NATURE 
ArRIL 11, ou 
LET BRS DOMME DITOR: 
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 
Skull of a Neanderthal Type in the Cambridge Fens. 
THE manner in which Prof. McKenny Hughes 
applies the term ‘Neanderthal’? to a human skull 
recently discovered in the peat of the Cambridge fens 
(Nature, April 4, p. 114) will certainly mislead anthro- 
pologists abroad and also at home as regards the true 
nature of his discovery. From the excellent figures 
which he appends to his article there cannot be the 
slightest doubt that the skull he describes is a fairly 
typical specimen of the round-headed race which came 
into England during the Bronze period. 
Far from being of the Neanderthal type, the 
specimen he describes is as opposite to that type as 
has ever been produced in the evolution of the human 
race. It is apparently a short skull, 180 mm. long; 
the length of the typical Neanderthal skulls is 200 mm. 
or more. While the proportion of the width to the 
length is 84: 100, in the Neanderthal crania the pro- 
portion is about 75: 100 or less. The mastoid pro- 
cesses, the inion, the lambda, the joint for the lower 
jaw, and the lower jaw itself are all of the form we 
are familiar with in people of the Bronze age, and 
are totally unlike these parts in Neanderthal man. 
Even the pronounced supraorbital ridges are of the 
form and size we frequently see in skulls of the 
Bronze period, and not at all of the Neanderthal 
form. The correct designation in my opinion is the 
discovery of a brachycephalic skull with pronounced 
supraorbital ridges. 
There is one point in which Prof. McKenny Hughes 
could greatly assist those who are at present studying 
the remains of ancient man in England. I believe he 
has in his keeping a human molar tooth which Prof. 
Boyd Dawkins discovered with remains of the hippo- 
potamus and other extinct animals representative of 
the early Pleistocene fauna while carrying out excava- 
tions in a cave at Pont Newydd, near St. Asaph. 
That molar is probably the most ancient part of man 
yet discovered in England, and it would be of the 
greatest interest to know something of its characters 
—whether or not it showed those features which we 
know to occur in the teeth of Neanderthal man. I 
presume that these characters are absent, otherwise 
they would certainly have attracted the sharp eye of 
Prof. Boyd Dawkins. A. Keritu. 
Royal College of Surgeons, April 4. 
Are Eyes Autophanous? 
SEEING the interest which Colonel Herschel’s letter 
(Nature, January 18) has attracted, and the various 
animals he has himself observed, it may be useful to 
record as many animals as possible which exhibit the 
phenomenon. Going into the aquarium one evening 
with a reading lamp, I found the eyes of the crayfish 
(Jasus lalandii, M. Edw.) shining like rubies out of 
the darkness. I soon discovered the correct position 
in which the source of light should be. Even more 
brilliant and beautiful are the eyes of the prawn 
(Leander squilla, Linn.), but the colour is more an 
orange tint. 
Amongst fishes the eyes of the barbel (Galeichthys 
feliceps, C. and V.) appear salmon, while those of 
the two dogfish (Scyllium africanum, Gm., and 
Mustelus laevis, Risso) shine silvery. So far these 
NO. 2215, VOL. 89] 
five animals are the only ones in which I have noticed 
the phenomenon, though doubtless it has been observed 
in other marine animals, if only the records were 
forthcoming. 
A very simple arrangement would enable the sight 
to be seen by visitors to public aquaria, and would 
well repay for the extra trouble of opening for an 
hour or so on some nights. K. H. Barnarp. 
South African Museum, Cape Town, 
Cape of Good Hope, March 20. 
Centre of Pressure on Triangular Plane Gliders at 
Small Angles of Incidence. 
May I direct the attention of those interested in 
aérodynamics to the fact that the centre of pressure 
on a triangular plane glider (apex forward) at a small 
angle of incidence (angle of attack), say 5° to 10°, 
lies almost exactly at the centre of the length? The 
good gliding qualities of the ordinary paper arrow 
(folded from a square or rectangular piece of paper 
with its c.g. necessarily central) point to this conclusion, 
which may be further tested 
by the following form of 
glider. 
Cut out two equal 
isosceles triangles in thin 
card or thick paper. Cut 
one of these into four equal 
triangles similar to the 
whole. Paste these four 
successively on the apex of 
the other large piece 
(see figure). When the paste has dried so as not to 
affect the weight, it will be found that the glider 
runs quite well with the usual gliding angle for planes 
of about 1 in 5 
A knowledge of this fact will probably be useful in 
estimating the righting torques of triangular tails, 
&e. HERBERT CHATLEY. 
The College, T’ang Shan, N. China. 
March 17. 
5 THICKNESSES. 
Red Water. 
As regards the ‘‘red water”’ from a crater lake in 
Uganda, referred to in Nature of April 4, p. 113, I 
would direct attention to a similar phenomenon which 
occurs at the great salt lake of Sambhar, in Raj- 
putana. The lake brine contains sodium chloride, 
sulphate, and carbonate, and when it is quite saturated 
during the very hottest dry weather a red coloration 
appears of organic origin. It varies from a delicate 
roseate hue to a deep claret red, and there is a demand 
for salt which contains it, because the consumers are 
accustomed to the colour. H. Wartu. 
SIAM. 
IAM has a double interest, for not only is it 
a rich and fertile country, inhabited by a 
pleasant people who have an undoubted part to - 
play in the world, but it lies between two great 
Powers, and owes its safety to that fact. Con- 
sule Planco it nearly caused a war. Now it is a 
“buffer”? State, and it is to the interest of both 
England and France that it should be strong and 
progress. It is the only country inhabited by 
an Indo-Chinese people which is under indepen- 
dent government, and it will be an interesting 
1 ‘‘Siam: a Handbook of Practical, Commercial, and Political Informa- 
tion.” By A. W. Graham. Pp. xvi+637+plates+map. (London 
Alexander Moring, Ltd., 1912.) Price ros. 6¢. net. 
