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tion. Mr. Hall's paper especially called forth a most lucid exposition relative to Celtic antiquities from our local secretary at Alnwick, Mr. George Tate, F.G.S.

Amongst the ethnological papers the most valuable one, without exception, was that contributed by Mr. Wallace on the "Ethnology of the Malay Archipelago", in which the questions relating to the antiquity of man were discussed in the most philosophical aspect.

The discussions which took place in section E, and in which Sir Charles Lyell, Prof. Jukes, Dr. Falconer, Mr. Godwin-Austen and Prof. Wilson took part, were often of the most interesting nature. Your reporter cannot conclude this allusion to section E without offering the thanks which anthropologists undoubtedly owe to Sir Roderick Murchison, the president, who, by his suavity in the chair, and efficient control over the feelings of the audience, as well as by the undeviating desire which he so constantly manifested to be strictly impartial, especially merits an expression of the obligation of your delegates.

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The pressure of your reporter's duties in section E precluded him from attending the other sections so much as might have been advisable. In section C most interesting discussions arose respecting the "Antiquity of Man", on papers read by Prof. Phillips and Mr. Godwin-Austen respectively, and on which Sir Charles Lycll and Dr. Falconer offered most valuable observations. In section D, Messrs. Wallace and Tristram read a paper on Geographical Distribution", which contained general conclusions which at no distant date may be successfully applied to anthropology. An exceedingly valuable paper was contributed by Dr. William Turner, on "Cranial Deformities, more especially the Scaphocephalic Skull", in which the author reviewed the labours of Virchow, Welcker, and Von Baer, while original critical observations were offered. A valuable and important paper was read in subsection D, by Dr. Embleton, on the "Anatomy of a Young Chimpanzee". Many other papers were read, which are not alluded to here, although in many cases they were of the highest general interest.

Upon the whole, it may be considered that anthropology has gained considerably in the estimation of scientific men by the proceedings of the last meeting of the British Association. Your reporter, however, out of a desire not to wound the feelings of his fellow Englishmen, refrains from drawing any unfavourable or invidious comparison between the scientific tone which prevailed at the meeting, and that which prevails at similar réunions in France and Germany. He hopes that steps will be taken, by the inculcation of facts necessary to be known, to remove this stain on the scientific reputation of the English nation, whose position in other branches of human knowledge should induce us no longer to be content to allow anthropology to occupy so ignominious a position in the thoughts of educated men. The proposal which stands on the minute-book of the general committee, in the name of Dr. James Hunt, that section E in future shall recognise the existence of anthropological science, is a proposition which in any other country but England would be considered one self-evident, and

of which the ordinary grammatical meaning of words would preclude the possibility of the denial of such an apparent necessary improvement. Opposition will, however, no doubt be offered, coming from a scientific party as ignorant of the meaning of the word "anthropology" as they are blind to the important signification of the science, which the word, empty in itself, represents. But if the Fellows of the Anthropological Society and their friends unite strongly to attain this, the first step in the formal recognition of their science in the annual scientific congress of England, and attend at Bath next year in such numbers on the general committee as to impress on the minds of the authorities the desirability of any necessary change, your reporter has no doubt their efforts will be ultimately crowned with succees.

Your reporter regrets that many important topics are omitted in this brief report, in which he has been actuated by a desire to give the broad results of his observation at Newcastle in such a form as to indicate the objects for which we must all strive, and not to disguise the amount or nature of the labour which English anthropologists must undergo before their science can be usefully or practically advanced. C. CARTER BLAKE.

The thanks of the society were given for this report.

Dr. HUNT said he thought there was cause for anthropologists to feel satisfied at the advance that had been made in the scientific tone of section E. It could not be denied that the delegates of the society had a very difficult duty to perform, and were obliged to listen to many most frivolous objections against the recognition of anthropology by name, although in practice the section was obliged to do so. He was glad to know that the chief opposition which they had received did not come, as many might suppose, from Fellows of the Ethnological Society, but rather from persons who had not the least knowledge of ethnology, and were quite incompetent to judge what was required for the progress of a true science of Man.

Professor JOHN MARSHALL, F.R S., then read a paper on the "Superficial Convolutions of a microcephalic Brain".

[The publication of this paper is postponed.]

Note upon the Opening of a Kist of the Stone-age upon the Coast of Elgin. By GEORGE E. ROBERTS, F.A.S.L.; with a Description of the Skeleton, by Professor BUSK, F.R.S., etc.

