times. The manufacture of flint implements appeared to have been an important industry, extending all over Belgium. The sites of Neolithic occupation are situated near streams, on the tops of hills, and promontories of high ground. Villages have been found consisting of symmetrically grouped huts excavated in the soil. They contain no trace of metals, only tools of polished flint and fragments of baked pottery made on the wheel, and with linear ornamentation. Recent researches have shown the existence of Dolmen monuments, which was till lately denied. The existence of a real Bronze Age in Belgium has also been disputed, but finds of bronze articles in tumuli associated with incineration and burials are becoming more numerous. The beginning of the Iron Age is undoubtedly represented in Belgium in various burial-grounds and tumuli, which have recently yielded new and fruitful researches. 8. Observations on the Antiquity of Man in Belgium. 9. Exploration of British Camps and a Long Barrow near Rushmore. By General PITT-RIVERS, F.R.S. 10. On a New Craniometer. By General PITT-RIVERS, F.R.S. 11. On the Long Barrow Skeletons from Rushmore. 12. Report of the Committee on the Glastonbury Exploration. 13. On Ancient Bone Skates. By ROBERT MUNRO, M.D. The author commenced by observing that the contradictory opinions enunciated by archæologists in regard to the period when bone skates were used justified this attempt to define their position in early European civilisation with greater precision than had hitherto been done. Bone skates had been found in large numbers in the Terp-mounds of Holland, and among the débris of the ancient town of Birka, on the island of Björkö, in Lake Mälar. Sporadic examples were to be seen in various museums throughout Northern Europe, said to have been found in grave-mounds, lake-dwellings, canal-diggings, &c. The late Dr. Lindenschmit promulgated the opinion that these objects belonged to the Stone Age, and this opinion had been subsequently adopted by various archæ ologists. In this paper Dr. Munro has collected and criticised the details of all the hitherto-recorded discoveries, and comes to the conclusion that there is no trustworthy evidence in support of the theory that bone skates were ever used in prehistoric times in Europe. According to the author, they would appear to have been invented by the early Teutonic races who inhabited the shores of the Baltic, and to have been introduced into Britain by the early immigrants, who hailed probably from among the superfluous inhabitants of the Terpen. This opinion is supported by their geographical distribution, which embraced Holland, Denmark, the lower portions of Scandinavia, North Germany, and a small district in England extending along its eastern shore, including York, Lincoln, and London.1 14. On the People of Western Ireland and their Mode of Life. 1. On three Neolithic Settlements in North Kent. By Mrs. STOPES. Mrs. Stopes treated the topographical relations of the localities in which she has found the traces of Neolithic settlements in the neighbourhood of Swanscombe. They all face east. Is there any possible meaning in this? The shapes of the tools and flakes are very similar, though there must have been long intervals at least between two of them, as one tribe used the pebbles of the Woolwich and Reading beds, the other fresh chalk flints of a fine quality. Mrs. Stopes also noted the information to be gained regarding the chief settlement from the places in which the different types of worked flints are found. The flakes and chips show where the flint-workers worked; the warlike weapons mark the line of defence, &c. 2. On the Native Tribes between the Zambezi and Uganda. After explaining the origin of the name of Mashona-an English corruption of the nickname of Amashuina (baboons) given by the Matabele to the Makalanga— Mr. Decle gave a sketch of the various tribes found between the Zambezi and Uganda, and criticised the classification of the native races according to their language. He explained how, for instance, some tribes classified as Bantu differed physically from others included under the same name. An account was given of the customs prevailing amongst the people between the Zambezi and Uganda. Mr. Decle showed a living specimen from the country he had visited-a young boy, whom he had brought back with him-and gave his history. The boy, who came from the west shore of Tanganyika, had been sold by his own brother to a coast man for two yards of calico. On the way to the coast he got sore-footed, and was sold to a Wahha chief for three goats. When Mr. Decle was in the Wahha country he was attacked every night, and at last, in order to put a stop to it, he one day caught a chief and threatened to hang him if his goods were not returned. After much talking Mr. Decle agreed to take as a ransom the child and ten goats. The boy, although he refused to return to the Wahha or to his own people, was for a long time afraid that Mr. Decle would eat him up. 3. On the Lex Barbarorum of the Daghestan. By Professor MAXIME KOVALEVSKY. The author insisted on the necessity of more trustworthy information as to old customs and usages being obtained by travellers, and expressed a hope that English ethnographers in India would search for old collections of sentences pronounced by judges As an instance, he mentioned the existence of such a treatise in the Daghestan. It is preserved in Derbent, on the shores of the Caspian, and is known 1 This paper will appear in extenso in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1893-94. 