1098 
by some account of the revolt against the Chinese dominion, 
which, after lasting a hundred years, was overthrown in 1863 ; 
after which the present ruler, with his Uzbeg troops, defeated the 
Tunganis, and successively made himself master of the different 
places, and is now master of the country. But his tenure is pre- 
carious, and his fear of assassination causes him to change his 
apartment every hour during the night.—In the ensuing discus- 
sion, the president stated that, so far from Russia regarding our 
commercial entrance into Eastern Turkestan with jealousy, the 
Czar and Prince Gortschakoff had both assured Mr, Forsyth that 
so long as the Atalih Ghazee confined himself to the country south 
of the Tian Shan, Russia would not interfere with Eastern Tur- 
kestan.—The president also pointed out that Mr. Hayward’s 
discoveries had confirmed A. yon Humboldt’s theory as to the 
salient points of the mountain systems of Central Asia. Mr. 
Hayward was about starting to explore the Pamir Steppe, by way 
of Ghilghit. —Sir H. Rawlinson mentioned that he was enabled 
to state that the Indian Government were about to arrange with the 
Maharajah of Kashmir, to send officers to survey the routes to the 
frontierof Turkestan ; and intended afterwards to enter into nego- 
tiations with the Atalih Ghazee for the same purpose, as to the 
routes in his dominions. It is understood that Russia has not 
recognised the Atalih Ghazee, regarding him as a rebel against 
the empire of China—an ally of Russia. 
Royal Microscopical Society, December $.—The Rev. J. 
B. Reade, M.A., F.R.S., president, in the chair. Prof. Rymer 
Jones, F.R.S., read a paper on Deep-sea Dredgings from China 
and Japan. Professor Jones stated that he had recently received 
from Lieut. Ross, R.N. (grandson of Sir J. Ross), certain speci- 
mens of deep-sea dredgings, obtained at a depth of 1,080 fathoms, 
from the bottom of the sea near Fly Island, in the neighbourhood 
of Sandal-wood Island. After alluding to the theories which 
had until a recent period prevailed with respect to the depth at 
which animal life existed in the ocean, and to the researches and 
discoveries of Prof. Vorbes, Sir. J. Ross, and Dr. Wallich, 
Prof. Jones proceeded to give a description of the contents of a 
phial (a small portion of the dredgings sent by Lieut. Ross), 
from which about a grain and a half of solid matter had been 
obtained. The first result of the microscopic examination of this 
matter was the discovery of a considerable quantity of silex, so 
finely triturated, however, as to be scarcely visible. The next 
discovery was a large number of sponge sfzcw/e ; many of the 
spicules being sculptured in forms of the greatest beauty. Of 
these spicules there were 12 genera. Some 800 or 900 specimens 
of Foraminifera were next found, exhibiting nearly every form of 
the animal hitherto found in the bed of the Atlantic. A still 
more interesting discovery was that of 600 or 700 Polycystine ; 
which differed from those found in Barbadoes, in this respect, 
that whereas the latter were usually brought up fractured and 
imperfect, the former were perfectly intact in all parts, displaying 
the most exquisite structures, and hundreds being clothed in thin 
soft covering. From this fact it might be argued that they had 
been taken from their ocean home alive, notwithstanding the 
immense pressure to which they are said to be subjected. There 
were also many species present which had not as yet received 
names from naturalists. Besides these, Prof. Jones had found 
a large number of shields of various shapes, resembling 
the Diatomacee ; and of these there were not less than 300. 
Lastly, he had found diatoms themselves, more sparsely dis- 
tributed, but of larger size than those usually coming under 
the notice of microscopists ; and of these there were over fifty 
specimens. What larger animals lived at the bottom of the deep 
sea he could not say, but as there appeared to be abundant food 
for them, and as both Sir J. Ross and Dr. Wallich had found 
star-fishes in the respective localities dredged by them, it might 
be reasonably inferred that they abounded in the ocean bed, and 
that a most extensive fauna existed there as yet entirely undis- 
covered. The following papers, for want of time, were taken as 
read, viz.: “On the Stylet Region of the Ominontoplean 
Broboscis,” by Dr. McIntosh, and “Organisms in Mineral 
Infusions,’’ by C. Staniland Wake, F.A.S.L. Four gentlemen 
wereelected Fellows, and the Societyadjourned to January 12, 1870. 
Entomological Society, December 9.—Mr. H. W. Bates, 
president, in the chair. Seven new members were elected, 
namely, MM. d’Emerich, De Marseul, and Oberthur (foreign 
members), Captain Lang, R.E., and Messrs. W. Arnold Lewis, 
J. Cosmo Melvill, and Howard Vaughan. Exhibitions of 
Hymenoptera were made by Prof. Westwood and Mr. Frederick 
Smith ; of Lepidoptera, by Mr. F. Smith and Mr. J. Jenner 
Weir; of Coleoptera, by Prof. Westwood and Mr. Albert Miiller. 
