TKANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 



909 



distal extremity of the diaphysis thickens below the hole down to the place where 

 the epiphysis is set upon it. 



It is always in the intra-articular part of the olecranon fossa, helow the line of 

 reflexion of the synovial membrane that crosses the middle of the fossa. It is 

 therefore quite distinct from the vascular holes with which Topinard associates it, 

 as these are always extra-articular [the vessels are chiefly derived from the inferior 

 profunda]. 



Of these perforate humeri 172 were right and 218 were left. As far as could 

 be determined from size, shape, and from the accompanying pelvic bones, 192 were 

 male and 198 were female. There is thus the same preponderance of left and 

 female over right and male bones which was noticed by the describers of the 

 Hemenway Collection, leading one to speculate as to the nature of the work which 

 predisposed to the perforation — the mill, the shadoof, or the mattock. 



As to the sizes of the holes, they were mostly oval or elliptical, with the long 

 axis transverse or nearly so, and the distribution of their sizes is shown in the 

 accompanying table :- 



In the few recent examples, which were large, the hole was actually open in the 

 recent state ; when small it is usually closed by membrane ; 27 were young bones 

 with un-united upper epiphysis, 5 coexisted with the supracondylar process. The 

 opening is reniform or bilobed in 3-3. 



This note is only preliminary, as the subject is sufficiently important to require 

 still further study. I have, however, been able to determine that while inordinary 

 extension and flexion the tips of the processes do not press on the humerus, yet 

 by forced extension a^id forced flexion contact can be made to take place, especially 

 when the elbow is forcibly extended, with the hand in the position of pronation. 



6. On Anthroj)olog%cal Observations made hy Mr. F. Laidlaw in the 

 Malay Peninsxda (Skeai Expedition). By W. L. H. Duckworth. 



The anthropological results of the Skeat Expedition comprise museum 

 specimens in the form of a skeleton of a native of the Pangan tribe (Kedah), of 

 samples of native hair, and also a collection of measurements by Mr. Laidlaw. 



The skeleton is that of an adult male, whose stature was distinctly small 

 (about 5 feet). The skull presents a combination of features commonly found in 

 the skulls of negroes with those which characterise the crania of infants, the 

 whole constituting evidence of the lowly physical type of the individual. The 

 bones of the skeleton show signs of widespread disease, possibly of a congenital 

 nature. Mr. Laidlaw's measurements and observations relate to members of the 

 same tribe, and are to be welcomed as aftbrding precise information about a race 

 of Malayan aborigines hitherto little investigated. Perhaps the most interesting 

 point to notice is the small average stature of the Pangans (about 5 feet for 

 adult men). Though dwarfi.sh, they are, however, markedly taller than the African 

 dwarfs. It is also noteworthy that differences in the colour of the skin (varying 

 shades of dark brown) and in the character of the hair occur iu the different 

 tribes. It is important to notice that they present comparatively few anatomical 

 features which can be claimed as evidence of an approximation to the ape. How- 



