8 
NATURE 
ps | 
[ Woo. 3, 1881 
An Alleged Diminution in the Size of Men’s Heads 
ALLOW me to draw the attention of your readers to a state- 
ment which is certainly strange, if true. An o inion is preva- 
lent in the hat trade that the size of men’s heads has undergone 
a decrease within the last thirty or forty years. The following 
statement has been given to me by a hatter whose name has 
attained a pre-eminence of a duration of more than one genera- 
tion. ‘‘ Five-and-thirty years ago,” he says, “‘when I was a 
young man, we used to purchase hats for retail trade in the 
following ratio :— 
Sizes... ...  ...  ... 21—213—22—224 —23—23} inches. 
Relative number... oO— I — 2— 4 3-1 
At the present time,” he adds, ‘‘I am selliag hats in this 
ratio :— 
Sizes ... Fe . 21—214—22 —224—23—23} inches, 
Relative number... — 1I— I— 0” 
A manufacturer writes : ‘* I should say that heads generally are 
two sizes less than at the time you refer to. A head of more 
than twenty-four inches’ circumference is now quite a rarity, 
whilst we make thousands of hats for heads with a circum- 
ference of about twenty-one inches.” I have received similar 
statements from other members of the trade, both wholesale and 
retail, and therefore feel that n> further apology is required for 
bringing them under your notice. Accepting the statement 
quantum valeat, 1 have endeavoured to ascertain whether I 
could find any explanation or confirmation thereof. I have 
mot succeeded, and therefore venture to ask information 
‘or opinions through your columns. The statement comes 
to me not only from men of ex »erience in the trade, but 
from men of intelligence and observation exercised beyond 
‘the limits of the shop or the factory. It is, I am in- 
formed, extensively believed among hatters; it may, neverthe- 
Tess, be merely a general impression. The diminution, it is 
said, is observed mostly among grooms and men of that class in | 
the social scale. If this be really the case the change should be 
moticeale also among soldiers. The diminution is possibly 
more apparent than real, and may be traceale to alteration in 
the style of hair-cutting, or of wearimz the hat. It has been 
suggested to me that men of the present generation have from 
birth smaller heads, dependent upon an alteration in the dimen- 
sions of the female pelvis, im consequence of modern fashion in 
dress. Of this opinion, however, I obtain no confirmation from 
eminent obstetricians of whom I have made inquiries. The 
statement then, as it stand<, is wanting in explanation, and calls 
for further investigation. I may here quote the reply sent me 
by Prof. Flower to my question as to his opinion on the statement 
made by the hatters ‘that men’s heads were s ualler than they 
“were twenty years ago” :-— 
“« Before drawing any important conclu-ion from such a state- 
ment it would be necessary to know much about the authority 
upon which it is made. Who, for instance, are the hatters that 
make ii Do all hatters concur in the same statement? Is ita 
mere general impression, or is it founded upon actual arithmetical 
data? Does it refer to any particular class of men, and does it 
refer to the same class of men? If it should be true, may it not 
arise from some change of fashion (if only founded upon the size 
of the hat, and not of the head) other even than the one you | 
suggest, of hair being worn shorter—such as hats being worn 
more on the top of the head than formerly (in old-fashioned 
prints one sees the hat well down over the ears, which is 
certainly not the case now), or perhaps hats of the kind specified | 
being now worn by a different (perhaps lower) cla<s of the com- 
munity, or by younger people? All these questions must be 
considered, and perhaps other sources of error eliminated which 
may not occur at first, before the statement can be accepted. If 
the evidence of the statement appears to bear investigation it 
would be well worth while following it up, as, if true, it would 
‘be one of the most remarkable facts with which I am acquainted, 
that in the space of twenty years a material diminution in the 
average size of the heads of the same population has taken place 
—a fact so contrary to all theory and to all experience.” 
For my own part I confess to some degree of scepticism as to 
the FACT, and should be glad of an explanation of this, probably 
only apparent, diminution in the size of men’s heads. 
