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REDDIE ON ANTHROPOLOGICAL DESIDERATA.

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mation of the remarks of Mr. Blake, about the recurrence of speculative opinions in cycles at different times, he mentioned that he had lately seen a pamphlet in which the occurrence of flint implements on the earth was attributed to the agency of fallen angels, and the same opinion he had seen expressed in an old geological work.

The PRESIDENT thought the meeting were much indebted to Mr. Reddie for having elicited the interesting discussion that had taken place, and for endeavouring to show the desiderata which anthropology now requires. He did not wish to say much on that occasion respecting the origin of man, and though he did not agree with Mr. Reddie in his conclusions, he thought anthropologists should feel obliged to him for putting the drag to the coach, which he might think was going too fast down the hill. Mr. Reddie considered that some anthropologists were too hasty in their generalisations; but it appeared that he himself was liable to the same imputation, when he asserted that no rational man could come to any other conclusion than that man's origin must have been miraculous. Mr. Reddie said that, according to the transmutation theory, the ape was assigned to man for an ancestor, mediately through the Negro, and that such a supposition was not to be tolerated as a working hypothesis; but it might be asked, is the supposition of special creation and miraculous creation a good working hypothesis? It should be borne in mind that the historical period is comparatively very short indeed, and it would be a wonder if in that space of time anything should be discovered to confirm the theory of transmutation. It was an important question bearing on the subject, whether it is possible to civilise savage races; for if that were impossible it would throw a doubt on the possibility of transmutation. This was the most forcible argument Mr. Reddie had adduced. The historical period was, however, too short to enable anthropologists to draw any definite conclusions as to what might be done in the course of a much longer series of generations by the selection of species, and by other causes. With regard to the resemblance of the European female brain to that of the Negro, all observers agreed that there was a resemblance, and that the brain of the female Negro, so far as the mere capacity went, resembled more nearly that of the ape-the cerebral capacity of the female being the smaller in all cases. Such were the facts; let the conclusions drawn from them be what they might. With respect to the woolly hair of the Negro, it was not said that that indicated inferiority of race, it was merely noticed as a distinction. Mr. Reddie asserted that no rational man could come to any other conclusion than that man's origin was miraculous; but it did not appear to him (the President) that any rational man would arrive at that conclusion. There was, in point of fact, nothing irrational in the theory of transmutation. There was a grand idea in it. It conceived the gradual working out of a grand design or the operation of a few fixed laws, and it ought to inspire us with grander feelings with regard to the phenomena of animated nature than would the idea of continual supernatural interference with physical laws. There was no necessity for the assumption of miraculous interposition, which supposition he conceived to be most unscientific and irrational.

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JOURNAL OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Mr. REDDIE, in reply, said he had heard nothing to shake the conclusions at which he had arrived in the paper he had read. He hoped the arguments that had been brought forward against it would be printed, and that they would stand side by side with his own. The paper was intended to be suggestive. He meant only to dispute Mr. Darwin's theory so far as the mere origin of species is concerned; but even Mr. Darwin himself had not professed quite to have proved so much, and still less the theory of transmutation. Professor Huxley's mode of supporting it he considered not to be scientific, because he admits it to be contrary to certain inductive facts in physiology, which he at least recognised, though Mr. Pusey now disputed them, and Mr. Wallace seemed to regard them as questionable. M. Wallace's theory as to the development of canine teeth in the gorilla is also something perfectly new in physiology, and very curious, whether applicable or not to the teeth of all other animals. With regard to Mr. Bendyshe's remarks on the miraculous theory, that gentleman did not seem to consider that the question of the origin of man must differ essentially from that of the continuance of the species. Even Mr. Darwin is obliged to begin with a "miraculous" breathing of life by the Creator "into a few forms, or into one"; and, if only "into one", which is what the transmutation theory aims to establish, then it is clear Mr. Darwin has really entertained the biological solecism which Mr. Carter Blake has considerately repudiated on his behalf. Mr. Bendyshe's suggestion of more apes than one, to reconcile transmutation with the polygenous theory, is at any rate something new; but if these apes are all to be found in the "equatorial regions", to which alone Sir Charles Lyell refers us for a search, we are still relegated to the "unimprovable" Negro races for the first ancestor of civilised man! If it could be established that the low type savages could thus raise themselves, one difficulty in this theory would be got rid of that would be all. But, if this cannot be established, the theory is incredible, as being impossible. As regarded the absence of paleontological facts to support the transmutation theory, Mr. Roberts had fully answered what had been said by Mr. Wallace; and it is Sir Charles Lyell and Mr. Darwin who have so far discredited the known geological record as to assert that the things which have been discovered were as nothing compared with the things which had yet to be ascertained. It was not, however, for him to disprove the Darwinian theory, but it was for the advocates of that theory to prove it, and to face the consequences to be drawn from it. It was at best, he contended, founded on negative evidence, and was contrary to reasoning by induction. It not only wanted testimony of a positive kind to support it, but it was opposed by the positive facts of hybridity. It was impossible to cross animals that were of well-marked distinct species, as well as those of altogether a different genus. He did not deny that varieties may be obtained by selection, but he objected to the jump from one species or genus to another. Different kinds of sheep may be produced by selection, but did a sheep ever become a wolf? He offered the suggestion as regards the flint implements having probably been used to be thrown from slings, because