1894. 3 E by the name of the Roustem Code. Olearius, a well-known traveller at the beginning of the seventeenth century, mentions his visit to Roustem, who was a kind of elected judge or arbitrator, called an 'outzmi.' His subjects were Tartars of the Kaitag, who had no writing of their own. The treatise is written in Arabic. It contains many very old customs and usages, and admits the vengeance of blood, which extends from the first to the last relatives inward to all the members of the tribe, called 'Touchoum.' Compositions are paid in rough linen called mabzaldick. Whoever wished to escape the obligations of mutual responsibility was obliged to declare solemnly that all ties were broken between him and the members of his tribe, and a nail was placed in the wall of the mosque in commemoration of it. The treatise of Roustem inflicts a high amercement on those who use it without the permission of the 'outzmi.' Who keeps his mouth will not lose his head,' is the common saying placed at the top of each sentence. It shows that the mediators in Daghestan, just like the Brehons of Ireland, kept their knowledge for themselves and their pupils. 4. On the Natives of the Hadramout. By J. Theodore Bent. After referring to the ancient inhabitants and the archæclogy of this district, the country from which the ancient world obtained its frankincense and myrrh, Mr. Bent went on to describe the present inhabitants of the country and the extreme difficulties in the way of pursuing anthropological research in it. He divided the inhabitants as follows, into four divisions, and gave an account of each. Firstly, the Bedouins, an obviously aboriginal race, with a religion of their own and mysticism at variance with the orthodox religion of the land. He considered them to be more like the Gallas in physique; and when proper measurements can be taken, in all probability an affinity will be established between these two races on either side of the Indian Ocean. Secondly, the Arabs proper, who came from Yemen and conquered the country three centuries ago. He gave a description of their women and their customs and fanaticism, of the men who go to India in search of a livelihood, and of the Sultans of the Al Kaiti family. Thirdly, the Sayyids, a sort of hierarchical nobility who fan the fanatical tendencies of the race and rule everything, both in religion and law; and to them is due the fact that the Hadramout has continued so long to be shut off from exploration and the rest of the world. Fourthly, the slave element, which in this country is considerable. Mr. Bent described them as living a very happy life and subject to very few social disabilities. 5. On the Shells used in the Domestic Economy of the Indonesians. By Dr. J. D. C. SCHMELTZ, of Leiden. The author submitted a systematic list of no fewer than 154 shells used by the aborigines of Indonesia and Oceana in their domestic economy, and a table showing the geographical distribution of their use for different purposes. The author gave an account of the different modes of using shells. Some are much preferred to others, for a great variety of purposes. Shells are also used in connection with religious ceremonies. He concluded with some observations on the manner of making implements, ornaments, &c., from shells. 6. On the Pantheon of the Fijians. By BASIL H. THOMSON. The author described the Fijian Olympus, the mountain of Nakauvadra. The tutelar deities of Fijians are the spirits of their dead ancestors. The growth of this idea may be traced in the development of the complete tribe from a single family, and the process may be tested by an examination of the bond of tauru. Tribes that are tauru (i.e., sprung from the same root) worship the same gods. The author described the legends of the arrival of the Fijians from the westward and the peopling of Nakauvadra; the story of Turukawa and the scattering of the tribes. These fragments of mythology are of historical value. 6 The recent discovery of the path of the spirits,' the legends that cling to it, showing the influence of physical geography on the mythology of the Fijian bogies and apparitions, were briefly described. The author described the Nanga cults, the earliest example of missionary enterprise in the Pacific; the arcana of the Nanga and their meaning. In conclusion he referred to the recent recrudescence of heathen practices and its political danger. 7. The Distribution of the Picts in Britain, as indicated by Place-Names. By J. GRAY, B.Sc. The Picti of North Britain, and the Pictones or Pictavi of South Gaul, are both mentioned by Roman writers. The evidence of place-names shows that probably the whole intervening country was at an earlier date occupied by the same race. Two roots are employed to determine the relative densities of the Picts in Britain-viz. Pict and its variants, and Al. The language of the Picts was Basque. The name Pict is derived from a Basque word, pikatu, to cut. Aquitania is probably a Goidelized form of Paquitania, or Pakitani, and meant in the Pictish language, the country of the Picts. Pakat is deduced as the earliest form of the name Pict. The different phonetic changes which pakat can undergo are indicated, and some of these are verified by historical evidence. Place-names in the British Isles involving all forms of the root Pakat have been classified