Little Park, Enfield, October 26 W. B. KEesTEVEN 
The Evolution of the Paleozoic Vegetation 
I AM pleased to have elicited the opinion of so distinguished 
an authority as Prof. Williamson upon Saporta and Marion’s 
work, and his criticisms, even where antagonistic, will also, I 
am sure, be received by them with pleasure. Prof. Williamson 
holds views regarding the interpretation of some of the plant 
remains which are at variance with those held by most French 
geolozsi-ts ; but were the correctness of all his views conceded, 
I do not think Saporta and Marion’s theory of the evolu- 
tion of plants would thereby fall to the ground. A vast array 
of fact, which is not controverted, has been brought forward 
in a very able manner, and a connected and well-considered 
theory as to the nature of the modifications that have led through 
Cryptogams to Phanerozams is for the first time presented in a 
concise and lucid manner ; and I think few will agree with the 
professor in deprecating such work because knowledge of the 
older floras is still incomplete. J. S. GARDNER 
The Teaching of Practical Biology 
In the interesting introductory address of Prof. T. Jeffery 
Parker at Otago there is an omission which I am sure my friend 
would be the very first to wish to have rectified. In speakinz 
of that remarkable development of the teaching of practical 
work in biological laboratories which will no doubt have a very 
considerable influence on the pursuit of this branch of science, 
Mr. Parker makes reference to the considerable services which 
have been rendered by Professors Huxley and Ray Lankester ; 
but he forgot to say that one wh», unfortunately, is no longer 
among us, provided for systematic teaching in practical work 
some time before Prof. Huxley was enabled to bring his wishes 
to fulfilment. The characteristics of this line of study were made 
known to the gene:al zoological world in 1870, when Prof. 
Rolle-ton published his ‘‘ Forms of Animal Life, being Outlines 
of Zoological Classification éased upon Anatomical Invest gation 
and illustrated by Descriptions of Specimens and of Figures,” 
Prof. Rolleston’s system was well enouzh shown in his preface to 
that work, where there occurs the following sentence, which I beg 
leave to quote as germane to this question :—‘“‘ The distinctive 
character of the buok consists in its attempting s» to combine 
the concrete facts of zootomy with the outlines of systematic 
classification as to enable the student to put them for himself 
into their natural relations of foundation and superstructure.” 
October 29 F, JEFFREY BELL 
The Igneous Rocks of Iceland 
LAsT year a friend and I rode round the north and west sides 
of Iceland, and from my oD:ervations then I cannot doubt that 
the conclusions to which Dr. J. Geikie has arrived concerning the 
south-west of the island apply equally to the more northerly 
parts. The glacier-scorings on the older lava were especially 
marked in a district unexplored except by a few Icelanders, and 
known as the Storisande or Big Sand. This desert lies to the 
north of Ball’s Jokul and Lange Jokul, and between Armevatn 
and the River Blanda. As we crossed the undulating surface of 
| the old lava, pale and raddy in colour, the contrast was very 
striking where the black basalt see ned to rise from the plain in 
jagged cliffs up to the ice-field which caps these ranges. Where 
the sand was blown off this pale lava there were the lines of 
glaciation clearly engraved. The tread of the desert as a whole 
was towards the north, and the lines of glaciation ran north and 
south. In the Husavik district we siw, besides these two lavas, 
the lava of the present century, including that of 1875. 
A. J. HUBBARD 
1, Ladbroke Terrace, Notting Hill, W., October 31 
Replacing Flint Flakes 
WITH reference to the replacing of flint flakes on Palzeolithic 
implements it may be of interest to your correspondent, Mr. W. 
G. Smith (NATURE, vol. xxiy. p. 582), to learn that I have suc- 
ceeded in building up a core out of Neolithic flakes. When 
| searching the sandhills at Dundrum, Co. Down, last August, 
with my friend Mr. J. S. Hyland, I noticed a number of flakes 
of a similar colour lying on the slightly raised shingly beach on 
which the sandhills stand, at a point where the sand had appa- 
rently been recently blown away. Seeing from an imperfection 
in the stone that several frag nents had formed part of the same 
flint, I collected all the pieces I could fiad, some of which were 
at a yard or two’s distance from the rest. Without much trouble 
I was able the same evening to put them together, and have s» 
fixed twenty-two flakes into position, forming about three-fourths 
