76 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 211. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 



ARROW FEATHERING IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



An excellent study of this subject by Herman 

 Meyer has been translated and published in the 

 Smithsonian Report for 1896 (just issued). Dif- 

 ferent methods of feathering, seven in number, 

 are shown to have prevailed among the native 

 tribes, each occupying its own area and gener- 

 ally embracing tribes of contrasted affinities in 

 other respects. A map is added indicating 

 these areas. The explanation of this is that 

 many tribes first learned the use of the bow 

 from their neighbors, but that there were as 

 many centers of its invention as there were 

 modes of feathering. At least, this is the sim- 

 plest explanation, and it is one supported by 

 language, as we find, in the Catoquina, for in- 

 stance, the words for bow and arrow are both 

 Tupi, and their people have the Tupi plan of 

 feathering. The paper is valuable for other 

 suggestions on native culture. 



A BTUDY OF THE LIPS. 



We are all familiar with the teaching of the 

 physiognomists that thick lips indicate a sen- 

 sual disposition, and delicate, finely formed lips 

 coincide with a certain spirituality, firmness 

 and elevation of character. Dr. A. Bloch, in a 

 thorough study of the lips from an anthropo- 

 logical point of view, believes that all such in- 

 dications are imaginary. The form, size and 

 color of these organs belong to race distinctions 

 quite as much as the shape and dimensions of the 

 nose. In fact, they are often in correlation. The 

 pigmentation is notably different in the various 

 sub-species of man, varying from a delicate rose 

 to a dark brown. In hybridity, like many other 

 traits, the lips of one or the other parent may 

 reappear in full character in the child. Really 

 thick lips never occur, except as an anomaly, 

 in the white race. (Bull. Soc. Anthropologie de 

 Paris, 1898 ; Fasc. 3.) 



PHYSIOLOGY OF CRIMINALS. 



An eminent criminal lawyer once told me 

 that the criminals, as a rule, were better look- 

 ing men than the 'gentlemen of the jury.' The 

 assertion seemed jocose, but now comes the 

 proof of it. Dr. J. Marty, a French criminolo- 

 gist, reports his examination of 4,000 delin- 



quents in the French army. His results are 

 curious. In height, in weight, in breast meas- 

 ure, in muscular power and in general condi- 

 tion these rascals averaged decidedly better 

 than the well-behaved soldiers of the army ! 



But Dr. Marty is ready with an ingenious 

 suggestion. Not that criminals are ' by nature ' 

 a finer lot physically than non-criminals, but 

 the condition of criminal families is so much 

 more wretched than respectable ones that only 

 the uncommonly strong survive ! Ingenious, 

 but not quite satisfying. (Centralblatt fur An- 

 thropologie, Heft. 4.) 



D. G. Brinton. 



University of Pennsylvania. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



ENDOWMENT OF THE JENNER INSTITUTE. 



We announced in a recent issue a gift by 

 Lord Iveagh of £250,000 for the endowment of 

 the Jenner Institute of Preventive Medicine. 

 Further details of this important gift are given 

 by Lord Lister, Chairman of the Council, and 

 Sir Henry E. Roscoe, Treasurer, in the follow- 

 ing letter to the press : 



We ask permission to announce in your colnmns a 

 splendid offer in aid of scientifio research which lias 

 been placed in our hands. 



British and Irish men of science have long deplored 

 the fact that the opportunities in this country for re- 

 search directed to the prevention of disease are not 

 equal to those possessed by foreign nations. 



Lord Iveagh wishes to help in removing this re- 

 proach to our country, and, on the conditions named 

 below, has offered the sum of £250,000 (two hundred 

 and fifty thousand pounds) for the purposes of the 

 highest research in bacteriology and other forms of 

 biology as bearing upon the causes, nature, preven- 

 tion and treatment of disease. 



He has proposed to the Council of the Jenner Insti- 

 tute (lately the British Institute) of Preventive 

 Medicine — a body which includes leading men in 

 medicine and allied sciences in the British Isles — 

 that the donation shall be handed over to the Insti- 

 tute on condition that in future the control and man- 

 agement of the ailairs of the Institute shall be placed 

 in the hands of a new board of seven trustees — three 

 of the seven to be chosen by the Council of the Insti- 

 tute, three by the donor, and one by the Council of 

 the Royal Society. 



The ofier has been cordially accepted at a meeting 

 of the Council. 



