Dec, 1904.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



295 



Further, at an early stayc 01 dcveiopuRiu ilic tiluil.i is a com- 

 plete and separate bono, while the throe inetatars.als which 

 subseijuently fuse together to form the cannon-bone are like- 

 wise separate. 



^- * * 



Were Our Ancestors Negroes ? 



.An extremely interesting point with regard to the ancestry 

 of the Enropean or Cancasian naces of mankind has been 

 recently raised by certain discoveries on the Continent. It 

 appears that the .-Vnthropological Society of Paris has recently 

 received two ancient skulls, the one from the dolmen of 

 Pointe-de-Conquet. and the other from a tunmlus in Brittany, 

 both of which are distinctly of the negro type. Again, two 

 other skulls of a similar type have been discovered in the 

 cave of Baonsso-Ronsse, near Montone; while two more are 

 recorded from the valley of the Rhone, in \'alais, which belong 

 to a more modern age. .-Vll these exhibit the characteristic 

 negro feature of projecting jaws (prognathism), although it is 

 not stated whether this is accompanied by the large teeth 

 distinctive of modern negroes. 



This indicates that the prognathic type of sknll made its 

 appearance occasionally among onr prehistoric ancestors, as it 

 does indeed now and then among ourselves ; whether, how- 

 ever, this is due to direct inheritance, or whether it is sporadic, 

 there is no evidence to show. Neither can we pronounce with 

 any degree of certainty whether our earliest ancestors were or 

 were not negroes. 



R^oyal Society. 



Awa.rd of Medals. 



StBjOi.vED is a list of this year's recipients of the 

 medals in the gift of the Royal Society, the presenta- 

 tion of which took place at the anniversary meeting on 

 St. Andrew's Day, November 30 : — The Copley gold 

 medal to -Sir William Crookes for his experimental 

 researches in chemistry and physics ; the Rumford gold 

 medal to Prof. Ernest Rutherford for his investigations 

 into the properties of radio-active matter ; Royal gold 

 medals to I'rof. William Burnside and Col. Da\id 

 Bruce, respectively, for mathematical researches and 

 for researches into the causation of various tropical 

 and other diseases ; the " .Sir Humphry Davy " gold 

 medal to Prof. W. 11. Perkin, jun., for his work in 

 synthetic organic chemistry ; the Darwin silver mcd.il 

 to Mr. William Hateson for in\estigations in heredity 

 and variation ; the " Da\id Henry Hughes " gold 

 medal to Sir Joseph Wilson .Swan for his practic.il 

 applications of electricity ; the .Sylvester bronze medal 

 to Prof. Georg Cantor, of Halle, for researches in 

 pure mathematics. 



Copley. — The name of .Sir William Crookes is one 

 of the most familiar amongst ICnglish scientific men ; 

 instinctively we associate him with the most fruitful 

 chapters in the record of physical science of the past 

 half-century. In his hands spectrum analysis has 

 yielded a rich harvest of results. I-ong ;igo, 



by its aid, he discovered the element thallium. 

 Electrical science has been consistently advanced 

 through his deductions and experimental skill, ex- 

 emplified by a series of investigations, all the more 

 sure because never hurried. Following the recogni- 

 tion of radium by the Curies, he became an ardent 

 student of the problems surrounding its behaviour and 

 properties. In this connection his researches (with 



.^ir janios Dewar) on llu' olloci nl oxlronio culd on llie 

 em.inations of radiimi may be instanced. Mention, 

 too, should be made of the invention of the ingenious 

 Spinthariscope, which demonstrates to the eye those 

 scintillations proceeding from radiinn nitrate which, in 

 his own apt words, con\ey the appearance of a 

 " turbulent luminous sea." .Sir W. Crookes' mcd.illic 

 roll of honour comprises, in addition to the present 

 award, the Uoval modal (1875), and the Davy medal 

 (18SS). 



Rumford. — Prof. ICrncst Rutherford, whom, bv the 

 wav, the Cambridge .School of IMnsicists include in 

 their ranks, since he was a pu|)il ol I'rof. J. |. Thom- 

 son, is one of the younger workers in the department 

 referring to r.idio-acti\e matter. His paper, " On a 

 Radio-active .Substance limitted by Thorium Com- 

 pounds," was an introductory of profoimd significance 

 to those engaged in the higher realms of physical 

 inquiry. 



Kayal. — Prof. \\'. Bmnside is a voluminous writer 

 on mathem.atic.'il subjects, p;irticularly on the Theory 

 of Functions (Proceedings, Cambridge Philosophical 

 .Society), and the Theory of Croups. Col. 

 David Bruce R.A.M.C., has rendered valuable 

 ser\ice in that comparatively new field of 

 inquiry wliicli embraces the study of the causation of 

 tropical diseases, in particular, " Malta " Fe\er, Tsetse 

 l-"ly Disease, and Sleeping .Sickness, a department of 

 work in which |)athology, medicine, and entomology 

 h.ave each a share as agents of discovery and pre- 

 vention. Ten years ago he was p.atiently carrying out 

 investigations in Zululand on the diseases " X'gana 

 and Tsetse Fly. He showed that in character they 

 were identical ; further, that the insect known as the 

 tsetse fly was, in reality, the carrier of the parasitical 

 organism (Trypanosome), whose presence entailed 

 p.athogenic consequences. This was a new observa- 

 tion, .and it marked a long stride forward. .Xs the out- 

 come of researches conducted last year in Uganda, he 

 supplied the proof (removed from conjecture) that 

 .Sleeping .Sickness, or what is now cilJcd Try- 

 panosomiasis, is induced by a microscopic parasite oc- 

 curring in the blood of the himian subject ; moreover, 

 that a spei'ios of the tsetse fly (Glosiiini fii/palis) acts 

 ;is the carrier of the organism. " ..- *» 



Davy. — Prof. W. H. Perkin, jun., was formerly 

 Lecturer and Research .Assistant in the Dyeing Depart- ,, 



ment, Yorkshire College, Feeds. He is the author of ' ' // 

 numerous papers on the colouring matters of plants, 

 especially those of Indi.an origin. It is, however, for'' 

 his long-continued and fruitful researches a'nd" fWs- •'''^ •■ 

 coveries in synthetic organic chemistry that he receives 

 the medal. 



Danv'in. — -Mr. W. Batoson's investigation of heredity 

 •and variation problems have attracted wide attention. 

 He has redeemed from seclusion the labours of the 

 natur.-ilist .Mendel, and directed a large body of workers 

 to the important f.-icts indicated by the studies of that 

 observer. 



Hughes. — .Sir Joseph Wilson .Swan's scientific 

 labours have been concerned principally with the intro- 

 duction of improvements in the applications of elec;- 

 tricity and of the chemical arts in relation to 

 photogr.iphy. The adoption and development of 

 electricity as a mode of lighting is intimately associ;it;-d 

 with his invention of the incandescent electric lamp. 

 He w;is the first to use a filament of carbon. 

 Origin.ator of the autotype process, he has in other 

 directions aided photography in the dual aspects of 

 art and scien<-e. 



