MICROSCOPY. 507 
scribed, such as the flint flakes, were naturally produced. M. 
Chabas also took the same view as Dr. Lepsius, and denied the 
existence of any evidence of a stone age in Egypt or elsewhere. 
On the occasion of a late visit to Egypt with the object of getting 
conclusive personal evidence on the question, the author found 
worked flints at various spots along the Nile Valley, especially in 
the valley of the tombs of the kings of Thebes, and at Abydos, 
and after carefully weighing the facts and arguments brought for- 
ward by MM. Lepsius and Chabas, he was disposed to agree with 
MM. Arcelin and Hamy in considering that these flint implements 
really belonged to the stone age, and were ante-Pharaonic. Sir 
John exhibited a full series of the Egyptian flint implements 
found by himself during his visit, and the paper concluded with a 
minute description of each specimen. Prof. Owen, F. R. S., then 
read a paper on the ethnology of Egypt. Since the observations 
recorded in 1861, by Dr. Pruner-Bey, on the race-characters of 
the ancient Egyptians, mainly based on the characters of skulls, 
evidences, in the author’s opinion, of a more instructive kind have 
been discovered, chiefly by M. Mariette-Bey. They consist of 
portrait-sculptures, chiefly statues, found in tombs accompanied 
by hieroglyphic inscriptions revealing the name, condition, and 
date of decease. A study of those works led to the conclusion 
that three distinct types were indicated. (1) The primal Egypt- 
` lan, bearing no trace of negro or Arab, but more nearly matched 
by a high European facies of the present day. (2) The type of 
the conquering race of Shepherd Kings, or Syro-Arabian, exempli- 
fied in the Assyrian sculptures. (3) The Nubian Egyptian, typ- 
ified in the bas-relief figure of Cleopatra in the Temple of Denderah. 
In conclusion, the professor drew a graphic picture of the high 
State of civilization attained by the Primal Egyptian race, whose 
exquisite works, done six thousand years ago, are now rendered 
accessible to man. The paper was amply illustrated by a series 
of photographs, maps and diagrams. — Nature. 
MICROSCOPY. 
Iuprovements rx Insect Mountixc. —The lesson of the fly in 
amber was one which took us a long time to learn, or rather which 
we never learned well until, now, its whole secret comes to us 
from India. Mr. Staniforth Green, of Ceylon, has sent a collec- 
