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proving the continued fertility, say of the progeny of black women and white men, for it might still be a question, whether the result would be the same if they were to reverse the cross, and see whether we should equally have a progeny from black men and white women; which, according to M. Broca, is impossible.

The PRESIDENT observed that the question was so difficult that it was impossible, in the present state of knowledge, to come to a definite conclusion. The great advantage of the paper was, that it might elucidate further information; and he hoped it might be the means of bringing many more new facts to light. He believed that the evidence yet received on the subject was in favour of the propositions of M. Broca; there were, however, very few facts and data to rest upon. With respect to the Australians, it was stated by Mr. Stanbridge, that it was very difficult to rear the half-castes, and he related no tales about killing them. There was very little stability in their constitutions; they died off early, and the girls were always prostitutes. It was the same with mixed races in other parts of the world. In Virginia, the mulattoes suffered much more from the climate than the pure negroes; there was no doubt whatever about that fact. As to the question which had been raised of the existence of mixed races in France, he considered it showed such an utter confusion in the use of the words species and races, that nothing could be said about it. When talking of people so different as the Europeans and Australians, they might be properly called different species, without attaching to the term the signification that they had a different origin; but it was a complete confusion of terms to apply the word species to the different people of Europe. For his own part, he held most firmly the opinion that the difference in species among the races of men observable at the present day had nothing to do with the unity of the origin of man. The question of human hybridity was a very complicated one, and he did not hope to see it settled; but he felt sure that the meeting must agree with him that they were much indebted to the author of the paper for the light he had thrown on it, and it was satisfactory to see a clergyman of the Church of England contribute to the Society two such liberal and instructive papers as had been read that evening.

The PRESIDENT then stated that the paper which had been announced to be read by Mr. Blake must be postponed, on account of the absence of that gentleman from illness; and he called on Mr. Fraser to read a communication received from Africa relating to the capacity of the negroes for civilisation.

Mr. LOUIS FRASER then read a letter he had received from Mr. Anthony from the Bight of Benin, in which he expressed his full approval of the paper read before the Society by Dr. Hunt "On the Negro's Place in Nature;" and adduced great number of facts in confirmation of the opinion that the negro is incapacitated by nature for European civilisation. He spoke,-partly from his own observation, and partly from hearsay evidence,-of the cannibalism of the negroes, of their brutality and mental incapacity, and of their posses

sion of all the vices with none of the virtues of humanity. The writer expressed his sentiments against the negro very strongly.

Mr. JAMES REDDIE objected to the terms in which the negroes were spoken of in the letter. The most important and startling things said in it relate to cannibalism; but it is worthless, since the writer himself says all this is mere hearsay, of course"! He thought they had had a great deal of trustworthy evidence collected about the negro, and he feared it might be supposed that they were getting up a case against him, if they appeared ready to circulate more loose statements and hearsay gossip on the subject. The letter, he considered, should be revised and corrected before it appeared in the proceedings of the Society, if it were printed at all. He was sorry to add that, valuable as some of the information it contained might be, even that was not fitted to appear in print in the precise terms in which it was written.

The PRESIDENT observed that it was no doubt very advisable to keep strictly to scientific matters in the papers contributed to the Society; nevertheless all authors must be allowed to express their opinions, and they were liable to have those opinions openly criticised in discussion. If the statements given in the letter were true, there could be no objection to their being stated; but if not true, they might be refuted. With respect to the assertion about the cannibalism of the negroes, all the evidence was not hearsay evidence, for there was the fact that the writer had seen one of the chiefs eating human flesh. That gentleman had been in Africa many years, and he wrote the results of his observations to his friend Mr. Fraser, who had been the naturalist of the Niger expedition. He (the President) could not consent to have contributions from foreign correspondents doctored, like wines, to suit the English taste and the English market. It was open to the Council to publish the letter or not as they thought proper; but he was decidedly of opinion that if published at all, they ought to publish every word as it reached them.

