Feb. i8, 1875J 



NATURE 



319 



September 1874. The author commenced by pointing out the 

 danger of the tendency to extreme specialisation among scientific 

 men of the present day, and proceeded to show how tlie 

 "Basque problem" had suffered through that treatment. It 

 had been taken up by pure philologists and pure anthropologists, 

 who had viewed it only from tlieir particular standpoints, and 

 had too much neglected historical and archa-ological researches, 

 folk-lore, literature, drama, and, strangest of all, the physical 

 characteristics of tlie present Basques. The chief aim of the 

 paper was to show how inconclusive was the evidence of anthro- 

 pology alone, and to examine Mr. Dawkins' argumerit;. It held 

 that, firstly, philology had demonstrated the Basque language to 

 be agglutinative ; secondly, that W. von Humboldt's conclusion 

 is correct as to the existence of Basque names in the classical 

 geographies and itineraries of Spain ; and, thirdly, that although 

 the identity of Basque and Iberian cannot be considered as per- 

 fectly demonstrated, its probability is very high. The special 

 point of dispute was the conclu:ion of Mr. Dawkins that " the 

 former presence of an Iberian race in Armorica is demonstrated 

 by Dr. Broca's map of the stature and complexion of the peoples 

 of France." The author at great length examined and analysed 

 the maps referred to and the statistics cited in the paper, and 

 found that the evidence from anthropology alone did not seem 

 sufficient to support the theory combated, and all other evidence 

 would appear to be opposed to it. — Prof. Boyd Dawkins having 

 replied to the Rev. W. Webster's criticisms, which, in the 

 main, appeared to him to be founded upon a misapprehen- 

 sion of his use of the term "Iberian," Prince L. Lucien 

 Bonaparte remarked that the paper offered scarcely any pomt in 

 which he could not cordially concur, especially where theaulhor re- 

 ferred to tlie high competency of W. von Humboldt in respect to 

 the Basque language and ethnology ; in fact, it was impossible to 

 dispute the superiority of that eminent philologist on that special 

 question over every modern author not by birth a Basque. He 

 (the Prince) maintained that it would be as presumptuous to 

 affirm that language is always a test of race as it would be, at 

 least, hazardous to declare that anthropologists should invariably 

 dispense with such a test. If an unimportant minority of philo- 

 logists pretend to dominate over the anthropologists, they are 

 wrong ; but the minority of anthropologists, who maintain that 

 language should not be considered in the determination of race, 

 are still more in error.— Rev. A. II. Sayce, as a philologist, 

 maintained that language could not be held to be a test of race ; 

 it was a test only of social contact. — Mr. Hyde Clarke vindicated 

 the claims of philology as a branch of anthropology and of 

 natural science. He thought the Basque area of W. von Hum- 

 boldt should be much limited. Tlie Basque had affinities with 

 Houssa, and was thus connected with dark populations. — Mr. 

 W. J. Van Eys remarked that Humboldt had not proved the 

 Basques to be Iberian. — Prol. Busk, Mr. J. Rhys, Prof. Hughes^ 

 Dr. Simras, and Dr. Beddoe, also contributed to the di3Cussion_ 



Geologists' Association, Feb. 5. — W. Carruthers, F.R.S., 

 president, in the chair. — On the volcanic geology of Iceland, 

 by \V. L. Watts. Iceland is situated at the termination of the 

 great volcanic line, skirting the extteme west of the Old World, 

 which has existed since the Cretaceous period certainly, whilst 

 the points of eruption appear to have travelled north%\ards. As 

 all the rocks are igneous, or igneous derivatives, no stratigraphi- 

 cal arrangement can be made out. Basallic lava streams are 

 common in the vicinity of Reykjavik, though no active volcano 

 exists in this part of the island, which is in the secondary stage 

 of solfataras and hot springs. These solfataras are mere pits of 

 bluish white siliceous mud, the result of the decomposition of 

 contiguous tufa. The principal gas exhaled is sulphuretted 

 hydrogen. Their position changes. The hot springs are working 

 out their own destruction by the accumulation of sinter ; the com- 

 position of this varies in springs within a few yards of each 

 other. The large rifts in the old lava at Thingvalla were attri- 

 buted to the flowing away of the undercurrent of lava into a yet 

 deeper depression, thus leaving the unsupported crust to sink 

 do^vn in the middle. All the lavas of Hekla observed by the 

 author are basaltic, and contain crystals of felspar and olivine. 

 An ash and cinder cone foims the summit of the mountain. 

