October 5, 191 1] 



NATURE 



455 



Eastern Bengal," he produced a work of considerable 

 interest and authority, which at once attracted the 

 attention of European scholars. He admitted that 

 this work was only provisional and that it was 

 merely "circulated for criticism"; but he had no 

 opportunity for the preparation of a revised edition. 

 Under the guidance of the late Sir W. Flower he- 

 mastered the principles of craniometry, and his recep- 

 tive mind familiarised him with the general problems 

 of ethnography and their bearing on the special con- 

 ditions of the Indian races. Appointed director of the 

 Ethnographical Survey in 1901, he suggested a scheme 

 for research which, for reasons of finance, was re- 

 jected. On a limited scale it was sanctioned by the 

 Government of Lord Curzon, and is now in progress 

 in certain provinces. 



Risley's reputation as an anthropologist must de- 

 pend upon his account of the Bengal tribes and 

 castes, and the chapters on caste and race contributed 

 to the report on the census of India of 1901, con- 

 ducted under his supervision. The latter was a re- 

 markable tour de force, considering that it was written 

 amidst the pressure of other arduous duties. In this 

 class of work his lucid style and grasp of principles 

 enabled him to present in an attractive form the 

 results of the researches into Indian anthropology 

 and sociology made by his assistants and himself. 

 Had he lived longer he would probably have revised 

 some of the theories advanced in his census report, 

 which, with some modifications, was re-issued under 

 the title of "The People of India." In particular he 

 must have realised that craniometry alone is a slip- 

 perv foundation for an analysis of the complex of 

 Indian races ; that he was mistaken in denying the 

 influence of the Scythian and Hun invasions, par- 

 ticularly in relation to the origin of some of the 

 Rajput tribes ; and that his scheme of classification to 

 some extent ignored the influence of environment, and 

 the confusion of groups resulting from long ages of 

 internal war and social disorganisation. But in his 

 skilful account of the caste system and its working 

 his powers of svstematisation, aided by considerable 

 literary ability, are fully displayed. 



It mav be feared that he was unable to complete 

 a work on the people of eastern Bengal, which was 

 announced for publication soon after his retirement 

 from India. But he has left enough to show that, 

 with more opportunity for personal study of the people 

 and more leisure for examination of the material 

 which he had collected, he might have attained a 

 scientific reputation even higher than that to which 

 he attained. Besides his published work, the initiation 

 of the Ethnographical Survey of India is the best 

 memorial of his services to the cause of science. 



NOTES. 



A meeting of the International Commission on Mathe- 

 matical Teaching was held at Milan on September 18-21, 

 Prof. F. Klein presiding. The main subjects discussed 

 were : — (1) The question of rigour in teaching mathematics, 

 especially geometry. It appears that of European coun- 

 tries Italy is the most wedded to rigorous methods, while 

 Germany and Austria stand at the other end of the scale, 

 and admit intuitive methods freely. France and England 

 adopt a middle course, France inclining toward the Italian 

 practice and England toward the German. It was agreed 

 that Euclid does not satisfy modern standards of mathe- 

 matical rigour. (2) The question of " fusion," e.g. of 

 geometry with algebra, of plane with solid geometry, of 

 geometry with trigonometry, of solid geometry with de- 

 scriptive geometry, of analytical with geometrical conies, 

 of differential with integral calculus. (3) The provision of 

 XO. 2l88, VOL. 87] 



mathematical instruction for students of such subjects as 

 chemistry, biology, and economics. Such courses were at 

 one time provided in French universities, but are now 

 entrusted to the schools. In other countries there does not 

 appear to be any systematic provision of this kind. The 

 reports issued by the various national subcommissions were 

 presented ; of these, the French reports are now complete ; 

 eight of the thirty-four English reports have been issued 

 by the Board of Education (Wyman and Co.), and a large 

 amount of literature has been issued by the German sub- 

 committee, whose labours, however, will not be completed 

 for two years more. Arrangements were made for the 

 educational subsection at the International Mathematical 

 Congress to be held at Cambridge (England) on August 

 22-28, 19 13. A full report of the Milan meeting will be 

 published in due course in L'Enseignement Mathimatique. 



The summary of the weather for the first nine months 

 of the present year, which has just been issued by the 

 Meteorological Office, shows that the temperature for the 

 period was in excess of the average over the entire area 

 of the British Islands, the excess being greatest over 

 England. The rainfall was everywhere deficient, the 

 deficiency amounting to 7-20 inches in the north of Ireland, 

 to 6-71 inches in the Midland counties, and to 6-20 inches 

 in the south-west of England. In the south-east of 

 England, which district embraces London, the deficiency ot 

 rain for the nine months amounts to 5-57 inches. Over 

 the north of England the deficiency is little more than 

 2 inches, and in the north of Scotland it is only 005 inch. 

 The largest aggregate rainfall for the nine months is 

 35-58 inches, in the north of Scotland, the least 11-94 

 inches, in the Midland counties. Rain fell on 163 days 

 in the north of Scotland, but only on 97 days in the 

 south-east of England. There was an excess of sunshine 

 in the nine months over the entire kingdom, the greatest 

 excess being 334 hours, in the south-east of England. The 

 greatest aggregate duration of sunshine for the nine 

 months is 1799 hours, in the Channel Islands, but it was 

 very little less in the south-east of England, where the 

 aggregate duration was 1720 hours. In the north of 

 Scotland it was only 11 16 hours. The summary for 

 September shows that it was only in the English districts 

 that the temperature was in excess of the average. The 

 rainfall for the month was deficient over the entire 

 kingdom, except in the north-east and north-west of 

 England and in the south of Ireland. The sunshine was 

 again in excess of the average over the entire country. 

 At Greenwich the mean temperature for the month was 

 61°, which is 3 in excess of the average ; the temperatures 

 in the early part of the month beat all previous records, 

 both for the absolute readings and for the mean of the 

 period. The total rainfall for the month was 1-34 inches, 

 which is 0-85 inch less than the average, and rain only 

 fell on eight days. The sun was shining for 222 hours, 

 which is nearly 70 hours more than the normal. 



Sir Thomas Crosby, who has been elected Lord Mayor 

 of London for the ensuing year, is the first medical man 

 to occupy that office (though his term will be the 723rd 

 Mayoralty of the City), and is probably the oldest citizen 

 upon whom the honour has been conferred, his age being 

 eighty-one. He took the degree of M.D. at St. Andrews 

 University in 1862, after being in practice for ten years, 

 and filled the office of president of the Hunterian Society 

 in 1871. He is a member of the Senate of the University 

 of London. 



New regulations for the sale of mineral acids have now 

 come into force. They have been made by the Privy 



