TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 75 



[It is requested that observations made as recommended by M. de Selys Long- 

 champs, be communicated to the Zoological and Botanical Section at the next Meet- 

 ing of the Association.] 



Description of ttvo Peruvian Mummies, presented to the Devon and Cornioall 

 Natural History Society by Captain Blanckley, of the Royal Navy. By 

 P. F. Bellamy, M.D. 



They proved to be the remains of children of different ages, one a few months" old, 

 and the other not much more than one year ; they were brought from the mountain- 

 ous district of Peru, but at a considerable distance from the Lake Titicaca. In con- 

 junction with them were found certain envelopes (one of which proved to be an article 

 of dress, resembling a ponshad sewed up at the sides), and the model of a raft or ca- 

 tamaran, two small bags containing ears of an undescribed variety of Indian corn, and 

 two small earthen pots. He also exhibited a variety of other models, found wrapped 

 up with others examined by Capt. Blanckley. The skulls were found to resemble 

 those adult specimens contained in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in 

 London, and presented the same peculiarities, — viz. a short projecting face, square 

 protruding chin, receding forehead, and elongated cranium. He stated that he con- 

 sidered their formation to be natural, for the following reasons : — 1st, that the pecu- 

 liarities are as great in the child as in the adult, and indeed more remarkable in the 

 younger individual than in the elder ; 2nd, from the great relative length of the large 

 bones of the skull, all of which are elongated in a posterior direction ; 3rd, from the 

 position of the occipital bone, which occupies a place in the under part of the cranium ; 

 4th, from the absence of marks of pressure, there being no elevation of the vertex, 

 nor projection on either side ; and 5th, from there being no instrument, nor mechani- 

 cal contrivance, suited for the process of compression found in conjunction with the 

 remains. He called the attention of the Section to the pecuhar formation of the oc- 

 cipital bone, which he found to consist of five rudimentary portions, the fifth piece 

 being placed between the occipital portion, commonly so called, and the two parietal 

 bones. He considered the probabihty of the mummies being the remains of some 

 of the true Titicacan race, deposited after the arrival of the original emigrants, who 

 founded the Incas dynasty, and called on ethnologists to say what Asiatic people they 

 resembled in manners, customs, and attainments ; but if no affinity could be found, 

 he considered it fair to attribute to the indigenes a mental capacity equal to the 

 originating of such inventions as the specimens connected with these mummies 

 would indicate them to have been capable of. The extinction of the race he supposed 

 to have been gradual, and occasioned by an intermixture of blood with the followers 

 of Manco Cape. Lastly, he suggested that the adult skulls called Titicacans were 

 of two kinds, one being of the pure stock, the other of a spurious character, result- 

 ing from the union of the indigenes with the settlers of Asiatic origin, and presenting 

 a modified form ; there being added to the receding forehead and elongated cranium, 

 an elevated vertex and flattened occiput, formed principally by an altered position of 

 the occipital bone, which, instead of lying on a plane with the horizon, rises in a 

 sloping direction upwards and backwards. 



On the Varieties of the Human Race. By Dr. Caldwell. 



Considering that this subject had been too much neglected, the author proceeded to 

 give an example of the method by which he thought it ought to be treated, by a com- 

 parative view of the anatomical structure of the African and Caucasian varieties of 

 Man. After dwelling minutely on the anatomical structure of the two races, he stated 

 his conviction, that the former bore anatomically a nearer resemblance to the higher 

 Quadrumana than to the highest varieties of his own species. 



Remarks on the Flora of Devon and Cornwall. By the Rev. W. S. Hore. 



Jones's ' Flora Devoniensis,' published about twelve years ago, has served as a 

 basis for the Flora of the two western counties of Devon and Cornwall, which, from 

 their position, form one of the districts into which Great Britain would naturally be 

 divided by the geographical botanist. The number of Phanerogamous species re- 



