The author stated, on the authority of Professor Virchow, that the bones of the small race are not those of a pathologically degenerated people, but of normal structure. In connection with this find it is important to note that Sergi and Mantia have discovered some living pygmies in Sicily and Sardinia, mostly under 1,506 mm. in height in Sicily. In appearance they look like miniature Europeans. In the author's opinion these small types must be regarded, not as diminutive examples of normal races, but as a distinct species of mankind which occurs in several types dispersed over the globe; and he is led to believe that they have been the precursors of the larger types of man.

2. On some Stone Implements of Australian Type from Tasmania.
By E. B. TYLOR, D.C.L., F.R.S.

The ordinary stone implements used by the Tasmanians were remarkable for their rudeness. They come generally under the definition of substantial flakes, trimmed and edged by chipping on one side only, not ground even at the edge, and grasped in the hand without any kind of handle. The Paleolithic level of these implements, notwithstanding their often recent date, had been pointed out by the writer. In illustration of this comparison, Tasmanian implements were now exhibited side by side with flint implements from the cavern of Le Moustier, in Dordogne. But an important point of exception as to this comparison, mentioned in the paper referred to, demands reconsideration in view of the new evidence now brought forward. In the investigation as to native stone implements conducted about twenty years ago by the Royal Society of Tasmania, some exceptional statements were made as to stone axes or 'tomahawks' being ground to an edge, and fixed in handles, and these were explained as due to the Australian natives who have passed into Tasmania since the European settlement. What was meant by these statements now appears more clearly from three ground implements of distinctly Australian character, well authenticated as brought from Tasmania, and now exhibited by the courtesy of the Municipality of Brighton, to whose museum they belong. The largest has a label showing that it was obtained through Dr. Joseph Milligan, probably from G. A. Robinson, the first protector of the aborigines after the native war; and that it was grasped in the hand for notching trees in climbing. The other two specimens are merely marked 'Tasmanian,' with the initials G. A. R. The coexistence of two such different types as the chipped and ground forms in Tasmania requires, however, further explanation. This may probably be found in the immigration of Australians either after or before the English colonisation, but it would be desirable that anthropologists in Tasmania should make further inquiry into the question on the spot, so as fully to clear up the interesting position of the Tasmanian Stone Age.

3. On Tasmanian Stone Implements. By H. LINg Roth.

4. The Troglodytes of the Bruniquel, a Grotto of Ironworks on the Borders of Aveyron. By Dr. EMILE CARTAILHAC.

The collection of which M. Emile Cartailhac showed photographs has been formed by the Viscomte de Lastio. It is the complement of the beautiful series acquired some time ago by the British Museum.

The engravings upon bone and the sculptures representing animals are very remarkable, and throw a bright light on the art of the Reindeer Age. Amongst the most interesting objects are the straight beams of reindeer horn, sculptured at one extremity in the form of a horse as seen from the front, head lowered against the breast, feet joined. There are several pieces of this kind, almost similar. Lartet found similar specimens, but broken and unrecognisable, in the layers of the 'On the Tasmanians as Representatives of Palæolithic Man' in Journ. Anthrop, Inst., vol. xxiii. 1893, p. 141.

Dordogne. Others have been described in the rock shelters of the Pyrenees and in Switzerland. M. Cartailhac laid stress on the conclusions which can be deduced from the presence of similar pieces in layers so remote. Of all the sculptured objects of the same epoch this is the only one which to any extent had a look of repetition.

M. Emile Cartailhac then entered into an exposition of the facts which led him to consider that neither the reindeer nor the horse was domesticated or bridled during the Reindeer Age.

5. A New Statuette of the Reindeer Age representing a Woman, Sculptured in Ivory. By Dr. EMILE CARTAILHAC.

The rock shelters of Brassempouy, on the waste land north of the little village of Orthes, includes one of the richest layers of the Quaternary epoch. The mammoth and its contemporaneous fauna are largely represented; with flints, recalling to mind in some instances the types of Langerie Haute and of Solutré, lay a certain number of the worked bones and also remarkable pieces of sculpture, some of which have been described in Matérieux' and elsewhere; others are still unpublished.

Amongst the latter is a broken ivory statuette, collected by M. Dubalen, Conservateur of the Museum of Mont de Marsan, a portion of which M. Emile Cartailhac has reconstructed. The loss of the upper part of the bust in this specimen is very unfortunate, since, if one may judge by the rest of the body, it was carved with great regard to truth and exactitude. This human representation is the best made one which is known of the reindeer period. It proves once more the value of the artistic sentiment of these distant ages.

These engravings and prehistoric sculptures have frequently been compared to those of the primitive populations of North America and Asia, but the more these works multiply, the more they affirm the incomparable superiority of the troglodytes, our ancestors.

M. Emile Cartailhac exhibited the original specimen.

6. The End of the Stone Age on the Borders of the Mediterranean Basin. By Dr. EMILE Cartailhac.

The author explained the analogies and identities proved to exist at the two extremities of the Mediterranean-in Egypt, at Troy, in Greece, and at Santorin at the one end, and in Spain at the other end.

The civilisation, which corresponds to the end of the Stone Age, appears to have special characters and a remarkable uniformity. It does not only influence the same objects, but especially the manners and customs, as shown by exhumed monuments, houses, small market towns, fortifications, and tombs.

Between the East and the Iberian Peninsula, transition is shown by the numerous discoveries in Italy, France, Algeria, Tunis, and the Islands. The connections of this primitive civilisation with the Stone Age of the rest of Europe are remarkable, and illustrate best the diversity of their origins.

7. On the Present State of Prehistoric Studies in Belgium.
By Count GOBLET D'ALVIELLA.

The author reviewed briefly the various investigations which have been made in Belgium regarding the early history of man in that country, beginning with the exploration of the caves, which have in recent years, as well as in earlier times, yielded such interesting results as to their occupation as far back as the period of the mammoth and the reindeer, and also in Neolithic times. He then proceeded to give an account of Quaternary finds in the plains, consisting of flint implements in all stages of manufacture, both of Palæolithic and Neolithic

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.
By Professor MAX LOHEST.

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.
By J. G. GARSON, M.D.

12. Report of the Committee on the Glastonbury Exploration.
See Reports, p. 431.

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 archæologists. 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.
By Professor A. C. HADDON.

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.
By LIONEL DECLE.

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

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 archæology 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 tauvu (i.e., sprung from the same root) worship the same gods.