of the large quantities of them generally found together, and because the ordinary, and what might be called the stereotyped, explanation of this circumstance was so lame. It was usually said that these quantities were probably found where there had been "flint manufactories"; forgetting that the idea of a manufactory implies a knowledge of the division of labour in a community, and is almost absurd as applied to the uncivilised and savage races of mankind. With respect to the inhabitants of Cashmere, it may be observed that they are Mohammedans; so that they and the Sikhs have this in common, that they are both rigid Theists, and adverse to all idolatry.* In conclusion, he observed that nothing had been urged in the course of the discussion that was materially against the arguments he had advanced, or which seemed to require further reply. The meeting then adjourned.

ORDINARY MEETING.-FEB. 16, 1864.

SIR CHARLES NICHOLSON, BART., V.P., IN THE CHAIR.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

The secretary read a list of the presents received by the Society since the last meeting, and thanks were voted for the same to George Witt, Esq., and to M. Morlot.

:

The names of the following new members were announced :Arthur W. à Beckett, Esq.; Rev. P. A. Newnham; Franklin Richards, Esq.; Alexander Michie, Esq.

The following paper was then read :

On some Pre-historic Dwellings in Ross-shire. Extracted from Letters received by Mr. GEORGE E. ROBERTS from the Rev. J. M. JOASS, M.A. With an Introduction by GEORGE E. ROBerts,

F.A.S.L.

THE existence of many curious stone-encircled dwelling-spots of prehistoric age in Ross-shire has long been known, but I do not think any archæologist has taken them definitely in hand, and certainly not anthropologist has endeavoured to connect them with a particular ancient people. In form these "lodges," as we may almost call them, are flat spaces chosen out of the moorland, generally along a line of terrace, or upon a rising elevation, and marked out as a habitation by being girt about with a single line of whatever large stones, or rock-fragments, the neighbourhood furnished. Generally, their

* In Mr. Winwood Reade's interesting work on Savage Africa, it will also be found, that even some of the Negro tribes are now being visibly improved through the same influence of Mohammedanism. This, Mr. Reade attributes mainly to the pure Theism of that religion, its severity against all idol-worship, and the discipline of its fasts and other rigid rules; as well as partly to its social influences-the Negroes being made converts, and then treated more as servants and "brethren" than mere slaves. We ought to learn some important lessons from these facts on both sides of the Atlantic. J. R.

diameter is about six to eight yards. In the centre was planted the hearthstone, a slab chosen for its qualities of smoothness and flatness. Around and about this, bones of the animals eaten are to be found, beaten and trampled into the ground, and mixed with some few shells, and with fragments of charred wood. The appearance of this compost being much the same as that of the great slabs of stalagmite now being exhibited in London, which formed the floor of the bonecave of Leo Eyzies in the Pyrenees, except that no stalagmite is present. To several of these I paid a somewhat rapid visit last summer, while staying at Tain; the most typical being two situated upon a rather high moorland about two miles west of Edderton. My stay was, however, too short to permit any explorations to be made within the limits of these stone-circled residences, or to ascertain whether the hypothesis that they were tenanted only during the summer months by the ancient hunters and fishers on the Dornoch seaboard, could be borne out by the discovery of a subterranean room of this primitive house. Since I left Scotland, these investigations have been carried out by my friend, Mr. Joass, with what success, his letters show. I may remark, in introducing the subject, that although not so strictly anthropological as papers read at this Society usually are, still it appears to me that the study of man, in an historical aspect, one of the stated objects of this Society, demands the largest and fullest amount of archæological aid which a pre-historic antiquity can give.

