March 9, 1905J 



NA TURE 



45: 



follicles of negroes (Bull, et Mem. See. d'Anth., Paris, 1904, j 

 p. 124), and have obtained interesting results. The follicle 

 forms at least half a spiral and is not flattened ; the 

 distribution of hair on the scalp is uniform, but all the 

 hairs of the same spiral tuft have the intradermic portion 

 of their curves orientated in nearly the same direction, and 

 it is apparently this uniformity of the neighbouring follicles 

 that determines the formation of spiral tufts ; a semi- 

 circular oblique crest ridge of fibrous tissue constricts the 

 upper portion uf the hair bulb, and thus causes the flatten- 

 ing of the hair and its spiral twist. 



Mr. E. H. C. Walsh, in an illustrated note on stone 

 implements found in the Darjeeling district {Joiirn. As. 

 Soc. Bengal, Ixxiii. p. 21), states that all the implements 

 he found were polished "celts," with the exception of a 

 dumb-bell shaped hammer head. The general belief of the 

 people is that these axe-heads are thunderbolts which have 

 fallen from heaven ; they are chiefly found with the medicine 

 men, who use them as charms in their incantations to 

 drive out or cure disease, and also on account of their 

 reputed medicinal properties when mixed with water ; on 

 several specimens the scraping or rubbing on stones to 

 obtain medicine is very noticeable. Numerous references 

 to other papers dealing with the subject are given. On 

 p. 27 of the same Journal P. O. Bodding describes some 

 shoulder-headed and other forms of stone implements in 

 the Santal Pargans ; it is not yet clear who were the 

 makers of these distinctive implements — possibly they were 

 Mon-Kmer and Munda peoples. The Journal also contains 

 some interesting folklore. 



Some time ago M. Verneau directed attention to some 

 skulls from Palaeolithic interments at Mentone with a re- 

 markable negroid aspect, and M. Herv^ has noted two 

 somewhat similar Neolithic skulls from Brittany. Prof. 

 Manouvrier points out in the Bull, et Mem. Soc. d'Anth., 

 Paris (1904, p. iig), that all these "negroid" characters 

 occur in European or other non-African skulls, but they 

 are very rarely found in conjunction. ■•\U the skulls of 

 this type are female ; in following out this hint Dr. 

 Manouvrier discusses the " negroid " characters, and comes 

 to the conclusion that in a dolichocephalic population in 

 which the prognathism of the men is so marked, a corre- 

 sponding degree of prognathism in the women, combined 

 with other characters that are characteristic of female 

 skulls, would give a negroid appearance without any need 

 to conclude that there was a negro element in the popula- 

 tion. The same author describes (p. 67) a remarkable tre- 

 panned Neolithic skull, and (p. loi) some senile Neolithic 

 skulls. 



As the result of a long and careful comparative study 

 of the skeletal variations of the foot in primates and in 

 the races of man, Th. Volkov {Bull, et Mem. Soc. d'Anth., 

 Paris, 1903, 1904) arrives at the following conclusions : — 

 The skeleton of the foot of the prosimians bears many 

 traces of the primitive type of foot of the ancient mammals, 

 and presents many intermediate forms between this type 

 and that of the foot of monkeys. The skeleton of the foot 

 of the lower primates appears to be the result of adaptation 

 to arboreal life of ancestors whose foot resembled that of 

 existing rodents. The skeleton of the foot of anthropoids 

 represents the extreme of this adaptation, but at the same 

 time (among the hylobates and partly in the gorilla) the 

 beginning of adaptation to standing and to bipedal pro- 

 gression. The skeleton of the foot in the lower races of 

 man presents as a whole, and for each bone in particular, 

 evident and numerous traces of adaptations characteristic 

 of climbers antecedent to the assumption of the erect atti- 

 tude and bipedal progression. The ethnical characters 

 range from the oblique and flat foot to the straight and 

 arched foot. Consequently the arch of the foot represents 

 the most essential character from an anthropological point 

 of view. The index of curvature, that is to say, the re- 

 lation between the height and length of the foot, or 

 especially the tarso-metatarsian length, should be con- 

 sidered as a very important anthropometric datum. The 

 skeleton of the foot of the new-born infant reproduces 

 primitive and transitory forms in the development of the 

 human foot in general, and thus its study possesses a very 

 great anthropological importance. 



