October 25, 1900] 



NATURE 



^Zl 



being still the subject of investigation as regards the exact 

 antiquity (Tertiary period) claimed for the find. 



It is a matter of some surprise that the department of Physical 

 Anthropology should not have been the subject of more papers 

 than were actually presented at Halle, which University claims 

 the two Meckels and Welcker among its former professors of 

 anatomy. The chief contributions to this subject were those of 

 Dr. Schmidt-Monnard (Halle) on the relation between the 

 growth and the weight of children of both se.\es ; of Dr. Eisler 

 (Halle) on the Musculus sternalis \ and of Prof. Klaatsch 

 i Heidelberg) on the method of research adopted by anatomists, 

 illustrated specifically by observations on the "short head " of 

 the Biceps femoris muscle in the mammalian series. 



The chief excursion of the Congress was made on Wednesday, 

 September 26, to Eisleben, where the copper-mines already 

 referred to were visited, and demonstrations of copper-smelting 

 were given by representatives of the Mansfeld Co. Subse- 

 quently the local collection of prehistoric pottery, &c., was 

 inspected. 



The concluding session was held on September 27, when the 

 presidency (for the ensuing year) was assumed by Prof. 

 Waldeyer (Berlin). It is a matter of interest to note that the 

 Congress was made the occasion of circulating "special 

 inquiry" sheets regarding the structure and building of boats in 

 all parts of Germany. General proposals regarding cartography 

 and systematic records for provincial localities were brought 

 forward by Dr. Voss (Berlin). 



In addition to the anthropologists already mentioned in the 

 foregoing notes, there were present Freiherr v. Andrian- 

 Werburg (Vienna), Prof. Hein (Vienna), Prof. Montelius 

 (Stockholm), Prof. Koganei (Tokio), and others to the number 

 of alxjut one hundred and twenty. 



ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 



nPHE Section of Anthropology had a very .successful session 

 -*■ under the presidency of Prof. Rhys ; indeed, it was one of 

 the very best meetings of Section H in the history of the Asso- 

 ciation. Nearly every department of the subject was represented 

 and that too by new and original contributions. It is interest - 

 ing to note the different lines which members of the Universities 

 of Oxford and Cambridge are at present taking up. The field 

 of Classical Archeology is offering rich prizes to Arthur Evans, 

 Hogarth, and Myres ; while the expeditions of Hose, Stanley 

 Gardiner, Haddon, Skeat, and others are providing material for 

 a more complete knowledge of primitive peoples. 



I. — Physical and Experimental Anthropology. 

 (l) Somatology. 



Dr. John Beddoe, in a short paper on the vagaries of the 

 cephalic index, described two long-headed skulls which had the 

 general characters of dolichocephaly, but the one that appeared 

 the more typical had a latitudinal index (living) of 82 3, owing 

 to retarded ossification of the posterior part of the temporo- 

 parietal suture ; but for this the author thought the index would 

 not have exceeded 77. Prof. Macalister, as at the last meeting 

 of the Association, deprecated the importance usually ascribed 

 to the cephalic index. 



Prof. A. Francis Dixon read a paper, entitled "On certain 

 markings on the frontal part of the human cranium and their 

 significance." An examination of the frontal region of the 

 cranium shows that, in many cases, grooves or channels are 

 present on the bone, corresponding to the branches of the 

 supra-orbital nerves. Their presence indicates a want in pro- 

 portion between the growth in length of the nerves and the 

 amount of expansion of the underlying part of the cranium. 

 The nerves might be looked upon as constricting cords which 

 become depressed in the developing bone as the cranium expands. 

 In races in whom the grooves are common, and strongly marked, 

 we would expect the presence of a tendency towards increased 

 development and capacity of the frontal part of the cranium ; 

 while, on the other hand, in races in whom the grooves do not 

 occur, or are rare, and but feebly marked, we would expect to 

 find much uniformity in the .shape and size of the cranium, in- 

 dicating that none of its various parts are tending towards an 

 increased development. In this connection it is interesting to 

 note that the frontal grooves are almost never found in Australian 

 and Tasmanian skulls, that they are rare among Mehinesians, 



NO. 1617, VOL. 62] 



slightly more common among Polynesians, while among Bush- 

 men and negroes, especially in Zulus and Kaffirs, they are very 

 common, and often extraordinarily well marked. 



