Also the following reports: Report on the Methods of determining Magnetic Force at Sea, Report of the Committee on Electrolysis and Electro-chemistry, Report of the Committee on the Heat of Combination of Metals in the Formation of Alloys, Report of the Committee on Radiation from a Source of Light in a Magnetic Field, Report of the Committee on Solar Radiation, Report of the Committee on Seismological Investigations, Report of the Committee on Ben Nevis Observatory, Report of the Committee on Meteorological Photography, and Report of the Committee on Electric Standards, were presented and discussed.

B. Chemistry. The presiding officer of this section was Dr. Horace T. Brown, F. R. S., of South Kensington, England. He said: "The subject which I have chosen for my address is the fixation of carbon by plants, one which is the common meeting ground of chemistry, physics, and biology. We have become so accustomed to the idea that the higher plants derive the whole of their carbon from atmospheric sources that we are apt to forget how very indirect is the nature of much of the experimental evidence on which this belief is founded. There can be no doubt that the primary source of the organic carbon of the soil, and of the plants growing on it, is the atmosphere; but of late years there has been such an accumulation of evidence tending to show that the higher plants are capable of being nourished by the direct application of a great variety of ready-formed organic compounds that we are justified in demanding further proof that the stores of organic substances in the soil must necessarily be oxidized down to the lowest possible point before their carbon is once more in a fit state to be assimilated." Then he "indulged in a little historical retrospect," and described the work of Priestley, Ingen-Housz, De Saussure, Bokorny, Acton, and the recent work of J. Laurent and Mazé. "These facts," he said, "justify what I have already said, that we ought to demand more direct evidence than is at present available before we accept the view that the majority of chlorophyllous plants take in the whole of their carbon from the atmosphere." The greater portion of his address was devoted to a description of the experimental work done by himself in the Jodrell Laboratory, at Kew. Conclusive results have not yet been obtained, and he concluded with: " When we have succeeded in finding some simple chemical means of fixing the initial products of the reduction of carbon dioxide, then, and then only, may we hopefully look forward to reproducing in the laboratory the first stages of the great synthetic process of Nature, on which the continuance of all life depends."

Subsequently the following-named papers were read and discussed: The Solidification of Hydrogen, by James Dewar; Oxidation in Presence of Iron, by H. J. H. Fenton: The Condensation of Glycollic Aldehyde, by H. J. H. Fenton and Henry Jackson; Some New Silicon Compounds obtained from Silicon Tetraphenylamine by Heating with Mustard Oil, by J. Emerson Reynolds; Water and Sewage Examination Results, by Samuel Rideal; The Place of Nitrates in the Biolysis of Sewage, by W. Scott Moncrieff; Excretory Products of Plants, by Prof. Hanriot; On the Nature of Symbiosis, by Marshall Ward; Note sur les Fermentations Symbiotiques Industrielles, by A. Calmette; Symbiotic Fermentation: Its Chemical Aspects, by Henry E. Armstrong; Proposed International Committee on Atomic Weight, by Frank W. Clarke, Washington city,

U. S. A.; The Development of Chemistry in the Last Fifteen Years, by A. Ladenburg; The Influence of Solvents upon the Optical Activity of Organic Compounds and A Method for resolving Racemic Oximes into their optically Active Components, by W. J. Pope; The Chemical Effect on Agricultural Soils of the Salt-water Flood of Nov. 29, 1897, on the East Coast, by Thomas S. Dymond; Phenomena connected with the Drying of Colloids: Mineral and Organic, by John H. Gladstone and Walter Hibbert; Action of Light upon Metallic Silver, by John Spiller; Influence of Acids and of Some Salts on the Saccharification of Starch by Malt Diastase, by A. Fernbach; A Note on the Combined Action of Diastase and Yeast on Starch Granules, by G. Harris Morris; Action of Hydrogen Peroxide on Carbohydrates in the Presence of Iron Salts, by J. M. Crofts and R. S. Morrell; Influence of Substitution on Optical Activity in the Bornylamine Series and New Derivations from Camphor Oxime, by M. O. Foster; Investigations in the Formation of an Intermediate Compound in the Action of Caustic Soda in Benzaldehyde, by Charles A. Kohn and W. Tranton; On Some Experiments to obtain Definite Alloys of Cadmium, Zinc, and Magnesium with Platinum and Palladium, by W. R. Hodgkinson, Capt. Waring, and Capt. Desborough.

