October 24, 19U2.] 



SCIENCE. 



661 



there offered an instructive parallel even 

 in detail to the legends of the ' little people ' 

 in the west of Europe. Messrs. Annandale 

 and Robinson added considerably to the 

 materials collected in the Malay Peninsula 

 by the Skeat expedition of two years ago; 

 and the account which Dr. Furness gave of 

 his work among the Nagas showed well to 

 what extent photography can now be 

 applied in recording these vanishing 

 aborigines. The committees appointed to 

 prosecute research on the sense perception 

 of the Todas and on the surviving lan- 

 guages and peoples of the Pacific illustrate 

 still further the urgent necessity of gather- 

 ing in such material before it is too late. 

 Human anatomy and physical anthro- 

 pology were somewhat better represented 

 than in recent years; but it is much to be 

 regretted that this side of the section's 

 work is not better attended on both sides 

 of the table. Professor Cunningham's ex- 

 hibit of the skeleton of Cornelius Mac- 

 Grath, the Irish giant, raised an interesting 

 point in the study of abnormal stature, by 

 connecting it with abnormal states of the 

 pituitary body in the brain ; and Professor 

 Dixon, who followed him, was able to sup- 

 port his view on independent grounds. 

 The reports of the measurements taken by 

 Dr. Myers of the native troops in Egypt, 

 and by Mr. Gray of the Indian Coronation 

 contingent, showed well how mi:ch might 

 easily be done, with very small trouble, 

 with large bodies of individuals accustomed 

 to obey simple instructions. In Egypt, in- 

 deed, the Government offered every facility 

 for the investigation; but at Hampton 

 Court, as well as at the Alexandra Palace, 

 the European ofScers hardly seem to have 

 taken the inquiry seriously, and displayed 

 a regrettable indifference to a matter in 

 which, after all, they are themselves the 

 most nearly concerned. The last session, 

 devoted to questions of classification, organ- 

 ization and method, was well worth imita- 



tion elsewhere; and suggests that the an- 

 thropologists are becoming well alive to 

 the necessity of coordination and sys- 

 tematic outlook in their work. 



Although the meetings of Section I 

 (Physiology) were confined to the fore- 

 noons of three days, the proceedings were 

 enlivened by a number of contributions of 

 undoubted physiological value. Professor 

 Halliburton's presidential address, which 

 emphasized the importance of chemical 

 physiology, did not prevent experimental 

 and morphological contributions from re- 

 ceiving their share of attention and criti- 

 cism. The opening day witnessed a dis- 

 cussion following a paper by Dr. Edridge- 

 Green on color-vision. Dr. Edridge-Green 

 has a theory of his own on this subject 

 which he has brought forward with great 

 persistence and under various titles before 

 physiological circles for some' years back. 

 This time he supported his theory by de- 

 scribing some experiments the results of 

 which are at variance with those recorded 

 by previous observers. He was then and 

 there challenged by Professor McKendrick 

 to repeat his experiments before a com- 

 mittee of experts. The challenge was ac- 

 cepted by Dr. Edridge-Green, whose theory 

 has therefore every prospect of being soon 

 put to the test. Professor Schafer's two 

 contributions were of exceptional value. 

 In one he showed that the epithelial part 

 of the pituitary body, which preponderates 

 over the nervous part and to which no func- 

 tion has hitherto been assigned, in reality 

 elaborates an internal secretion which acts 

 powerfully on the kidney, producing in- 

 creased urinary flow. In his second com- 

 munication he added an important chapter 

 to the physiology of those piizzling strands 

 of nerve fibers in the spinal cord known 

 as the anterior columns, assigning to them 

 the maintenance of tone in the muscles, 

 without which volitional movement would 

 be impossible. Equally important, as new 



