468 



NA TURE 



[March 15, 1894 



diphenyl-iodonium hydroxide and silver iodate are produced, in 

 accordance with the following equation : — 

 CeH^.IO + CgHj.IOg + AgOH = AglO^ + HO.I(QH,,)o. 



When a mixture of the two iodine aromatic derivative?, in the 

 proportions required by the above equation, together with suffi- 

 cient oxide of silver, is vigorously agitated for three hours in a 

 triturating machine, such as that in use in the Heidelberg labora- 

 tory, and filtered, the clear solution upon the addition of potas- 

 sium iodide solution yields over ninety per cent, of the calculated 

 weight •vf crystals of diphenyl iodonium iodide. The iodic acid 

 remains partly as silver salt in the residue, and partly as iodate 

 of the new base in the solution. 



The sails of the iodonium bases bear a remarkable resem- 

 blance to those of lead, silver, and in particular thallium. 

 Those ( f the first discovered base were defcribed last week, but 

 those of the diphenjl base are still more interesting, and many 

 of ihem crystallise well. 



The iodide obtained as above described forms large and beauti- 

 fully grouped acicular crystals which melt at I75°-I76°. During 

 the act of meliing it passes completely into mono-iodo-benzene, 

 of which it is a polymer : — 



I.I (CcH5)o = 2C^H,I. 



The chloride, CL I (C,iH .,)._,, is slowly precipitated upon the 

 addition of a soluble chloride to the aqueous solution of the free 

 base, in crystals which are very similar in aspect to those of lead 

 chloride. From hot aqueous solutions excellent crystals separate 

 upon coiling. 



The bromide, Br. I (C^HgV, crystallises likewise from hot 

 water, and the crystals are perfectly colourless, and frequently 

 attain large size. 



The aqueous solution of the free base, HO. I (CgHj).,, is very 

 stable ; it may be preserved unchanged for many days. Upon 

 concentration of the strongly alkaline solution a thick syrup is 

 eventually obtained of powerfully alkaline nature, but which has 

 not yet been crysiallised. It absorbs carbon dioxide with great 

 avidity, forming a carbonate of the base, which effervesces upon 

 the addition of a dilute acid ; the carbonate, indeed, very much 

 resembles that of thallium, being soluble in water. 



Strangest of all these reactions, perhaps, is the behaviour of the 

 solution of the base towards soluble sulphides. Sodium sulphide 

 precipitates a bright yellow sulphide of the base, closely resem- 

 bling arsenious sulphide, while ammonium sulphide precipitates a 

 beautiful deep orange-coloured polysulphide, identical in appear- 

 ance with freshly precipitated antimonious sulphide. Both sul- 

 l)hitle and polysulphide decompose after a time with separation 

 of an oil, consisting in the former case of iodobenzene and 

 phenyl sulphide, and in the latter case of the same substances 

 together with oiher phenyl sulphides. The work is being con- 

 tinued, and Prof. Meyer hopes before long to have something 

 Further to communicate concerning this unexpected and excep- 

 tionally interesting class of compounds. A. E. TuTTOX. 



THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE ARAN 

 ISLANDS, COUNTY GALIVAY. 



\\riIliN Professors Cunningham and Haddon opened their an- 

 thropometric laboratory in L'ublin, rather more than two 

 years ago, one of their objects was to promote systematic 

 research in the country districts of Ireland. We have now 

 received the first-fruits of the laboratory in the form of a paper 

 on the ethnography of the Aran Islands, by Prof A. C. 

 Haddon and Dr. C. R. Browne, read before the Royal Irish 

 Academy. The lines of research originally proposed have 

 been considerably exceeded, and the paper before us is in 

 reality a brief monograph of the islands. The observations, 

 however, have been made chiefly on the inhabitants of Aran- 

 more, the northern and largest of the three islands forming the 

 group : and the southern island, Inisheer, was not visited at all. 



The inhabitants of Inisheer, and of the middle island (Inish- 

 maan), have been less subject to foreign influence than Aran- 

 more, but the proximity of Inisheer to the mainland having 

 rendered intercourse with Ireland easy, appears to have 

 given to the inhabitants of that island a somewhat distinctive 

 character. 



The number of individuals actually measured by the authors 

 was twenty-seven, twenty of them being natives of Aranmore, 

 and the other seven being Inishmaan men ; all were males. 



