900 REPonT — 1893. 



4. Funeral Rites and Ceremonies among the Tnhinya'i, or Tsliinyavgive. 



By Lionel Decle. 



5. Tlie Arungo and Marombo Ceremonies among the Tshinyangwe. 



By Lionel Decle. 



6. The Ma-Goa. By Lionel Decle. 



MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18. 



The following Report and Papers were read : — 



1. Report on the Exploration of Ancient Remains in Ahyssinia. 

 See Reports, p. 557. 



2. On the External Characters of the Abyssinians examined by Mr. Bent. 

 By J. G. Garson, M.D. — See Reports, p. 563. 



3. Ethnographical Notes relating to the Congo Tribes. 

 By Herbert Ward, F.R.G.S. 



The subjects that are treated at greatest length in this paper relate to super- 

 stition and general customs. In the description of the 'N'Kimba' ceremony of 

 the Lower Congo natives we learn, for the first time, the motive for this remark- 

 able ' secret society.' Native eloquence is a subject containing interesting in- 

 formation ; but the most important subjects are those which bear briefly upon 

 women, their condition and circumstances. The method of cicatrisation, which 

 is a universal practice among the tribes of the Upper Congo, is described ; and 

 much concise information is given concerning the adornment and decoration of the 

 Congo natives in that portion of the paper devoted to costume. 



4. On the Mad Read. By Crocklet Clapham, M.D. 



The author stated that the older phrenology of Gall had been superseded by 

 Ferrier's cerebral localisation. He then gave some results of his examination of 

 nearly 4,000 insane heads. For statistics and particulars he referred to papers by 

 him (' Brain Weights and Head Measurements of Insane ') in Hack-Tuke's ' Psy- 

 chological Dictionary.' His observations were drawn from eight asylums in the 

 north of England and south of Scotland, and these compared with a number of 

 sane heads. 



Insane heads he found to show a larger average size than sane ones, though 

 insane brains were smaller. His standard of comparison was by a cranial index, 

 which he obtains by adding together the measurements of the whole circumference 

 and the antero-posterior and transverse arches of the head. Of these measure- 

 ments that of the transverse arch was the only one smaller in the insane, and was 

 in fact the weak point in the insane. The cranial index he found further useful, 

 as when expressed in inches it indicated nearly the weight of the normal contained 

 brain in ounces. 



Female heads were smaller and more sjrmmetrical than male. 



Heads increased in size with increased body height and weight ; heads of 

 those over forty years of age larger than those under forty ; larger in dark- 

 than in fair-complexioned individuals ; larger in insane professional men than in 