Dr. TURLE said he had understood that the papers read at the meetings of the Society were previously revised by the Council. He understood Mr. Reddie to mean that the paper was not intended by the writer to be read before the Society as it was written, and that it was merely a private gossiping letter to his friend. Papers of that kind ought to be considered by the Council before they were read.

Mr. REDDIE observed that his suggestion was to this effect: as the letter was evidently written off-hand, that the question should be considered by the Council, whether it was a paper that should be printed by the Society. He should be the last person to wish to alter what a writer deliberately wished to say. And, even now, if Mr. Fraser will accept the responsibility of the paper, and will revise it, then whatever he might wish to print, he (Mr. Reddie) would also say, print.

The meeting then adjourned to the 19th instant.

TUESDAY, APRIL 19TH, 1864.

DR. JAMES HUNT, PRESIDENT, IN THE CHAIR.

THE minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

The number of Fellows elected since the last meeting was then read as follows::

J. R. Brown, Esq.; Rev. W. H. Kemm; C. E. Mackintosh, Esq.; W. Jennings, Esq.; A. Robertson, Esq.; J. Mosheimer, Esq.; W. Gooch, Esq.; A. Hawkins, Esq.; W. Hardman, Esq.; J. Rae, Esq.; W. S. Jeffery, Esq.; E. F. Firby, Esq.; A. H. Hunt, Esq.; Major-General Le Grand Jacob; Rev. Dunbar J. Heath; A. Barton, Esq.; H. J. Adams, Esq.; Dadabhai Naoroji; E. J. Routh, Esq.; Prof. F. Hudson; Major W. E. Hay; K. R. H. Mackenzie, Esq.; J. Hillier, Esq.; H. Hudson, Esq.; H. F. Hall, Esq.; R. Haughton, Esq.; T. Harlin, Esq.; S. Messenger, Esq.; W. R. H. Kinlay, Esq.; W. Ewart, Esq.

The PRESIDENT observed that the foregoing list of thirty Fellows elected since the last meeting was the largest number elected within any similar period since the formation of the Society, and he hoped it was an earnest of more to come.

The following papers were then read:

On Skulls from Annabom, in the West African Seas. By CAPT. R. F. BURTON, Her Majesty's Consul at Fernando Po, VicePresident of the Anthropological Society of London, and C. CARTER BLAKE, F.G.S., Hon. Sec. A.S.L.

"Fernando Po, Oct. 23, 1863. "Dear Sir, I have the honour to send by this mail two calvaria-a faith offering to the Anthropological Society. They are from Annabom, the island in the West African Seas colonised by Portugal in 1471-1500. The whites afterwards mixed with the slaves of a shipwrecked English craft, hence the present Mulattoes. They are doubtless at times recruited by a few pure Africans, yet they preserve the "Métis" appearance, manner, and inclinations. They are Christians, and the dead are buried under the stamped earth of the largest church-a barn of plant and thatch. When the rude vaults are full, and room for another corpse is required, the oldest occupant's bones are rooted up, and thrown into the nearest patch of bush; hence the dilapidated appearance of the crania; yet they were the best that could be procured. I am trying hard to secure for you a Bube's head, but it is a difficult matter. With best wishes to the Society and to yourself, believe me,

"Dear sir, yours very truly,

"RICHARD F. BURTON.

"The Secretary of the Anthropological Society."

The two skulls have been received, and are certainly very interesting.

No. 1. The larger one, which I take to have been a male, exhibits all the more striking negro characters in its physiognomy. The narrow forehead, dolichocephalic skull, square orbits, and especially the markedly prognathic maxilla, are as well developed as in any ordinary negro from the Gold Coast. The spread of the temporal muscle, and the prominence of the supraoccipital bone, likewise accord with the conventional definitions assigned to the negro skull. The friable condition of the bones has precluded my bisecting the skull vertically, so as to arrive at a precise estimation of the angle of the foramen magnum. The sutures are obliterated to a great extent; and sufficient of the nasal bone remains to show it was flattened. The teeth in place are solid, and in good condition; the right upper canine has been conical in form, and its posterior surface, as well as part of that of the left premolar, has been worn away by the abrasion of the tooth immediately behind it in the series. The peculiar character which differentiates this skull from those of the majority of negroes with which I am acquainted, is the great breadth of the palate, which is deeply excavated, and to which the oblique implantation of the incisors gives a very remarkable appearance.

