4o8 



NATURE 



{Sept. 6, 1877 



sessing one principal limb in the tail, the fins being only capable 

 of exerting a very slight force when compared with the tail. 



The Rev. W. H. Daljinger described some of the processes 

 and resu't^ of his invesiigations into the life-history of the 

 simplest ort'ansms. Among the points especially dwelt upon 

 were the d'-velopmenf of four out of ivvo flatieila in his cilycine 

 monad alter fis>^ion ; the dete-mination of the diameter of the 

 tlat^i-lium of Bart'riuin lertno to he the two hundred and ten- 

 thousTndth ol an inih ; and special contrilmiions to the spon- 

 taneous eeneration question. Although the life-histories of the 

 forms examined were perfectly definite and distinct, yet the 

 result of his investiga'ions was 10 give a conviction of the truth 

 of Darwinian principles among simple forms at any rate. He 

 mentioiifd as a contrihu'ion to physiology the discovery that so 

 highly organised an Infusorian as Paramecium could live for a 

 lov'g period in Cohn's (inoryanic) solution. An important series 

 of experiments had been conducted with regard to the extent of 

 the adaptabilitv of monads to changed condilions of tem|ierature. 

 It had been found that they could, by gradual increments, be raised 

 from a temperature of 45° to one of 125°, and live and multiply 

 perfectlv ; hut a sudden transition of a much smaller extent was 

 immediafely fatal, as was aKo a sudden fall of temperature. 

 Another series of inquiries showed that it took much longer to 

 produce a modification in the ovum or germ than in the adult. 



Prof. Rolleston, in a paper On the Vasculi?' Supply of the 

 Brain, ascribed right-handedness to the greater vascularity of 

 the left side of the brain. He further speculated on the probable 

 entire disappearance of the occipital lobe of the brain on 

 account of its deficient relative supply of blood. Prof. Allen 

 Thomson called attention to a remarkable series of photographs, 

 many applicable to the stereoscope, representing the blood supply 

 of various parts of the system. They were executed under the 

 superintendence of Prof. Dantscher, of Innsbruck, from prepa- 

 rations made by himself. Dr. \V. H. Pearse read a paper On 

 the Geography of Coiisuinpl on in Devonshire, claiming 10 demon- 

 strate that the wildes-t moorland districts had the lowest death- 

 rate from that disease. While England and Wales showed a 

 rate for con.sumption of 247 per 1,000, the rate for western 

 Darlmoor was o"37, and for the west of Exmoor 045. This 

 was notwithstanding the great rainfall. 



Mr. G. T. Beitany gave a summary of the conclusions as to 

 the structure and interpretation ol the vertebrate skull, contained 

 in the wo'k on the Morphology of the Skull, just published by 

 Prof. Parker and himself. The nature of the trabecula; and the 

 segmental relations of the skull were especially dwelt upon. In 

 another paper Mr. Bettany advocated the harmonisation of 

 animal and vegetable physiology, by the use of terms in the same 

 sense in both, referring especially to the term assimilation, now 

 so vaguely and discordantly employed in the two sciences. 

 Among oiher papers may be mentioned Prof. McKendrick's On 

 the Physiological Action 0/ theSulisli/ution Compounds of Pyridcne 

 and Chinoline, and Dr. Cunningham's, On the Muscular and 

 Nervous Systems of sei'ernl /title known Marsupials. Only a 

 small number of anatomists and physiologists were present, and 

 the paucity of papers in physiology was ascribed to the dis- 

 couragement and hindrance to experimental research caused by 

 the vivisection controversy. 



Depart men', of Anthropology. 

 No striking novelty was brought forward in connection with 

 the geological evidences of the antiquity of man. Various local 

 discoveries of flint implements were noticed, the occurrence of 

 flints in Cornwall and the Scilly Islands being of especial interest, 

 owing to their distance from the chalk. Mr. John Evans 

 described some palceolithic implements from the valley of the 

 Axe, made of chert from the Llackdown beds, proving that 

 where chalk flints were scarce, other siliceous rocks were utilised 

 by pala'olithic men for the same purpose. Mr. Widger's collec- 

 tion of extinct mammalia from Newton Abbot caves, as yet only 

 imperfectly explored, excited much interest. Mr. Laws gave an 

 account of a cave at Tenby containing a rich aggregation of 

 extinct mammalia, and recommended the Welsh coast as a rich 

 hunting-ground for anthropologists. Prof. Rolleston and Col. 

