October 17, 1901] 



NATURE 



615 



provide for systematic photography of native types, occupations 

 and ceremonies. 



Mr. R. A. S. Macalister gave an account of the customs, 

 ceremonies and behefs of the Fellahin of Western Palestine. 



Mr. D. MacRitchie, under the title " Hints of Evolution in 

 Tradition," discussed the value of the widespread stories of 

 giants, dwarfs, fairies and hairy folk as evidence of the survival 

 of primitive types of mankind in remote localities until com- 

 paratively recent times. 



Mr. J. S. Stuart Glennie criticised Dr. Frazer's views of the 

 relations between magic, religion and science, as expressed in 

 the second edition of the "Golden Bough." The new stage 

 which Dr. Frazer named "science" would give a higher and 

 more verifiable form to the common ideal and social observances 

 which constituted religion. 



Archaeology, 



Dr. W. Allen Sturge opened a discussion on the chronology 

 of ihe Stone Age of man, with especial reference to his co- 

 exi^tence with an Ice Age, laying stress on the evidence of 

 patination as a test of relative age, and exhibiting a series of 

 implements which appeared to show traces of reworking after a 

 prolonged interval, and also scratches on a patinated surface, 

 which he claimed to be due to ice-movement. In discussion. 

 Sir John Evans pointed out that patination is not always a safe 

 guide as to relative age ; and Prof. Kendal and others held 

 that scratches similar to those exhibited are produced by small 

 local movements in the mass of a gravel-bed. 



Mr. Coffey attacl<ed the same question from another side by 

 an exhibit of naturally chipped flints from the Lame gravels and 

 North Irish beaches, which so closely resembled the chipping 

 of the alleged " Eolithic " implements as to prevent any certain 

 conclusion being reached as to what really is artificial chipping. 



Miss Layard exhibited a flint pala>olith with alleged " thong- 

 marks," which seemed, however, to be patches of the rough 

 skin of the nodule ; and also a series of implements of stone and 

 horn from the neighbourhood of Ipswich. 



Mr. F. D. Longe exhibited a piece of yew from the forest 

 bed near Kessingland, showing cuts made by a straight-edged 

 instrument. Doubts were, however, expressed as to the 

 antiquity of the cuts. 



The Report on the age of stone circles gave full particulars of 

 excavations conducted by the committee at Arbor Low. The 

 occurrence of a Bronze Age interment-barrow on the rampart of 

 the circle gave a downward limit of date for the latter, and the 

 di.scovery of flint flakes and other objects in situ went far to 

 determine an upward limit. Further investigation, however, 

 is required, and the committee was reappointed with a grant 

 of 30/. 



.\n important paper on excavations on Neolithic sites in the 

 Isle of Arran was contributed by Drs. Duncan and Bryce. The 

 results show that the mere presence of stone implements affords 

 no test of the archjeological horizon, but that the pottery found 

 in the " Megalithic cists serially arranged " distinguishes these as 

 earlier than the short cists in cairns or circles, and as truly 

 Neolithic. No traces of cremation were found ; but only a few 

 of the human remains were in a condition for examination. The 

 cephalic indices of four individuals were 66 6, 70, 75, 75'5, and 

 the anatomical characters were identical with those of the 

 English " long-barrow " folk. The paper will be published in 

 full in Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., and the anthropographic material 

 mjourn. Anthr. Inst. 



Dr. Munro gave an account of a " kitchen midden " ex- 

 cavated near Elie, in Fife, which was proved to occupy the site 

 of a wooden house belonging to pastoral or hunting people, and 

 to belong to the eighth century, a.d. (cf. Proi. Soc. Antiq. 

 Scot, xxxiv. ) 



Mr. J. H. Cunningham described the excavation by the 

 Scottish Society of Antiquaries of the Roman station at Ardoch 

 in Perthshire ; the results are published fully in Proc. Soc. 

 Antiq. Scot., xxxii. Mr. Thomas Ross described the recent 

 excavation of the Roman camp at Inchtuthill. 



The Report of the Silchester Excavation Committee recorded 

 the clearance of four fresh //MK/at; (xxiii-xxvi) and the discovery 

 of some interesting pavements, and of a large hoard of smith's 

 tools. The Committee was reappointed with a grant of 5/. and 

 a similar committee was granted to cooperate with the Cardiff 

 Naturalists' Club in excavation at Gelligaer. 



