Aug. 24, 1871] 

they lived on their flocks and herds as well as by the chase. The 
presence of querns, also, showed that they were pastoral. 
Besides the ox and horned sheep and the pig, they ate fox, wild 
cat, and horse, and even the dog, and, to speak in general terms, 
any other animal they could get hold of. About their religion 
or symbolism nothing was known. 
Dr. Archibald Campbell said he had seen a great deal of 
serpent worship in India, and on returning to his native High- 
lands, he had made numerous inquiries as to the traces of serpent 
worship there, but none of the people he had asked could give 
any clue. . 
Dr. Grierson remarked that he did not consider Mr, Phené 
had brought forward any evidence to prove there had ever been 
serpent worship in Scotland. 
Colonel Lane Fox observed that Mr. Phené had undertaken 
his expedition in regard to serpent worship with a foregone con- 
clusion, and the result had been that he had rather disproved 
his case than otherwise. 
The third paper was given by Mr. C. Wake Ox Man and the 
Ape. He opened his communication by referring to the physical 
agreement of structure between man and ape, and argued that 
the latrer animal equally possessed the power of reasoning, and 
affirmed that man had no mental faculty other than the ape pos- 
sessed. This paper also Jed to a hot discussion in which Canon 
Tristram, the Rev. Mr. Brodie, Rev. Mr. Geodsir, and others 
joined. Mr. Conway thought that Mr. Wake had been accused 
o! using words such as ‘‘nature” and ‘‘ evolution,” which were 
incapable of definition, but, on the other hand, the department had 
heard bandied about such words as “ creation,“ equally incapable 
of definition. The idea that something was produced out of 
nothing was just as vague an idea, he contended, as that of 
“nature” or ‘‘ evolution.” 
Prof. Struthers, as a person accustomed to dissect men and 
quadrupeds, said that apes were very like ourselves. He had 
always regarded this man and monkey question as avery smallone, 
he meant to say, it was only part of a much larger question. If 
similarity of structure was to prove origin, they must take in a 
very large portion of the animal kingdom, all made on the same 
general plan. He looked upon the theory of evolution simply 
as an hypothesis. He did not think that facts would at present 
warrant a belief one way or the other, though at the same time 
there were parts in the human bo*y which we could not under- 
stand on the theory of man having been an independent and 
original creation, We had within onr bodies structures which 
have no function, and which cannot be explained without going 
down to the lower animals. He did not say they had sprung 
from them, but he affirmed the question was not one to be bun- 
dled out of doors in the way desired by some reverend friends. He 
should like to say to hjs theological friends that scientific men 
did not, in the examination of these laws, shut the Creator out, it 
was only the modus operandi, the mode of proceeding, which was 
the subject of inquiry. 
Mr. G. Harris read a paper Ox the Hereditary Transmission 
of Endowments and Qualities. 
Dr. Charnock and Dr. Carter Blake contributed a paper 
On the Physical and Philological Characteristics of the Wallons, 
showing that the ordinary Wallons stood in a similar relation to 
Belgium to that which the Irish peasant did to the ‘‘Sassenach” 
of England. As evidence of their peculiar character, a Wallon 
would drag a pig from Namur to Ghent, or eyen to Bruges or 
Antwerp, in order to gain a few more sous than he could in his 
own district. The Spanish armies in the Pay-Bas were made up 
of Wallons. A special mental and moral character might be 
predicted of the Wallons of each district. The language was a 
spoken, not a written qne, the pronunciation differing in different 
localities. 
Mr. G. Petrie read a paper Ox Ancient Modes of Sepulture in 
the Orkneys. He said sepulchral mounds were there very fre- 
quent, generally on elevations. The skeletons were often dis- 
covered in a sitting posture. Mr. Flower remarked, that the 
sitting posture of the skeleton was an interesting discovery, as it 
had been observed in every country in Europe, as well as in 
Peru, India, and Africa. Herodotus, in his account of the 
Autocthones, a people inhabiting what is now the province of 
Tunis, shows that they always placed their dying friends in a 
sitting posture to await their last hour, and it seems that they 
so buried their dead, as they were now found in the cld African 
sepulchres in the same position. 
The next paper was a communication received from Mr. J. 
Wolfe Murray, Ov a Cross traced upon a Hill near Peebles. 
NATURE 

335 
SECTION E. 
