September 30, 1915J 



NATURE 



135 



The form of an Egyptian niastaba tomb was to a 

 very great extent the expression of the Egyptian belief 

 that the soul, or souls, of the deceased visited the 

 body in the tomb chamber, coming in and out by the 

 shaft of the pit, and indeed the XVIII. dynasty 

 papyrus of the priest Nebqed represents the human- 

 l.oaded ba-soul descending the shaft to visit the 

 mummy. These beliefs also led to the burial of super- 

 numerary stone heads to which the soul might attach 

 itself should the body perish. Recently eight life-size 

 portrait heads of a princess and the cx>urtiers of the 

 court of Chephren have been found in the mastabas 

 at Gizeh constituting the royal cemetery of the fourth 

 dynasty. The cartonnage busts, presumably of the 

 deceased, represented as carried in funeral processions 

 of the Middle Empire, are probably a development of 

 the same idea. Similar expressions of belief — perhaps 

 most obvious in tomb construction — occur in Negro 

 Africa, the examples being too numerous and the 

 resemblances too exact for this to be due to any other 

 cause than actual borrowing. 



To sum up : concerning the early prehistory of the 

 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan we have no more than indica- 

 tions. In the Neolithic stage, which appears to have 

 persisted until a comparatively recent date, Negro influ- 

 ence, if not predominant over the whole area, was at 

 least powerfully felt even in the north, as is shown 

 by the distribution of polished axe-heads. But against 

 this northward pressure must be set the continual 

 extension of Egyptian culture, the evidence for which 

 may best be found in the eschatological ideas and 

 burial customs ("mummification" and anthropoid 

 ( oflRns) of the peoples of Equatoria. This influence, 

 which seems to have persisted until medieval times, 

 may have reached tropical Negroland as early as the 

 Middle or even the Old Kingdom. Nor was the Nile 

 route the only one by which Egyptian influence was 

 spread. Another and later drift extended westwards, 

 as shown by the coinage of the north African States, 

 which enables us to fix its date within fairly precise 

 limits. We do not know how far south this drift 

 travelled, but it seems certain that it reached at least 

 as far as the Senegal River and the great bend of the 

 NMger. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 



INTELLIGENCE. 



London. — Prof. J. A. Fleming will give a public 

 introductory lecture at University College, on 

 "Science in the War and after the War," on Wednes- 

 day, October 6, at 5 p.m. This lecture will be open 

 to the public without fee or ticket. Other free public 

 lectures are as follows : — On October 6, at 2 p.m.. 

 Photographic Surveying, by Mr. M. T. M. Ormsby; 

 on October 7, at 2 p.m., The History of Tools, by 

 Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie, and at 5 p.m.. Final 

 Causes in Animal Psychology, by Mr. Carveth Read ; 

 on October 8, at 5 p.m., The Physiological Action 

 of Light, by Prof. W. M. Bayliss, and at 5.30 p.m.. 

 Steam Turbines, by Mr. W J. Goudie ; on October 11, 

 at 3 p.m.. Racial Frontiers in Central and South- 

 eastern Europe, by Prof. L. W. Lyde ; on October 12, 

 at 5 p.m.. An Investigation of the Heating of the 

 House of Commons, by Mr. .\. H. Barker; and on 

 October 2q, at 5 p.m., The .\pplications of Electric 

 Heating, by Prof. J. A. Fleming. 



The University Officers Training Corps, under thq 

 command of Lt.-Col. D. S. Capper, will begin its 

 eighth year of training under exceptional conditions, 

 as the colleges of the University are largely depl^ed 

 of students. In the infantry unit, the largest in the 

 contingent, the training since the outbreak of the war 

 has been mainly of a continuous character, . cadets 



NO. 2396, VOL. 96] 



being accommodated in premises near London. As 

 a rule, a few months of training under these condi- 

 tions have been sufficient to qualify cadets for com- 

 missions. The artillery and engineer units bf the 

 contingent are also in active training. Their work 

 is especially important at the present time, as there 

 are so few facilities for the training of technical 

 officers. The artillery unit has been permitted to 

 keep its guns and equipment for training purposes. 

 In the medical schools of the University, a consider- 

 able number of students are completing their medical 

 training with a view to taking commissions as soon 

 as qualified. The strength and training of the 

 medical unit of the University O.T C. have therefore 

 not been much affected by the war, and the cadets 

 attended camp as usual. Since the outbreak of war, 

 the number of commissions obtained by cadets and 

 ex-cadets of the contingent up to the end of August, 

 1915, amounts to 152 1, and 189 commissions were 

 obtained before the war, giving a total of 1710. In 

 addition, 245 commissions have been obtained, up to 

 the same date, upon the recommendation of the Uni- 

 versity, by graduates and students who were not 

 cadets or ex-cadets of the University O.T.C. Before 

 the end of September, the University will have sup- 

 plied well above 2000 officers to the Army through the 

 O.T.C. or by direct recommendation, and many other 

 graduates and students have obtained commissions 

 through other channels. Distinctions obtained by 

 ex-cadets of the University O.T.C. include : — Military 

 Cross, 6 ; Medaille Militaire, i ; Mentioned in Dis- 

 patches, 14. Under War Office Regulations, member- 

 ship of the University of London O.T.C. is not 

 restricted to members of the University, and other 

 men of suitable education desirous of qualifying for 

 commissions are accepted Candidates for enrolment 

 should apply personally to the Adjutant at the Head- 

 quarters, 46 Russell Square, W.C. 



Mr. W. Caldwell, of Trinity College, Dublin, has 

 been elected professor of chemistry and professor of 

 physics in the Schools of Surgery of the Royal 

 College of Surgeons in Ireland. 



In July last the Federation of University Women 

 offered a prize fellowship of 80Z.. to 100/. for original 

 work published by women. We learn that the fellow- 

 ship has been awarded to Miss M. .Wheldale, Newn- 

 ham College, Cambridge. 



The new session of the School of Pharmacy of the 

 Pharmaceutical Society will open on Wednesday, 

 October 6, when the inaugural address will be 

 delivered by Sir Rickman J. Godlee, and the Hanbury 

 gold medal presented by the president. 



The will of the late Mr. George May, mining 

 engineer and colliery proprietor, of Darlington, 

 bequeaths 500Z. to the North of England Institute of 

 Mining Engineers, the income to be applied in pro- 

 viding " George May " prizes for students, and 500/. 

 to Armstrong College, Newcastle, to found a "George 

 May" scholarship in mining. 



The London County Council has arranged for the 

 undermentioned free public lectures to be given at the 

 Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, S.E., at 3.30 p.m. 

 on Saturday afternoons, commencing on October 2 : 

 The folk-lore of Russia, Mr. Edward Lovett ; the BeJ- 

 gian Congo, its peoples and its animal life. Rev, J. H. 

 Weeks; Rumanian history and folk-lore, Mr. A. R. 

 Wright; (i) our Western Allies, (2) our Elastern Allies, 

 Dr. A. C. Haddon ; the folk-lore of France, Mr. E. 

 Lovett; Japanese history, and folk-lore, Mr. A. R. 

 Wright; (i) flies as enemies of man, (2) the dangerous 

 parasites of man, Mr. H. N. Milligan;. S. Spphia, 