Also the following reports: Report of the Committee on the Relation between the Absorption Spectra and the Chemical Constitution of Organic Substances, Report of the Committee on Isomeric Naphthalene Derivations, Report on the Intermittent Bacterial Treatment of Raw Sewage in Coke Beds, and Report of the Committee on the Teaching of Natural Science in Elementary Schools, were presented before the section.

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C. Geology. The presiding officer of this section was Sir Archibald Geikie, director-general of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, a past president of the association. He said: Among the many questions of great theoretical importance which have engaged the attention of geologists none has in late years awakened more interest or aroused livelier controversy than that which deals with time as an element in geological history. In offering a brief history of the discussion there is, I think, a practical outcome which may be made to issue from the controversy in a combination of sympathy and co-operation among geologists all over the world. A lasting service will be rendered to our science if by well-concerted effort we can place geological dynamics and geological chronology on a broader and firmer basis of actual experiment and measurement than has yet been laid." Then, beginning with James Hutton, the founder of modern geology, he discussed his theory on the age of the earth, together with those of Playfair and Lyell. Sir Archibald then took up Lord Kelvin's famous paper of 1862, in which he declared his belief that the age of our planet must be more than twenty million, but less than four hundred million years. Continuing, he discussed the more recent statements by Kelvin, as well as those by Huxley, Tait, and George Darwin. His own conclusions were: "So far as I have been able to form an opinion, one hundred millions of years would suffice for that portion of the history which is registered in the stratified rocks of the crust. But if the paleontologists find such a period too narrow for their requirements, I can see no reason on the geological side why they should not be at liberty to enlarge it as far as they may find to be needful for the evolution of organized existence on the globe." His final re

I marks were descriptive of suggested points in geology concerning which greater research might aid in elucidation of the subject.

The following-named papers were read and discussed: On the Relations between the Dover and Franco-Belgian Coal Basins, by R. Etheridge; The Southeastern Coal Field, by W. Boyd Dawkins; Note relating to a Boring through the Chalk and Gault near Dieppe, by A. J. JukesBrowne; On Some Recent Work among the Upper Carboniferous of North Staffordshire and its Bearings on Conceded Coal Fields, by Walcot Gibson; Photographs of Sandstone Pipes in the Carboniferous Limestone at Doolbau, Anglesey, by Edward Greenley; Barium Sulphate as a Cementing Material in the Bunter Sandstone of North Staffordshire, by C. B. Webb; Recent Developments in the System of Photo-micrography of Opaque Objects as applied to the Delineation of the Minute Structure of Fossils, by A. W. Rowe; Water Zones and their Influence on the Situation and Growth of Concretions, by George Abbott; The Extra-morainic Drainage in Yorkshire, by Percy F. Kendall; The Origin of Lateral Moraines and Rock Trains, by J. Lomas; On the Origin of Flint and Homotaxy and Contemporaneity, by W. J. Sollas; Some Observations on the Surface of the Mount Sorrel Granite, by W. W. Watts; On the Origin of Chondritic Meteorites, by A. Renard; On Coast Erosion from Deal to Dover, Folkestone, and Sandgate, by Capt. McDakin; On Coast Erosion from Walmer to Whitstable, by G. Dowker; A Preliminary Report upon the Erosion of the Seacoast of the United Kingdom, by G. W. Whitaker; Photographs of Wave Phenomena, by Vaughan Cornish; On the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in September, 1898, by Tempest Anderson; The Mode of Erosion of Some Yorkshire Valleys, by Percy F. Kendall; The Geological Condition of a Tunnel under the Straits of Dover, by W. Boyd Dawkins; A Proposed New Classification of the Older and Newer Pliocene Deposits of the East of England and Meteorological Conditions of Northwestern Europe during the Pliocene and Glacial Periods, by F. W. Harmer; Some Observations on the Palæolithic Implements of North Kent, by J. M. Mello; Sigmoidal Curves in the Crust of the Earth, by Maria M. Gordon; and A Few Observations on the Subdivisions of the Carboniferous System in Certain Portions of Nova Scotia, by H. M. Ami. Also the following reports: Report of the Committee on Seismological Investigations, Report of the Committee on the Structure of Crystals, Report of the Committee on Life Zones in the British Carboniferous Rocks, The Report of the Committee appointed to investigate the Ty Newydd Leaves at Tremeirchion, North Wales, Report of the Committee on the Fossil Phyllopod of the Palæozoic Rocks, Report of the Committee on Photographs of Geological Interest in the United Kingdom, Report of the Committee to examine the Conditions under which Remains of the Irish Elk are found in the Isle of Man, Report of the Committee to investigate the Canadian Pleistocene Flora and Fauna, Report of the Committee appointed to investigate the Ossiferous Caves at Uphill, Report of the Committee on Erratic Blocks of the British Isles, and Report of the Committee on Registration of Type Specimens, were presented before the section.