NO. 1272. VOL. 49] 



The general physical characters of the people are thus de- 

 scribed : — 



Height. — The men are mostly of a slight but athletic build ; 

 and though tall men are occasionally to be met with among 

 them, they are, as a rule, considerably below the average Irish 

 stature. The Aran average is l6-]5 mm., or about 5 feet 

 44 inches; that of 277 Irishmen is 1740 mm., or 5 feet 

 83 inches. 



Li}?ibs.—The span is less than the stature in a quarter of the 

 cases measured, a rather unusual feature in adult males. The 

 hands are rather small, but the forearm is often unusually long. 



Htad. — The head is well shapen, rather long and narrow, but 

 viewed from above, the sides are not parallel, there being a slight 

 parietal bulging. 



The mean cephalic index, when reduced to the cranial 

 standard, is 75 'l, consequently the average head is, to a slight 

 extent, mesaticephalic ; although, as a matter of fact, the num- 

 ber measured is nearly evenly divided between mesaticephalic 

 and dolichocephalic. The top of the head is well vaulted, so 

 that the height above the ears is considerable. 



The forehead is broad, upright, and very rarely receding ; not 

 very high in most cases. The superciliary ridges are not pro- 

 minent. 



Face. — The face is long and oval, with w-ell-marked features. 

 The eyes are rather small, close together ; they are marked 

 at the outer corners by transverse wrinkles. The irises are in 

 the great majority ot cases blue or blue-grey in colour. The 

 nose is sharp, narrow at the base, and slightly sinuous or aquiline 

 in profile. The lower lip is, in many cases, rather large and 

 full. The chin is well developed. The cheek-bones are not 

 prominent. In quite a large proportion of cases, the ears, 

 though not large, stand well out from the head. In many men 

 the length between the nose and the chin has the appearance 

 of being decidedly great. The complexion is clear and ruddy, 

 and but seldom freckled. On the whole, the people are 

 decidedly good-looking. 



Hair. — The hair is brown in colour, in most cases of a light 

 shade, and accompanied by a light and often reddish beard. 

 As a rule, the hair on the face is moderately well developed. 



Sight and Hearing. — The sight and hearing of the people are, 

 as a rule, exceedingly keen, especially the former. The range 

 ai;d distinctness of the vision is astonishing, as we have had 

 occasion to know ; and we are informed by Dr. Kean that, on 

 a clear day, any of the men whose eyesight is averaaie can, with 

 the naked eye, make out a small sailing-boat at Black Head, 

 twenty miles away, before he can see it with a good binocular. 



The observations of the authors tend to show that the natives 

 of Inishmaan are rather lighter than the Aranmore men. 



The population is decreasing, but as the number of births is 

 considerably in excess of the deaths, the decrease must be 

 attributed to emigration. That some of the inhabitants live to 

 a very advanced age is evidenced by the fact that a tombstone 

 in Killeany records the death of a man in the 119th year of his 



age- 



The islanders appear to be exceptionally honest, straight- 

 forward and upright in their dealings, and illegitimacy is almost 

 unknown. 



They are singularly non-musical, there being no piper, fiddler, 

 or musician of any sort on the islands. 



The majority of the people can understand and speak Eng- 

 lish, but Irish is the language most generally spoken among 

 themselves. 



Almost all the marriages take place immediately before Lent. 

 There is no courting or love-making, but the young man who 

 has decided to marry goes to the house where there is a suitable 

 girl, and asks her to marry him ; a man has been known to ask 

 three girls in the same evening before he was accepted. 



Wakes are held even upon those who die abroad. Occasion- 

 ally a funeral procession stops on the road to the cemetery at 

 certain spots, and the mourners raise small memorial heaps of 

 stones ; in Aranmore there are about two dozen of these road- 

 side monuments ; but the practice does not seem to date back 

 beyond the beginning of the last century, and appears to have 

 died out within the last twenty years. 



The Aranites believe in fairies, banshees, and ghosts ; and a 

 corpse is always carried out of a house through the back door. 



It is said that if anyone at a marriage repeats the benediction 

 after the priest, and ties a knot on a piece of string at the men- 

 tion of each of the three sacred names, that marriage will be 

 childless for fifteen years, or until the knotted string has been 

 burnt. 



