Llarch 23, 1871 | 
NATURE 
419 

the author, on physical grounds, extende! some views which he 
himself had, from other reasons, brought before the Society. 
He mentioned that there had lately been found in the fresh- 
waters of Australia a remarkable fish, which had been described, 
he thought erroneously, as a Cerafodus, but which, in many 
essential characters, was a Difterus, though allied in some 
respects to Phaneroplenrom. In other respects it was connected 
with Lepidosiven. It was about to be described by Dr. Giinther. 
The dentition of this fish is curiously similar to that of the De- 
vonian Difterus; and its existence, he thought, corroborated 
Prof. Ramsay’s argument. He agreed with the author as to his 
views respecting the terrestrial fauna of ancient times, and was 
quite prepared for the discovery of mammalian remains in earlier 
formations than those in which they are at present known. He 
did not so cordially agree with his views as to the marine fauna. 
He would carrv hack the forms from which those of the present 
day are immediately derived to Cretaceous rather than Eocene 
times. Between the Cretaceons and the Liassic strata there was 
what appeared to be a middle group, succeeding the Paleozoic. 
Mr. Etheridge commented on the dwarfed condition of our Per- 
mian fauna, which corresponds in the main with that of the Con- 
tinent, though with fewer genera and species. Prof. Rupert 
Jones protested against some of the reasons adduced for regard- 
ing some of the areas cited as having been inland lakes, though 
no doubt such lakes must have existed, He thought that mere 
colour could not be taken as a critericn. If it were, he inquired 
why the bottoms of the present lakes were not red? Many 
of the red rocks were, moreover, full of marine fossils. He 
contended for the true trilobite character of Paleoprge 
Ramsayi, and mentioned its occurrence and that of Zin- 
gula ferrusinea in red Cambrian rocks as proving the 
marine character of the beds. ‘the Magnesian Limestone 
he also insisted upon as a purely marine and open sea deposit. 
Prof. Morris thought the subject required further consideration 
before the whole of Prof. Ramsay’s views were accepted. The 
Cambrian beds, for instance, containing great beds of conglo- 
merate, seemed such as could only be due to marine action, and 
would derive their red colour from the decomposition of the old 
hornblendic gneiss from which they were derived. With regard 
to the Red Sandstone, he would inquire whether the colour 
might not be derived from the decomposition of rocks composed 
of homblendic materials. The Old Red Sandstone beds, though 
in this country containing fishes which might be of freshwater 
genera, had in Russia the same fishes associated with marine 
shells ; and much the same was the case in the Trias. Dr. 
Carpenter had been led to the conclusion that wherever there 
was an inland sea connected with the ocean by a strait even 
of moderate depth, there was a double current tending to preserve 
some degree of similarity between the waters of the two, the 
difference of specific gravity in the Mediterranean as compared 
with the Atlantic being about as 1°026 to 1'029. In the Red 
Sea, where so little fresh water came in, and there was an eveno- 
ration of nearly eight feet per annum, the water was but little 
salter than that of the ocean with which it was connected. 
In the Baltic there is an undercurrent inwards, which 
still keeps it brackish; for otherwise the influx of fresh 
water was so enormously in excess of the evaporation, that 
it would long ago have become perfectly fresh. Such facts bore 
materially on the speculations of the author. Capt. Spratt main- 
tained that in the Dardanelles there was not a trace of such an 
undercurrent as mentioned by Dr. Carpenter. In the winter 
months, when the flow of the rivers into the Black Sea was for 
the most part arrested by ice, the salt water of the Mediterranean 
was carried into the inland seas, and these being much deeper 
than the channel of the Dardanelles, the salt water, by its 
greater specific gravity, remained in the bottom of the sea of 
Marmora, so that while the upper portion of the water and that 
on the shores were fresh, marine conditions existed in the deep 
centre of the sea. Dr. Duncan mentioned that in certain coral 
reefs intersected by freshwater currents, the corals. still continued 
to be formed ; so that the existence of dwarfed forms of corals 
in ancient times was quite consistent with modern facts. Mr. 
Forbes commented on the chemical features of Prof. Ramsay’s 
viewt, and could see no reason why the beds containing iron 
should not have been deposited in the open sea. Many beds, 
for instance the Gault, contain more iron than those which are 
now red, though they mav be grey or blue. In sands the grains 
are often coloured only superficially with iron, probably derived 
from sulphates. In other cases the sands consist of fragments of 
rocks already red, ‘There was, in fact, no reason why the beds 
| deposited in the open sea might not subsequently, by oxidation, 
become perfectly red. Prof. Ramsay replied to the remarks of 
the various speakers, and summed up by contrasting the usual 
colour of marine fossiliferous beds with that of the thick, almost 
non-fossiliferous rocks of which he had been treating 
Anthropological Institute, March 20.—Sir John Lubbock, 
Bart., M.P., president, in the chair. Mr. Wilham Sloan and 
Mr. John Edward Brearey, of Madras, were elected members. 
