265 
NATURE 
[Fuly 28, 1870 
an attempt to apply the doctrines regarding the physical action 
of Arctic ice-action to account for the Scottish glacial remains, 
and to deduce therefrom evidence regarding the changes Scotland 
underwent during, and subsequent to, the glacial period. 
Aeronautical Society, June 3.—Mr. James  Glaisher, 
F.R.S., in the chair. The following extract from the minutes 
of a late meeting at Stafford House, was read by the Secretary. 
It Was remarked how little had been done in this countiy 
cither to demonstrate the possibility of navigating the air, or to 
prove its impracticability. Sir William Fairbairn observed that 
we know but little of the reaction or lifting power of various 
forms of screw blades in the atmosphere, relative to the force 
employed, though such experiments might be easily tried, and 
ihe data obtained. Mr. Brooke was of opinion that ifa success- 
ful aérial machine were to be constructed, the most simple and 
o>vious plan would be that of inclined surfaces, impelled forward 
horizontally. ‘Lhe most successful experiment that he had ever 
witnessed was upon this principle, the motive power being a 
wound-up watch spring, which, as long as the power lasted, 
sustained the machine ; and further, that most large birds were 
capable, during long periods of their flight, of sustaining them- 
selves exactly in this way. It was also remarked that we 
were practically ignorant of the correct laws of the sustaining 
power of inclined surfaces of different forms and areas, and this 
want of knowledge was a perpetual stumbling-block to those 
who were willing to spend time and money in experiments. 
From the fact that as the weight and size of birds increased, so 
did the relative wing area decrease, it would appear that the 
ratio of sustaining strface to weight or resistance was by no 
means in equal proportions. The Chairman stated that with 
respect to plane surfaces of various figures exposed to the direct 
impact of the wind, he had already been trying some experi- 
ments with such instruments as were at his disposal, and that by 
employing two anemometers at the same time, so as to be sure 
of comparative results, he found that the indication of force in- 
creased with the size of the surface; also in the two instruments, 
equal surfaces shaped into different contours, gave different re- 
sults. These interesting experiments, so directly bearing upon 
the question of aérial propulsion and resistance, were sti!l occupy- 
ing his attention, but at present he could say nothing from 
actual experiment of the resistance of inclined surfaces of various 
forms. It was then proposed that an experimental fund should 
be raised by subscription, and that a suitable and well-finished 
anemometer should be constructed, having the means of in- 
stantly setting various plane surfaces at any desired angle, and 
capable of registering both horizontal and vertical force simul- 
taneously for all degrees of inclination. The results to be pub- 
lished for the benefit of the Society. Upon this propo- 
sition being put to the meeting it was carried unanimously. 
Ethnological Society, June 21.—Prof. Huxley, F.R.S., 
president, in the chair. Colonel Lane Fox made some remarks on 
the Dorchester dykes and Sinodun Hill, to which attention has 
recently been directed, and showed that the works are 
British, and not Roman. He stated that the demolition of these 
works had been arrested for the present.—Mr. David Forbes, 
F.R.S., read a paper on the Aymara Indians of Bolivia and 
Peru. He described them asa small, massive, thick-set race, 
with large heads and short limbs. The trunk is disproportionately 
large, and the capacity of the thorax is enormous, being adapted 
to meet the requirements of respiration ina rarefied atmosphere, 
as the Aymara lives at an elevation of from 8,000 to 16,000 feet 
above the sea-level. The proportions of the lower limbs are 
curious, the thigh being shorter than the leg; the heel is incon- 
spicuous. In colour, the Aymara varies from copper-red to yel- 
Jowish brown and blackish brown, according to the altitude at 
which he lives. Many of the customs of the Aymaras depend 
on their peculiar conditions of life. In consequence of the low 
boiling-point of water at such great altitudes, beans are rarely 
used, and the food consists chiefly of potatoes peculiarly prepared. 
Clay is added to the food, not for any nutritious matter in it, but 
apparently only to increase the bulk of the meal. In religion, 
the Aymaras are nominally Christians. They appear to have no 
system of writing. The discussion on this communication was 
supported by the President, Mr. E. G. Squier, Mr. Cull, Mr. 
Dendy, Mr. Bollaert, Mr. Harrison, and Mr. C. Markham. At 
the same meeting Dr. A. Campbell exhibited tracings of certain 
rock-inscriptions from British Guiana, and the Hon. E. G. Squier 
displayed a large collection of drawings, photographs, &e., from 
Peru. 
Anthropological Society of London, June 14.—John 
Beddoe, M.D., president, in the chair.—Logan D, H. Russell, 
M.D., of Wilmington, Delaware, was elected a local secre- 
tary.—A paper, by Dr. Henry Hudson, was read ‘‘On the 
Irish Celt,” in which the author depicted the mental and moral 
characteristics of that type, and drew conclusions as to the kind 
of government most suitable to such a people.—Mr. G. H. 
