462 



NATURE 



[September 17, 1896 



and the Ultra-Indian peninsula from Asam to Singapore, and 

 even to have extended to the Nicobars, Sumatra, Borneo, and 

 ■beyond. In India, on the west and south-west, the Tibetan 

 «lement dies out, and gives place (gradually) to the purer 

 Dravidian ; and here we have the darker Kol alliance, Munda, 

 Santali, &c., say, roughly, two-thirds Dravidian and one-third 

 Tibetan. Further east we have the relics of the Mon in the Bodo, 

 Koch, Mech, of the Delta, and the Garo-Kasia of the eastern 

 hills, the latter more Tibetanised by later influx of Tibetans 

 ~'ia Bhutan, in physique and language. 



Then we have a vast gap filled in by later " Tibeto-Burman" 

 races, and come to the " Mon " of Pegu, who show the influence 

 of the Tibeto-Burman inroads, though retaining still considerable 

 ■" Kasia " affinities. The Kambojans, again, are another frag- 

 ment of the " Mon," having specific affinities with Manipuri 

 and Naga. Anamese, again, is distinguished by its strong 

 Manipuri, Barak, and Kol affinities, and showing Chinese 

 influence, through contiguity becoming more monosyllabic. 



Logan, who was an expert in these matters, tells us that 

 " the Mon-Anam pronouns and numerals are partly Tibetan 

 and partly Dravidian — chiefly the latter — but most of the sub- 

 stantial roots are similar to Tibetan, and the forms more archaic 

 than the current Tibeto-Burman." "The difference between 

 Dravido-Australian and the Mon-Anam formation is so great, 

 that it may be safely connected with the equally striking differ- 

 ence of race, and ascribed to a long-continued and total ethnic 

 separation during its earlier history. The Simang and Anda- 

 man! are the purest remnants of a pre-Himalaic race in Ultra- 

 India, and it is probable that similar Dravido-Australian tribes 

 ■[lived there] before the Mon-Anam entered the region." 



But one of the best proofs that the "Khmar" are not 

 Dravido-Australian is, that the Australian races all have 

 numerals on the binary basis i and 2. Three is 2 -fi or I -(- 2. 

 Four is 2-1-2. Five is 2 -^ 2 -)- 1. This was formerly the basis of 

 the Dravidian system, long before the Mon-Anam (Khmer, &c.) 

 arose as a race. 



The Australians, in fact, whose languages are known to be 

 "more nearly allied to the South Indian than to any other in 

 the world," left India (probably via Malaya) when the Dravidian 

 numerals were in their earliest binary stage, and before the 

 quinary and denary stage was developed (anywhere). 



As Logan says, "the quinary and denary systems, with the 

 Dravidian mode of forming 8 and 9, indicate affinities belonging 

 to much later periods. The civilisation which originated them, 

 was unknown to Dravido-Australian at the time when the early 

 Asonasian migrations took place." 



That the Mon-Anam race, much later on, passed south and 

 «ast from India, and extended even over the Archipelago and 

 Pacific, is becoming yearly more obvious, not only through study 

 of physique and customs, but the number of roots, pronouns, 

 and vocables having a Huiialaic basis. But from their site of 

 origin, in Bengal, as a (locally varied) admixture of Tibetan and 

 Dravidian, the racial development and tribal drift may have 

 been exceedingly slow, like the drift we see now among the much 

 later Tibeto-Burman, Lushai Kuki, &c., taking probably many 

 centuries in crossing from the Delta, across the Barak, Manipuri, 

 and Naga Ranges, and via Asam. That they at one time 

 covered the entire Ultra-Indian peninsula, is obvious from the 

 position of the fragments of the race, due to the intrusion of the 

 Tibeto-Burmans, but that they extended to the east of the Upper 

 Irawadi is doubtful. 



The Cham, Charay, Stieng, Xong, Samre, and Kuy are the 

 less known, more barbarous, and purer branches of the Mon- 

 Anam living in the Mekong highlands. S. E. Peal. 



Sibsagar, Asam, August 11. 



Dr. Siemens' Smokeless Open Grate. 



