Dec. 4, 1873] 



NATURE 



95 



period, the conditions of which he endeavoured to explain by a 

 consideration of the proportions of the species and the natural 

 habitats of the shells found in the drifts. — " Note on a deposit of 

 Middle Pleistocene Gravel near Leyland, Lancashire," by Mr. 

 R. D. Darbishire. The bed of gravel, about forty feet thick, 

 • and about 240 feet above the level of the sea, is covered by yel- 

 low brick clay, and overlies an untried bed of fine sea-sand. 

 The shells and fragments occur cliiefly at the base of the gravel. 

 The author considered tlie Leyland deposit, like those on the 

 west of the Derbyshire hills, to be more probably littoral and 

 truly climatic than that of the Liverpool clays, the subject of 

 Mr. Reade's paper, and hazarded the conjecture that the latter 

 were sea-bottom beds, into which, during some process of 

 degradation and redistribution, the specimens found and enume- 

 rated by Mr. Reade hail been carried down from the former more 

 ancient retreating coast-lines. 



Geologists' Association, Nov. 7. — Mr. Henry Woodward, 

 F. R. .S., president, in the chair. — At this, the first meeting of 

 the session 1S73-74, the president delivered the opening address 

 of the new session, in which he gave a review of the pro- 

 gress of geological science during the past year. Mr. Wood- 

 ward referred to the progress made in the acceptance by 

 botanists and zoologists of tlie doctrine of evolution. " Darwin's 

 theory has already passed through tlie fire like crude ore, il has 

 been roasted, crushed, sifted, washed, and after all the pure 

 metal remains. Our .■;peculations, however, bring us no nearer 

 to the discovery of the origin of life itself." 



Meteorological Society, Nov. 19. — Dr. R. J. Mann, pre- 

 sident, in tlie chair. — The following papers were read : — The 

 thunderstorm at Brighton on Oct. 8, 1S73, and its effects, by 

 F. E. Sawyer, and some considerations suggested by the depres- 

 sions which passed over the British Islands during September 

 1873, ^y F' Gaster. — A discussion took place on the best form 

 of thermometer stand. It was resolved that the following con- 

 ditions should be fulfilled: — (i) The contained thermometers 

 must at all times be shielded from the direct rays of the sun ; 

 (2) The stand must be so arranged that even when its own ex- 

 ternal temperature is raised, the thermometers shall not be 

 thereby affected ; (3) As reflected heat must diminish the accu- 

 racy with which thermometers indicate air or shade temperature, 

 these disturbing causes should be excluded ; (4) The temperature 

 of the air alone being desired, it is necessary that the readings 

 of the thermometers be not affected by radiation to the sky ; (5) 

 It being desirable that one pattern of stand be used in all loca 1- 

 ties, it follows that it should be absolutely independent of all 

 surrounding objects ; (6) There must be free access of air round 

 the thermometers ; (7) No rain should ever reach the dry-bulb 

 thermometers, for if it does, it improperly lowers their tempera- 

 ture, making them read even lower than the wet bulb ; (8) The 

 stand must also be unaffected by snow, both as a direct fall or 

 from obstructed circulation of air ; (9) It is very desirable that 

 the stand require no attention between the hours of observation ; 

 (10) It is desirable, but not absolutely necessary, that room be 

 provided for a duplicate set of instruments; (n) The stand 

 should not be costly ; (12) It should be capable of easy trans- 

 mission bv rail or otherwise. Mr. Prince gave an account of 

 some experiments he had made, and was of opinion that the 

 true temperature of the air could be obtained without a stand. 

 Mr. Symons thought that a stand constructed on the Kew and 

 Stevenson pattern combined, but smaller than the former and 

 larger than the latter would be the best form of stand to adopt. 

 The meeting not having the results of the comparison of the 

 observations made with the different stands at .Strathfield Tungiss, 

 the discussion was adjourned till after these are published. 



Anthropological Institute, Nov. 25.— Prof. Busk, F.R.S., 

 president, in the chair. — Mr. F. W. Rudler read a report on 

 Anthropology at the meeting of the British Association at 

 Brad ford. --Dr. G. W. Leitner, Principal of the Government 

 College of Lahore, gave an account of the Siah Posh Kafirs, a 

 race of people inhabiting Kafiristan, on the south-eastern slope 

 on the Hindu Kush. Kafiristan may be said to form a triangular 

 tract of country lying between 3s" and 36" N. lat., and 70° and 

 72° E. long., and is bounded on its sides by Kabul, Badakshan, 

 and Kashmir. The name of Siah Posh Kafirs was given to them 

 by the Mahommedans, "Siah" meaning "black," "Posh" 

 clothing, and " Kafir "infidel ; for in fact a Kafir, according to the 

 Mahommedans, was anyone who did not follow the teaching of 

 Mahomet. The Kafirs claimed to be a sort of country cousins of the 

 British. Slavery existed within their own country, and also within 

 five miles of Peshawar, where the Kafirs were sold in 



the open market. The consequence was that the Kafirs in retalia- 

 tion, kept the roads leading to Central Asia in a state of inse- 

 curitv, and murdered all travellers coming within their reach. 