D. Zoology. The presiding officer of this section was Prof. Adam Sedgwick, F. R. S., of Trinity College, Cambridge, who delivered an address on Variation and Some Phenomena connected with Reproduction and Sex. In beginning his address he said: "That part of the science of

zoölogy which deals with the functions of organs, particularly of the organs of the higher animals, is frequently spoken of as physiology, and is separated from the rest of zoology under that heading. Some of the most important problems of the physiological side of zoology still remain within the purview of this section." On the variation of organisms he said: “ The members of a species, though resembling one another more closely than they resemble the members of other species, are not absolutely alike. They present differences, differences which make themselves apparent even in members of the same familythat is, in the offspring of the same parents. It is these differences to which we apply the term variation. Without variation there could have been no progress, no evolution in the structure of organisms." After discussing genetic variation, he asked: “Has the variability of organisms ever been different from what it is now? Has or has not evolution had its influence upon this property of organisms, as it is supposed to have had upon their other properties? There is only one possible answer to this question. Undoubtedly the variability of organisms must have altered with the progress of evolution." This he then discussed at length, closing with: “If variation was markedly greater in the early periods of the existence of living matter, it is clear that it would have been possible for evolutionary change to be effected much more rapidly than at present, especially when we remember that the world was then comparatively unoccupied by organisms, and that, with the change of conditions consequent on the cooling and differentiation of the earth's surface, new places suitable for organic life were continually being formed."

The following-named papers were read and discussed: A New Form of Sponge (Astrosclera willeyana) from Lifu, Loyalty Islands, by J. J. Lister; The Morphology of the Cartilages of the Monotreme Larynx, by Johnson Symington; The Palpebral and Oculomotor Apparatus of Fishes, by Bishop Harman; The Development of Lepidosiren paradoxa, by J. Graham Kerr; Animals in which Nutrition has no Influence in determining Sex, by James F. Gemmill; Some newly Discovered Neo-mylodon Remains from Patagonia, by A. Smith Woodward; Observations on the Habits and Characteristics of the Fur Seals of the Bering Sea, by G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton; The Results of Some Experiments made at Plymouth on the Artificial Rearing of Sea Fish, by Walter Garstang; An Account of Dr. C. G. Joh. Peterson's Investigations in Plaice Culture in the Limfjord, by Sir John Murray; The Occurrence of the Gray Goumard and its Spawning in the Offshore and Inshore Waters, by W. C. McIntosh; The Physico-Biological Aspect of the Thames Estuary as Bearing on its Fisheries, by J. Murie.

Also the following reports: Report of the Committee appointed to promote the Systematic Collection of Photographic and other Records of Pedigree Stock, Report of the Committee on the Periodic Investigation of the Plankton and Physical Conditions of the English Channel during 1899, Report of the Committee on the Occupation of a Table at the Zoological Station at Naples, Report on the Zoology of the Sandwich Islands, Report on the Zoological and Botanical Publication, Report on the Zoology and Botany of the West India Islands, and Report of the Committee for constructing a Circulatory Apparatus for Experimental Observations on Marine Organisms.

