224 Chronicles of Science. [April, 



and the Trou de la Frontal, which latter contained the Eeindeer- 

 period individuals, strongly resembling the Calrnucks of the present 

 day." 



We hope that the detection of these various resemblances may 

 hereafter prove to be well founded ; but at present the evidence 

 seems remarkably slight. We also look forward to some explana- 

 tion of the association in one individual of characters belonging 

 to the Masures and the Wends, with others afforded by those races 

 which, in the euphemistic dialect of anthropologists, are consider- 

 ately termed " melanous." 



The uses to which the ordinary types of Flint Implements, of 

 the larger sort, were put by the people who made them, have been, 

 in the minds of most antiquaries, associated more or less with war 

 or the chase, though some have sought to prove that they were 

 used for more peaceful and bucolic purposes, such as digging roots. 

 The smaller implements are also generally supposed to have been 

 used as cutting or scraping instruments of some kind ; but Pro- 

 fessor Steenstrup has recently published a paper, entitled " Imod 

 Hr. Professor Worsaae's Tvedeling af Stenalderen ; et Bidrag til 

 Forstaaelsen af Stenalderens Kultnr her i Norden," in which he 

 compares them with certain stone objects used by the Esquimaux 

 for the purpose of sinking their hooks, &c, in fishing. This idea 

 is, to an Englishman, not a little novel, and hard to admit ; but to 

 a Scandinavian it may be more familiar, as the figures given by 

 Professor Steenstrup show a considerable resemblance, in form and 

 proportions, between the objects compared. At any rate, Professor 

 Steenstrup's reputation is such that an expression of his deliberate 

 opinion commands an unprejudiced consideration. 



3. ASTKONOMY. 



{Including the Proceedings of the Royal Astronomical Society.) 



The gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society has been 

 awarded to Mr. Huggins and Dr. Miller, jointly, for their researches 

 into the physical and chemical constitution of fixed stars, nebulae, 

 and comets, by means of Spectrum Analysis. Our readers, who 

 have been presented from time to time with the results of the 

 important investigations made by the medallists, will recognize the 

 justice of the award. 



The results of observations made by our leading astronomers 

 upon the November meteors are now before us. In some respects 

 they are disappointing. We cannot but feel that although the 

 display had been predicted, it came after all somewhat as a surprise. 



