Fan. 20, 1870] 
ee a ee 
* considerable. 
NATURE ‘ 3 
19 
*Prof. Seligmann on Exostoses in the Meatus auditorius 
of Peruvian Crania 
Some years ago Prof. Seligmann found on Peruvian crania 
of the Titicaca form (cylindrical, elongated by bandages) 
- considerable exostoses on the external meatus auditorius, a very 
rare morbid affection. No traces of such exostoses were found 
on the other variety of Peruvian crania so nearly related to the 
North American form, and, like these, flattened by, pressure be- 
tween boards. The crania first referred to are most similar to the 
so-called dvaviaxz skulls, to be met with from Austria as far as into 
France ; but exostoses have never been found on any of these 
last. The cause of these exostoses was at last found out in the 
narrative of the conquest of Peru by coeyal Spanish authors, all 
describing the solemn inauguration of the descendants of the 
Incas, who had come to the age of sixteen years. They were then 
‘compelled to undergo most exciting exertions of body and mind, 
and the hardest privations ; the ceremony of piercing the ears 
being the term of these severe trials. The lobes of both ears 
were widened by introduction of metallic cylinders, so that a 
gold or silyer disc of the diameter of an orange could find room 
in each of them. The Spaniards designated the wearers of this 
distinction as ‘‘Orejones’’ (Great-ears). A Spanish author says, it 
would scarcely be credible that the lobes of the ear could bear 
such a weighty ornament if they were not sustained bya loop of a 
finger’s size. The excitement attending the trials, the compara- 
tively late epoch of the operation, together with its rapid and 
violent mode of performance, may possibly have provoked a 
pathological process affecting the cartilaginous, and, subsequently, 
the osseous portion of the ears. Many tribes lengthen the 
lobes of their ears by introducing pieces of wood, &c., and a 
South American tribe is named ‘‘ Orejones”’ on account of this 
custom; in these cases, however, the lengthened portion is 
relaxed. If the above supposition is exact, it leads to the follow- 
ing result : all the Peruvian crania of the Titicaca form, offering the 
above-described exostoses, are those of male individuals of high 
caste, having passed their sixteenth year; and the appellation 
“nea crania,” hitherto applied to flattened Peruvian skulls, is 
inexact. Deafness was not the necessary consequence of these 
exostoses, the narrowest aperture of the meatus auditorius being 
sufficient for the perception of sounds. 
Dr. Glatter on the Influence of Race-differences on 
the Vital Processes 
Tris influence is evident in the descendants of an Italian 
colony, living at Lemberg, who are in the habit of entrusting 
themselves for treatment to native Italian physicians, who, accord- 
ing to their custom, treat their patients with frequent bleedings, to | 
the amount of 8 to 10 ounces, without any damage to their health. 
Poles, submitted to the same treatment, often suffer very bad 
consequences from it. The natives of Alpine regions established at 
Vienna are endowed with a high degree of vitality, and generally 
of longevity. The Servians are very prolific in their native 
country ; north of Mohacs, however, the number of births among 
them is diminishing, so that the population of Servian places ap- 
proaches extinction. Births are numerous and easy, and deaths 
comparatively few among Jews in every country, thus proving 
their strong accommodative power, and consequently their 
aptitude for commercial business. At Pesth, Jewish mer- 
chants reach a higher average age than Christian ones; the 
reyerse is the case there among workmen, as tailors, &c. 
Suicide is rare, mental alienation frequent among Jews. Among 
Magyars, the number of births is moderate, the mortality 
rather great, and as a necessary consequence, the Slavonian 
population is more and more encroaching on them. | Notwith- 
standing the very notable introduction of Turkish blood during 
the long occupation in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the 
Finnic race and characters have suffered but little alteration, as 
proved by the striking similitude between Magyar and Finnic 
crania. The Hungarian Slovacks possess a high degree of 
vitality, and, notwithstanding certain noxious customs (hot wine 
giyen to women immediately after parturition, and brandy given 
to sucking babes), the mortality among them is anything but 
The Wends, living in groups in the Comitate of 
Wieselburg, are tall, with small heads, and, notwithstanding 
their irregular and excessive mode of living, generally attain to a 
good old age. The Germans in the Comitate of Pesth are all 
yery prolific, but their number increases but moderately, as the 
rate of mortality is rather considerable. The Roumanians are 
reported to be generally of small size, with rather light brain, 
and te be subject to tuberculosis and to caries of the teeth. 