Kinahan contyibuted a paper ‘On the Race Elements of the 
Irish People.” That payer entered largcly into the pedigree of 
the chief families of Connaught and Munster, and treated ot 
the effects of the Cromwellian and other confiscations.—The 
President (Dr. Beddoe) then read a paper ‘‘On the Kelts of 
Ireland.” ‘The principal points proved or indicated in it were 
the following :—That the Kelts known to the Greek and Latin 
authors, though they were a light-haired race as compared with 
the Italians, were darker than the Teutonic tribes, and that their 
physical type differed in other respects. That the Irish are, 
generally speaking, a dark-haired but light-eyed race, and that 
wherever there is much light hair it may be accounted for by a 
Danish or English cross. ~ ‘That the dark hair of the Irish may 
be, partly at least, attributed to the Gaelic Kelts. That there is 
Jess resemblance between the Irish, taken as a whole, and the 
Basques, who are generally considered to be the purest Iberians 
extant, than between the South Welsh and the Basques. That 
any Basque or Iberian element in Ireland is probably small, and 
can have only partially contributed to the prevalence of dark 
hair among the Western Irish. That Ugrian or Ligurian 
elements may also be present there. The paper was illustrated 
by minute details respecting the physical types in various parts 
of modern Ireland, including extensive observations on the 
colour of the eyes and hair; and the author exhibited a number 
of photographic and other portraits of Basques and of Bretors, 
Welshmen, Walloons, and other supposed descendants of the 
Keltic race. ° 
Meteorological Society, June 15.—Ordinary meeting, 
Charles V. Walker, F.R.S., president, in the chair. Messrs. 
W. C. Ellis and Francis Nunes were elected Fellows, and 
Padre Prof. F. Denza was elected an Honorary Fellow of the 
society. —The following communications were made: ‘‘On the 
path of the large fireball of November 6th, 1869,” by Prof. A. 
S. Herschel ; ‘On the temperature of the air in Natal, South 
Africa,” by R. J. Mann, M.D., F.R.A.S., &c 5 ‘On the 
atmospheric pressure with relation to wind and rain,” by 
R. Strachan, F.M.S., and ‘*On the November meteors of 
1869, as seen from the Mauritius,” by Charles Meldrum, 
F.R.A.S.—The anniversary meeting was then held, and the 
repqrt of the council on the present state of meteorological 
science both at home and abroad, also their report on the present 
state of the society, which now numbers 343 Ordinary, Life, 
and Honorary Felluws, and the treasurer’s report were then read 
and adopted. The following is the result of the ballot for the 
officers and council for the ensuing year.—l’resident, Charles T. 
Walker, F.R.S., F.R.A.S.; Vice-Presidents, Nathaniel Beard- 
more, C.E., F.R.S.; C. O. F. Cator; Robert J. Mann, 
M.D., F.R.A.S.; John W. Tripe, M.D. Treasurer, Henry 
Perigal, F.R.A.S. Trustees, Sir Antonio Brady, F.G.S., and 
S. W. Silver. Secretaries, Charles Brooke, F.R.S., F.R.C.S., 
and James Glaisher, F.R.S., F.R.A.S. Foreign secretaries, 
Lieut.-Colonel Alex. Strange, F.R.S., F.R.A.S. Council, 
Arthur Brewin, F.R.A.S., George Dives, F. W. Doggett, 
Henry S. Eaton, F. Gaster, Charles M. Gibson, Rev. Joseph 
B. Reade, M.A., F.R.S., W. Wilson Saunders, F.R.S., F.L.S., 
Thomas Sopwith, F.R.S., George J. Symons, 8. C. Whitbread, 
F.R.S., F.R.A.S., E. O. W. Whitehouse, F.S.A., &c. 
Statistical Society, June 23.—William Newmarch, F.R.S., 
president, in the chair. The following is the list of president, 
council, and officers, elected to serve for the ensuing year :— 
President, William Newmarch, F.R.S. Council, Major-General 
Balfour, C.B., Dr. Thomas Graham Balfour, F.R.S., R. Dudley 
Bzxter, Samuel Brown, Hyde Clarke, D.C.L., L. H. Courtney, 
Sir C. Wentworth Dilke, Bart., M.P., Dr. W. Farr, F.R.S., 
W. Fowler, M.P., F. Galton, F.R.S., Right Hon. W. E. 
Gladstone, M P., J. Glover, W. A. Guy, M.B., F.R.S., J. T-. 
Hammick, F. Hendriks, J. Heywood, F.R.S., W. Barwick 
Hodge, F. Jourdan, Prof. Leone Levi, Sir Massey Lopes, 
Bart., M.P., W. G. Lumley, Q.C., LL.M., J. MacClelland, 
¥. Purdy, Bernhard Samuelson, M.P., Col. W. H. Sykes, 
M.P., F.R.S., Ernest Seyd, W. Tayler, W. Pollard-Urquhart, 
M.P., Prof. Jacob Waley, J. Walter, M.P. Treasurer, J. T. 
