562 REPORT—1883. 
4. On the Relative Length of the first three Toes of the Human Foot. 
By J. Park Harrison, M.A. 
Last autunin, at Southampton, the author mentioned that a long second toe, 
though commonly met with in the works of Italian painters and sculptors, both 
ancient and modern, seldom occurs in unrestored feet of Greek statues. 
Finding an impression prevalent that it was a natural or normal feature, he 
examined, in 1876, the feet of Scotch and Irish children at Glasgow, principally 
boys between nine and twelve years of age, when it was found that there was no 
tendency to the peculiarity in that part of the kingdom; and it was ascertained 
subsequently to be exceptional in adult males in Great Britain and Ireland 
generally. It is not unfrequently met with in female feet in England; and Dr. 
Pruner Bey found that it was common amongst Alsatian women. Possibly this 
may be owing to some peculiarity in shoes. A second toe longer than the first, or 
great toe, appears to have characterised the Umbrians and Etruscans; and it still 
exists in Italy amongst their descendants. This probably accounts for the excessive 
length of the second toe in Raphael’s pictures. It is believed to have characterised 
the Carians and some other tribes of Asia Minor, and also one of the early Egyptian 
races. 
The author thinks that the feature was not adopted by the ancient artists from 
any ideal motive, but always represented the native form of the foot. He men- 
tioned that it was common in the Pacific and Peru, but was not a character of the 
lower races generally.? 
5. On the Antiquity of Man in Ireland. By W. J. KNowtes. 
The author stated that it was not acknowledged that any implements older than 
neolithic were found in Ireland, but lately he had found certain pear-shaped imple- 
ments at Larne and other parts of the north-east coast of Ireland, which he believed 
to be not only older than neolithic, but far older even than paleolithic implements. 
They are more or less cylindrical in shape, and pointed, with a dressed butt for 
holding in the hand, and differ from paleolithic implements in not being flat with 
cutting edges. The author believed that the men who used these implements had 
a fixed idea of making pointed implements more or less cylindrical in form, just as 
the palolithic people made flat pointed implements or the neolithic people imple- 
ments with a cutting edge at the broad end. Part of them were obtained from 
gravels near Larne, and some at other parts of the north-east coast. One was: 
obtained from boulder clay, and another tine implement was found having glacial 
markings on the chipped surface. The author showed some natural flint stones 
which, in his opinion, may have suggested the pear-shaped form, and he believed 
the palolithic implements presented a further development of the same idea. 
Reference was made to Professor Boyd Dawkins’ work, ‘ Early Man in Britain,’ 
where he looks on the remains of the extinet mammalia found in Ireland, such 
as the mammoth, a tooth of which has been found near Larne, as ‘the remains of 
a preglacial fauna which happen to have been preserved in spite of the erosion of 
the surface by glaciers.’ The author was inclined to adopt this view, and was of 
opinion that the pear-shaped objects which he exhibited were the implements used 
in hunting this preglacial fauna. 
6. On a Human Skull found near Southport. By G. B. Barron, M.D., 
L.R.C.P., M.R.C.S. Eng.? 
A few years ago, some workmen in making a deep cutting at Birkdale, near 
Southport, discovered a human skull, fifteen feet below the surface, lying on a bed 
1 See Jour. Anthrop. Inst. Part 3, vol. xiii. 
? Published in extenso in the Southport Visiter, Sept. 22, 1883. 
