August 30, 1894J 



NA TURE 



439 



ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIA TION. 



"pHURSDAY, August 9— Dr. E. B. Tylor read a paper on 

 the distribution of mythical beliefs as evidence in the 

 history of culture. The author showed that the wide distribu- 

 tion of several mythical beliefs, such as the idea of souls being 

 weighed in a spiritual balance, and that of the Bridge of the 

 Dead, gave evidence of connecting links between the great re- 

 ligions of the world. The theory that the pre-Columbian 

 culture of America took shape under Asiatic influence was sup- 

 ported by evidence of a similar nature. Thus, in the religion 

 of ancient Mexico four great scenes in the journey of the soul in 

 the land of spirits are depicted in a group in the Aztec picture- 

 writing known as the Vatican Codex : first, the crossing of the 

 river of death ; second, the passage of the soul between two 

 mountains that clash together ; third, the soul climbing up a 

 mountain set with sharp obsidian knives ; fourth, the dangers 

 resulting from these knives being carried about by the wind. 

 There is a close resemblance between these Mexican pictures 

 and certain scenes from the Buddhist purgatory depicted on 

 Japanese temple scrolls. Here are seen, rtrst, souls wading 

 across the river of death ; second, souls passing between two 

 huge iron mountains, which are pushed together byrlemons; 

 third, souls climbing the mountain of knives, whose sharp 

 blades cut their hands and feet ; fourth, knile-bladcs llying 

 through the air. Dr. Tylor also referred to Humboldt's 

 argument from the calendars and mythic catastrophes in .Mexico 

 and Asia, and to the correspondence in Bronze-Age work and 

 in games in both regions, and expressed the opinion that the 

 evidence was sufficient to justify anthropologists in considering 

 that ancient American culture was due to a great extent to 

 Asiatic influence. 



Dr. Beddoe read a paper on complexional dilTerences between 

 the Irish with indigenous and exotic surnames. The author 

 showed that dark hair and light eyes arc much more prevalent 

 among the former class of Irishmen than among the latter. 



investigations, and their probable value, and pointed out some 

 of the possible methods of correction where such exist. For 

 example, in engine trials there are many po-sible sources of 

 error. Klost of these may be reduced in percentage value by 

 continuing the trial for a sufficient period. But this is not the 

 case with errors which may occur in the indicators, gauges, or 

 spring balances used in the determination of power. In these, 

 unless properly calibrated before trial, very serious errors may 

 be introduced, amounting in some cases to 5 or 6 per cent, of 

 the total power indicated. It is therefore, he said, absurd, 

 even if proper precautions have been taken, to rely upon horse- 

 power measurements to two places of decimals. With regard 

 to tension and compression experiments with standard loinch 

 bars, calibration of the testing machine is extremely difficult, and 

 can in general only be carried out over a small portion of the 

 range of the experiments. Deductions have therefore to be 

 made from the less to the greater, with the result that small 

 errors in the calibration will tend to be magnified. Vertical 

 testing machines have fewer sources of error, and can be 

 calibrated with more certainly, than horizontal machines. 

 Extensomelers are, however, much more easily applied to a 

 horizontal bar than a vertical, and variable jockey weights, 

 which are requisite if the same accuracy is to be maintained at 

 low loads as at high, are also more readily adapted to horizontal 

 machines. Extensomelers can be made and calibrated well up 

 to the accuracy of the testing machine. With standard bars 

 and a measuring instrument true to the ten-thousandth nf an | 

 inch, the modulus can be relied upon to the second significant ; 

 figure. It is doubtful if more can be obtained without very I 

 special construction and calibration of the testing machine. | 

 The iiifficulty in bending exueriments, again, lies in the j 

 accurate application of load. Unless the beams are very short 

 or of unman.ageai>le cross-sections, the I'ad measurement must 

 be very delicate if readings approaching the accuracy of those in 

 tension are to be obtained. It is possible that some of the 

 discrepancies in published beam experiments may be due to 

 this cause. The paper dealt briefly with other cases where 

 calibration is specially needed. 



Mr. Kenward's paper was of value, both from an historical 

 and a practical point of view. It was illustrated by a number 

 of drawings and photographs. 



The following reports were also read : — Report of the Anthro- 

 pometric Laboratory Committee, report of the Ethnographical 

 Survey Committee, report of the Anthropometry in Schools' 

 Committee. 