Most of the papers in this section were purely geographical, 
having but little reference to Natural Science. Among 
the most interesting read on the first day, August 3, was 
one by Mr. Clements Markham on Ze Somali Coast, contri- 
buted by Captain Miles. The paper contained some interesting 
information in reference to the trade in gum and aromatic spices, 
as it has been carried on by the natives from ancient times. Mr. 
D. Hanbury, alluding to a statement in Captain Miles’s paper, 
that in ancjent times frankincense was held to have come from 
Arabia, and from the adjacent coast of Africa, said that, while 
this was the case, they were taught in all the books that had 
appeared on the subject in the latter part of the last century, and 
in the whole of the present till within the last few years, to 
believe that frankincense was a product of India. It was very 
desirable to have information on this highly interesting subject. 
With regard to the different species of gum trees, their informa- 
tion was very poor, and as to myrrh it was even more so. Much 
had been written as to cinnamon, early authors holding that it 
was a production of Africa and Arabia. It was a very interest- 
ing question, and one which required elucidation, whether the 
cinnamon mentioned in Holy Writ was the production of Africa 
and Arabia, or whether it was merely carried thither from India, 
or from the still remoter regions of Siam and China by way of 
commerce, and whether in that way the idea was promulgated 
that it was produced in the land and districts from which it was 
shipped, by way of the Red Sea, to Europe. 
Mr. Clements Markham also read a paper contributed by 
Captain Elton, on Zhe Limpono Expedition. Captain Elton, 
who was formerly an officer on Lord Stathnairn’s staff in India, 
undertook the expedition for the purpose of discovering whether 
the river was navigable to the sea—a point of great importance, 
on account of the discovery of gold on the banks of the Tati, 
one of the upper tributaries. | Capton Elton’s canoe was wrecked, 
and his journey, amounting to upwards of 900 miles—had to be 
completed on foot. 
One of the most valuable papers in this section was one by 
Dr. J. D Hooker, descriptive of the botanical features of Zhe 
Atlas Range, the main features of which we have already chro- 
nicled. Dr. Cleghorn stated in the discussion which followed, 
that, like everything else done by Dr. Joseph Hooker, this 
investigation had been carefully and thoroughly carried out, 
and a great desideratum of botanical knowledge had been ob- 
tained. The absence of primroses, gentjan, and anemones was 
most remarkable. The observation on the exhausted condition 
of the forest was also noteworthy. 
Commander A. Dundas Taylor, Jate of the Indian Navy, con- 
tributed a paper on The Propesed Ship Canal between Ceylor 
and India. With the Alderney and other British Parliamentary 
harbour discussions before the eyes of their understanding, per- 
mission, he thought, might perhaps be readily accorded to a stu- 
dent of thirty years in Indian hydrography to bring before the 
Association his views concerning the proposed scheme. After 
giving a sketch of the various projects that had been put forward 
for making a navigable passage between Ceylon and the Indian 
continent he proceeded to say that the project for deepeniog the 
Paumben Passage for large ships had been set aside by its own 
advocates in favour of the Port Lorne scheme, which had such 
remarkable advantages as to claim the attention of the Govern- 
ments and mercantile communities of Bengal, Madras, Bombay, 
and Ceylon. An interesting discussion followed, in which the 
President and Sir E. Belcher joined. 
The next morning the first paper was one by Mr. E. H, 
Palmer Ox the Geography of Moab A grant of 100/. was made 
by the Association last year, on the recommendation of this sec- 
tion, to promote the exploration of Moab, and though that grant 
had not been sufficient, and in consequence the exploration had 
been deferred, Mr. Palmer’s paper explained what was already 
known of Moab, and what had been previously done in its ex- 
ploration. 
Captain H. R. Palmer, R.E., contributed a paper Ov an 
Acoustic Phenomenon at Fabel Nagus, in the Peninsula of Mount 
Sinai ; and Dr. Ginsburg made a verbal communication in re- 
ference to a treatise On Farther Disclosures of the Maxbite 
Stone. This treatise referred chiefly to the history of the stone, 
On Saturday, August 5, a communication was read by Staff- 
Commander George, R.N., Ox a New Artificial Horizon The old 
artificial horizon, with its roof, trough, and bottle of quicksilve’, 
was bulky, heavy, and often very inconvenient to carry ; while the 
