Aug. 27, 1874] 



NATURE 



333 



the questions discussed were — What are the most 

 ancient traces of man in Sweden ? and Is it possible to 

 indicate the routes, during antiquity, through which the 

 commerce in yellow amber went? 



Baron Kurck opened the discussion by stating that he 

 believed that the most ancient traces of man were to be 

 found in the southern parts of Sweden, and that during 

 the Stone Age men had gradually and slowly travelled 

 northwards, which he thought was sufficiently proved by 

 the fact that the rudest constructed stone implements 

 were found in the south, and that they became more and 

 more mixed with polished ones as you proceeded in a 

 northern direction. The question was entered into with 

 liveleness, and, among others, three of our countrymen, 

 Franks, Evans, and Howorth, took an active part and 

 ably sustained the reputation of Anthropology among 

 British sin'aas. 



At the Monday's sitting, when a point of great interest 

 was discussed, namely, the characteristics of the polished 

 stones in Sweden, and whether it was possible to attribute 

 the antiquities of this age to one people or to the coexist- 

 ence of several tribes inhabiting the different parts of 

 Sweden, the King honoured the Congress with his pre- 

 sence. It would appear, too, that he was interested in the 

 speeches, as on a subsequent day he not only himself 

 returned, but brought the Oueen with him. The discus- 

 sion on that occasion was fortunately even more interest- 

 ing than on the previous occasion, for it was on the 

 Bronze Age, and what were the analogies in the manners 

 and the industry of the Swedish people at that time when 

 compared with those of the same period in the other 

 countries of Europe : also on comparing the Bronze Age 

 with those which preceded it. On Tuesday the Congress 

 visited Upsala (the Oxford of .Sweden), and were received 

 and entertained by the professors and students in a most 

 novel and interesting manner. They met us at the rail- 

 way station, the students all with their white caps on, 

 and carrying the twelve white silk banners, with the em- 

 broidered arms and devices of their respective provinces 

 upon them, done in gold and silk thread in a manner 

 which it would be hard to find female fingers at the pre- 

 sent day, even when stimulated by Cupid's dart, capable 

 or willing to execute. The choir of students, which I am 

 told is the best in Europe, sang a song of welcome, and 

 then marched before us to the principal points of interest 

 in the town, several times giving us brilliant examples of 

 their vocal powers, especially in the cathedral. Our visit 

 to Upsala was, however, not one entirely for amusement, 

 but for instruction, and a few miles from the town w.as one 

 of the largest of the country's tumuli, opened for our in- 

 spection. It was nearly 40 ft. high, and composed chiefly 

 of sand, covered over with grass, looking like a little hill 

 but one at whose height and steep sides you would look 

 twice before attempting to ascend. In this were found 

 human remains and the bones of animals (burned) sup- 

 posed to have been offered in sacrifice. Fragments of 

 gold and iron were also discovered, and a coin, all of 

 which lead to the belief that this tumulus is not more 

 ancient than the fourth century. Another excursion was 

 made on Thursday to the Isle of BJorko, where there is 

 an ancient cemetery of 2,000 tumuli, each about 4 ft. 

 or 5 ft. high, and from 12 ft. to iS ft. in diameter. Within 

 a couple of hundred yards from this is the site of the 



ancient town ; nothing remains to tell of its site but the 

 souvenirs which lie hid in its soil, which is called the 

 " Black Earth,-' and is famous for its potatoes. Several 

 trenches, 3 ft. deep and nearly 4 ft. wide, were run through 

 the site of this ancient town, and several of the members 

 of the Congress were fortunate enough to pick up articles 

 of interest — fragments of very rude pottery, needles of 

 bone, glass beads, fragments of iron, and an immense 

 number of the bones of domestic animals, including 

 those of the horse, ox, sheep, dog, cat, pig, as well as of 

 birds. From the remains found here it appears this town 

 must have existed at least up to the eighth century. Be- 

 fore the visit of the Congress to it were found several 

 iron keys, lish-hooks, and pincers : also a whole neck- 

 lace of coloured glass beads, chiefly white and red ; a 

 great many fragments of hair Icombs, some very well 

 engraved, with crossing straight lines, circles, and dots. 

 They were all formed of bone. 



On the following day was discussed the question of how 

 the age of Iron was characterised in Sweden, and an 

 attempt was made to establisli the relations at that 

 period which existed between the Swedes and the more 

 southern nations ; but, just as on some of the other occa- 

 sions, no definite conclusion was arrived at, and this arose 

 from the great tendency members showed for discussing 

 the details instead of keeping to the main subject. The 

 last question considered was, what were the anatomical 

 and ethnical characters of the prehistoric men in Sweden ? 

 This afforded a second opportunity to the Congress of 

 hearing an interesting passage of arras between Messrs. 

 Virchow and Ouatrefages, very similar in substance to 

 what we had from them in print the year after the Franco- 

 German war. They agreed to dilTer then, and they agree 

 to differ still. It was interesting, but not to the point. 

 However, all ended amicably, and the seventh session of 

 the International Prehistoric Anthropological and Archjeo- 

 logical Congress may be said to have terminated by an 

 evening party given by the King of Sweden to all its 

 members at his country palace of Drottningholm, on 

 Saturday, August 15, 1874. Her Majesty and the Oueen 

 Dowager were both present. This evening party will 

 long remain in the memory of the members of the Con- 

 gress as a pleasant tribute of royalty to the shrine of 

 science, reflecting as it does as much credit on the intel- 

 lectual acumen of him who gave it as honour on those 

 who received it. 



The next meeting of the International Prehistoric 

 Anthropological and Archa:ological Congress wiU be 

 held at Pesth in 1876. George Harley 



ARMSTRONG'S "ORGANIC CHEMISTRY" 

 Introduction to the Study of Organic Chemistry. The 

 Chemistry of Carbon and its Compounds. By Henry 

 E. Armstrong, Ph.D., F.C.S. (London : Longmans 

 and Co., 1874.) 



TO write a good introduction to any subject is suffi- 

 ciently difficult, but if the subject be developing 

 very rapidly and undergoing very marked changes, as is 

 the case with organic chemistry, obviously the difficulty 

 of presenting such a subject to a student in a satisfactory 

 manner is vastly increased. Dr. Armstrong has devoted 



