37 



subject was a very interesting one, especially at this period, when 

 ethnological science is occupying the attention of the best natur- 

 alists of the day. 



He endeavoured to examine the theory which made the colour 

 and constitution of the Hair, Beard, and Skin, a basis for the classi- 

 fication of the various races of men in the world. 



In his connection with the Hospital for Skin Diseases, he had 

 noticed many abnormal cases of skin and hair changes, and he 

 threw it out as a suggestion, that the diseased conditions of these 

 organisations might, in some measure, explain the variations 

 effected in them by climate and other natural influences. 



The effect of the nervous system on the deposit of pigment in 

 the skin and hair had, hitherto, been hardly touched upon. The 

 case of the Albinoes, with their highly sensitive organisation, and 

 accompanying lack of colour in both hair and skin was one in 

 point. The condition of the nervous system here seemed to pre- 

 vent the deposit of any colouring matter. The remarkable effects 

 of grief and mental anxiety, of which numerous cases have been 

 recorded, on the colouring matter of the hair, was also a support of 

 the theory of nervous influence. He, himself, had met such a 

 case, where both the skin and hair on a portion of the body were 

 blanched in a very short period by excessive mental anxiety. How 

 far the colour of the skin and hair was to be taken as a race cha- 

 racteristic, it would be hard to say. One thing, however, was cer- 

 tain, that some of the best ethnologists of the day regarded it as a 

 very distinctive feature of race. For his own part, the lecturer 

 thought that climate and other natural influences were quite suffi- 

 cient to account for the variations in colour to be found in the skin 

 and hair of the different races of the globe. 



On Wednesday evening, 29th December, a paper was read by 

 Mr. W. A. Ross on " Glass-making : its History, and the Causes 

 of its Decline in this Country." 



Mr. Ross gave a very interesting account of the several pro- 

 cesses of glass-making, the materials necessary, and the tools em- 



