6 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[January 1, 1900. 



It is gratifying to learn that the efforts put forth by 

 the Legislature in recent years for the effectual pre- 

 vention of explosions in coal mines are being attended 

 by results which show that mortality is not near so 

 rampant as it was formerly. In the last two years, that 

 is, in the two years which, at the end of 1888, had 

 elapsed since the Act came into force there had 

 been no great and devastating explosion. Still, even 

 now, our knowledge of the causes, circumstances, and 

 effects of explosions in mines, whether of fire damp, of 

 coal dust, or of both, is still very far from complete — 

 indeed, is in many respects of little more than a rudi- 

 mentary character. But let us not under-estimate the 

 labours of those who have captained us thus far in 

 our conflict with the miner's deadly foe. 



THE NATIVES OF AUSTRALIA AND THEIR 

 ORIGIN. 



By R. Lydekker. 

 If the visitor to the Natural History Museum at 

 South Kensington direct his attention to a case in the 

 upper Mammalian Gallery bearing the superscription 

 " Comparison of Man and Apes : Craniometry," he 

 will scarcely fail to be struck by the remarkable 

 difference presented between the palates of three skulls 

 placed side by side, and respectively labelled Mon- 

 golian, Australian, and Chimpanzee. In the firso 

 the teeth, which are of comparatively small size, form 

 a regular unbroken horseshoe-like curve, as they like- 

 wise do in a European ; while the bony palate "of the 

 skull is so short that its transverse diameter consider- 

 ably exceeds the iongitudinal. On the other h i d, in 

 the Australian skull the individual teeth themselves 

 are larger, and instead of the whole scries forming a 

 regular horseshoe, the line of grinders on each side, 

 together with the eye-tooth, or canine, forms a distinct 

 angle with the inci.sor line in front. Moreover, the 

 palate is longer and narrower than in the Mongolian 

 skull ; the length of its longitudinal diameter exceeding 

 the transverse. Turning to the Chimpanzee skull, the 

 observer will notice that the features indicated in that 

 of the Australian are intensified ; the palate itself 

 being much longer than broad, while the teeth are pro- 

 portionately very large, and those on each side are 

 arranged in a straight line, curving slightly inwards, 

 and forming a marked angle with the incisors in front, 

 from which they are separated by a distinct gap. 



Looking at the three palates, the impartial observer 

 can scarcely fail to .see that although the Australian 

 is nearer to the Mongolian than it is to the Chimpan- 

 zee, yet it forms a very marked step in the direction of 

 the latter, and that if we had but one more link, the gap 

 between the Mongolian and Simian palates would be 

 practically bridged. Indeed although, judging from 

 the skull alone, the European should have no hesi- 

 tation in claiming the Australian as a fellow man, yet 

 to say that he is a " brother ' would be stretching that 

 somewhat elastic term very hard indeed — an extremely 

 distant cousin would more adequately express the 

 relationship I 



Had we only Australians on the one hand and Eu- 

 ropeans and Mongolians on the other to deal with, it 

 appears highly probable that we should be perfectly 

 justified in regarding the former as a distinct species 

 of mankind. For not only is there the above men- 

 tioned striking difference in the structure of the 

 palate, but (not to mention other points of distinction) 



the spinal column of the Australian lacks the full de- 

 velopment of the exquisite curves of that of the Eu- 

 ropean, and thus approximates to the Chimpanzee and 

 Gorilla. As a matter of fact, however, the frizzly- 

 haired Melanesians of Oceania, as well as the true 

 Negroes of Africa, stand in some degree intermediate 

 between the Australian and the European in respect 

 to the structure of the skeleton, and thus forbid us 

 regarding the former as a species apart. 



One of the greatest puzzles in the science of anthrop- 

 ology is indeed to understand the relationship of the 

 Australians to other races of mankind. In their skele- 

 tal structure they undoubtedly come nearest to the 

 Melanesians and the African Negroes, although pre- 

 senting a still more primitive type. Their black com- 

 plexion, thick and pouting lips, projecting jaws, large 

 teeth, and long skulls are indeed essentially Negro 

 characters. Their eyes, too, are deeply set in the skull, 

 and their legs show little or no calf. In the prominent 

 ridges over the eyes, they frequently exhibit (see 

 Plate) a resemblance to the Melanesian rather than to 

 the African Negro type, in which these brow-ridges 

 are undeveloped. Australians likewise resemble Ne- 

 groes in that the colour of the skin of the infants is 

 light yellow or brown instead of black ; the adult 

 sable tint not being acquired till between eighteen 

 months and two years of age. 



But (and this is a very large " but " indeed) here 

 the resemblance ceases ; for all Australians aie 

 broadly distinguished from Negroes and Melanesians 

 — even their near neighbours the Tasmanians — by the 

 character of their hair, which, in place of being 

 " woolly," or frizzly as it may be better termed, is at 

 most bushy, curly, or wavy ; being generally coarse in 

 texture and black in colour. The beard and moustache 

 are likewise well developed ; and in fact, as the illus- 

 trations show, Australians cannot be distinguished by 

 their hair from the wild tribes of India, who are gene- 

 rally regarded as having no near relationship with 

 Negroes, and who display no markedly low type in the 

 form of the palate. 



Before attempting to consider the meaning of this 

 marked difference between Australians on the one side 

 and Negroes and Melanesians on the other, it may be 

 well to devote a few lines to the essential distinction 

 between frizzly and other types of hair. If sections 

 be taken from the hair or a horse's tail or mane, and 

 then be examined under a microscope or lens, it will 

 be found that they are perfectly circular ; and the 

 entire hair being thus cylindrical, it naturally hangs 

 straight down. The lank black hair of a Japanese, a 

 Chinese, or an American Indian is of the same cylin- 

 drical type. On the other hand, the hair of an aver- 

 age European when seen in section presents an oval 

 ellipse, and thus causes the waviness so frequently 

 noticeable. When, however, the hair of a Negro or 

 Melanesian is sectionised. it is found to present a flat 

 ellipse ; and it is owing to this peculiar structure that 

 the hair of these peoples assumes its characteristic 

 frizziness. Now it is very noticeable that in crossbred 

 races, such as the Brazilian Capesos (Negro and Native 

 half-breeds, who are mop-headed like the Papuans), 

 this frizziness of the hair tends to persist ; and a hy- 

 brid described as half Negro, a quarter Cheroki, and a 

 quarter English, is stated to have retained the Negro 

 " wool." Hence it has been suggested that frizzly hair 

 represents the primitive human type of capillary 

 adornment. 



But if \vc examine the hair of a Chiiujjauzcc, 