Mr. R. A. S. Macalister discussed the e.xternal evidence 

 bearing on the age of Ogham writing in Ireland, pointing out 



NO. 1668, VOL. 64] 



that certain Ogham inscriptions occur in association with tumuli, 

 circles, and alignments, on stones with non-Christian symbolism, 

 or in other circumstances which suggest a pre-Christian origin 

 for the Ogham script. 



Mr. James Paton gave a demonstration of Scottish antiquities 

 in the Art Gallery of the Glasgow Exhibition ; an innovation 

 which was fully justified by the result, and might be repeated 

 elsewhere with advantage. 



Mr. C. S. Myers described the bones of Hen Nekht, an 

 Egyptian king of the third dynasty, who was of giant stature 

 (1S70 mm.), and identified him with the gigantic king recorded 

 diversely by Manetho as penultimate king of the second dynasty, 

 and by Eratosthenes as first king of the third. 



The Report of the Cretan Exploration Committee summarised 

 the results of excavation on Mycenaean sites at Knossos, Zakro 

 and Pr.-esos in the seasons 1900 and 1901. At Knossos the 

 remains of a splendid palace have yielded a large number of 

 fragmentary fresco paintings, many works of art in bronze, stone 

 and pottery, and a great wealth of clay tablets inscribed in 

 -Fgean hieroglyphic and linear characters. The excavations at 

 Knossos demand another season's work, and the Committee was 

 reappointed, with a further grant of 100/. 



Mr. A. J. Evans, F.R.S., supplemented the Report with a 

 description of the Neolithic settlement which underlies the 

 Mycenjean palace at Knossos, drawing particular attention to 

 the stone mace heads and small human figures in clay and 

 marble, which seemed to him to present Anatolian analogies, 

 and to indicate intercommunication between the .Egean and 

 Babylonia. The Neolithic culture of the .Egean presents points 

 of strong contrast with that of the Bronze Age ; and the absence 

 as yet of spiraliform ornament confirms the opinion that this 

 motive was introduced into the -Egean at a later date, and 

 probably from Egypt. 



^Ir. Bosanquet gave a detailed account of the excavations on 

 the site of Pr;esos, the ancient capital of eastern Crete. Two 

 large sanctuaries were discovered, together with an "andreion" 

 or public dininghall, of Hellenistic date, and a remarkable 

 inscription written in Greek characters of the fifth century, but 

 composed in the Eteocretan language. 



Mr. Hogarth contributed a description of a Mycenasan site 

 excavated by him at Zakro on the east coast of Crete, with 

 houses, tombs, much pottery of new types, and a deposit of clay 

 impressions from Myceniean seal-stones. 



Mr. R. A. S. Macalister described the result of several seasons' 

 excavation on small sites in western Palestine, which throw 

 important light on the civilisation of the early Israelites and of 

 Philistia. 



Interim reports were received from the committees on 

 anthropological photographs and on the present state of 

 anthropological teaching. A new committee was appointed, 

 with Prof. Macalister, F.R.S., as chairman, Mr. C. S. Myers 

 as secretary, and a grant of 15/. to conduct anthropometric 

 observations among the native troops of the Egyptian army. 



BOTANY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



A FTER the delivery of the presidential address by Prof. 

 ■^ Bayley Balfour, F. R.S., Dr. Lotsy (Hilbersum, near 

 Arnhem, Holland) explained to the Section the aims and pro- 

 posals of the International Association of Botanists, which was 

 founded at Geneva in August. The .Association has purchased 

 the Botanisches Centraiblatt, which it proposes to conduct as a 

 first-class review of current botanical literature. Dr. Lotsy 

 pointed out that an increased number of subscribers and share- 

 holders is desired in order to ensure success. On Saturday the 

 members of the Section were invited by the President to the 

 Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden, where they inspected the 

 museum and garden and were afterwards entertained at lunch by 

 Prof and Mrs. Bayley Balfour. The excellence of the museum 

 preparations was a striking feature, particularly the specimens 

 and dissections preserved in spirit and labelled for teaching 

 purposes. A very useful paper was read before the Section by 

 Mr. Tagg, in whic}i he gave an account of the methods 

 employed by him with conspicuous success in the Edinburgh 

 Museum in preserving and preparing plants for museum 

 purposes. 



On Friday afternoon Prof. Reynolds Green, F.R.S., de- 

 livered a lecture on flesh-eating plants. Monday morning was 

 devoted to a joint discussion (Botanical and Educational 



