TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 165 



from a fixed point could bo detcmiincd. By means of a short scries of figures it 

 was thus possible to convey to persons at a distance materials for maliing- perfectly- 

 accurate measurements of skulls which they had not even seen a drawing of._ The 

 reader of the paper then went on to show that, although there was great difterence 

 between savage and cultivated nations in the relative breadth of the cranium and 

 of the face, yet that, as regarded the proportions in the mesial plane of the front, 

 middle, and back parts of the head, there was no characteristic difl'erence of size or 

 shape even betv/een the European and the African. The peculiar appearance of 

 the skulls of Negroes, Australians, Caribs, &c., compared watli civilized nations, 

 depended on the way in which the teeth were set, on the development of the fron- 

 tal ridge to the extent of giving the appearance of a retreating forehead, and on 

 the manner in which the whole head was balanced on the vertebral column, but not 

 on diminished size of the anterior lobes of the braiu. Dr. Clelaud pointed out that 

 one of the most characteristic differences between man and all other mammals con- 

 sisted in the fact that the human head was balanced in the erect posture, and only 

 required muscular action to steady it ; while in the chimpanzee and all lower mam- 

 mals the head was constantly suspended by the action of muscles and elastic 

 structure. To preserve the balance of the hmnan head, it was necessary that a 

 change in the joint which articulated it to the neck should accompany the growth 

 of the individual in such a manner as to tilt the skull fm-ther and further backwards 

 on the vertebral colunm from infancy to adult age, that the back of the head might 

 be balanced against the increasing weight of the forehead and face ; and he demon- 

 strated that such a change really took place. Hence also the feminine head, there 

 being a smaller development of the face-bones, had a characteristic position in rela- 

 tion to the neck, distinguishing it from the masculinely developed head. He showed 

 that in the discussions which had lately taken place to such an extent among anato- 

 mists as to the degree in which the cerebellum was covered by the braiu proper, in 

 man and in monkeys, everything depended upon the level on which the skulls 

 were placed, for that in all mammals the anatomically superior aspect of the cere- 

 bellum was separated from the cerebrum by the tentorium only, and the real 

 difference lay, not in any disproportionate addition to the posterior part of the 

 human ccrebVum, but in this, that the human skidl, together with the contained 

 cerebrum, was much more curved upon itself in man than in any other animal. 

 Thus, if the back of a sheep's skull were placed in the same position as the back of 

 a human skull situated as iu the erect postm-e, the nose of the former woidd be di- 

 rected upwards. 



On the Action of Lime on Animal and Veqetahle Substances. 

 By John Dayy, M.D., F.liJ. ^r. 



In this paper the author shows by a number of experiments that quicklime ex- 

 ercises on most aniiiial and vegetable substances a preservative, and not a desti'uc- 

 tive power according to popular belief; and, consequently, that it may be used with 

 propiietj^, not for the purpose of consuming dead bodies, but for that of arresting 

 then- putrefaction and the disengagement of offensive gases. 



Wlien the lime becomes converted by the absorption of carbonic acid into car- 

 bonate of lime, it no longer po.'sesses the same antiseptic quality : hence, if moist- 

 ure with atmospheric air be present, the bodies buried in lime will undergo change 

 and decomposition, but this slowly and gradually, as the lime itself becomes neutra- 

 lized and inert. 



On tJie Blood of the Common Earthworm. By Zows Davy, M.D., F.R.S. Sfc. 



The fluid in question was collected from the cardiac organs, and was carefully 

 freed from the perivisceral fliud. It was found to have an alkaline reaction, — to 

 be coagulable by heat and by nitric acid, very much in the same manner as the 

 serum of the blood of the mammalia, — to contain red coi-puscles (these, taking the 

 average, about ^^ J-^^th of an inch in diameter), and to yield, when chemically ex- 

 amined, traces of iron. 



Possessing these equalities, the author has come to the conclusion that this red 

 fluid is blood, and, as such, that it performs a double fimction, one of nourishing, 

 the other of aiding, by absorbing oxygen, in aerating the body. Its relation to the 



