October 9, 1890] 



NATURE 



581 



evil spirits. . They have a strict sense of right and wrong, and 

 have religious ceremonies, which are always held in secret on 

 ground that is held very sacred, so much so that if it is touched 

 by the foot of a white person it loses all sanctity. 



Another paper by Mr. Fawcett was read on the aborigines of 

 Australia, in which he traversed certain statements that have 

 been made by Mr. Carl Lumholtz. 



On Friday, September 5, Mr. F. W. Rudler, who, in the 

 absence of Dr. Evans, presided over the Section, read a paper i 

 on the present aspect of the jade question. | 



It has long been known that implements worked in jade have ! 

 occasionally been found in ancient graves in France and Western 

 Germany, and in certain Neolithic stations on the Swiss lakes. 

 Some of these implements are wrought in nephrite, or true jade, 

 and others in jadeite. As neither of these minerals had been ' 

 found in situ in Europe, while both were known to occur in ; 

 Asia, it had been conjectured that the European jade imple- 

 ments must have had an Oriental source, and that either the 

 implements themselves or the raw materials of which they were 

 made had been brought to Europe in prehistoric times. But 

 within the last few years Herr Traube, of Breslau, has discovered 

 nephrite in place near Jordansmiihl, and near Reichenstein, in 

 Silesia. Pebbles of nephrite have also been recently recorded, 

 by Dr. Berwerth, from the valleys of the Mur and the Sann, 

 two rivers in Styria. A pebble believed to be of jadeite was 

 found by M. Damour at Ouchy, on the Lake of Geneva, and 

 the same mineral has been recorded from Monte Viso, in 

 Piedmont. 



Jade implements are found along the coast of British 

 Columbia and Alaska, and it has been suggested that these, or 

 ihe raw jade, had been obtained from Siberia, where the occur- 

 rence of nephrite is well known. Dr. G. M. Dawson has, how- 

 ever, recorded the discovery of small boulders of jade, partially 

 worked, in the lower part of the Frazer River Valley ; and 

 Lieutenant Stoney has obtained the mineral in situ at the Jade 

 Mountains in Alaska, 150 miles from above the mouth of the 

 River Kowak. 



The present aspect of the jade question is, therefore, quite 

 different from that which it presented when the late Prof. H. 

 Fischer and others strongly favoured the view that the jade im- 

 plements of Europe and America had an exotic origin. In both 

 these continents jade has now been found in situ, and it seems, 

 therefore, probable that the material of the implements is in- 

 digenous, as maintained by Dr. A. B. Meyer for those of the 

 Old World, and by Dr. Dawson, Prof. F. W. Clarke, Mr. G. 

 F. Kunz, and others, for those of the New World. If future 

 discoveries should confirm the indigenous view, the famous jade 

 question will be hfted out of the domain of anthropology. 



A paper entitled "Is there a Break in Mental Evolution?" 

 was contributed by the Hon, Lady Welby. The introduction of 

 the idea of "ghost" marks mental degeneration. If the idea of 

 "spirit" had its origin in primitive man, it would have to 

 undergo the most primitive tests, viz. contact, odour, and 

 flavour. The author contended that we must either suppose an 

 absolute break and reversal in the evolution of mind wherein a 

 permanently distorted picture of the universe is created, and the 

 real and significant suddenly abdicates in favour, of the baseless 

 and unmeaning ; or, we must ask whether there is some reality 

 answering to these crude conceptions, which thus form part of a 

 continuous mental development, and may be described as faulty 

 translation, rendered inevitable by the scantiness of primitive 

 means of analysis and expression. 



To adopt the first alternative is to strike a blow at the doctrine 

 of continuous ascent in evolution : while the second might lead 

 us to conclude that what we want is a greater power of inter- 

 preting primitive ideas as expressed in myth and ritual, notably 

 in relation to recent developments and present researches in 

 psychology itself and the psychological aspects of language. 



Dr. Phene read a paper on an unidentified people occupying 

 parts of Britain in pre-Roman-British times. From extensive 

 investigations in France, Italy, &c., he showed that certain 

 names and words continued from Britain to the Mediterranean 

 along ancient routes of traffic, and the works and constructions 

 along, and in connection with, the same routes, were so alike as 

 to be identical in design. These constructors and merchants 

 were not British, and the traffic appears carried back long prior 

 to the time of C;Esar. 