 There were four craters ; the longest one is an elliptical depres- 

 sion 250 feet deep, at the bottom of which lay snow, though 

 some ashes and clay were still quite hot. The district of Mydals 

 Jokull, containing the terrible volcano Ivotlujia, is remarkable 

 for the confused intermixture of aqueous and igneous ejectamenta, 

 producing agglomerates and tufas. Sand and hot water are the 

 principal .productions of Kotlujia itself, which has not been 



known to produce lava, though ancient felsitic lavas were noted 

 at its base. These floods are produced, in addition to the 

 melting of the Jokull, by the bursting of large cavities in which 

 water has accumulated for years. Such a reservoir was noted in 

 a small neighbouring crater, at the bottom cf which was a deep 

 pool of turbid water, into which several small streams emptied 

 themselves, but none ran out again. To Vatna Jokull the prin- 

 cipal volcanic forces of Iceland seem now to have retreated. 

 This is a vast tract of snow and ice which rests upon a nest of 

 volcanoes, many of which have been in eruption during historical 

 times. The Vatna rises from a series of basaltic platforms. The 

 existence of permanently active volcanoes in the unknown 

 Ulterior of this mass was considered not improbable. 



Edinburgh 

 Royal Society, Feb. 15. — Sir William Thomson, president, 

 in the chair. — Tlie following communications were read : — 

 Obituary notice of Dr. Robert Edward Grant, late Piofessor of 

 Comparative Anatomy in University College, London, by Dr. 

 Shnrpey. — An illustration of the relative rates of diffusion of 

 salts in solution, by Prof. Crum Brown. — On the oscillation of a 

 system of bodies with rotating portions, by Sir Wm. Thomson. 

 — Laboratory notes, by Prof. Tait. 



Meteorological Society, Feb. 10. — This was the half yearly 

 meeting of the Society. Mr. Milne Holme presided. — The 

 Chairman read the report of the Council, of which the following 

 is a summary : — ^The number of the Society's stations in Scot- 

 land was at present 92, and there were also 11 in other 

 countries. The number of members was 538 ordinary, 15 

 corresponding, and S honoraiy members. After referring to 

 the inquiry conducted by Dr. Arthur Mitchell and Mr. Buchan 

 on the influence of the weather on mortality and disease, the 

 report noticed that, on the suggestion of Mr. Thomas Stevenson, 

 C. E., schedules had been supplied to the observatories within 

 twenty or thirty miles of Edinburgh, so as to secure data for 

 investigating the relation of the force of the wind to the baro- 

 metric gradient. Returns had been received, but these had not 

 yet been examined. Meteorological returns applicable to Loch 

 FjTie for the last twenty years had been furnished by Mr. Buchan 

 on application to the Special Commissioners appointed to inquire 

 into the causes of the disappearance of herrings from Loch Fyne. 

 The investigations regarding the herring fisheries on the Scottish 

 coasts, instituted by the Society, had been continued during the 

 past session. The Marquis of TweedJale, who originally 

 suggested the mquiiy, had supplied the Society with twenty 

 thermometers, to be used to ascertain the temperature of the 

 sea at the places and at the times when the fishery was 

 being carried on. These tliermonieters were by Mr. Bouverie 

 Primrose sent to the fishery ofticers of the Herring Board sta- 

 tionetl along the east coast of Scotland, and each fisliery officer 

 selected an intelligent fisherman to take the temperature of the 

 sea where the herring shoals were found. Important results were 

 expected from these investigations. — Dr. Arthur Mitchell read a 

 paper on the effects of the weather of the last three months on 

 the death-rate. — Mr. Buchan read a paper on the bearing of 

 meteorological records on the supposed change of climate in 

 Scotland. Mr. Buchan concludes that there has been no general 

 tendency towards a permanent change, either as regards summer 

 heat or winter cold. 



Manchester 



Literary and Philosophical Society, Jan. 26. — Edward 

 Scliunk, F. R. S., &c., president, in the chair. — A descent into 

 Elden Hole, Derbyshire, by Rooke Pennington, LL.B. Near the 

 road from Buxton to Castleton, and about four miles from the lat' 

 ter place, stands Elden Hill, in the side of which is Elden Hole, a 

 perpendicular chasm in the rock, and, like many such apertures, 

 reputed to be bottomless. The author describes a descent into 

 the cavern, made by himself and others, on the lith of .Septem- 

 ber, 1873. At a distance of iSo ft. from the top a landing-place 

 was reached, although not a very secure one, as it was inclined 

 at an angle of about 45°. Thence a cavern ran downwards to- 

 wards the south or south-east ; the floor was entirely covered 

 with loose fragments of limestone, probably extending to a con- 

 siderable thickness. There was quite sufficient light at this point 

 to enable one to sketch or read. The p.irty then scrambled, or 

 rather slipped, into the cavern for some lew yards, during which 

 tlicy descended a considerable distance : it was of a tunnel-like 

 shape ; then it suddenly expanded into a magnificent hall about 

 100 ft. across and about 70 ft. high. The floor of this half 