No. 2. The smaller size and less development of the muscular processes, may lead us to infer that this specimen belonged to a female, but to an individual of greater age, as indicated by the condition of the sutures. All the characters observable in the large skull accord with those in this specimen, with the exception of the nasal bones, which are here more elevated.

From an examination of the above skulls, according to my interpretation, there is no character which would lead us to consider that they belonged to any other race than the negro, viewed under his most favourable conditions, so far as regards food and freedom from disease. I can detect nothing approaching the "European" type; nothing superior to that of many well-fed negroes which I have seen from Ashanti. C. CARTER BLAKE.

The thanks of the meeting having been voted to the authors of the paper,

The PRESIDENT said that though the communication from Captain Burton was short, it was interesting; and the two skulls that accompanied it would form a valuable addition to the Society's museum. There could be no doubt they were very interesting specimens; and he hoped they should be favoured with more of the same kind, so as to be better enabled to appreciate their character.

Dr. THURNAM read a paper on "The Two Principal Forms of Crania amongst the Early Britons," which will appear in the Memoirs of the Society.

Several skulls, taken from the barrows which Dr. Thurnam had opened, were placed on the table to illustrate the different characters of the skulls mentioned in the paper; and there were also exhibited a number of photographs of the various skulls discovered, intended for illustrations of the forthcoming part of "Crania Britannica."

Dr.

Thurnam further pointed out, in one of the photographs, an instance of deformity supposed to be produced by posthumous pressure.

The PRESIDENT observed that the paper was most interesting and exhaustive; and he had no doubt the meeting would be anxious to return their thanks to the author.

Mr. W. BOLLAERT said that he had seen several similar instances of cranial deformity in Peruvian skulls.

Mr. P. O'CALLAGHAN inquired whether any experiments had been made to ascertain the relative internal capacities of the two kinds of skulls described?

Dr. THURNAM replied that such experiments had been made in every instance, and the internal capacities were fully given in tables in the work before referred to. The material employed for the purpose was dried sand, which, he believed, was better than shot or other materials that have been sometimes used for such measurements. As a general result, he believed it would be found that the long (dolichocephalic) skulls were of larger capacity than the round (brachicephalic) ones.

Mr. CARTER BLAKE observed that the paper was, as the President had observed, so exhaustive of the subject that, in his present state of health, he should merely put a few questions to Dr. Thurnam, with the object of developing a few points, and would reserve all future observations on the general question of British craniology. Dr. Thurnam's remarks had been restricted to skulls within the so-called historic period, and to the remains found with them; but there were other ancient British remains, which were alleged, on grounds which he (Mr. Blake) in many cases did not recognise, to belong to a more ancient period. Great stress had been laid by Professor Daniel Wilson on a skull that had been found at Montrose, which he regarded as a type of the old brachycephalic skulls of the ancient Celts. A similar skull was discovered at Kellet in Lancashire, which had slight supraciliary ridges. It nevertheless belonged to the round type of skulls; but it differed strongly from the skulls described by Dr. Thurnam this evening. He alluded also to such skulls as that from Mewslade, which Professor Busk had described, which was flattened at the vertex, with the occipital region produced and the frontal region depressed. At Muskham in the Trent Valley, in a peat-bed, a skull had been found accompanied with the bones of Bos longifrons, and even with those of Bos primigenius; but all these skulls seemed to be of the same type. The author of the paper had called attention to cases in which different kinds of skulls were found in close proximity. There were several in the British Museum from Etruscan burialplaces, which had been found together, wherein similar differences could be observed; and Dr. Pruner-Bey mentioned having observed like differences between associated skulls in the Abruzzi. In one of the skulls of the old Etrurian bone cave a post-coronal depression was observed, and in those of the river-beds also there was the same peculiarity. The ancient skulls found on the Cheviots certain extent of the brachycephalic character; and Mr.

were to

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