E. Geography. This section was presided over by Sir John Murray, F. R. S., who since 1882 has been the editor of the scientific results of the

Challenger expedition. The subject of his address was the Ocean's Floor. He said: "It was the desire to establish telegraphic communication between Europe and America that gave the first direct impulse to the scientific exploration of the great ocean basins, and at the present day the survey of new cable routes still yields each year a large amount of accurate knowledge regarding the floor of the ocean." Taking up special topics, he showed from statistics that considerably more than half of the sea floor lies at a depth exceeding 2,000 fathoms, or more than 2 geographical miles. The greatest depth recorded is 5,155 fathoms, or 530 feet more than 5 geographical miles, being about 2,000 feet more below the level of the sea than the summit of Mount Everest is above it. Concerning the ocean floor, he said: "The deep sea is a region of dark ness as well as of low temperature, for the first direct rays of the sun are wholly absorbed in passing through the superficial layers of water. Plant life, in consequence, is quite absent over 93 per cent. of the bottom of the ocean, or 66 per cent. of the whole surface of the lithosphere." He referred to the changes in progress on the floor of the ocean, and discussed the causes of the changes in the surface of land areas. In closing he made an appeal for aid to carry to a successful issue the proposed antarctic exploring expedition.

The following-named papers were read and discussed before the section: Description of an Arctic Voyage in the Russian Ice-breaker Yermak, by Admiral Makuroff; Physical Observations in the Barents Sea, by William S. Bruce; The Voyage of the Southern Cross from Hobart to Cape Adare, by Hugh R. Mill; The Problem of Antarctic Exploration, by M. H. Arctowski; The Physical and Chemical Work of an Antarctic Expedition, by John Y. Buchanan; On the Flora of the Seas, by George Murray; Travels in East Bokhara, by Mrs. W. R. Rickmers; An Account of a Journey in Western Oaxaca, Mexico, by O. H. Howarth; An Account of the Oceanological and Meteorological Results of the German Deepsea Expedition in the Steamship Valdivia, by G. Schott; The Mean Temperature of the Surface Waters of the Sea round the British Coast, and its Relation to that of the Air, and Temperature and Salinity of the Surface Waters of the North Atlantic during 1896 and 1897, by H. N. Dickson; The Nomenclature of the Forms of Suboceanic Relief, by Hugh R. Mill; Bathymetrical Survey of the Scottish Fresh-water Locks, by Sir John Murray and F. P. Pullar; Twelve Years' Work of the Ordnance Survey, by Sir John Farquhar son: Sand Dunes in Lower Egypt, by Vaughan Cornish; A Visit to the Kartchkhal Mountains in Transcaucasia, by W. R. Rickmers; On the Anthropogeography of New Guinea and Sarawak, by Alfred C. Haddon; Travels through Abyssinia, by Capt. Wellby; An Account of a Journey to Wilczek Land and a Winter in the Arctic Regions, by Walter Wellman, of Washing ton city, U. S. A.; and On Oceanic Islands, by Charles W. Andrews.

F. Economic Science and Statistics.-The presiding officer of this section was Henry Higgs, who is secretary of the British Economic Association and is connected with the English civil service. The subject of his address was The Condition of the People. He said: "The prime concern of the economist and of the statistician is the condition of the people. The statistician measures the changing phenomena of the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth, which to a large extent reflect and determine the VOL. XXXIX.-4 A