NO. 1845, VOL. 71] 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — The following is the speech delivered by the 

 Public Orator, Dr. Sandys, on Thursday last, in presenting 

 Dr. E. B. Tylor, F.R.S., professor of anthropology in the 

 University of Oxford, for the degree of Doctor in Science 

 honoris causa : — 



Adest vir et propter aetatis dignitatem et propter studia in 

 rerum originibus primis exquirendis praeclare posita inter 

 primos merito numerandus, quem iamdudum admirati, nunc 

 demum honore diu debito decoramus. Abhinc annos quinque 

 et quadraginta consuetudines Mexicanas antiquas diligenter 

 exploravit. Deinde de prisco hominum cultu, opere in 

 maximo et doctrinae variae plenissimo, plus quam semel 

 disputavit. Illo vero in opere, animarum praesertim in 

 regno perlustrando aliorum antecursor constitutus, success- 

 oribus omnibus facem splendidam praetulit. Denique de 

 anthropologia universa egregie disseruit, hominum ipsorum 

 studium hominibus imprimis proprium esse iure Optimo 

 arbitratus. Nemo fortasse magis merito liberalitatem illam 

 Terentianam prae se ferre potest : — 



"homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." 



The proposals forwarded by the Studies Syndicate 

 have been rejected by the Senate by, roughly speak- 

 ing, three to two. The poll taken was the largest on 

 record, and on the Grace affecting Greek the " non-placets " 

 were 1559 and the " placets " 1052. The result is ex- 

 tremely disappointing to all those who wish to see 

 Cambridge take its rank as a leading university in the 

 Empire. There is, however, a strong consensus of opinion 

 that the matter should not be allowed to rest where it is. 

 Perhaps a consultation between the two opposing bodies 

 might lead to some plan acceptable to the more moderate 

 members of both parties. 



The \'ice-Chancellor announces that he has appointed 

 Colonel Sir Frank Younghusband, K.C.I.E., to the office 

 of reader on Sir Thomas Rede's foundation for the present 

 year. 



Mr. E. H. Hankin, Fellow of St. John's College, and 

 analyst and bacteriologist to the North-West Provinces and 

 Oudh, has been approved by the general board of studies 

 for the degree of Doctor in Science. 



Mr. H. O. Arnold-Forster, M.P., Secretary of State 

 for War, has consented to give away the prizes to the 

 students at the Woolwich Polytechnic on .^pril i. 



The Huxley lecture of the University of Birmingham will 

 be delivered by Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., in the large 

 lecture theatre of the Midland Institute, on Thursday, 

 March 23. 



In the Engineering and Mining Journal, Mr. G. S. 

 Raymer gives an illustrated description of the Simpkins 

 laboratory at Harvard. It is designed for the study of 

 continuous ore-dressing operations on a considerable scale, 

 the plant consisting of a 5-stamp battery and additional 

 apparatus of the most recent type. 



The formal opening of the new building of the Ecole poly- 

 technique of Montreal, in affiliation with Laval University, 

 took place on January 28. This school was founded in 1874 

 to give French-Canadian youths an opportunity of obtaining 

 a training in practical science. Its sphere has been limited, 

 but with the new building and improved equipment better 

 results are anticipated. 



Mr. Charles H. Hackley, of Muskegon, Mich., has made, 

 we learn from Science, a bequest of 50,000?. to the Hackley 

 Manual Training School of Muskegon, which, added to 

 72,000/. already given by Mr. Hackley, makes the school's 

 total endowment 122,000/. Mount Holyoke College will 

 receive, we learn from the same source, 34,400/. as the 

 residuary legatee of the late Mr. Edmund K. Turner. 



In an article entitled " The Lesson of Coopers Hill," the 

 Indian Daily Telegraph of February i institutes a com- 

 parison between the methods of government in the cases 

 of Coopers Hill and the City and Guilds of London technical 

 colleges. The success of the latter is traced to adaptation 

 in them of the methods followed in the great German poly- 

 technics which is shown by their senates or college boards 



