TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 729 



5. Native Pottery Methods in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. 1 

 By G. W. Grabham, M.A. 



With the exception of a stretch of country along the Nile between Khandak 

 and Kerma, in Dongola Province, the use of the wheel is unknown in the Sudan. 

 Three distinct methods of shaping wares by hand are in use, and may be detailed 

 as follows : — 



1. The manufacture of bormas, gudus, &c, by men, often of the Shaigia tribe 

 of Dongola. The mud is mixed with a large proportion of dung to prevent 

 Hacking on drying. The mouth and upper part of the jar are first formed and 

 placed to dry in a special way. When the mouth is sufficiently hard to stand 

 the weight of the vessel the lower part is finished by drawing out the surplus 

 mud left for the purpose. The wares are baked in a flask-shaped kiln, often 

 hollowed out of the ground. 



2. The manufacture of bormas and basins by women, often belonging to the 

 pilgrims who cross the Sudan from the west on their way to Mecca. The clay 

 used is fairly pure, but a small amount of chopped grass is mixed in during the 

 formation of the wares. These are shaped by pressing the clay into a hollow in 

 the ground, and by this means an almost spherical vessel is produced, with a hole 

 only large enough to admit the arm of the worker. The neck is finished off by 

 hand, and the wares are built up into a low pile with dung and baked by setting 

 fire to the heap. 



3. The manufacture of gabanas. This is carried on in Omdurman, but the 

 home of the industry is probably farther east. Two cup-shaped basins are 

 formed, and, with the aid of a hole cut in one, the two are joined together. 

 A spout and handle are added before the vessel is scraped, polished, and orna- 

 mented. The baking is done by building the wares into a heap with dung. 

 These gabanas, or coffee-pots, are beautifully symmetrical and remarkable for 

 the thinness of the ware. 



6. Note on some Anatomical Specimens of Anthropological Interest, prepared 

 by means of the New Microtome of the Cambridge Scientific Instrument 

 Company. By W. L. H. Duckworth, M.A., M.D., Sc.D. 



The new microtome of the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company provides 

 a means of preparation of anthropological material possessing great interest. 

 The instrument has been carefully tested at the Anatomy School at Cambridge, 

 and some of the preparations yielded by it have been mounted as lantern-slides. 

 The instrument is fully described in the Instrument Company's list, and it will 

 therefore suffice in this place to state that it combines some of the valuable 

 mechanism of the well-known " rocking " microtome with great rigidity and 

 uniform action. The experiments above mentioned show that the instrument will 

 cut good sections, of an area of ten square inches at least and of material of very 

 varying density, which always presents special difficulties. In a section of the 

 human leg (of an adult man) may be seen tissues so distinct in consistency as 

 bone, tendon, and muscle. 



Other specimens shown included the following examples : — 

 The human larynx cut in transverse horizontal section. 

 The larynx of a large adult orang-utan in vertical coronal section. 

 The human tongue in vertical coronal section at various levels. 



The chief point emphasised is the importance of such preparations in eluci- 

 dating the details of structure when the human tissues are compared with 

 corresponding parts of the larger mammalia, particularly anthropoid monkeys. 



FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2. 

 Joint Discussion with Section L on Research in Education. 



1 To be published in the Journal of Cairo Scientific Institute. 