 Dr. Leitner, referring to the asserted Macedonian origin of the 

 Kafirs, said that that supposition was founded on very loose 

 and vague data, and that they themselves knew nothing of 

 Alexander. The Tunganis, another of those races, claimed 

 direct descent from Alexander's soldiers. Another theory was 

 that the Siah Posh Kafirs were Zoroastrians, who were supposed 

 to have been forced into the hills by the Arabs, and the existing 

 customs among the Kafirs certainly seemed to support the idea 

 that they were ethnologically connected with the Pursees. 

 He inclined to the opinion that they were Aborigines ; and if 

 they were not descended from the same stock as the " Aryan" 

 race, they were certainly, as far as language was concerned, 

 equally related to the Sanscrit. 



EntomoloE,ical Society, Nov. 17. — Prof. Westwood, pre- 

 sident, in the chair. — Mr. Higgins exhibited DeilepJdla eu. 

 phorbia and Spliiiix pinastri, bred from larvoe taken in 

 June 1S72, near Harwich. — Mr. Champion exhibited several 

 rare Coleoptera taken at Braemar and other places during 

 the past season. — Mr, Boyd exhibited a Trichopterous insect, 

 Brachyceiitriis siibiiubiltis, a species which constructs quad- 

 rangular cases, which had been reared from the egg state. 

 — Mr. MiiUer remarked on some galls found by Dr. Masters 

 on the roots of Dcodura, which he considered identical with 

 the galls of Biorhiza aptera. Fab ., usually occurring on the roots 

 of oak. — Mr. Bird exhibited Cliilo gigantellus from Horning 

 Fen, and Mr. Vaughan Peinpelia davisellus reared from Furze. 

 — Mr. Stevens exhibited some rare Lepidoptera taken on the 

 South Coast. — -A paper was read, entitled " Notes on the Habits 

 of Papi/ia iiierope Auct. , with a Description of its Larva and 

 Pupa," by J. P. Mansel Weale, B.A. Also a paper entitled 

 " Observations on Papilio tnerope Auct., with an account of the 

 various known Forms of that Butterfly, " by Roland Trimen, 

 F.L.S., &c. — .Some remarks were communicated by Mr. Miskm, 

 of Brisbane in Queensland, respecting Myiics gm-iini of Wallace, 

 which he considered identical with A!, geojproyi Guerin, and 

 directing attention to the singular habit of the pupa;, which 

 were suspended in groups of three or four individuals, united at 

 the tails. 



Royal Horticultural Society, Nov. 12. — Scientific Com- 

 mittee. -A. Grote, F. R.S., in the chair. — The Rev. M. J- Ber- 

 keley sent a Capsicum from Transylvania with two small fruits pro- 

 duced from the placenta. — Mr. Anderson Henry sent fruit of 

 Tacsonia qnllcnsis, produced in a cool greenhouse. — Mr. Wheble 

 sent wood and bark of Sequoia sempcriiirciis, the latter being ex- 

 tremely similar to that of the large tree exhibited at the Crystal 

 Palace. — Prof. Thiselton Dyer exhibited preparations of the buds 

 upon the leaves of Malaxis, prepared by Prof. Dickie. 



General Meeting. — H. Little in the chair.^Prof Thiselton 

 Dyer called the attention of the meeting to the fine plant of 

 Vaiida azruh'a with four panicles ; a plant of the recently intro- 

 duced Batemania Biirtii from Costa Rica ; specimens of a species 

 of Stylidium (probably 6'. ciliatitm), an Australian genus with 

 the radical leaves in a Crassula-like tuft ; flowering specimens 

 oi Cuiionia arpft/sis from Syon House; and a "grape-rail," a 

 contrivance by which grapes could be preserved through the 

 winter. The pieces of cane to which the grapes were attached 

 were inserted into holes in long zinc rod-like boxes which con- 

 tained a mixture of fuller's earth, starch, sugar, charcoal, and 

 water. It was remarked by Mr. Jennings that Viuida ctvrulca 

 was fast disappearing from its native localities. At the present 

 rate the ruthless removal of the plant must determine its extermi- 

 nation at any rate in the Khasia hills. 



Anthropological Society, Nov. iS. — Dr. R. S. Charnock, 

 president, in the chair. Extracts from letters from foreign 

 correspondents were read, one of which announced an alleged 

 discovery of a Phoenician inscription of the 4th century, B.C., 

 near Rio de Janeiro, and one from Captain Burton, mentioning the 

 discovery at Maeshowe, in Orkney, of Scandinavi.-in inscriptions, 

 in Arabic letters. — Personal observations of the Sae-lie> or Flat- 

 head Indians of North America, by J. Simras, M. D., of New York 

 The discourse treated of the manner of fashioning or deforming 

 the head, the customs, dress, diet, disposition of the dead, &c. 

 Dr. Simms also gave a brief description of the Quatsino Indians 

 who inhabit the north-western coast of Vancouver Island, the 

 mode of fashioning their peculiar, sugar-loaf form of heads, 

 their superstitions, food, &c. He also gave a very interesting 

 account of the Digger Indians of California, the ircolour, form, 