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material condition of the people. The economist analyzes the motives of these phenomena, and endeavors to trace the connection between cause and effect." Mr. Higgs then contended that want, above all, the careful, minute, systematic observation of life as effected by environment, heredity, and habit." Concerning wages, he said: "It is now necessary for us to distinguish between real wages and utilities; not to stop at the fact that so many shillings a week might procure such and such necessaries, comforts, or luxuries, but to ascertain how they are expended." The defects of household management received due attention, and he contended that great possibilities in the economic progress would result from attention being paid to the humblest details of domestic life. The waste in the consumption of food was discussed, and he told how, owing to the great cheapness of bananas during a recent severe strike, the strikers had sustained themselves and their families on this fruit at a trifling cost. Other forms of waste, such as coal, were mentioned, and he quoted Edward Atkinson to the effect that the waste of food from bad cooking in the United States amounted to $1,000,000,000 a year. He contrasted the economies of the French people with those at home, and referred to the desirability of municipal management of funerals. He quoted largely from Le Play's monograph, Family Budgets, saying: "They yield excellent material, upon which science in its various branches has yet to do work which will benefit mankind in general, and promises especially to benefit the people of this country." The following-named papers were read and discussed before the section: Aspects of American Municipal Finance, by John H. Hollander, of Baltimore, Md., U. S. A.; Municipal Trading and Profits, by Robert Donald; The Single Tax, by William Smart; The State as an Investor, by E. Cannon; The Mercantile System, by G. J. Stokes; On the Mercantile System of Laissez Faire, by Miss Ethel R. Faraday; Geometrical Illustrations of the Theory of Rent, by J. D. Everett; On the Modes of representing Statistics, by F. Y. Edgeworth; Agricultural Wages from 1770 to 1895, by A. L. Bowley; On the Census of 1901, by Miss Clara E. Collet; On the Cause of Average Wages between 1790 and 1860, by George H. Wood; The Regulation of Wages by Lists in the Spinning Industry, by S. J. Chapman; The Teaching University of London and its Faculty of Economics, by Sir Philip Magnus; The Increase in Local Rates in England and Wales, 1891-'92 to 1896-'97, by Miss Hewart; Bank Reserves, by George H. Pownall; Indian Currency after the Report of the Commissioner, by Hermann Schmidt; The Silver Question in Relation to British Trade, by J. M. Macdonald; Results of Recent Poor-law Reform, by Harold E. Moore; and Oldage Pensions in Denmark, by A. W. Flux.

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G. Mechanical Science.-Sir William H. White, F. R. S., who is assistant controller and director of naval construction in the English Admiralty, was the presiding officer' of this section. address treated of Steam Navigation at High Speeds. He said that progress in steam navigation had been marked by the following characteristics: 1. Growth in dimensions and weight of ships, and large increase in engine power as speeds have been raised. 2. Improvements in marine engineering, accompanying increase of steam pressure; economy of fuel and reduction in the weight of propelling apparatus in proportion to the power developed. 3. Improvements in the materials used in ship-building; better structural arrangements; relatively lighter hulls and larger

carrying power. 4. Improvements in form, leading to diminished resistance and economy of power expended in propulsion. These characteristics were illustrated by a concise survey of the progress achieved (1) by transatlantic passenger steamers, (2) by swift passenger steamers for long voyages, (3) by cargo and passenger steamers, and (4) by cross-channel steamers. He told how speed had been increased from 8 to 221 knots, and the time on the voyage reduced to about 38 per cent. of what it was in 1840. "Ships have been more than trebled in length, about doubled in breadth, and increased tenfold in displacement. The number of passengers carried by a steamship has been increased from about 100 to nearly 2,000. The engine power has been made 40 times as great." The size and speed of war ships was discussed, and he showed how the speed of a war ship in 1860 was from 12 to 13 knots, while at present from 20 to 23 knots are obtained. Modern battle ships are of 13,000 to 15,000 tons, and modern cruisers of 10,000 to 14,000 tons, not merely because they are faster than their predecessors, but because they have greater powers of offense and defense and possess greater coal endurance. He showed the advantages of increased dimensions, and then passed to an interesting description of swift torpedo vessels. Concerning these he said: "The results obtained in torpedo vessels show such a wide departure from those usual in seagoing ships as to suggest the possibility of some intermediate type of propelling apparatus applicable to large seagoing ships, and securing sufficient durability and economy of fuel in association with further savings of weight." He described at length the steam turbo-motor recently introduced by Charles Parsons, and in conclusion discussed the future possibilities of speed, asserting that in the immediate future "further reductions may be anticipated in the weight of propelling apparatus and fuel in proportion to the power developed; further savings in the weight of the hulls, arising from the use of stronger materials and improved structural arrangements; improvements in form and enlargements in dimensions "; also, "if greater draughts of water can be made possible, so much the better for carrying power and speed."

