146 



SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



had been made was remarkable. Sir Archibald 

 Geikie read a paper in this section on time-intervals 

 in the volcanic history of the Inner Hebrides. He 

 had made a full investigation of the island of Mull, 

 basing his observations upon what had been de- 

 scribed by Maculloch as a fossil tree. From the 

 two sheets of lava around this tree it was evident 

 that there was a considerable lapse of years, probably 

 about one hundred, between each flow. 



The section for Anthropology was opened by Pro- 

 fessor D. J. Cunningham, F.R.S., of Trinity Col : 

 lege, Dublin, with an address devoted chiefly to 

 the part which the brain has played in the evolu- 

 tion of man. He confined his remarks, however, 

 mainly to a discussion of the structural changes 

 that have taken place in the brain, rendering 

 possible the associated movements required for 

 articulate speech. He also demonstrated the fact 

 that the acquisition of speech has afforded the 

 chief stimulus to the general development of the 

 brain, and must therefore be ranked above any 

 other factor in the evolution of man. He pointed 

 out that the first step in this upward movement 

 must have been taken by the brain itself. Some 

 cerebral variation, probably trifling and insigni- 

 ficant at first, had in the stem form of man con- 

 tributed that condition which had rendered speech 

 possible. This variation had been fostered by 

 natural selection. On Saturday the day was de- 

 voted chiefly in this section to the report of the 

 committee appointed to co-operate with the Sil- 

 chester Excavation Fund. 



Dr. J. G. Garson presented a report of the com- 

 mittee appointed to investigate the age of the 

 stone circles in connection with the excavations at 

 Arbor Low, near Buxton. He pointed out that the 

 skeleton found in the centre of the circle itself 

 was probably of quite a late interment. The 

 general opinion appeared to be that the flint 

 implements found were Neolithic. Dr. W. Allen 

 Sturge read an important paper on the " Stone Age 

 of Man, with especial reference to its co-existence 

 with an Ice Age." His object was to show that 

 much might be learnt as to the relative chronology 

 of the Stone Age by a careful study of the surfaces 

 of chipped implements of the ordinary type. 



The inaugural address of the Section for Botany 

 was given by Professor J. Bayley Balfour on 

 Angiosperms. In the course of his remarks he 

 pointed out that the examination of plants from 

 the standpoint of their relation to water, bearing 

 in mind that this was physiological, and not 

 merely physical, had already thrown a flood of 

 light upon their forms and distribution, and 

 offered a fertile field of investigation for the 

 future. 



The new section of Educational Science of the 

 British Association had a large attendance at its 

 opening meeting, when an address was given by 

 Sir John Gorst, who stated that he had been asked 

 to take the presidency for the first year, as a 

 representative of the Government department which 

 controls the larger, though perhaps not the most 

 efficient, part of the education of the United 

 Kingdom. His speech, which space does not admit 

 of detailed report, dealt with the development of 

 character by education, age, the power of research, 

 need for variety, health and physical exercises, 

 secondary education, the dangers of a national 

 system, technical training, and the opportunity of 



the British Association in presenting to the public 

 a scientific conception of education. In conclusion 

 he stated he was anxious that in the great develop- 

 ment of scientific education there should not be a 

 loss of that culture which was one of the best 

 points of the old classical teaching. Amongst 

 other papers read in this section during the pro- 

 ceedings of the Association was one by Professor 

 L. C. Miall on the " Experimental Method of 

 Teaching." He urged that the ordinary school 

 curriculum had a tendency to thwart a boy's natural 

 bent, and take the " spring " out of him. The aim 

 of all teaching should be practical investigation. 

 In connection with this paper Mr. Leonard urged 

 that botany — which appealed naturally to most 

 children, especially those living in the country - 

 was very rarely taught in the schools. An important 

 discussion, in which the Botany Section joined, 

 took place on Tuesday, September 17th, on the 

 teaching of botany in schools and universities. It 

 was presided over by Professor Bayley Balfour. 

 The proceedings commenced with a pjaper from Mr. 

 Harold Wager on the " Teaching of Botany in 

 Schools." He pointed out that the value of botany 

 as a training in scientific method had not been 

 recognised to the same extent as that of physics 

 and chemistry. Where botany was taught, it was 

 usually confined to descriptive work on flowers and 

 histology. Professor F. 0. Bower followed with a 

 paper on the " Teaching of Botany in the Uni- 

 versities." Professors Miall, Marshall Ward, Withers, 

 and Armstrong took part in the ensuing discussion ; 

 also Dr. Scott and Sir John Gorst. 



It is proposed by the Association to reprint in 

 full the paper by the Bishop of Hereford on " The 

 Influence of Universities and Examining Bodies 

 upon the Curricula of Secondary Schools." In the 

 limited space at our disposal it is not possible to 

 give even an outline of his lordship's valuable 

 speech. We shall hope, however, to touch on the 

 subject again when we receive the printed paper. 



A PAPER on the " Behaviour of Young Gulls 

 Artificially Hatched " was read by Professor J. 

 Arthur Thomson, in which he compared the beha- 

 viour of the young of Lams ridibundvs hatched 

 from incubated eggs and four newly hatched from 

 different nests. The kin instinct seemed to be 

 A'ery strong, but the young gulls from the incubator 

 were a long time before they recognised water 

 unless plunged into it. At the concluding meeting 

 of this section Mr. Graham Kerr read a paper on 

 " The Origin of the Vertebrate Limbs." After 

 discussing two of the present predominant hypo- 

 theses on this subject, he proceeded to explain his 

 own, which is that the vertebrate limbs were 

 evolved from the external gills. The lecture room 

 was then crowded to hear a paper from Major 

 Ronald Ross on "The Story of Malaria," which 

 was illustrated by a slide of a living specimen of 

 Ano2Jheles being shown on the screen. 



At the concluding meeting of the section of 

 Zoology at the British Association, Mr. James 

 Rankin announced that the site of a new building 

 had been promised to the Marine Biological station 

 at Millport by the Marquis of Bute, for the exten- 

 sion of the laboratory accommodation and to pro- 

 vide residential quarters for the observing staff. 

 Another gentleman, whose name was not men- 

 tioned, had also come forward and offered to pro- 

 vide the necessary funds for the extension buildings, 

 which would cost about £3,400. 