under counties and their densities calculated. Goidelic forms where the initial p is dropped have been calculated as percentages of the total. Some of the conclusions arrived at are that the density of the Picts was greatest in the south and midlands of England and in the east of Scotland, and least on the east coast of England, and in Wales. In Ireland the density was only about one-third that in England. The Goidels, who followed the Picts, spread along the valleys of the Thames and Severn to the Mersey, where a part probably crossed to Meath and spread in two streams to the west coast of Ireland; the other part moved northward through Lancashire, Yorkshire, Northumberland, and advanced into Scotland almost to the Forth. A second incursion entered Scotland by Argyll and spread along the west counties to the extreme north. The pre-Pictish inhabitants were probably Iberians, and prevailed mostly in Ireland, South Wales, Cumberland, and South Scotland. The oldest name of Britain, Albion, is derived from Al, the name of an Eastern god worshipped by the Picts, and Bath, a decayed form of the name Pict. 8. On the Ceremonies observed by the Kandyans in Paddy Cultivation. By B. P. KEHlpAnnala. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15. The following Papers and Report were read :— 1. On the Brain of a Young Fuegian. By Professor L. MANOUVRIER. Professor Manouvrier described the brain of a Fuegian child, and compared several of its characters with those of the ordinary European brain. He pointed out that it is interesting anatomically, physiologically, and psychologically to find that the external morphology of the Fuegian brain is nearly equal in its development to that of the European, though some traces of inferiority exist in the former-as, for example, in the third frontal convolution, or the convolution of Broca. The author insisted on the physiological signification of the morphological development of the brain. He believes that the approximate equality of the Fuegian brain to the average European brain does not raise doubts as to the physiological value of cerebral morphology, but rather on the accuracy of the opinion usually held as to the intellectual inferiority of savage people. This inferiority, as that of the ancient Gauls in comparison to the Romans, may result much more from obvious defects in the external conditions which produce civilisation than from true physiological inferiority conjoined with anatomical inferiority. What makes the physiological value of the morphological development of the brain an unknown quantity is that other anatomical, physiological, or external conditions form with it very variable combinations in which the influence of each factor may be masked or counterbalanced by that of others. 2. On the Valuation of Proportional Dimensions in the Description of the Brain. By Professor L. Manouvrier. 3. On the Classificatory System of Relationship. By Rev. LORIMER FISON. In this paper the author showed the arrangement of the classificatory system of relationship, and the key to it, by an examination of the descendants of two brothers and their two sisters to the third generation. The Fijian terms of relationship were taken as an example of the system. These divide the sexes in any one generation into groups of non-marriageable persons and other groups of marriageable persons. The same relatives and their descendants were traced in an Australian tribe, and it was shown that precisely the same groups appear as the result of the division of a community into two exogamous intermarrying divisions, such as are found in Australia. The inference deduced by the author was that wherever the classificatory terms appear those divisions of the community exist, or have existed in the past. 4. On some of the Natives of British New Guinea. The materials for this paper were obtained during a visit to British New Guinea in 1891, the incidents of which had been detailed by the author's sister in the Geographical Section. The author acknowledged his indebtedness to Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers for corrections and additional information. The observations extended over the group of villages at Port Moresby, those in the Elema district about Motu-motu; the dangerous inhabitants of Movi-avi; and, again, further east, the people of Kerepuna and Hula. The natives of Port Moresby consist of two very distinct tribes-the Motuans and the Koitapuans-located in three villages, the principal of which, Hanuabada (the Big Village), is built on the foreshore of the bay. Of the other two, one is on the mainland and the other on the beautiful island of Elevala. The juxtaposition of these two tribes is an instance of that curious intertribal commensalism or economic co-operation often found in New Guinea. The Motuans (who must not be confused with the inhabitants of Motu-motu, a very different people) live chiefly by fishing and the manufacture of pottery, while the Koitapuans live mainly by hunting. Much traffic goes on between these two tribes, who supplement each other's requirements, so that commerce here, as in civilised communities, makes chiefly for peace. The Motu pottery is also made for purposes of trading with the Motu-motuans and other western tribes, with whom the Motuans exchange it for sago. The people of the Elema country and the fertile land of sago about Motu-mota differ in many respects from the Motuans. They seem to be a wilder, more high |