518 

Geplogists’ Association, April 10.*—A numerous party 
of the members of the Geologists’ Association visited 
Cambridge for the purpose of inspecting the Woodwardian 
Museum and the exposures of Cretaceous strata in the neighbour- 
hood. On arriving at Cambridge the party proceeded at once 
to the Woodwardian Museum, where they were met by the Rev. 
Dr. Cookson, Master of St. Peter’s College, the Rev. J. Wilt- 
shire, M.A., President of the Association, Prof. Morris, the 
Rev. T. G. Bonney, Fellow and Tutor of St. Johns College, the 
Rey. Osmond Fisher, M.A., and Rev. Harry Seeley, F.G.S., as 
the representative of the venerable Prof. Sedgwick, who, much 
to his regret, was prevented being present. ‘The fine collection 
of fossil mollusca was ably described by the Rev. T. G. Bonney, 
and the reptilian remains formed the subject of an interesting 
discourse by Rev. H. Seeley ; after which Prof. Morris, in the 
Geological Lecture Theatre, delivered an address on the geology 
of the country around Cambridge, which was listened to with 
great interest by a large audience, who passed a very cordial vote 
of thanks to the Professor for his lecture. The afternoon was 
devoted to a visit to the ‘‘coprolite workings ” and other exca- 
vations at Barnwell. Proceeding along the banks of the Cama 
fine section of Pleistocene deposits yielding mammaliferous 
remains and the usual species of mollusca was reached. This 
exposure exhibited some very fine examples of false bedding, 
and many granite and other boulders from the drift were here 
seen. A very extensive excavation in the Gault here capped by 
a thin deposit of Upper Greensand lower chalk was next visited. 
The Gault, excavated for brick making purposes, is exposed to 
a depth of seventy or eighty feet, and from the evidence of well- 
sinkers it is probably from 150 to 200 feet thick, Fossils are 
rarely met with in the Gault clay at this place, though in other 
localities this formation is very fossiliferous. Lying on the Gault 
at its junction with the Upper Greensand beds before mentioned 
occurs the stratum containing the phosphatic nodules or 
‘*Coprolites ” for which this locality is famous, and which, from 
another locality, were first noticed as being valuable for agricul- 
tural purposes by Prof. Henslow. At a short distance from this 
excavation the coprolite workings are found onall sides. Indeed, 
the whole of the land in the neighbourhood is being systemati- 
cally explored for these valuable nodules which lie at an average 
of six or seven feet from the surface. One field after another is 
taken in hand, the coprolite bed of about twelve inches in thick- 
ness is taken out, the soil is carefully replaced on the surface, 
and the field is once again ready for tillage. The ‘‘coprolites” 
are washed by horse power to remove the sand and loam in 
which they are imbedded, and they are then ready for conversion 
into manure. A considerable number of fossils, chiefly Bre- 
chiopods, were obtained. The party returned to Cambridge, 
and in the evening were most hospitably entertained at St. John’s 
College by the Rev. T. G. Bonney. On the following day Up- 
ware, between Cambridge and Ely, was visited. At this place, 
situated in the fens and near to the river Cam, very interesting 
sections have been exposed in consequence of the search for 
‘*coprolites.” The Gault, which has become very thin, has 
been cut through and Lower Greensand strata reached. In the 
Lower Greensand, as at the top of the Gault, a bed abounding 
in the so-called coprolites is found, and this bed contains cha- 
racteristic Lower Greensand fossils, together with several new 
species of Brachiopods described by Rev. J. F. Walker, B.A., 
¥.G.S. Cropping out within a very short distance of this ex- 
posure of Gault and Lower Greensand is a remarkable calcareous 
rock full of corals, which has hitherto been called Coral Rag, 
but which Rev. Harry Seeley, who has paid great attention to 
the strata of this district considers to be of Kimmeridgian age, 
and to which he has applied the name Upware Limestone. This 
rock is underlain by ‘* Ampthill clay,” which would appear to 
be in this district the equivalent of the Coral Rag of Oxford- 
shire, Gloucestershire, Dorsetshire, &c. The Brachiopods in 
the Lower Greensand coprolitic bed are abundant, especially 
Terebratula sella, Terebratula prelonga, and Waldheimia ( Tere- 
bratula) Davidsoni. The next excursion of the Association will 
be to Belvedere and Erith on Saturday next, and during May 
visits will be paid to Oxford, Grays in Essex, and Yeovil in 
Somersetshire. 
Anthropological Institute, April 17.—Sir John Lubbock, 
Bart., president, in the chair. Messrs. Marsden Gibson, Adam 
Murray, Charles Rooke, and Thomas Davey, were elected mem- 
bers. Mr. F. G. H. Price exhibited a pick made from the 
antlers of the red deer. Mr, Charlesworth exhibited an ancient 
* Communicated by Prof. Morris. 
NATURE 



