TRANSACTIONS OF SEOTION H. 713 
of the long bones as could be taken :—Humerus, 315 mm. ; femur, 458 mm.; 
tibia, 363 mm. The platymeric index is 781; pilasteric, 98:4; the platy- 
cnemic, 77. 
The skull was broken away on one side and imperfect on the other, but the 
sagittal section was complete. The transverse measurements have been calculated 
approximately :— 
Maximum length . 2 : : : - : . 192 
si breadth . : c c : ; - . al44 
Cephalic index : : : : : : in ealo 
Basi-bregmatic height . . ; - ; : en AO 
Height index . ; ° - : ; : : ~ al2'8 
Basi-nasal length . F ; . - . x . 100 
Basi-alveolar length : - : : - stn ite 93 
Gnathic index : : . ; ; : : - 93 
The radii on the mesial surface are as follows :—Basion to occipital, 113 mm. ; 
to lambda, 122 mm.; to mid-parietal point, 140 mm.; to bregma, 140 mm. ; 
to mid-frontal point, 136 mm.; to glabella, 110 mm. ; to nasion, 100 mm. ; perpen- 
dicular, 1838 mm.; distance from perpendicular to anterior pole, 80 mm.; to 
posterior pole of cranial cavity, 93 mm. 
The face measurements could not be accurately taken, but the length-breadth 
index was doubtless lepto-prosopic. 
The sutures were all patent, the set of teeth was complete, and the crowns 
showed no attrition. The chief characters are the very full rounded frontal 
region, the flatness of the vertex, the absence of sagittal ridge, and the rounding 
out of the sides. 
A comparison with the skulls from this district, described by Sir William 
Turner,! shows that in general character it agrees with the majority of more 
modern examples; and though no general statement can be founded on a single 
specimen the probability is that the type now prevailing in Midlothian was already 
established when the interment took place. 
7. On a Phase of Transition between the Chambered Cairns and Closed 
Ciste in the South-west Corner of Scotland. By T. H. Bryce, M.D. 
If the rare instances of interment in cinerary urns be excluded, the forms of 
prehistoric sepulture in Argyleshire and Buteshire may be grouped under two 
heads: (1) Interment in chambers with a portal, but no passage, of entrance ; and 
(2) interment in completely closed cists. 
The two classes agree in one respect, that without any hint of difference of 
time relationships, within the respective classes, the interment may be either by 
inhumation or after cremation. They differ in the mode of interment, in the 
character of the osseous remains, and in their associated relics.” While the 
implements are invariably of stone in the chambers, they are occasionally of 
bronze in the closed cists; but the character of the pottery is a more discriminating 
feature. The chamber pottery is of a black paste. The vessels are round in the 
bottom, and have either a broad flat lip or are inclined inwards to the mouth ; 
the decorative pattern is one of straight lines and dots, or of fluted markings, or 
(rarely) of concentric semi-ellipses. The closed cist pottery is of a red paste, 
generally of the ‘ food-vessel’ type, but more rarely of the ‘drinking-cup’ or 
‘beaker’ class. 
Besides the chamber in its typical form an atypical form occurs, consisting of 
a single compartment covered by one flagstone (cistvaen), with one end lower 
than the others, and forming the sill of a portal guarded by two upright stones. 
The exploration of a cairn at Glecknabae, in Bute, afforded a clue to the 
~ Trans. Roy. Sov., Hd. x1., part ili., No. 24. 
2 Bryce, Proc. Soc, Antig. Scot., vols, xxxvi., XXxVii., XXXViil. 