Friday, August 10. — The greater part of the day was devoted 

 to a joint discussion with the Geological Section on the plateau 

 flint implements of North Kent. The discussion was opened 

 by Prof. T. Rupert Jones, in a paper in which he expressed 

 general concurrence with the views of Prof. Prestwich as to the 

 genuineness and antiquity of the implements found in the 

 plateau gravels. lie argued that the gravel in which the flints 

 were found must have been of pre-Glacial Age. -Mr. Whitaker 

 could not admit that there was any good evidence to connect 

 the men who worked the flints with pre-Glacial or even with 

 glacial limes, as there were no deposits of undoubted Glacial 

 Age in or near the district. -Mr. Montgomerie Bell stated his 

 reasons for believing that the collections of flints from the 

 plateau gravels were of human handiwork. He said that all 

 the evidence pointed to the working of a race of men with 

 strongly-developed body but weakly-developed mind, and this 

 was exactly the conclusion we should expect. Sir John Kvans 

 said that the evidence as to the Palaeolithic Age in Suffolk 

 being locally post-Glacial was irrefragable, and that the principal 

 outcome of the recent discoveries was, to his mind, the fact that 

 the existence of palceolithic man could be carried further back 

 in lime ihan the valley gravels, inasmuch as his implements are 

 now found in gravels on plateaus at far higher levels. General 

 Pitt-Rivers contended that a single bulb of percussion was not 

 in itself sufficient to prove human workmanship. The bulb of 

 percussion shows the direction in which the blow was given, 

 but any hard knock would produce it, and it was necessary that 

 two or three blows at least should have been given in some 

 definite direction in order to prove design on the part of the 

 fabricator. Dr. H. Hicks, Prof. Boyd Dawkins, Sir Henry 

 Howorth, and Lieut. -Colonel Godwin Austen also took part 

 in the discussion. Mr. II. Slopes read a paper on the evolution 

 of stone implements, and the following reports were pre- 

 sented : — Report of the Prehistoric and Ancient Remains in 

 Glamorganshire Committee, report of the Elbolton Cave 

 Exploration Committee, report of the Explorations at Oldbury 

 Hill Committee. 



Saturday, August II. — Mr. Arthur Evans read a paper 

 on the discovery of a new hieroglyphic system, and pre- 

 Phoenician script in Crete. During the exploration of the 

 ancient sites of Central and Eastern Crete, the author had suc- 

 ceeded in bringing to light a series of stones presenting picto- 

 graphic symbols of a hieroglyphic nature, and was now able to 

 put together over seventy symbols belonging to an independent 

 hieroglyphic system. More than this, he had discovered partly 

 on stones of similar form, partly engraved on prehistoric vases 

 and other materials, a series of linear characters, a certain pro- 

 portion of which seemed to grow out of the pictorial forms. As 

 in the case of the Egyptian and Hittite symbols, the Cretan 

 hieroglyphics fell into certain distinct classes, such as parts of 

 the human body, arms and implements, animal and vegetable 

 forms, objects relating to maritime life, astronomical and 

 geometrical symbols. Some of them belonged to that interest- 

 ing class of pictographs which is rooted in primitive gesture 

 language. The symbols occurred in groups, and there were 

 traces of a boustrophedon arrangement in the several lines. The 

 comparisons instituted showed some interesting afiinities to 

 Hittite forms. The linear and more alphabetic series of symbols 

 fitted on to certain signs engraved on the walls of what was 

 apparently a Mycencan palace at Knosos, and again to two 

 groups of signs on vase handles from Mycens. It was thus 

 possible to construct a Mycenean script of some twenty-four 

 characters, each probably having a syllabic value. The author 

 gave leasons for believing that the Philistines, who, according 

 to unanimous Hebrew tradition, came from the .^Iedilerrancan 

 islands, and who were actually called Krethi in the Bible, in 

 fact represented this old indigenous Cretan stock, and that they 

 had here the relics and the writing of "the Philistines at 

 home." 



Mr. Arthur Evans exhibited a number of prehistoric objects 

 collected during his journey and explorations in Central and 

 Eastern Crete. 



Mr. H. Balfour, in a paper on the evolution of the bow as a 

 musical instrument, gave the aboriginal races of Africa and 

 India the ctedit of providing us with the prototype of many of 

 our best string instruments. 



NO. 1296, VOL. 50] 