[April 27, 1871 

Mexican flake of obsidian, an obsidian core, and a Mexican 
mirror of iron pyrites.—A paper by Dr. W. H. J. Bleek was 
read on the position of the Australian Languages. After point- 
ing out the discovery, made by Sir George Grey, that the 
languages spoken throughout the southern portion of the Aus- 
tralian Continent were derived from one common stock, the 
author proceeded to inquire what relationship they bore to other 
languages. It was shown that in structure they were diametri- 
cally opposed to Polynesian languages; that they had remarkable 
resemblances to the Dravidian or South-Indian languages, and 
should be placed with the latter in the same class. The author 
gave a comprehensive sketch of the characteristics of the Tu- 
ranean languages, their modifications and varieties. From the 
linguistic point of view Dr. Bleek had arrived at the conclusion 
that the Australian native was, probably, mainly a degenerate 
offspring of the South-Indian race, and it was possible that the 
latter might have some admixture of negro blood, although their 
physical features would not altogether bear out that conclusion. 
It was not improbable that some portion of the negro race oc- 
cupied the tropical districts of India. It would appear from a 
comparison of the religious customs and observances of the past 
with those of the present time among the Australian aborigines 
that those people had fallen from a higher civilisation; and 
that conclusion would seem to be borne out by a considera- 
tion of the artificial nature of their weapons, their knowledge 
of the art of spinning, the peculiar system of castes ex- 
isting among them, and from other circumstances tending 
to confirm that view. It was not too much to say that their 
having been spread in small numbers over a vast continent pro- 
duced almost necessarily with them, as with many European 
settlers in new countries, the loss of many of those acquirements 
of civilisation which they had original possessed. —The Rev. G, 
Taplin contributed ‘‘A comparative table of the Australian 
languages.”—Mr. C. S. Wake read a paper on the mental 
characteristics of primitive man, as exhibited in the Aborigines 
of Australia. With reference to the subject of religion the 
author maintained that as the aborigines could not be said to 
have any worship at all the argument that they had been derived 
from inhabitants of the temperate zone was not of any value. 
That the Australian aborigines did possess certain points of 
affinity with other races was, in his mind, unquestionable. Those 
points of affinity, however, did not prove that the Australians 
had fallen from a higher state of civilisation, or that as a race 
they had been derived either from Southern India or from 
Northern Asia. A race, whatever degradation it might undergo, 
could never lose all trace in its social condition of that which it 
once possessed, and sink back to the exact state in which it 
must have been when it first emerged from a condition of bar- 
barism. 
Mathematical Society, April 13.—Mr. W. Spottiswoode, 
F.R.S., president, in the chair. Mr. C. J. Monro, B.A., late 
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, was proposed for elec- 
tion, and the following gentlemen were elected members :—The 
Hon. J. W. Strutt, Major Frederick Close, R.A., and Mr. 
James Stuart, Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge. 
—The President briefly alluded to the loss the society had 
recently experienced by the death of its first President, the late 
Prof. De Morgan. Dr. Hirst, who had been intimately asso- 
ciated with Mr. De Morgan, when both were Professors in 
University College, gave a sketch of the work done by the de- 
ceased professor, especially dwelling upon the originality and 
acuteness displayed in all his writings, instancing, in particular, 
his ‘‘Double Algebra,” his work on the ‘‘ Differential and 
Integral Calculus,” and his ‘Formal Logic.” The speaker 
also dwelt upon the warm interest he had taken in the society from 
its first establishment, which led him to accept the office of first 
President, and to deliver the inaugural address, and then pro- 
ceeded to pay a cordial tribute to his personal character. In 
conclusion, Dr. Hirst stated that Mr. De Morgan’s valuable and 
unique collection of curious works bearing upon the ‘‘ History of 
Mathematics,” greatly enriched by the owner’s own numerous 
and characteristic‘quotations, was, he believed, to be disposed of. 
Several members present expressed their wish that the collection 
might not be dispersed, but be secured in its entirety for the 
London University or for the British Museum.— Prof. Croiton, 
F.R.S., then explained his diagiams in illustration of the 
“* Stresses in Warren and Lattice Girders.” Prof. Henrici and 
Mr. Merrifield, in their remarks on the communication, drew 
attention to the fact that Mr. Crofton had been anticipated in his 
constructions in a work by K, Culmann, “Die Graptische 
