TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 787 



The author described the legends of the arrival of the Fijians from the west- 

 ward and the peopling of Nakauvadra ; the story of Turukawa and the scattering 

 of the tribes. These fragments of mythology are of historical value. 



The recent discovery of the ' path of the spirits,' the legends that cling to it, 

 showing the influence of physical geography on the mythology of the Fijian bogies 

 and apparitions, were briefly described. 



The author described the JSanga cults, the earliest example of missionary 

 enterprise in the Pacific ; the arcana of the Nanga and their meaning. 



In conclusion he referred to the recent recrudescence of heathen practices and 

 its political danger. 



7. The Distribution of the Picts in Britain, as indicated hy Place-Names. 



By J. Gray, B.Sc. 



The Picti of North Britain, and the Pictones or Pictavi of South Gaul, are 

 both mentioned by Roman writers. The evidence of place-names shows that 

 probably the whole intervening country was at an earlier dare occupied by the 

 same race. Two roots are employed to determine the relative densities of the 

 Picts in Britain — viz. Pict and its variants, and Al. The language of the Picts 

 was Basque. The name Pict is derived from a Basque word, pikatu, to cut. 

 Aqultania is probably a Qoidelized form of Paquitania, or Pakitaui, and meant in 

 the Pictish language, the country of the Picts. Pakat is deduced as the earliest 

 form of the name Pict. The different phonetic changes which pakat can underga 

 are indicated, and some of these are verified by historical evidence. Place-names 

 in the British Isles involving all forms of the root Pakat have been classified 

 under counties and their densities calculated. Goidelic forms where the initial p 

 is dropped have been calculated as percentages of the total. Some of the con- 

 clusions arrived at are — that the density of the Picts was greatest in the south 

 and midlands of England and in the east of Scotland, and least on the east coast 

 of England, and in Wales. In Ireland the density was only about one-third that 

 in England. The Goidels, wlio followed the Picts, spread along the valleys of the 

 Thames and Severn to the Mei-sey, where a part probably crossed to Meath and 

 spread in two streams to the west coast of Ireland ; the other part moved 

 northward through Lancashire, Yorkshire, Northumberland, and advanced into 

 Scotland almost to the Forth. A second incursion entered Scotland by Argyll 

 and spread along the west counties to the extreme north. The pre-Pictiah in- 

 habitants were probably Iberians, and prevailed mostly in Ireland, South Wales, 

 Cumberland, and South Scotland. The olde.st name of Britain, Albion, is de- 

 rived from Al, the name of an Eastern god worshipped by the Picts, and Bathy 

 a decayed form of the name Pict. 



8. On the Ceremonies observed hy the Kandyans in Paddy Cultivation. 



By B. P. Kehlpannala. 



WEDNESDAY, AUGUST ir,. 

 The following Papers and Report were read : — 



1. On the Brain of a Young Fuegian. 

 By Professor L. Manouvrier. 



Professor Manouvrier described the brain of a Fuegian child, and compared 

 several of its characters with those of the ordinary European brain. He pointed 

 out that it is interesting anatomically, physiologically, and psychologically to find 

 that the external morphology of the Fuegian brain is nearly equal in its develop- 

 ment to that of the European, though some traces of inferiority exist in the 



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