74 Proceedings of Learned Societies. 



of the enormous amount of hair with which they are covered. The 

 hair on the scalp forms a matted mass of gigantic size, their beards 

 are long and thick, growing from the greater part of the face, and 

 the whole of their bodies is covered with an extraordinary profusion 

 of hair. 



The women stain that part of the face which is covered by the 

 beard in males. The skin, when not bronzed by exposure, is some- 

 what paler in colour than that of the Japanese. 



These people, though timid from long subjugation to the 

 Japanese, and isolation from the rest of the world, appear intelli- 

 gent and lively. They have well-developed prominent foreheads 

 and dark expressive eyes. 



Their legends go back to a time previous to their having been 

 subjected by the Japanese, probably several centuries before the 

 Christian era. 



EOYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.— Jan. 9. 



The Ancient Remains near the Sources op the Tigris. — Mr. 

 J. C. Taylor, consul at Diarbekr, described several ancient remains 

 he had discovered near the sources of the Tigris. The most in- 

 teresting were two Assyrian inscriptions near the principal source 

 of the Tigris. One of these belongs to Tiglath-Pileser L, who 

 reigned about B.C. 1110, and the other to Ashur-izir-pal (the king 

 of the Nimroud monolith), who dates about B.C. 880. The fact that 

 such memorials had been placed in the situation where they had 

 been found, by those monarchs during their northern expeditions, 

 had been ascertained years ago by the reading of inscriptions found 

 at Mneveh ; and their discovery by Mr. Taylor is a striking proof 

 of the truth of those interpretations. The main branch of the river, 

 here called Dibeneh Su, is formed by the junction of various small 

 streams, some of these sources being within as short a distance as 

 five miles from other sources which fall the opposite way into the 

 Euphrates. After a course of three miles the principal stream of 

 the Tigris plunges into a lofty cavern, and is lost underground for 

 a distance of two miles, emerging on the south-east, and then con- 

 tinuing its course towards Diarbekr. The numerous masses of rock 

 which now choke the stream near this cavern, and the detached 

 arches, seemed to indicate that the tunnel was formerly of much 

 greater length than it is now. The statement of Strabo with regard 

 to the extremely long underground course of the Tigris near its 

 sources, was therefore, in all probability, not far from the truth. 



ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY— Jan. 13. 



Mr. Htjggins on the Occultation of the Spectrum of a 

 Fixed Star. — The author remarked that while all observations 

 hitherto negative the existence of an atmosphere to the moon, one 

 had occurred to him as not yet made which might add to the evi- 