SINCE this subject was brought before the notice of the British Association at Newcastle, I have received, through the kindness of my Scotch friends, some notes relating to a prior investigation of the kist, which it will be necessary to mention before proceeding to relate my own observation of it. For it appears most desirable that the fullest record of its discovery and the examination of its contents should be preserved. The Rev. Alexander Leslie writes to me as follows from the Manse of Burghead, in which parish Bennet hill, where the kists are, is situated :

"In the month of July last year (1862) I went with my schoolmaster to the Bennet Hill (likely so called from St. Bennet of Pluscar

dine), to examine the stone kists there, three in number; one, however, had been destroyed by the railway cutting. The remaining two were quite contiguous to each other, and on the same mound. In the one we found nothing but the remains of some bones, but in the other nearly the whole human skeleton. These we removed from the kist, and examined them, then replaced them all (but without any attempt as to their proper or natural position), except the lower jaw, which I took home with me, and which I have now sent to the Rev. Dr. Gordon, of Birnie, for transmission to you. Both kists gave evident tokens of having been previously opened. It is rather strange that there should as yet have been discovered just three kists and three middens, and all these so contiguous to each other as to be only a few yards apart."

The coadjutor of Mr. Leslie in this exploration, Mr. Alexander Jeffrey, of Burghead, thus writes to me respecting his share in the enterprise, and the present (October 24th) condition of the kists:

:

"The stone kists now in existence are two in number, and are situated at the extreme eastern end of the hill. They were accidentally discovered some eight or nine years ago. The stones forming the side of the larger kist are respectively 3 feet 10 inches and 3 feet 5 inches in length. This is the kist from which the human skeleton was recently taken. I am not aware that any bones were found in the neighbouring grave. A third kist was come upon by the workmen employed in the railway cutting about twelvemonths ago. It was about the same size as the other two, and was quite empty. The kjökkenmöddings are also two in number, the largest measuring upwards of 50 feet in circumference. Another lies upon the opposite side of the railway cutting. As far as can now be ascertained, no pristine weapons of bronze or iron were ever picked up at Bennet Hill, although flint arrow-heads of beautiful workmanship were found in abundance. Unfortunately, all efforts made towards the re-discovery of these have hitherto failed."

I have also received several communications bearing upon the kist and the middens from the Rev. Dr. Gordon, who remarks that, although there are only three large kjökkenmöddings on the Bennet Hill, there are several smaller ones, a fact which my own observation also proved.

Mr. Leslie transmitted the lower jaw, as stated in this letter, to Dr. Gordon for me, accompanying it with a note, in which he says:

"It is wonderfully complete, with the exception of two or three of the teeth; but their loss is little to be wondered at, considering the voracious appetite of their owner, as proved by the enormous accumulation of a mussel-midden at his door."

The jaw reached me safely, and I have now the pleasure of laying it before you. Mr. Busk, in whose hands I have placed it, does not detect any conformation differing from that of a jaw belonging to a normal brachycephalic cranium; it is apparently that of an individual of twenty-two or twenty-three years of age, corresponding in this particular with the age assigned by him to the skeleton. It may be remarked, however, that indications of considerable antiquity are

stamped upon it, in the large amount of wear which it has suffered. In commenting upon the valuable communications of the Rev. Mr. Leslie and Mr. Jeffrey, I am inclined to doubt the exactness of the measurements of the slabs which formed the walls of the kist, the estimates formed during my visit to it, severally by the party, four in number, giving measurements which I shall afterwards have occasion to mention. Mr. Lubbock has so exactly described the kjökkenmöddings in a late paper (Natural History Review, July 1863), that I will not engage the time of this meeting with any detailed account of them. I am glad, however, to be able to add somewhat to his notes. The absence of pottery he comments upon as remarkable. Since his visit two small fragments have been obtained by my friend Dr. Taylor, of Elgin, and Dr. Gordon picked up another during the visit paid with me. This I now exhibit. It is very coarsely burnt, and of the rudest manufacture. The flint weapons referred to by Mr. Jeffrey have again been met with. The indefatigable exertions of Dr. Gordon have resulted in the discovery of five, which he has been good enough to send me, picked up in the midden nearest to the kists.

