March 26, 1903] 



NA TURE 



499 



nvestigalion by Mr. F. Marchand (Abhandl. der math. phys. 

 C/asse der K'dnigl. Sticks, Ges. der IViss., No. 4, 1902, p. 393). 

 The average weight of the brain for men between fifteen and 

 fifty years of age is Hoog. , that for women I275g. The smaller 

 size of the female brain is not dependent on shorter stature, as 

 the median brain weight of women is absolutely smaller than 

 that of men of similar size. 



The Mittkeilungen der Dcutschen Gcsellschaft fiir Natur- und 

 Vdlkerkunde Ostasaiens ( Band viii. Theil 3) contains two long 

 articles, one by Mr. P. E. Schiller on the etiquette of 

 present-giving in Japan, which is full of quaint customs, and 

 another by Prof. Karl Florenz on the new agitation against the 

 Japanese letter-forms. These, which are of Chinese origin, 

 weigh like an intolerable burden on Japanese progress. Dr. 

 Florenz adds an elaborate essay on comparative European and 

 Japanese phonetics, illustrated by numerous diagrams of palates. 

 This appears to be a valuable contribution to the subject of 

 comparative phonetics. 



The interesting excavations in the caves of Baousse-Rousse, 

 undertaken by the liberality of the Prince of Monaco, under 

 the able direction of M. l'Abbe de Villeneuve and with the 

 assistance of M. Lorenzi, the enthusiastic and skilful priparateur, 

 have resulted in important discoveries. The work has been 

 accomplished with the greatest thoroughness and exactitude. 

 Dr. R. Verneau has published in C Anthropologic (tome xiii. 

 No. 5, p. 561) an illustrated account of his study of the remains 

 from the " Grotte des Enfants," in which he states that although 

 the Cro-Magnon type of man is found at a depth of 7m. '05, at 

 •70m. lower two skeletons were found which presented a very 

 clear negroid appearance, but they are not true negroes. His 

 hypothesis is that earlier than the race of Cro-Magnon and later 

 than the race of Spy, a third ethnic element was present on the 

 Riviera which presented negroid characters. 



We have frequently directed the attention of ethnologists to 

 the mine of information concerning the customs, beliefs and 

 handicrafts of civilised and uncivilised folk that is to be found 

 in the pages of our contemporary Globus. The articles are 

 generally a record of first-hand observations, and the majority 

 of them are illustrated. Another feature of the journal are the 

 careful summaries of contemporary geographical, ethnographical 

 and archaeological literature. The following titles taken from 

 the current volume (Ixxxii.) illustrate the range of subjects : — 

 A historical- ethnological study on gynaecological "ex voto," by 

 Dr. E. Blind, with illustrations (p. 69) ; Dravidian folk-poetry, 

 by Mr. W. Gallenkamp : dwarfs in history and tradition, 

 by Mr. D. MacRitchie. In the previous volume, there were 

 papers by Mr. G. Thilenius on prehistoric pygmies in Schlesien 

 (p. 273), and by Mr. J. Kollmann on pygmies in Europe and 

 America. Prof. K. Weule raises the question (vol. Ixxxii. 

 p. 247) whether there are dwarf people in New Guinea. His 

 remarks are based on photographs of three men whose stature 

 ranged from 1201m. to 1205m. Further evidence must be ob- 

 tained before we can be sure whether these are a true pygmy 

 people or only dwarfed Papuans. Name-giving and marriage 

 among the Orang Temia of the Malaka Peninsula, by Hrolf 

 Vaughan Stevens, edited by H. Stunner (p. 253). An article 

 by Mr. G. Knosp on the Annamite Theatre is illustrated by a 

 coloured plate. An interesting risumi of archaeological, soma- 

 tological and ethnographical researches in Portugal is given on 

 pp. 283-289. Dr. C. Kassner describes and figures (p. 315) 

 various ethnographical survivals in Bulgaria, amongst others the 

 suspended boards that are used as gongs. 



In the current number of the Reliquary and Illustrated 

 Archaeologist is the first of a series of papers on prehistoric 

 Dartmoor, by Mr. R. Burnard, which promises to be a valuable 

 contribution to the archaeology of a most interesting region. A 

 few years ago, extremely little was known about the monuments 

 of Dartmoor, but thanks to the labours of the Dartmoor Ex- 

 ploration Committee of the Devon Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, Literature and Att for the past six years, a 

 considerable amount of information has been obtained. The 

 present communication deals with hut-circles. 



