TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. • 147 



parts may doubtless be claimed by the Department of Anatomy, To other papers, 

 in which comparisons are instituted between human and animal structure, the Zoo- 

 logists may consider they have a title. To some extent also the habits of man 

 and numerous important questions of a social uatm'e are discussed in the Section 

 of Economic Science and Statistics. The time when man first appeared on the 

 face of the earth, the formations in which his remains and those of contemporary 

 animals are found, may come under the consideration of the Geologists. As our 

 subjects therefore dovetail so intimately with these other Sections of the Asso- 

 ciation, questions may occasionally arise whether papers submitted for perusal 

 come more appropriately within their province or within ours. Probably the most 

 satisfactoiy mode of solving this difficulty would be for the different Sections con- 

 cerned to come to a common understanding that all papers which treat of the ori- 

 gin, varieties, and progress of mankind should be forwarded to this department. 



Again, if a separate Ethnological Department or subsection were formed, as has 

 been suggested, or even if ethnological papers were read, as was for so many years 

 the case in the Geographical Section, not only would all these communications on 

 the characteristics of the different varieties of man, or their distribution over the 

 globe, but even papers on comparative philology, and on questions appertaining to 

 the early history of man, and to his primitive cultm'e, in all probability be subtracted 

 from our proceeding. Without doubt, all ethnic questions form an integral part of 

 anthropological study, for ethnology is one of those subjects which form the gTOimd- 

 work of our science ; and as it is an axiom that the whole is greater than and in- 

 cludes the part, all these questions naturally fall to be discussed in this department, 

 and shoidd not be divorced from their natural allies. The decision of the General 

 Committee that the ethnological papers should be ti-ansmitted to this department 

 was but to restore them to the place they originally occupied in the proceedings of 

 the Association, for in its early years ethnology was a subdivision of Section D. 

 The brief history of this department teaches us that its struggle for existence has 

 been a severe one. It was only after the dissociation of the ethnological papers 

 from the Geographical Section that our proceedings acquired much vitali^, and 

 to remove them from us now would be a severe blow to our usefulness. 



After recommending the Antiquarian Museum to the attention of visitors, Pro- 

 fessor Turner concluded as follows : — As the " noblest study of mankind is man," 

 the subjects which come within the scope of our inquiries in this department are 

 amongst the most important in which a body of scientific men can be engaged. 

 Let us approach their consideration with a spirit of due humility and reverence ; 

 let our discussions be so regulated that our desire may be, not to attain merely a 

 personal victory in argument, but, if possible, to get at the ti'uth. And if we claim 

 to be called anthropologists, let not men say of us that our right to be so regarded 

 is rather owing to our proficiencies, in the old Aristotelian meaning of the term, as 

 discussers of persons — mere gossips — than to our qualifications as patient and 

 humble students of the great science of human natm-e. 



On tlic Anthropology of the Merse. By John Beddod, M.D. ifc. 



The Merse is the low country of Berwickshire. Its ethnological history is pretty 

 nearly that of the county of Northumberland, with certain variations, which have 

 introduced a little more of the Gaelic and Scandinavian elements. The people are 

 stalwart and bulky in a remarkable deoree ; a number of the pure breed averaged 

 5 feet 11 J inches -^ith shoes, and 199 lbs. with clothes. Their heads are large and 

 well developed. The prevailing physical types may be referred to the Anglian and 

 Scandinavian. The hair and eyes are generally light. The fishermen of Eye- 

 mouth are a separate breed ; they also are very fair, and resemble Dutchmen or 

 Norwegians. Changes in the food of the peasantry (who are giving up oatmeal 

 and milk) and intermixture of blood, may have an unfavourable intiuence on the 

 physical development of the next generation. 



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