The Poles are more affected by epidemics than the Ruthen‘ans ; 
deaths among them are more numerous than births, while the 
Ruthenian population is constantly increasing in numbers. Prof. 
Sigmund has observed in the case of Italians and Spaniards, 
that wounds are more inclined to gangrene than in individuals 
of other races. 
Prof. C. Vogt on a Microcephalous Subject 
THE data concerning this subject have been communicated by 
M. de Vilanova, Professor of Geology at Madrid. His name 
is Vincenzo Ortis, of Codina, born at Castillon del Duca 
(province of Valencia), in 1813. The dimensions of his head 
are: facial angle, 59°; circumference of the cranium, 0°46 
metres ; upper arch, 0°19 m. ; longitudinal diameter, 0°14 m. ; 
transverse diameter, 12m. His total length does not exceed 1 
metre. The sternal limbs are yery long, with a rudimentary 
sixth finger on each hand; the abdominal members are short, 
with a sixth toe on each foot ; his whole body is covered with 
long hairs. 
tated he tears his clothes without doing harm to others. 
unable to speak, but makes very expressive faces. His mode of 
progression is by leaps. The comparatively advanced age ot 
fifty-six years, and the existence of six fingers and toes, make 
Ortis an exception among Microcephalous subjects. 
He is 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 
LONDON 
Royal Society, January 13.—The following papers were 
read:—‘‘On the Mineral Constituents of Meteorites,” by Nevil 
Story-Maskelyne, M.A., Professor of Mineralogy in the Uni- 
versity of Oxford, and Keeper of the Mineral Department, 
British Museum. Communicated by Prof. H. J. Stephen Smith, 
F.R.S. [We are compelled to postpone an abstract of this 
paper. ] 
“On Fluoride of Silver.” Part I. By George Gore, F.R.S. 
This communication treats of the formation, preparation, analysis, 
composition, common physical properties, and chemical behaviour 
of fluoride of silver. The salt was prepared by: treating pure 
silver carbonate with an excess of pure aqueous hydrofluoric acid 
in a platinum dish, and evaporating to dryness, with certain pre- 
cautions. The salt thus obtained invariably contains a small 
amount of free metallic silver, and generally also traces of water 
and of hydrofluoric acid, unless special precautions mentioned are 
observed. It was analysed by various methods: the best method 
of determining the amount of fluorine in it consisted in evaporat- 
ing to dryness a mixture of a known weight of the salt dissolved 
in water, with a slight excess of pure and perfectly caustic lime in 
a platinum bottle, and gently igniting the residue at an incipient 
red heat until it ceased to lose weight. By taking proper care, 
the results obtained are accurate. The reaction in this method 
of analysis takes place according to the following equation: 
2AgF + CaO=CaF,+2Ag+O. Sixteen parts of oxygen ex- 
pelled equal thirty-eight parts of fluorine present. One of the 
methods employed for determining the amount of silver consisted 
in passing dry ammonia over the salt in a platinum boat and 
tube at a low red heat. The results obtained in the various 
analyses establish the fact that pure fluoride of silver consists of 
nineteen parts of fluorine and 108 of silver. Argentic fluoride is 
usually in the form of yellowish brown earthy fragments ; butwhen 
rendered perfectly anhydrous by fusion, it is a black homy mass, 
with a superficial satin lustre, due to particles of free silver. It is 
extremely deliquescent and soluble in water; one part of the salt 
dissolves in "55 part by weight of water at 15°°5 C.; it evolves heat 
in di-solving, and forms a strongly alkaline solution. It is nearly 
insoluble in absolute alcohol. The specific gravity of the earthy- 
brown salt is 5°852 at 15° 5 C.; the specific gravity of its aqueous 
solution, at 15°°5 C., saturated at that temperature, is 2°61. By 
chilling the saturated solution, it exhibited the phenomenon of 
supersaturation and suddenly solidified, with evolution of heat, 
on immersing a platinum plate in it, The solution is capable of 
being crystallised, and yields crystals of a hydrated salt; the act 
of crystallisation is attended by the singular phenomenon of the 
remainder of the salt separating in the anhydrous and apparently 
non-crystalline state, the hydrated salt taking to itself the whole 
of the water. The fused salt, after slow and undisturbed cooling, 
exhibits crystalline markings upon its surface. The dry salt is 
not decomposed by sunlight; it melts below a visible red heat, 
and forms a highly lustrous, mobile, and jet-black liquid. It is 
not decomposed by a red heat alone; but in the state of semi- 
fusion or of complete fusion it is rapidly decomposed by the 
His character is rather meek and timid ; when iri-- 
