120 REPORT — 1865. 



activities of the mind, fulness of development and complexity of structure are sure 

 indications of elevation of type ; and that the converse, as Gratiolet, from extended 

 observations has amply shown, is equally true, viz., that simplicity of structure and 

 perfect symmetry of shape and arrangement in the convolutions on both sides of the 

 hemispheres, are indisputable marks of degradation of function. 



He looked forward to the microscopical examination of the ultimate structure of 

 the grey matter of the brain in the typical races of man, as pregnant with the most 

 interesting and instructive results. Already Dr. Beale and Mr. Lockhart Clarke 

 had proved to demonstration that perceptible differences exist in the minute anatomy 

 of the grey matter of the convolutions in the brain of man and that of the monkey 

 and the highest anthropoid apes. Dr. Beale had succeeded in demonstrating the con- 

 nexion between the nerve-cells and the very finest fibres in the grey matter of the 

 convolutions ; and he maintains that the central cells of every nervous instrument 

 form, with the peripheral nerve- cells and connecting nerve-fibres, uninterrupted cir- 

 cuits ; and that all nerve-cells are connected with, or give origin to, at least two 

 fibres. Mr. Lockhart Clarke had shown that certain structural differences are seen in 

 the grey matter of the convolutions of the anterior, middle, and posterior lobes. 



He concluded by adverting to the historical bearings of his subject — to the evi- 

 dence which is presented by history of the conversion, in time, of one type of hu- 

 manity into that of another, under the influence of outward circumstances, social 

 states, and intellectual culture. As illustrative instances, he adduced the case of 

 the transplanted Negroes in America and the West Indies ; amongst the Asiatic or 

 Mongolian races, the Turks of Europe and the Magyars of Hungary, and amongst 

 ourselves, as instances of degradation, the Irish of Leitrim and Sligo, and the vaga- 

 bond nomades who infest our large cities and towns. 



In proof of cranial alterations for the better, from the influence of improved so- 

 cial conditions and higher intellectual activities, he directed attention to some casts 

 exhibited, taken at different periods from the same individuals. Iu each case the 

 interval was not a period of leisure, but of great mental activity ; and the result 

 in each was seen in the decided enlargement and development of the anterior part 

 of the forehead. 



On the Worked Flints of Pressigny le Grand. By J. Evans, F.B.S. 



Pressigny le Grand is a small town situated on the river Claise, about thirty 

 miles to the south of Tours. The peculiar worked flints which the author had 

 found there in January last, in company with the late Mr. Christy and Messrs. 

 Brouillet and Lartet, were discovered in a soil of red loam overlying bryozoic 

 chalk, and from their resemblance to pounds of butter, have received from the pea- 

 sants the name of livres-dc-bcur re. Their form has been given by striking a suc- 

 cession of flakes from the sides of a mass of flint until a boat-like contour has been 

 obtained. Looking at a number of them arranged together, the eye is struck by 

 their great similarity of form ; and the regular and neat manner in which their 

 edges are chipped would at first sight lead to a presumption that they were intended 

 for implements, such as ploughshares, or some kind of large and heavy axes. Those 

 persons, however, who have paid most attention to the subject have come to the 

 conclusion that they are not implements at all, but rather the nuclei or cores from 

 which long flakes or knives have been removed, and which have then been thrown 

 away as having served their purpose. The supposition of Messrs. Robert and Elie 

 de Beaumont, that they are the refuse arising from the manufacture upon the spot 

 of flints for fire-arms, was believed to be untenable, on account of their utter dissi- 

 milarity to the cores known to be the result of gun-flint manufactories. It seems 

 more probable that there must have been in prehistoric times a settlement on the 

 spot, of men who manufactured long knives from these flints, and afterwards bartered 

 them away, than that they were worked by various tribes who visited the spot as one 

 abounding in the raw material for their cutlery. 



Language and Ethnology. 

 By the Eev. Frederic W. Eaeeak, M.A., F.E.S., SfC. 

 It wa$ the object of this paper to establish the conclusion that all inferences 