NATURE 
[Dec. 16, 1869 
Communications were read from -Mr. Robert McLachlan on 
Boreus hymenalis and B. Westwoodii ; from Mr. Edwin Brown, 
respecting the locust captured at Burton-on-Trent and exhibited 
at the previous meeting, which had been identified as Acridiam 
peregrinum, a species distributed over a great part of Asia and 
the North of Africa, but not hitherto detected in Europe. 
Ethnological Society, December 7.—Prof. Huxley, LL.D., 
F.R.S., president, in the chair. At the meeting of the International 
Congress for Prehistoric Archzology, held last year at Norwich, 
a committee was formed, under the presidency of Sir John Lub- 
bock, Bart., for the purpose of inquiring into the present condition 
of the prehistoric remains in the British Isles. Subsequently, 
the functions of this committee were transferred to the Ethno- 
logical Society, and the first-fruits of its labours in this direction 
have just appeared in the shape of a valuable Report on the 
Prehistoric Monuments of the Channel Islands, prepared by 
Lieut. Oliver, R.A. These islands are remarkably rich in meza- 
lithic structures of noble proportions, but from their unprotected 
state they have been subject to the most ruthless destruction. Not 
only have they been demolished by the ‘‘navvy” and the mere 
treasure-seeker, but they have also suffered considerably from inju- 
dicious attempts at restoration. Nevertheless, they are still suffi- 
ciently numerous to form the subject of an elaborate Report. Lieut. 
Oliver pointed out the resemblance between some of these mega- 
lithic monuments and those in Madagascar erected at the present 
day by the hill-tribes of Hovas. The Report was copiously illus- 
trated, and called forth a discussion, in which the chief speakers 
were the president, Mr. J. Lukis, Mr. J. W. Flower, Dr. Hyde 
Clarke, and Col. Lane-Fox.—At the same meeting, a note was 
read from Mr. Acheson on a supposed stone implement, found 
beneath the bed of a river worked for gold in Co, Wicklow. 
—A communication was also made, by Maj.-General Lefroy, on 
the Stature of the North-American Indians of the Chipewyan 
Tribe ; and remarks were made upon it by Dr. Richard King. 
Anthropological Society, December 7.—Dr. Beddoe, pre- 
sident, in the chair. Dr. Leitner gave some further details of 
his visit to Dardistan in 1866, especially referring to the Shina 
race. He briefly touched upon the main outlines of his journey, 
mentioning that his experience had modified his views as to the 
inconvenience resulting from the rarefaction of the air at high 
altitudes, inasmuch as he and his companions had surmounted 
passes of 18,000 feet without experiencing any of the usual 
effects. Although the Dards were at war with the Maharajah of 
Kashmir, and the towns apparently deserted, he was able to 
assemble, by sending round a drummer, 150 to a feast, and con- 
tinued on most friendly terms with them during his abode in 
Ghilghit. The vocabularies and grammars of the hitherto un- 
written Dardoo dialects which he has collected show a probably 
parental Aryan type. It is to be much regretted that the refusal 
of the India Office to grant an extension of leave to Dr. Leitner 
will compel his return to India within a fortnight, and almost 
deprive him of the opportunity of arranging and comparing these 
hitherto unknown languages. The Indian Government does 
not seem desirous of encouraging acquaintance with Central 
Asia. A traveller desirous of penetrating by Ghilghit 
to the Panin Steppe had recently been refused mules. Several 
interesting particulars of the customs among the Chilasis 
Ghilghites and other Dards were mentioned, which are alien 
to Mahommedan and Hindu ideas. The place and privileges 
accorded to women, who receive the visits of their husbands’ 
friends without any suspicion—the custom cf courtship, the use 
of wine, the fondness for dogs,—all seem to point to an inde- 
pendent origin of religion and manners. The value set upon 
dogs was illustrated by the fact that two men-slaves were given 
as the price of a good hound. The Sooni ruler of Chitral not 
merely sold his subjects, but his own mother, as a slave, and 
when asked how he could sell her whose breasts had suckled 
him, pointed to a cow, and said that she gave him milk constantly, 
yet he would sell her! and when a Moollah, who was to be sold, 
threatened him with vengeance for selling a minister of the Word 
of God, he replied that everybody sold the Koran—why therefore 
should he not sell the expounder of it. Dr. Leitner stated that 
the Kafirs were certainly fairer than the Kashmiris, but his 
experience hardly bore out the statement of their being excep- 
tionally fair, with blue eyes and light hair. West of Balti the 
general type of face approximated more to the European. He 
could discover no religion or rites among them, save that once 
a year each deposited a stone on a cairn, situated on a high 
mountain, He found a species of caste division among the 
