the Brythons who 



I migrated to this country from the north of France. 



I The same people built Glastonbury Lake Village, and 



! are known to have inhabited VVookey Hole, Worle- 



I bury Camp, and some hut .circles on Brcan Down, 



i all of which are within a few miles of this cave. In 



' support of his view .Mr. Palmer pointed out that the 



> hill forts in this area all face in a northerly direction, 



' wnich would suggest that they were the van of a 



wave of immigration from the south. On the other 



hand, as Prof. Keith pointed out, the tvpe of skull 



I usually associated with this type of culture in the 



i west of England differs essentially from the Breton 



skull, and the affinity between the pottery of this area 



; and that of Brittanv may well be the result of com- 



I merce rather than of immigration. It may be hoped 



• that the further exploration of the site which is to 



; be carried on during the coming year mav produce 



( fresh evidence to throw light upon a period concerning 



which our present knowledge is all too scanty. 



Physiology at *he British Association. 



ON Tuesday, August 24, the Section of Physiology 

 held a joint meeting with the Sub-Section of 

 Psychology. .At this joint sitting Dr. Rivers opened a 

 discussion on the desirability of establishing a separate 

 Section of Psychology. The address of the chairman 

 of the Sub-Section (Dr. C. S. Myers) was on almost 

 the same subject. Dr. Rivers gave an outline of the 

 history of psychology in relation to the British .Asso- 

 ciation, and showed that there had been a great 

 increase in the number of papers on psychological 

 subjects contributed to the Association. He pointed 

 out that psychology had develope<l methods and 

 problems of its own. .At the end of the discussion 

 Dr. Rivers moved a resolution: "That this meeting 

 of the Section approves of the constitution of a 

 separate Section of Psychology." This resolution 



is passed nem. con., and it was referred to the 

 'immittec of the Section. 



At the same joint meeting Miss M. Smith and Dr. 

 W. McDougnll read a paper on "The Eflect of 

 Drugs on Fatigue." Fatigue was induced by sitting 

 up all night for three successive nights, and th* eflect 

 was studied by means of dotting circles on a moving 

 tape and by memory tests with related words. The 

 first effect of fatigue was to increase the efficiency, 

 but after the first few days the efficiency showe<l a 

 marked decline and remained below ttie normal for 

 from sixteen to ninele«-n days. This showed th.Tt the 

 effect of the loss of sleep extended for a considerable 

 period after the loss of sleep had occurred. The 



NO. 2669, VOL. 106] 



drugs were given disguised so that they could not 

 be recognised. Most of the experiments were with 

 alcohol or opium. The action of alcohol was to 

 decrease the efficiency exi-ept during the period of 

 recovery, when a stage occurred in which alcohol 

 caused tJie efficiency to approach the normal non- 

 fatigued value. Opium caused an imrease in 

 ♦■fficiency which was more mark<'d in the recovery 

 stage. When the dotting and memory tests were 

 carried out together alcohol caused them to vary 

 togeth«'r, and the subjective effect was not unpleasant, 

 but opium caused one process to improve at the 

 ex(XMise of the other, and the subjective effect was 

 distinctly unpleasant. 



On Friday, .August 27, the Section of Physiology 

 inet the Section of Botany to discuss " Biochemistry 

 and Systematic Relationship." .An account of this 

 discussion appears in the article ujMn the proceedings 

 of the Section of Botany (p. 550). 



Several of the mei'tirigs of the Section were held 

 in the new buiWings for the department of physiology, 

 when the members of the Section had tfic privilege of 

 inspecting the excellent accommodation for the depart, 

 mcnt. .At one of these meetings Prof. Hnycraft demon- 

 strated a new pulse recorder, which consists of a 

 mirror resting on the artery, the records being made 

 by photographing the movement of a spot of light 

 reflected from the mirror. 



Dr. T. Lewis read a p.iper on "The Relation of 

 Physiology to Medicine. This was largely a plea 