After the adjourned discussion of Mr. Jackson’s paper, ‘The 
Racial Aspect of the Franco: Prussian War,” Mr. Hyde Clore 
read a paper “On the Migrations of the Georgians, Cirenssiars, 
and Amazons, and their connection with the Tibeto-Cavessian 
race,” of which the following is an abstract :—By means of 
the application of the Georgian, Circassian, and other existing 
languages 77 sitz, the existence of a previous Georgian or Cau- 
casian population was shown, and that the extent of its area was 
much greater than could have been suspected. This Palen- 
georgian language had a much nearer relation to the existing 
languages than the Hieroglyphic to the Coptic, or the Cunciform 
to the Syriac and Persian, but it was in a different and earlier 
stage of comparative grammar than the Hebrew or Sanskrit, and 
to which the Caffre group presents some resemblances of struc- 
ture. The connection of the language with the comparative my- 
thology of the worship of fire and water, gives further evidence as 
to the diffusion of a population which had held empire over Irdia 
and thence to the Atlantic shores and these islands. Acc« pting 
as a doctrine the conquest of Palestine from the Canaanites and 
other races identified with the Caucaso-Tibetans, the period of 
empire would range from 3,5c0 to 4,500 years ago, during which 
the germs of the existing civilisation were developed. This popu- 
lation belonged to the family which includes the Tibetan and 
Chinese stocks. Many portions of the Mosaic record, considered 
to have been interpolated during the Babylonian captivity, now 
appeared to be of the greatest antiquity. Many subjects, corol- 
lary to the main discoveries, were touched upon, including the 
connection of the Etruscan, the Phrygian, the languages of Asia 
Minor, the Akkaa with the Palzogeorgian, also the Lydo- 
Assyrian rock-cut monuments, the Cyclopean buildings, the so- 
called Druidic structures, the discovery of metals, &c. 
Royal Geographical Society, March 13.—Major-General 
Sir Henry C. Rawlinson, K.C.B., vice-president, in the chair. 
The following new Fellows were elected :—Sir James An- 
derson; W. Blackmore; R. B. Jackson, Sir Donald F. 
McLeod, K.C.S.1., C.B. ; Capt. James Nicol ; G. Wm. Petter. 
The paper read was, ‘‘On Mr. Baines’s Explorations of the 
Gold-Fields of South Africa,” by Dr. R. J. Mann, and was 
founded on the voluminous journals, itineraries, astronomical 
observations, &c., sent home by Mr. Thomas Daines, who 
had been employed, since the end of 1868, in making a 
general survey of the gold-yielding country lying between the 
Limpopo and Zambesi rivers. Leaving the Limpopo at its north- 
western bend, near the Makloutse and Shapsa rivers, he traversed, 
with his companions, the range of highlands separating the basins 
of the Zambesi and Limpopo, ina north-easterly direction, for 
300 miles, negotiating with the powerful Matabele chiefs, fixing 
geographical positions, investigating the mineralogy, and sketch- 
ing, with his well-known artistic skill, the scenery and people. 
His farthest point to the north was 17° 30’ S. lat., and in one 
part of his route he was within 120 miles of the Zambesi. On 
the route, the heads of a great number of streams were struck, 
flowing on the one side into the Zambesi, and on the other 
towards the Limpopo or Indian Ocean, the high land (averaging 
about 3000 feet) furming the watershed in this part of Africa. 
The country was healthy, but rather barren and anid, especially 
on the western slope of the watershed. The chief of the Mata- 
bele came to an amicable agreement regarding the working of 
the gold, which was found very widely distributed over the 
region, but only in quartz reefs, not in alluvial washing. 
Many additional particulars regarding the country were given, 
after the reading of the paper, by Sir John Swinburne, who tra- 
velled over most of the same ground, and partly in company with 
Baines. He said the dry uplands were totally unfit for European 
settlement, but the well-watered northern and eastern slopes were 
fertile, and adapted for all kinds of tropical produce. The rich, 
well-wooded country on the eastern side, rugged with precipitous 
hills and deep valleys, was inhabited by a superior negro tribe, 
called A/ashonas, totally distinct from the invading Matabele of the 
opposite (western) side ef the uplands. Whilst the Metabele—a 
section of Caffres—follow no arts hut those of war, and go nearly 