The following-named papers were read and discussed before the section: On the Dover Harbor Works, by William Matthews and J. C. Coode; On Noninflammable Wood and its Use in War Ships, by E. Marshall Fox; A Short History of the Engineering Works of the Suez Canal to the Present Time, by Sir Charles Hartley; A Description of Suggestions made for Fast Crosschannel Steamers to be fitted with the Parsons Steam Turbine, by Charles Parsons; Niclausse Steam Boilers, by Mark Robinson; The Method of Under-water Torpedo Discharge adopted by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Company, by Capt. Lloyd; Electrical Machinery on Board Ship, by Alexander Siemens; A Contribution to the Knowledge of the Electric Conductivity and Magnetic Properties of an Extensive Series of Iron Alloys, by W. F. Barrett and William Brown; A Method of Electric Railway Signaling without Contact, by Wilfred S. Boult; Some Recent Applications of Electro-metallurgy to Mechanical Engineering, by Sherard C. Coles; On the Lighthouses of the English Channel, by James Kenward; Recent Experiences with Steam on Common Roads, by J. I. Thornycraft; Dymchurch Wall and the Reclamation of Romney Marsh, by E. Case; An Apparatus by which the Circularity of Boiler Furnaces could be tested,

by T. Messenger; and Some Experiments on the Thrust and Power of Air Propellers, by William G. Walker.

H. Anthropology. This section was presided over by Charles H. Read, who is the keeper of British and medieval antiquities in the British Museum. In his address he called attention to the fact that in Great Britain there is a greater variety of prehistoric and later remains than is seen in most European countries, and yet in the absence of any organized means for their preservation many ancient remains have been plowed down almost to the level of the surrounding country, thus scattering bones and other relics unnoticed over the field. Such accidental and casual destruction can only be remedied by enlightening public opinion through local scientific societies. "The plan I would propose," he said, "is this: Each society should record on the large scale ordnance map any tumulus or earthwork within the country, and at the same time keep a register of the sites, with numbers referring to the map, and in this register should be noted the names of the owner and tenant of the property, as well as any details that would be of use in exploring the tumuli." Mr. Read described the steps taken toward the formation of a bureau of ethnology, and said: "Within a short time we shall have an organization that will systematically gather the records of the many races which are either disappearing before the advancing white man, or, what is equally fatal from the anthropological point of view, are rapidly adopting the white man's habits and forgetting their own." Attention was called to the fact that the museums of anthropology in Berlin surpass those in London; thus "the British province of Assam is represented in Berlin by a whole room, and in London by a single case." This led to a plea for more ample accommodation and for more extensive teaching. He said: “I should like to say that courses of lectures in anthropology delivered in the same building would form a fitting crown to such a scheme for a really imperial museum such as I have endeavored to sketch. There is but one chair of anthropology in this country, and there is ample room and ample material to justify the creation of a second." Failing to secure more accommodations in the British Museum, the natural home of such a collection, he recommended the conversion of the Imperial Institute into "such a museum of anthropology as I have indicated, but, of course, as a Government institution. I am by no means an advocate of the creation of new institutions if the old ones can adequately do their work. But the removal of the ethnographical and anthropological collections from the British Museum to the galleries of the Imperial Institute would possess so many manifest advantages that the disadvantages need scarcely be considered."

The following-named papers were read and discussed before the section: The Personal Equation in the Anthropometry of Criminals, by J. G. Garson; The Finger Prints of Young Children, by Francis Galton: On the Finger Print as a Means of identifying Criminals, by E. R. Henry: The Cambridge Expedition to Torres Straits and New Guinea and Some of the Totem Customs of the Yarai Kanna Tribe of Cape York, North Queensland, by Alfred C. Haddon: The Linguistic Results of the Cambridge Expedition to Torres Straits and New Guinea, by Sidney H. Ray; Some Observations on Savage Music and Observations on Hearing, Smell, Taste, Reaction, and Time, by C. S. Myers; On the Clubs, Houses, and Dubus of British New Guinea, by C. G. Selig