Designs cut in rocks have previously been recorded from New 

 Caledonia, but M. Archambault m I Anthropologic (xiii., 1902, 

 p. 6S9), gives a number of photographs of petroglyphs that he 

 has discovered, and certainly many of them are very remarkable, 

 and they open out a promising field for inquiry. Unfortunately, 

 the author was unable to obtain any information from the 

 natives respecting them, but it does not follow that all know- 

 ledge about them has passed away, and it is to be hoped that 



NO. 1743, VOL. 67] 



fresh endeavours will be made to elucidate their signification. 

 In the same journal will be found a further paper by M. Ch. de 

 Ujfalvy of his series on the "Iconographie et Anthropologie 

 Irano-Indienne," in which he deals with the physical type of 

 living Hindus, based on the researches of Risley and Crooke. 

 He alludes to Nesfield's view regarding the caste system, and 

 upholds his conclusions in opposition to Risley's adverse 

 criticism. 



The French are masters in the art of popularisation of science ; 

 to take a recent example, one can buy for 60 centimes a care- 

 fully compiled, up-to-date summary of French archxology by 

 Zaborowski (" Bibliotheque utile," F. Alcan, Paris). In the 

 seventh edition of " 1'Homme prehistorique,'' the French 

 people can learn the opinion of specialists on the ancestry of 

 man and the main characteristics of the men of the variou 

 archaeological epochs. The tools, weapons, artistic efforts of 

 Palaeolithic man are described. The feature of this excellent 

 little book is the prominence paid to the transition period 

 between the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods. The Bronze and 

 Iron ages are merely alluded to. 



In the current number of Alan, the monthly journal o. 

 general anthropology which is published under the direction of 

 the Anthropological Institute, besides several papers on the 

 physical anthropology of different peoples, there are interesting 

 contributions on the use of diagrams for craniometrical 

 purposes. Archaeology, mainly Egyptian Mediterranean, is 

 particularly well represented. The arts and crafts of various 

 peoples are described in numerous interesting papers, and 

 comparative religion is well to the fore, the discussions on 

 totemism and on the Supreme Being in Sarawak being more 

 especially noteworthy. The articles and notes in Man are 

 written in non-technical language, and as they are of such 

 general interest, the journal deserves to reach a wide circle of 

 readers. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Prof. J. J. Dobbie,' professor of chemistry in University 

 College, North Wales, has been appointed director of the 

 Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art. 



On Thursday, April 2, a meeting will be held in the 

 map room of the Royal Geographical Society, when Prof. 

 Elisee Reclus will speak on the subject of geographical 

 education, with special reference to his globular contoured 

 maps, globes and reliefs, of which he will exhibit examples. 

 All interested in the improvement of cartographical methods 

 are specially invited to attend and take part in the discussion. 



Fifteen science professors of Calcutta colleges have, it 

 is reported in the Pioneer Hail, signed a protest against the 

 proposals of the recent Universities Commission in connec- 

 tion with the teaching of science. Their memorial points 

 out that the principal recommendations of the Commission 

 regarding science teaching tend to discourage instruction in 

 science, for, they continue, the Commission propose to ex- 

 clude it altogether from entrance examinations, and make 

 it optional for the higher examinations; so that if the 

 recommendations of the Commission are adopted, students 

 will be allowed to obtain the highest degrees of the uni- 

 versity without being required to acquire a knowledge of 

 even the rudiments of any branch of science at any stage 

 of their university training. Dr. MacKichau, Vice-Chan- 

 cellor of the Bombay University, in a speech at Convocation 

 on February 24, proposed that a fund of not less than 

 twenty lakhs of rupees be raised to found a science school 

 in the University of Bombay. Part of this money must, he 

 said, come from the public ; Government may be safely 

 trusted to provide the remainder. Part of this fund would 

 be employed to provide buildings for the science laboratories 

 and to equip them with the necessary appliances ; part of it 

 in providing instruction by professors appointed by the 

 University, aided by lecturers supplied by the various 

 colleges at its request. 



What is known as the " National Diploma in Agricul- 

 ture " is administered by a joint board elected by the Royal 

 Agricultural Society of England and the Highland and 

 Agricultural Society of Scotland. This diploma took the 



