TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 225 



tlie patiiral alkali of the blood, it adds to the blood the formate of sodium. How 

 far this is useful or injurious reiuaius to be discovered. But while putting- these 

 views as to practical application at once and fairly forward, the author said it was 

 due to Licbreich to a<.ld that his (Liebreich's) theory and his experiments have 

 done fine service in a physiological point of view. They liave shown in one de- 

 cisi-\-e instance that a given chemical substance is decomposed in the living body 

 bj' virtue of pure chemical change, and that the symptoms produced are caused by 

 one of the products of that decomposition. The knowledge thus definitivelj^ ob- 

 t.iincd admits of being applied over and over again in the course of therapeutical 

 inijuir}'. 



On the Matives of Vancouver s Island and British Columbia. 

 By Dr. Richard King. 



The natives are called Flat Heads, of whicli there are four varieties, — the elon- 

 gated head from before backwards, the conical head, the square head, and the 

 elongated head from side to side. These artificial heads are produced by pressure 

 on the forehead and bandaging on the sides until the child is a year old. The au- 

 thor called this series of deformities the deformity aiii/icicd, in which there is 

 mere displacement of brain, or a conformity of error ; but he described a defor- 

 mity which is going on to a great extent in civilized life, which he named defor- 

 mity natural, or non-conformity of error, in wliich case it is not mere displacement 

 of brain, but an alteration of the oval shape of the brain, which he attributed to 

 the mode of nursing. 



The alteration that takes place in the Flat Heads is mere displacement of the 

 cerebral mass and of the cerebro-spinal fluid, which has neither mentally nor physi- 

 cally any deteriorating efiect. Tlie frontal sinuses are, however, almost entirely 

 obliterated ; but wliethcr the sense of smell is affected is a problem yet to be solved. 



The Flat Heads are peculiar to America, if we except the Avaren, a Turco-Ural 

 race inhabiting the countries between the l)ou and the ^'olg•a, and they are now re- 

 stricted to certain tribes in the neighbourhood of the Columbia River. The same 

 habit prevaik^d among the ancient Peruvians ; and it only shovs's the infant state of 

 the ethnologist, when Tiedemaun and I'entland maintained that these Flat Pleads 

 owed their singular configuration, not to art, but to a natural peculiarity. 



The native population of Vancouver's Island is estimated at 18,000, but, as in all 

 cases of estimates of the uncivilized races, wandering as they do, this estimate 

 cannot be relied upon. By far the most numerous and powerful tribes live on the 

 west coast, or on the outward sea-board of the island, and the white man is re- 

 spected by them. The natives generally are in a very degraded state ; occasionally 

 industrious trustworthy individuals are to be met with, but, as a body, for con- 

 tinuous labours they cannot be depended on. 



The fauna of the island is very rich, but the natives restrict themselves entirely 

 to lish, and a small esculent plant, called Caniass, which they collect and store up 

 for winter, and also coolc them as we do potatoes by boiling and bailing. The 

 Camass digging is a great season of reunion for the women of the various tribes, and 

 answers to our haymaking or harvest-home. 



On the Occasional Definition of the Convolutions of the Brain on the exterior of 

 the Head. Illustrated by a Cast. By T. S. Prideaux. 



The general outline of the skull, with the exception of its base, is convex, pre- 

 senting a flowing curve. Occasionally, however, and perhaps more frequently in 

 the forehead than elsewhere, the outline of a convolution is so prominently defined 

 on the skull as to be very apparent on the exterior of the head through all the 

 integuments. Now, could we discover the cause whicli underlies this exceptional 

 configuration of the brain, we could scarcely fail of being much enlightened as to 

 the laws which preside over the development of this organ. Are we to regard 



1869. 15 



