544 



NATURE 



[October i, 1903 



too obscure for them to form a basis for the creation of a 

 new species of man. Both Huxley and Turner have shown 

 that the low vault of the Neanderthal calvaria can be closely 

 paralleled by specimens of existing races. 



If the characters of the Neanderthal calvaria are so dis- 

 .tinctive as to justify the recognition of a new species, a 

 new genus ought to be made for the Trinil skull-cap. In 

 nearly every respect it is distinctly lower in type than tfie 

 Neanderthal, and yet many of the anatomists who have 

 expressed their opinion on the subject maintain that the 

 Trinil specimen is distinctly human. 



Important and interesting as are the facts which may be 

 ascertained from a study of a series of skulls regarding the 

 size and form of the brain, it is evident that there are 

 distinct limits to the knowledge to be obtained from this 

 source. Much additional information as to racial characters 

 would undoubtedly be gained had we collections of brains 

 at all corresponding in number and variety with the skulls 

 in our museums. We know that as a rule the brains of 

 the less civilised races are smaller, and the convolutions 

 and fissures simpler, than those of the more cultured nations, 

 beyond this but little more than that definitely determined. 



As the results of investigations in human and compara- 

 tive anatomy, physiology, and pathology, we know that 

 definite areas of the cerebral cortex are connected with the 

 action of definite groups of muscles, and that the nervous 

 impulses starting from, the organs of smell, sight, hearing, 

 and common sensibility reach defined cortical fields. All 

 these, however, do not cover more than a third of the con- 

 voluted surface of the brain, and the remaining two-thirds 

 are still to a large extent a terra incognita so far as their 

 precise function is concerned. Is there a definite localisa- 

 tion of special mental qualities or moral tendencies, and if 

 so where are they situated? These are problems of 

 extreme difficulty, but their interest and importance are 

 difficult to exaggerate. In the solution of this problem 

 anthropologists are bound to take an active and important 

 part. When they have collected information as to the 

 relative development of the various parts of the higher brain 

 in all classes of mankind with the same thoroughness with 

 which they have investigated the racial peculiarities of the 

 skull, the question will be within a measurable distance of 

 solution. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Dr. David Hepburn has been appointed professor of 

 anatomy at the University College of South Wales and 

 Monmouthshire, and Dr. T. J. Jehu professor of geology 

 in the University of St. Andrews. 



The distribution of medals and prizes to the students of 

 the Royal College of Science will take place in the lecture 

 theatre of the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensing- 

 ton, at 2.30 p.m. on October 8, when an address will be 

 delivered by Prof. Farmer, F.R.S. 



Eighteen lectures, open to the public without payment 

 or ticket, will be given at University College, London, 

 during October by professors in the faculties of arts and 

 laws and of science. On October 7 a lecture on " Archi- 

 tectural Evolution," introductory to the work of the School 

 of Architecture, will be given by Prof. F. M. Simpson. Sir 

 William Ramsay will lecture on the gases of the atmo- 

 sphere, and their connection with radium and its eman- 

 ations, on October 6. 



The " Education Directory," just published by the 

 Education Committee of the Oxfordshire County Council, 

 shows that the committee has ordered a special survey of 

 the educational conditions of the area over which it has 

 control. Until this inquiry has been held the committee 

 has decided that the higher education of the county shall 

 be carried forward on the lines previously laid. down by the 

 Technical Instruction Committee, only modified in so far 

 as last year's Act gives wider powers to the Education 

 Committee. 



The research, statistical and biometric laboratory of 

 University College, London, under Prof. Karl Pearson, 

 offers good opportunities for post-graduate students and re- 

 search workers in many fields of inquiry. The aim of the 



NO, 1770, VOL. 68] 



department is to give exact training in both observation 

 and computation. Lectures are provided in both elemental, 

 and advanced statistics, and the general theory of statistic 

 is so developed as to be of service not only to " bii 

 metricians," but to those who propose in the future to deal 

 with social, economic or vital statistics. The training thus 

 gained is far more profitable than any mere examination 

 curriculum for those professions which require powers of 

 careful observation, of original thought, or of accuratf 

 computation. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September 21. — M. Albert Gaudry 

 in the chair. — Parthenogenesis by carbonic acid obtain' 

 with eggs after the emission of the polar globules, 1 

 M. Yves Delagre. It has been shown in previous work I 

 the author that the eggs of the sea urchin are absolutely 

 refractory to the action of carbonic acid. The effect of heat 

 alone, or of shaking alone, gave also negative results, but 

 moderate shaking at 30° C. in presence of carbonic acid 

 was successful in producing the desired result, segmentation 

 taking place in about 60 per cent, of the eggs. — On the 

 production of sugar in the blood during the passage of tlv 

 latter through the lungs, by MM. R. Lupine and Boulud. 

 From the experiments described the authors conclude that, 

 during the passage of the blood through the lungs, ther< 

 is not only a glycolytic, but also a glycogenic proces>, 

 hitherto unnoticed. — On monodrome functions and differ- 

 ential equations, by M. Edm. Maillet. — On the properties 

 and constitution of the manganese steels, by M. L6on 

 Guillet. The metallographic and mechanical tests are in 

 perfect agreement with each other, and show that there i- 

 great similarity between nickel and manganese steels. — 

 The diagnosis of biliary calculi by preliminary radiography, 

 by MM. Mauclaire and Infroit. — The germination of 

 orchids, by M. Noel Bernard. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Mrs. Marcet Rediviva. By W. R 521 



Experimental Embryology 523 



The Study of Economics. By T. J 524 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Lyons : " A Treatise on Electromagnetic Phenomena 

 and on the Compass and its Deviations Aboard 



Ship."— E. W. C 524 



" Comite international des Poids et Mesures. Proces- 



Verbaux des Sciences " '. . 525 



Garland: " Flora of the Island of Jersey " . . . . 525 

 Letters to the Editor :— 



Radium and the Geological Age of the Earth.— Prof. 



J. Joly, F.R.S 526 



Some Overlooked Zoological' Generic Names. — Prof. 



T. D. A. Cockerell . 526 



Height of the Atmosphere Determined from the Time 

 of Disappearance of Blue Colour of the Sky after 



Sunset. — Dr. T. J. J. See 526 



The Lyrids of 1903.— John R. Henry 526 



Glow-worm and Thunderstorm ; also Milk. — Sir 



Oliver Lodge, F.R.S 527 



Ill-health of the Rand Miners . ......... 527 



Photography at the New Gallery 527 



Notes. {Illustrated.) 528 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Astronomical Occurrences in October 531 



Report of the Paris Observatory for 1902 ...... 532 



The Rigidity of Piers for Meridian Circles 532 



Recent Papers on Meteorites. {Illustrated.) .... 532 



The British Association 534 



Section F.— Economic Science and Statistics.— 

 Opening Address by Mr. E. W. Brabrook, C.B,, 

 F. S. A. , V. P. S.S,, President of the Section ... . 534 

 Section H.— Anthropology.— Opening Address by 

 Prof. Johnson Symington, M.D., F.R.S., 

 F.R.S.E., President of the Section . ...... 539 



University and Educational Intelligence 544 



Societies and Academies 544 