 Lane Fox described their exploration of tumult at Sigwell in 

 Somersetshire, and near Guildford. The co-existence of different 

 styles of interment among a people was confirmed by these 

 researches. Prof. RoUeston's address On our A'uowlcdge of the 

 Flora and Fauna 0/ Prehistoric Times vf&s very attractive. In the 

 course of his remarks on trees he noticed that remains of the ash 

 were found in English but not in Scotch peat ; the beech again 

 was absent from Scotch peat. With regard to bees and bee- 



keeping, he said the only certain fact known in relation to the 

 question where and when hives were introduced, was that in all 

 cases the word for hive was allied to the Latin word for it. He 

 thought honey became important very early, as a source of 

 sugar ; especially to people who had neither the sugar-cane nor 

 beet-root. He believed great changes had taken place in British 

 mollusca since prehistoric times. The so-called Roman snail 

 was without douHt a very old and well-established British snail ; 

 while a little snail most aliundant at present was not known in 

 prehis'oric deposits. He thought there were the best grounds 

 f)r believing the rabbit not to be prehistoric in this country. In 

 an old tumulus Prof. Rolleston had found several handfuls of 

 jawbones of the common water vole, and not far off a large 

 canine of a pol--c:it, which had evidently made its nest in the 

 tumulus and fed its young upon water-rats. These are but a 

 few out of many most interesting facts mentioned in the paper. 

 Mr. Spence Bale's description of the prehistoric remains on 

 Dartmoor, visited by an excursion party, was another subject 

 that attracted much attention. 



There were a number of valuable papers on the habits, history, 

 &c., of uncivili-ed peoples. Miss Buckland's paper On the 

 Stimulants of Ancient and Modern Savages showed how in all 

 parts of the world, as soon as ai^riculture was established, people 

 began to make fermented drinks from the roots or grains culti- 

 vated for food. But it further appeared that still earlier stimulants 

 were leaves and roots that when chewed were found to produce 

 exhilaration. With the dawn of civilisation these ro its and 

 plants were steeped in water, inducing some fermentation. 

 Later the cereals were used, the roots and plants being still 

 retained for flavour and to produce fermentation. The juice of 

 the grape became employed at a subsequent period still. Mr. 

 Bertram Hartshorne read a valuable paper On the Ancient 

 People of Cevlon, giving an account of their history as far as it 

 could be gathered, giving many evidences of retrogression 

 among them. The Rev. S. J. Whitmee, the well-known 

 London Society missionary, gave some account of the Malayo- 

 Polynesians, with abundant proofs of their degradation from a 

 higher social and intellectual level. Among these were the 

 comparatively high .social position of the women, the existence 

 of hereditary rank and titles, the tenure of landed property, the 

 systematic division of land, and their poetry. Mr. F. M. 

 Hunter described the peculiarities of Socotra Island. In 

 reference to the Bedouin inhabitants, he said that religion 

 seemed to sit lightly upon them. They only piayed when they 

 had an audience, and even in the very act of prostration they 

 would turn round, join in conversation, and again continue their 

 devotions. The mark of the cross was still used on the head- 

 stones of the graves. Mr. A. Simson's paper On the Zaparos 

 Indians contained a great deal of curious information. 



Coming to regions nearer home. Dr. Beddoa endeavoured to 

 trace the history and ethnology of the Bulgarians, but con- 

 fessed that much was still unknown on the subject. Although 

 they spoke Sclavonic they did not appear to be really Sclavs or 

 even Turanian. The original Bulgarians were a tribe from the 

 Volja region, probably connected with the Huns. Dr. Beddoe 

 believed that the present Bulgarians were as much Ugrian as 

 anything ; they were evidently prognathous. The Rev. W. S. 

 Lach-Szyrma in discussing the Cornu-Britons, divided them into 

 two classes, those who came there under pressure ol Saxon 

 invasions, and those who came as immigrants to the coast 

 districts. He did not believe in any Semitic admixture. 



The report of the Anthropometric Committee spoke of the 

 serious difficulties attending iis observations in the attainment of 

 uniformity and accuracy. Mr. H. C. Sorby described the 

 several difierent colouring matters he had derived from human 

 hair, the chief being a black pigment and a reddish-brown sub- 

 stance. Very red hair contained a small quantity of pink-red 

 substance. A noteworthy opinion given by Mr. Sorby was that 

 he did not think it possible that hair could change colour in a 

 single night. Other interesting papers were by Prof. Rolleston 

 On Artificial Deformations of the Human Head and On the 

 Rationale of Brachycepltaly and DolichocepJialy, by Dr. Phene 

 and others. Altogether the Lcpartment sat on five days, and 

 exhibited much vigour ; both papers and discussions were very 

 attractive, although the amount of novelty in regard 10 primitive 

 man and his relations to geological history was not great. 



Department of Zoology and Botany. 

 In this department the greatest general interest was excited by 

 Mr. McLachlan's paper On the Colorado Beetle. He gave a 

 most valuable account of its natural history, and then proceeded 