Dr. C. William Siemens described fully in Nature 

 {November 11, 1880, vol. xxiii. p. 25) a smokeless open gas and 

 coke or gas and anthracite grate for living rooms, costing about 

 one halfpenny per hour in fuel. Will any users of this grate, who 

 may have an extended experience of it, relate their views, and 

 state any lessons its use may have taught them ? 



During an extensive hunt for a smokeless open cheap grate, 

 Dr. Siemens' grate is the most satisfactory I have yet found. 

 Fred. Wm. Foster. 



Neckinger Mills, Bermondsey, September 9. 



NO, 1403, VOL. 54] 



THE LIVERPOOL MEETING OF THE 



BRITISH ASSOC I A TION. 



IV. 



Liverpool, September 14. 

 A 1 rE are now on the eve of the meeting. St. George's 

 *• Hall opens to-day as the British Association re- 

 ception-room ; and although the attendance on the first 

 day will be chiefly Liverpool people securing their seats 

 for the evening addresses in the Philharmonic Hall, still 

 a few visitors from other parts of the country and from 

 abroad have already arrived, and many more are ex- 

 pected to-morrow. 'VVe are told that more associates' 

 and ladies' tickets have now been taken than at any 

 previous meeting on the corresponding day. These 

 local ticket-holders, along with the members from else- 

 where who have intimated their intention of being 

 present, amounted on Saturday to about 2500, so there 

 is every prospect of a large gathering. 



The last meeting, for the present, of the Executive 

 Committee was held on Friday, and the local secretaries 

 then reported upon the final arrangements for the meet- 

 ing. The Town Hall will probably prove too small for 

 the number of members who will attend the first soiree, 

 so the Lord Mayor (the Earl of Derby) has obtained 

 permission from the Committee of the Exchange News- 

 room, across the Exchange " flags," to utilise that mag- 

 nificent hall, in addition to the Town Hall, for his enter- 

 tainment. A covered way will connect the front of the 

 Exchange News-room with one of the windows of the 

 Town Hall. 



.At the second soiree, to be held in the Walker .Art 

 Gallery, Free Library, and Museum, the accommodation 

 is ample, so provision is being made for short lectures, 

 lantern demonstrations, and various exhibitions in the 

 galleries and rooms. 



Nothing has been changed in the other Sectional 

 arrangements and fixtures already announced, but some 

 additional information has come in regard to the probable 

 work of Sections F, I and K. 



In the Section of Economics and Statistics, the pro- 

 ceedings on Thursday will be opened at 1 1 a.m. by the 

 Presidential Address, which will deal with economic 

 teaching and political action. The treatment of this 

 subject derives much additional importance from the 

 almost unique position in the political world occupied by 

 the President (the Right Hon. L. Courtney). In due 

 consideration that the meeting takes place this year in 

 a large and busy commercial centre like Li\ erpool, several 

 sittings will be devoted to the consideration of matters 

 of directly practical, as well as theoretic interest. On 

 one day (Friday), three papers will be given by Messrs. 

 Cannan, W. H. Smith, and Blunden on various points 

 relating to the incidence of local rates and the municipal 

 control of finance. On another day (Monday), future 

 dealings in produce will form the subject of discussion. 

 Papers dealing with these will be contributed by Mr. 

 H. R. Rathbone, Mr. Charles Stewart, and iMr. E. Helm, 

 of Manchester. On Tuesday, currency questions will 

 occupy the attention of the Section, when it is hoped 

 that a paper will be read in defence of the gold standard 

 by Mr. William Fowler. One or two papers from the 

 bimetallic side are promised. Other papers will deal 

 with the effects of trade amalgamations, systems of 

 economic education, standard of value and money, com- 

 mercial crises, cotton prices, remedies for agricultural 

 distress, metric system, and other important subjects. 

 It is hoped that there will be included among these a 

 consideration of some aspects of charitable and philan- 

 thropic trading, by Mr. C. S. Loch. 



In the "Section of Physiology, including Psycho- 

 physics and Experimental Pathology," in addition to 

 the Presidential Address and the discussions already 



