SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— H. 391 



Mr. Thurkill Cooke. — Heredity mid the Inheritance of Titles of 

 Honour. 



Natural distinction and a sound heritage are essential to the concept of a heritable 

 title of honour. How far, then, are noble characters hereditary ? Is their transmission 

 fostered, or impaired, by the institution of hereditary dignities ? 



Observations obtained from the study of pedigrees and other illustrative data 

 show the trend of natural inheritance. Family distinction of a stable order is a 

 product of slow growth. It is seldom won by sudden elevation, which brings a los-s 

 of adaptive equilibrium, and frequent reversion to the common ancestral level. 

 Families which show a preponderance of noble endowments emerge, with greater 

 chances of survival, from socially homogeneous stocks. Differentiations of type 

 occur, displaying an intimate correlation of some physical with psychical characters. 

 In the process the part played by the social environment and tradition is fundamental. 



The confines within which the peerage fulfils its biologic function as a conservator 

 of hereditary honour may be approached by statistical inquiry. We have evidence 

 that in the operation of the system consequences detrimental to heredity ensue. Such 

 effects in general arise from the admission to its ranks of elements which do not accord 

 with its natural rationale, and from forced intermarriage with inferior stocks, whicE 

 heralds the decadence or extinction of rich ancestral strains. 



Tuesday, August 10. 



22. Miss N. F. Layard. — A Proviiwial Magdalenian Flint Industry from 



the Colne Valley, Essex. 



The finely worked flint implements which I am CAhibiting to-day are the result 

 of two and a-haU years' investigation of a gravel-pit in the Colne VaUey, Essex. Some 

 were collected from the workmen in the ordinary course of screening the finer gravels, 

 and others during excavations, in which I am still engaged, for establishing the condi- 

 tions under which they are found. The implements occur at depths varying from 

 1^ to 3 ft., according to the accumulation of humus above, except where they are 

 found in hoards on the floors of pit-dwellings, the depth of which may be from 4 to 

 6 ft. below the surface. Sections of the gravel-pit reveal these floors cutting through 

 the stratified stony loam. Small hearths measuring 2 to 3 ft. across are also seen, 

 not on the hut floors, but hollowed out of the original surface. The majority of the 

 implements, though diminutive in comparison with those of preceding industries, are 

 not minute enough to be described as pj^gmy, neither are they, except in rare cases, 

 geometric in form. Thus they are distinguislied from the AzUio-Tardenoisean 

 cultures. Among thousands of fine flakes carefully fashioned for use, but lacking 

 secondary finish, delicate points closely corresponding to the gravette form a dos 

 abattu are found in considerable numbers. Saws, scrapers, points, &c., seem to 

 suggest flint tools made for the purpose of fashioning wooden or bone implements. 

 Thus they might be distinguished as ' implement-making implements.' Burins of 

 several varieties have also come to light. It is rare to find any bone artefacts 

 preserved on unprotected sites, but a highly polished bone lissoir, probably a needle- 

 polisher, and a circular pierced bone pendant are perhaps the most interesting objects 

 yet found on the site. 



23. Miss N. F. Layard. — Excavations on the Neolithic Worl-^hofs of 



Ste Gertrude, Holland. 



In 1924, by kind permission of M. le Comte de Geloes, I made excavations on the 

 rich Neolithic site of Sainte-Gertrude, Holland. The object was to secure examples 

 of the implements found in such large quantities in these prehistoric workshops for 

 comparison with the artefacts of Neolithic man at Grime's Graves, Norfolk, and other 

 similar English settlements. 



Our work was rewarded by the finding of a profusion of flint implements — stone 

 picks, axes, side-scrapers, wedges, and a variety of tools all suitable to the needs of 

 a miner. In one of these ateliers measuring 15 ft. by 15 ft. no less than seventy stone 

 picks were thrown out. This will give some idea of the abundance of material to be 

 had for the seeking. 



