126 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [August, 



Dr. J. Anderson said, leaving out of consideration the opinions which 

 Dr. Davis had expressed on the much disputed theory of the origin of 

 the so-called Arian races of India, he believed, that the chief 

 object of the paper, now before the Society, was to direct the atten- 

 tion of Ethnologists in India to the importance of physical characters 

 as a means of determining the affinities of race. Dr. Davis, from the 

 whole tenor of his communication, is apparently impressed with the 

 idea that, in India, philology has been studied to the exclusion nearly 

 of the physical aspect of the enquiry, and the aim of his paper evidently 

 is, to try and excite in the minds of Indian philologists an interest in 

 the physical facts of ethnology. To this extent I agree with Dr. 

 Davis, as there cannot be a doubt that physical ethnology has been 

 much neglected in this country. Under the circumstances, I think we 

 are indebted to Dr. Davis for calling our attention to the subject, and 

 I have therefore much pleasure in proposing that we should award 

 him a vote of thanks. 



With regard to the facts which Dr. Davis has adduced in support 

 of the importance of physical ethnology, and the stress which he seem- 

 ingly places on the mere capacity of the cranium as a rare character, 

 I think that many more telling facts might have been selected, and 

 that Dr. Davis, in placing the capacity of the cranium so prominently 

 forward, to the exclusion of any mention of its general form and 

 relative proportions, has much understated the question at issue, — the 

 comparative importance of philology and craniology in Ethnological 

 enquiries. 



What physical ethnology aims at, in making the cranium the subject of 

 its enquiries, is to attain, by the accurate measurements of a large series 

 of the crania of a race, an accurate conception of the general form and 

 relative proportions and capacity of the skull, and having satisfacto- 

 rily determined these points in a number of races, to proceed to classify 

 them according to the similarities of their crania. However, I am 

 certain Dr. Davis is quite as impressed with the importance of 

 researches of this kind as we are, and I only regret that he did not state 

 the question more strongly. I have much pleasure in proposing the 

 vote of thanks. 



Dr. Partridge seconded the proposition. 



The Secretary then read the following paper. 