Mr. W. L. H. Duckworth described nine crania collected by 

 Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner in his expedition to Rotuma. As 

 might have been expected from the position of the island, the 

 skulls could be resolved into two types, one of the form of 

 cranium usually found among Polynesian peoples, though 

 possessing something of a Mtingolian aspect ; the other was of 

 distinctly Melanesian affinities. The paper was well illustrated 

 with lantern slides. 



A second paper by Mr. Duckworth was on some anthropo- 

 logical observations of the Pangan tribe of aborigines in the 

 Malay Peninsula made by Mr. J. Laidlaw in the Skeat Expe- 

 dition. Mr. Duckworth measured one adult male skeleton 

 the stature of which was about five feet, which is the average 

 height of I he men measured by Mr. Laidlaw. The latter 

 describes the people as having a skin colour of varying shades 

 of dark brown, and the black hair is in some cases frizzly and in 

 others more or less curly or wavy. Mr. Duckworth regarded 

 the skull as of a negroid type with infantile characteristics. It 

 is probable that the skeleton in question belonged to a half-breed 

 Negritto and Malayan individual. 



The developmental changes in the human skeleton from the 

 point of view of anthropology were described by Dr. David 

 Waterson. A comparison was instituted between the bones of 

 the embryo and those of the lower races of mankind and of the 

 higher apes, both as regards their relative length and their cha- 

 racters. As it has been shown that the curvature of the spine in 

 the lumbar region is a post-natal development, and one adapted 

 to the assumption of the erect attitude by the infant, it can also 

 be shown that in a similar way che configuration of the bones of 

 the lower extremity alters after birth, before the infant can 

 stand erect. 



Prof. A. Macalister discoursed on perforate humeri from 

 ancient Egyptian skeletons. In examining those from Libyan 

 graves, he was struck with the large number of humeri which had 

 a supra-articular perforation, the proportion of such among these 

 old Egyptian remains being much greater than among other 

 races. He found that these perforations reached 57 per cent, 

 among the ancient Egyptians, whereas among average Engli.sh 

 people they ranged about 3 per cent., and ID per cent, among 

 Neolithic skeletons, while the percentage rose to 53 in the 

 skeletons of Indians from Arizona. 



A paper on the sacral index was read for Prof. D. J. 

 Cunningham. Inasmuch as the true length of the sacral por- 

 tion of the vertebral column is not indicated by the shortest 

 distance between the apex and base of the sacrum, but rather 

 by the length of the curve formed by the sacral vertebrae, it is 

 proposed that, in making measurements for the determination 

 of a sacral index, " length " should be measured by using a tape 

 along the concavity of the sacral curve, and not by calipers, one 

 limb of which is placed upon the base and the other on the 

 apex of the sacrum. Breadth (measured by calipers in the 

 ordinary manner) multiplied by 100 and divided by length, 

 measured in the manner indicated, gives the true sacral index. 

 The curvature of the sacrum may be conveniently plotted by 

 taking a tracing from a strip of soft metal which has been pre- 

 viously adapted by pressure to the front of the sacrum along its 

 middle line. The index of curvature may be expressed by ihe 

 number derived by multiplying the height of this plotted curve 

 by 100 and dividing by the number corresponding to the true 

 length of the sacrum. 



Dr. Cunningham communicated a second paper on the micro- 

 cephalic brain, which also was read by Dr. Dixon, and illus- 

 trated with a large number of lantern slides. The brain of the 

 microcephalic idiot may exhibit features which do not merely 

 represent a " fixed" embryonic condition. In one specimen the 

 arrangement of the fissures and sulci is found to approach more 

 closely the ape than the human type, and in almost every furrow 

 some simian character can be detected. These simian characters 

 must not be considered mere fretal conditions rendered perma- 

 nent. The ape-like condition existing in this brain does not as 

 a whole correspond to that of any one ape, or group of apes, but 

 there is a complicated mixture of features some of which are 

 characteristic of high apes, while others find a parallel in the 

 brain of low apes. The microcephalic brain may be regarded 

 as a partial "atavism." So far as its .surface markings are con- 

 cerned, the specimen noted has reverted in part, or wholly, to an 

 arrangement which, in all probability, existed in some early 

 stem-formof man 



