DEfKMIlKK 4. 11103.] 



SCIENCE. 



717 



more than a third of the convoluted sur- 

 face of the brain. The problem before 

 antliropolofrists is to explore the remaiuinii' 

 two thirds of the brain surface, wliieh is 

 still practically a terra incogiiila. 



A number of papers on somatology fol- 

 lowed Professor Symington's address. A 

 coUeetion of some eighty skulls from Round 

 Barrows in East Yorkshire was the subject 

 chosen by jMr. "William Wright, of the Uni- 

 versity of Birmingham. The interments 

 closely resemble each other, anil belong to 

 the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. 

 A great variety nf cranial shapes arc met 

 with, the cephalic index ranging from tilt 

 to 92. Metopism, w-lien found, occurred in 

 long skulls rather than broad skulls. Tliei-e 

 seemed to be no correlation between skull- 

 shape and the mandibular and coronoid 

 indices. Dr. Thurnam's dictum 'round 

 barrow, round skull" is not even ajiproxi- 

 niately accurate for the round barrows of 

 Yorkshire. 



Mr. Annandale's paper on a 'Collection 

 of Skulls from the Malay Peninsula' dealt 

 with material which he himself had helped 

 to collect. The crania in question came 

 from the Patani states, the population of 

 which is very mixed, consisting partly of 

 so-called Malays and partly of so-called 

 Siamese, the difference between the two 

 peoples being chiefly one of religiiiii. The 

 series has a higher cephalic index and a 

 greater cubic capacity than would be found 

 among the .jungle tribes of the Malay 

 Peninsula. Another distinguishing fea- 

 ture is the tendency of the third mohn- t<i 

 disappear. 



Mr. E. J. Evatt, in his paper entitled 

 'Some Observations on the Pads and Papil- 

 lary Ridges on the Palm of the Hand,' 

 pointed out that during the course of de- 

 velopment of the hand eleven well-defined 

 pads or cushions appear on the palm. The 

 disposition and fonn of the pads when 

 best marked in the foetus correspond very 



closely with that which obtains in certain 

 animals, e. y., the mouse: the cushions in 

 both cases are probably moi'|>hologically 

 equivalent, and in man's retnote ancestors 

 IHissiliiy siTvcd similar functions. The 

 pads ill till' aduii may he i-egarded as 

 vestigial. The papillary ridges were dif- 

 ferentiated when the hand began to be 

 used as an organ of prehension rather than 

 locomotion, and the patterns assumed their 

 present form as the result nf mechanical 

 forces. 



iMr. Davitl ^lacRitcliie in ".Mongoloid 

 l''.iii oijcans, " sup|)orts iieddie's view to the 

 I'lVect that "some reason can he shown for 

 suspecting the existence of traces of some 

 .Mongoloid race in the modern population 

 of Wales and the West of England.' This 

 strain may have come direct from the cave 

 man or from a fresh JNFongoloid immigra- 

 tion at a much later date, c. <j.. the Hun 

 conquests of the fifth century. 



The couniiittee appointed by the British 

 Association to organize anthropometric in- 

 vestigation in Great Britain and Ireland 

 submitted an important repoi't, and asked 

 to be reappointed with instructions to carry 

 ant the reconnuendations of its chairman. 

 Professor J. Cleland, and to draft a scheme 

 for a central anthropometric laboratory. 

 Such a laboratory woidd 'collect and dis- 

 seminate information on anthi'()|)()metrie 

 work, give practical instruction in measure- 

 ments, and supi)ly schedides.' 



By this means, uniform standards in an- 

 thropometric investigations would be se- 

 cured, measurement.s best suited for any 

 specific problem could be reconunended, 

 and cooperation among investigators as- 

 sured. It is suggested that the central 

 lal)oratory be attached to some already 

 existing institution, preferably the .\nthro- 

 pological Institute. 



The committee on ' Anthroi)ometric In- 

 vestigations Among the Native Troops of 

 the Egyptian Army ' ( Professor A. Mae- 



