No. 32. — 1886.] SCIENTIFIC researches. 



295 



Summing up, we learn by the measurements that the 

 Sinhalese, Tamils, and Veddas are three well-distinguishable 

 races, and further, the measurements give much reason to 

 suggest that the Tamils are more closely allied to the Veddas 

 than the Sinhalese, which latter no doubt represent the 

 highest race, whilst the Tamils in many respects range 

 between the two others. 



One result in any case is certain, viz., that the Veddas are 

 by far the lowest in the scale of the three races, not only in 

 their habits, but also in their anatomy, and this fact confirms 

 the opinion of those who claim the Veddas as the remnants 

 of an old tribe of Aborigines. We can pass over the customs 

 and the religion of the Veddas, because former writers have 

 dealt with them, and the principal facts are generally known. 

 We will call attention to one point only, because it 

 illustrates clearly the primitive customs of this race, and 

 that is the wearing of leaves as a cloth. A string is tied 

 round the loins, and small branches are put underneath, till 

 a thick belt of leaves is formed. This custom is now almost 

 extinct by increasing civilisation, but almost every Vedda, 

 if requested to do so, will appear in a few minutes in his 

 dress of leaves. 



It is our intention at a later period to deal more exhaus- 

 tively with the anthropology of Ceylon, and to illustrate our 

 writings by maps and photographs. We therefore confine 

 ourselves in the meantime to these preliminary notes. 



II— Zoological. 



As zoologists, our labours in Ceylon were naturally 

 devoted to the study of animals. Before we came to this 

 Island we had set ourselves the special task to discover 

 the development, then entirely unknown, of Epicrium 

 glutinosurn = Goecilia glutmosa (Linn.). This is a kind of 

 ground snake, living in the tropics of the East, and known 

 long since ; the shape of the animal is like that of an eel, 

 one to one and a half feet in length, dark brown in colour, 



