TUANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 901 



Other classes of insane, and also larger than in sane professional men. Gardeners 

 had the smallest heads. Bricklayers' heads were larger than cabinetmakers'. 

 A table was shown illustrating the fact that heads enlarged as you went north, but 

 not regularly, as the smallest heads were from Perthshire. 



The frontal segment of head circumference bore a larger proportion to whole 

 circumference in insane, which, with the fact of frontal lobes weighing more in 

 proportion to whole encephalon in idiots and imbeciles than in total insane class, 

 and the fact that the typical insane head was cuneiform with the greatest 

 transverse diameter anterior to central point of head, seemed to discredit the 

 ' noble forehead,' and point out the occipital lobes as the seat of intelligence. This 

 was supported by facts of brain development and comparative cerebral anatomy, 

 as well as by the flat occiput of idiots and the cerebellum of the Bushmen 

 projecting beyond the occipital lobes. 



5. On the Dards and SiaJi-Posh Kafirs. 

 By J. Beddoe, If.I)., F.R.S., and Dr. Leitnee. 



6. Pin-wells and Bag-lushes. By B. Sidney Hartland, F.8.A. 



Professor Bhys has lately brought together a number of instances, in Wales 

 and the Isle of Man, in which persons frequenting sacred wells for the cure of 

 disease and other purposes have been in the habit of throwing pins into the water, 

 stuffing rags under stones, or tying rags upon adjacent trees ; and he has discussed 

 the reasons for these practices, suggesting that the pins are offerings and the rags 

 are vehicles for the transfer of the disease. The object of the present paper is to 

 consider these and other suggestions. A few of the most characteristic observances 

 at wells now or formerly held sacred in AVales are first brought together. They 

 are compared with ancient and modern observances on the continent of Europe 

 and elsewhere at sacred wells, crosses, trees, temples, and other objects of super- 

 stition. Professor Rhys' suggestions, and the theory recently put forward by 

 M. Monseur in the ' Bulletin de Folklore ' as to the observances at sacred crosses 

 and trees, are then discussed. M. Gaidoz, ten years ago, in the ' Revue de 

 I'Histoire des Religions,' dealing with the same class of cases as M. Monseur, ex- 

 pressed the opinion that pins and nails were merely substantial reminders for the 

 deity whose aid was invoked. None of these solutions, however, fulfils all the 

 conditions. A satisfactory solution must apply equally to the crosses and shrines 

 as to the wells and trees, to the driving of nails as to the dropping of pins and the 

 tying of rags. It is therefore suggested that the object of the usages was union 

 with the divinity, to be achieved by the perpetual contact with the god of some 

 article identified with the worshipper. It cannot, of course, be denied that the 

 ideas of offerings and of transfer of disease have attached to some of the rites in 

 later times ; but it is submitted that the original intention was different, and that 

 these explanations only arose after the real motive was forgotten. 



7. On the Primitive Americans. By Miss J. M. Welch. 



8. On the Indians of the Mackenzie and Yukon Rivers, Canada. 

 By the Right Rev. Dr. Bompas, Bishop of Selkirk. 



These Indians are of Mongolian race, and appear to have migrated from Asia. 

 They are distinct from the Esquimaux and other circumpolar races. Their languages 

 are agglutinative, and in some cases almost monosyllabic. They dress in skins, 

 inhabit houses of skins stretched over wooden frames, and occupy themselves 

 mainly with hunting. Their arrows are pointed with bone, flint, and more recently 

 with iron, and hammer-headed arrows are used for striking small birds. In summer 

 they live largely on the great rivers in canoes of pine trunks or birch bark ; heavy 