The following are the extracts from the letters I have received from Mr. Joass. The dwelling-spots described are illustrated by his own excellent pencil. After alluding to an immense mussel-midden near the Caithness marsh, which, however, presents no new features, he writes:" Our principal explorations, however, were in a glen running from Helmsdale, about four miles up which the sketch was made, marked No. 1 on accompanying sheet. The first antiquity observed was a circle ▲, 48 feet in diameter, and formed of rude boulders and smaller stones, now nearly grass-covered, with an opening to the south-east. Here we made no diggings, as we wished to press on to the examination of another circle and subterranean passage, described by our friend, of which more hereafter. From A were visible B and C, which I had previously explored, and a heap of stones, well up on the hill to the right at D, which I had not seen before, but which, even at that distance, looked tempting. B (represented to scale in fig. 2) is a long cairn, 142 feet long, and 10 feet high. It consists of small river-rolled stones, and has at its higher end a small opening, through which I entered on a former occasion, and penetrated to a distance of 12 feet along a passage 3 feet high and 2 wide, formed by rude upright stones, roofed by similar slabs. The passage from the narrow opening at a was somewhat downwards, as attempted to be shown in section. At b the roof had fallen in, and prevented further progress. I found near c,

between two of the upright stones and a roof slab, the top of a human skull, uncommonly thick, and a periwinkle; c, fig. 1, is represented in fig. 3 and in section 4. It looks like a kiln; but

there are several similar structures within a few hundred yards of it, nor could I find a scrap of limestone near (it is a granite district), nor ironstone either, although on the river bank, about half a mile off, there is a great quantity of iron slag. From this point we pushed onwards and upwards to D, fig. 1, and found it to be a ruined (Pictish?) tower, as sketched, 5. It is situated on the shoulder of a hill, commanding a most extensive view towards the north, south, and west, and is surrounded by fallen stones, enough to have raised it to a height of 30 or 40 feet. The accompanying plan and sections will help to understand it. At E (fig. 6) there was exposed what seemed part of a passage in the wall, but which was blocked up by débris in both directions. At F there was an entrance, roofed by three large slabs, not in contact; the doorway was about 3 feet wide, the roof (of the doorway) being about 10 feet above the level of the interior at the centre of the tower. The true height of the entrance could not be measured on account of the débris. From A to E, and from F to B (fig. 6), the ground was comparatively level, as shown in section (fig. 7). The fallen stones extended from the top of the wall to the bottom of the moat on the north-east and south-west at c and The scale of feet given will indicate the dimensions.

D.

"About a quarter of a mile off, on a small shelf or terrace marked A (fig. 5), there is a circle, similar to a (fig. 1). In its inner circumference at A (fig. 8) there is a small opening, creeping backwards into which with some difficulty, and lighting a candle, we found ourselves in the subterranean passage referred to at the beginning of this note. From its entrance at A (fig. 8), it follows the line of the circle to B, at which point the roof is probably 6 feet below the surface, on which, by the way, there lay no rubbish or stones to indicate that the circle had once been the base of a higher structure. 30 feet from the entrance, and 3 feet from the end of this passage, there is a trap or square opening in the roof, closed from above by irregular stones (fig. 9). The dimensions of the chamber or passage are here, and till within a few feet of the entrance, width, 3 feet, height, 5 feet. What in the world was it made for? Was it the sleeping apartment or the winter residence of those who occupied upper circle in summer, as other similar circles are said to have been used by the pre-historic people? One solitary shell, a periwinkle, was all we found, after peering into every cranny; we intended letting in the unwonted light of day by clearing the trap, but time failed us."

the

Sir CHARLES NICHOLSON said that over the whole of the northern parts of Scotland erections similar to those described in the paper have been occasionally found, consisting of either a circle of stones, or sometimes covered with a slab. Whether they were originally intended for houses, or forts, or for sepulchral purposes, appeared doubtful. When in the Orkney Islands last autumn, he saw a wellknown erection of this description, the Maes-howe, in which there were numerous Runic inscriptions, and that building there was no doubt a place of sepulchre. The erection marked в in the diagram appeared to be of the same character. In the one that was

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