The skeleton left with such singular abstinence by Mr. Leslie was obtained by me while exploring the district in the company of the Rev. Dr. Gordon, his son, and Mr. Harvey Gem. We visited the shell mounds situated upon the sandy dunes of Bennet Hill, a mile from Burghead, and, after examining their contents, we turned our attention to the small cairns of rudely-piled stones, which lie a few yards (inland) from one of the shell-middens, and which evidently mark the burial places of the tribe. Two of these were piled around small inclosed spaces formed by the junction of four upright stones. A fragment of human jaw lying in the sand outside one of these led us to search among its sandy contents for other bones, but unsuccessfully. The second cairn, however, with its central kist, yielded us better evidence. This, like the neighbouring tomb, was a rude erection of four flat sandstone slabs, placed vertically so as to enclose a space 30 inches long by 20 in width. The depth of the stones, which nearly corresponded with that of the grave, was 22 inches. Three of the stones had been slightly smoothed before use.

The cavity thus formed was filled with sand, into which we dug, and presently succeeded in discovering a skeleton, which had apparently been buried in a crouching position, the legs below the knee being bent beneath the hams, and the head bowed towards the knees. The skull was strongly brachycephalic, and presents other peculiarities, which Mr. Busk has described in the valuable note attached to this paper.

From the position of the skeleton, I was at first inclined to consider that no disturbance of it had taken place, but the communications of Mr. Leslie and Mr. Jeffrey are of course conclusive on this point. Unluckily, the box in which the bones were packed suffered a breakage during its transit from Elgin to London, and some of the vertebræ, with other smaller bones, were lost.

The following note upon the skeleton has been contributed by Mr. Busk, F.R.S.:

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"The human bones found by you at Bennet Hill have belonged apparently to a young individual, about 5 feet 8 or 9 inches in height, of slight make, and no great muscular development. At first sight, from the comparative delicacy of form, and want of muscular impressions, one would be inclined to regard them as those of a woman, but if so, she must have been of more than the usual stature. Unfortunately, no part of the pelvis, which would enable a correct judgment as to this point to be formed, is found among the remains. If the owner were a man, he must have been of small size, and, as I have said, not of a strong build, and with a remarkably small head for a The cranium is decidedly brachycephalic, the proportions of length to breadth being as 1.00 to 823, and, for its size, rather unusually high, the proportion of that dimension being to the length as 808 to 1.00. The forehead is narrow, and the superorbital ridges very slightly projecting, although the frontal sinuses are well developed. Compared with other ancient crania, the present may be regarded, I think, as belonging to the same class as those which have been considered as appertaining to the stone period of the north of Europe. Amongst these, I have selected a few whose dimensions approach nearest to the Bennet Hill skull, and these will perhaps suffice to show how far they all approximate to one type. I have also added the length, and least diameter of the long bones; beyond this they call for no particular remarks. As regards the chemical condition of the bones, it seems to me in some degree remarkable that they should have retained so much as 35.5 per cent. of animal matter. The amount of carbonates is about the same as in recent bone, or perhaps rather more, viz., 10000, and the bones appear to contain about the usual amount of fluorine found in recent bone. They are slightly impregnated with iron."

I may mention, in conclusion, that a similar kist was opened by Dr. Davis, of Stafford, many years ago, at Roseile, about a mile to the S.E. of the Bennet Hill, and a human cranium and leg bones obtained, probably referable to the age of this skeleton. No doubt others will, ere long, be met with, for kjökkenmöddings are being discovered in numbers along the N.E. seaboard of Scotland, and it is natural to suppose that the graves of the ancient mussel-eaters should accompany the evidences of their occupation during life.

Least frontal width.

Greatest ditto.
Parietal width.

Zygomatic ditto.
Occipital ditto.
Frontal radius.

Vertical radius.

Maxillary ditto.
Nasal ditto.

Parietal ditto.
Occipital ditto.

Circumference.

Longitudinal arc.
Frontal ditto.

Parietal ditto.

Occipital ditto.

Frontal transvers arc.

Vertical ditto.
Parietal ditto.
Occipital ditto.
Proportion of

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Coue 1 6'85 5:45 5.8 3.8 4.5 4.8 4.5 5.3 4.6 4.8 male2 6 85 555-5 3.7 4.65 53 44 49 45 49

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50 34 40 3·7 194 14·3 50 50 4:3 118 130 13-2 11:4795 859 4838 42 39 20 4 13 9 49 47 4:3 130 12 6 130 104-802 802

breadth to length.

Do. of height to do.

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