Scientific Intelligence.— Anthropology. 211 
animation of it; but I hope soon to obtain from the Professor 
more full information on the subject, and shall then have great 
pleasure in communicating it to you. It appears probable, 
from these circumstances, that selenium is a more common pro- 
duction of nature than is generally supposed ; and it may be 
anticipated, that it will frequently be found, whenever the at- 
tention of chemists and mineralogists in general shall be direct- 
ed to the subject.” 
15. Iodine and Phosphorus.— u Thenard asserts, that, in the 
union of iodine and phosphorus, not only caloric, but light, is 
extricated. But Sir H. Davy states that no light is evolved in 
this process. Repeated experiments have convinced me of the 
accuracy of the observation of the British chemist ; but it is only 
justice to M. Thenard to state, that, in the action between these 
substances, the evolution of light, as well as of caloric, may be 
shewn, according to the mode of making the experiment. If a 
small piece of dry phosphorus be dropt into a test-tube, and a 
quantity of iodine, in its usual scaly form, sufficient to cover the 
phosphorus, be quickly added, an immediate action ensues; the 
tube becomes hot ; fumes of iodine are disengaged ; and a deep 
violet-brown liquid is formed, without the evolution of light , even 
when the experiment is made in a darkened room. But if the 
proportion of the phosphorus to the iodine be large, and the lat- 
ter insufficient to cover the former, the action is accompanied by 
a momentary flash, which I attribute to the combustion of the 
uncovered portion of the phosphorus in the scanty portion of 
atmospheric air in the tube. By varying the proportions of the 
two substances, I can produce the union with or without the 
extrication of light at pleasure.” — Letter from Dr Traill to Pro- 
fessor Jameson , 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 
16. Races of Men . — “ The physiognomy of the Chinese colon- 
ists was particularly interesting to us, and was, in the sequel, still 
more so, because, we thought, we could perceive in them the 
fundamental lines which are remarked in the Indians. The 
figure of the Chinese is, indeed, rather more slender, the fore- 
head broader, the lips thinner, and more alike, and the features, 
in general, more delicate and mild than those of the American, 
who lives in the woods ; yet the small, not oblong, but roundish, 