The other papers read were on the Yourouks of Asia Minor, 

 by Mr. T. Bent ; the Aryan cradle-land, by Mr. J. Stuart 



NO. 1093, "VOL. 42] 



Glennie ; and reversions, by Miss Nina Layard. The Report oi 

 the Notes and Queries Committee was also presented. 



On Monday, September 8, Dr. G. W. Hambleton read a 

 paper on physical development, in which he described the 

 results of a practical experiment in physical development which 

 is being carried on at the Polytechnic Institution. Fifty per 

 cent, of the 200 members of the author's Physical Development 

 Society had obtained an increase of chest-girth of one inch 

 and upwards, the average increase being a little less than two 

 inches. In one case the increase was 6.^ inches. The increase has- 

 taken place in small as well as in large chests, whether the men 

 were tall or short, under or over twenty-one years of age, and 

 with or without gymnastic training. 



Dr. Munro described some archaeological remains bearing on 

 the question of the origin of the Anglo-Saxons in England. 

 The relics in question have been recently brought to light on the 

 coasts of Holland and North Germany, more especially in- 

 Friesland and the low- lying district northwards as far as the 

 River Elbe, and show a remarkable similarity to Anglo-Saxon 

 antiquities found in England. Dr. Munro also contributed a 

 paper on prehistoric otter and beaver traps, in which he described 

 some curious wooden machines which have been discovered in 

 various peat bogs in different parts of Europe, and of which 

 hitherto no satisfactory explanation has been offered. 



Rev, E. Maule Cole read a paper on the Duggleby " Howe." 

 This great mound on the Yorkshire wolds was opened by 

 Mr. J. R. Mortimer on behalf of Sir Tatton Sykes in July last. 

 The diameter of the mound was found to be over 120 feet, 

 and the height was originally about 30 feet. In the process of 

 excavation it turned out that there was an outer mound of rough 

 chalk, of some 15 feet or more in thickness, surrounding an 

 inner mound, and that the centres of the two did not exactly 

 correspond. In the grit and lower clay were found fifty-three 

 deposits of burnt human bones, but without any urns. Some 

 beautiful flint weapons and tusks of the wild boar were discovered 

 with human bodies in graves cut out of the solid rock. 



Mr. J. R. Mortimer described a Romano-British graveyard in 

 the parish of Wetwang-with-Fimber, which he believes to be the 

 site of the long-lost Delgovitia. 



Mr. Mortimer also contributed a paper on a supposed Roman 

 camp at Octon, close to the road from York to the coast. The 

 rectangular corners of the camp, and the width of the ditches 

 (7^ feet) at the bottom, encourage the belief that this is not a 

 British work, but Roman. 



The other papers were on minute Neolithic implements, by 

 Dr. H. C. March ; indications of retrogression in prehistoric 

 civilization in the Thames Valley, by Mr. H, Slopes ; and a 

 suggestion as to the boring of stone-hammers, by Mr, W. Home. 



On Tuesday, September 9, Dr. Wilberforce Smith read a 

 paper on stethographic tracings of male and female respiratory 

 movements. The investigation of the author, so far as it has 

 yet proceeded, totally fails to confirm the view commonly put 

 forth in physiological text-books that there is a natural difference 

 between the sexes in regard to respiratory movements, Mr, W. 

 F. Stanley exhibited and described a new spirometer, constructed 

 upon the principle of the class of gas-meters used for testing. 

 Dr. J. G, Garson contributed some notes on human remains 

 found by General Pitt-Rivers, at Woodyates, Wiltshire, The 

 measurements of the limb bones showed the stature of the 

 persons to have been greater than that of those who were 

 interred in Woodcuts and Rotherley, The characters of the 

 skulls showed a considerable range of variation in size and 

 proportion, indicating that they did not belong to a homo- 

 geneous people, but to individuals of mixed race. Variation- 

 was found not only in the facial portion, but also in the form of 

 the calvaria. As far as the author was able to judge, the 

 mixture is due to crossing between the Romans and the early 

 dolichocephalic British race. There is no evidence of mixture 

 arising from crossing between either of these races and the 

 Celtic population. 



The following papers were also read : Mr, B. Hollander, old 

 and modern phrenology ; Dr, Wilberforce Smith, diagrams for 

 reading off indices ; General Pitt-Rivers, excavation of the 

 Wandsdyke at Woodyates ; together with the report of the 

 Anthropometric Laboratory Committee ; report of the Pre- 

 historic Inhabitants Committee ; report of the Nomad Tribes of 

 Asia Minor Committee ; report of the North- Western Tribes 

 of Canada Committee ; and the report of the Indian Com- 

 mittee. 