mann; Observations and Experiments on Vision, Color, and Estimation of Time and Two New Departures in Anthropological Method, by W. H. R. Rivers; Observations on the Sense of Touch and of Pain on the Estimation of Weight and Variations of Blood Pressure, by W. McDougall; Stonehenge: Some New Observations and a Suggestion, by Alfred Eddowes; The Discovery of Stone Implements in Pitcairn Island, by J. Allen Brown; On the Occurrence of Celtic Types of Fibula of the Hallstatt and La Tène Period in Tunisia and Eastern Algeria, by Arthur J. Evans; On Irish Copper Celts and On Stone Molds for New Types of Implements from Ireland, by George Coffey; On Recent Ethnographical Work in Scotland, by J. Gray; Recent Anthropometrical Work in Egypt and Some Remarks on the "Cero" of St. Ubaldino: the Relic of a Pagan Spring Festival at Gabbio, in Umbria, by D. MacIver; A Study of One Thousand Egyptian Skulls, with Fifty Thousand Measurements, by Donald Macalister; Notes on Color Selection in Man, by John Beddoe; Sequences of Prehistoric Remains and Early Mediterranean Signanis or Alphabets, by W. M. Flinders-Petrie; Primitive Rites of Disposal of the Dead as illustrated by Survivals in Modern India, by W. Crooke; Preanimistic Religion, by R. R. Marett; Thirty-seven Nats (or Spirits) of the Burmese, by R. Č. Temple; Exhibition of Ethnographical Specimens from Somali, Galla, and Shangalla, by R. Koettlitz; The Ethnography of the Lake Region of Uganda, by J. R. L. Macdonald; and The Ethnology of West African Tribes North of the Middle Benue, by H. Pope Hennessy.

Also the following reports were presented before the section: Report on the New Edition of Anthropological Notes and Queries, Report on the Collection, Preservation, and Systematic Registration of Photographs of Anthropological Interest, Report of the Committee for the Ethnographical Survey of the United Kingdom, Report of the Committee appointed to investigate the Mental and Physical Deviation from the Normal among Children in Public Elementary and Other Schools, Report on the Lake Village at Glastonbury, Report on the Analysis of the Metals found in the Lake Village, Report of the Committee appointed to Co-operate with the Silchester Excavation Fund Committee in their Excavations in the Roman City of Silchester, and Report of the Committee appointed for the Ethnographic Survey of Canada.

I. Physiology.—The presiding officer of this section was Dr. John N. Langley, F. R. S., lecturer on histology in the University of Cambridge. He said: "I propose to consider some relations of the nerves which pass from the brain and spinal cord and convey impulses to the other tissues of the body-the motor or efferent nerves--and in especial the relations of those efferent nerves which run to the tissues over which we have little or no voluntary control." Concerning limitations in the control of the nervous system over the tissues of the body, he contended that "this control is in considerable part indirect only, the several tissues are in varying degree under direct control, and different parts of one tissue may be influenced by the nervous system to different extents." As to limitations in the control of the nervous system over the different activities, he said that even when nervous impulses can strikingly affect the vital activity of a tissue their action is limited." After discussing the somatic or voluntary nervous system, he passed to the autonomic or involuntary tissues, which, he said, "although not under the prompt and immediate con

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trol of the will, are under the control of the higher centers of the brain." The arrangement of the involuntary nervous system was described, as well as the cranial and sacral systems. He discussed inhibition, and said that the heart, stomach, and intestines work when no longer connected with the central nervous systems, and that they are especially liable to inhibition. Under the caption of the view of the equal endowment of the tissues, he denied the probability that all unstriated muscle and glands, and even the voluntary muscles, have inhibition nerve fibers. Experimental evidence, he asserted, was fairly decisive in favor of the simple view that the nerve impulse passes indirectly through one relay station" only from the central nervous system to the involuntary tissues. His final topic was a discussion on the regeneration of certain nerves. He said: "The factors which determine whether a particular tissue or part of a tissue is eventually supplied with nerve endings, and the degree of development of these, are the factors which determine evolution in general. In the individual it is exercise of function which leads to the development of particular parts; in the race it is the utility of this development which leads to their preservation. And so it is conceivable that in some lower vertebrate at some time the autonomic nervous system may have developed especially in connection with those tissues which appear in ourselves to be wholly unprovided with motor nerve fibers."

The following-named papers were read and discussed before the section: Auto-intoxication as a Cause of Pancreatic Diabetes, by J. H. Tuckett; The Effects of Pituitary Extract, by Edward A. Schäfer and Swale Vincent; The Theory of Hearing, by A. A. Gray; A New Instrument for measuring the Duration of Persistence of Vision on the Human Retina and A New Instrument for measuring the Persistence of Duration of Vision, by E. S. Bruce; (1) On the Resonance of Nerve and Muscle; (2) The Propagation of Impulses in the Rabbit's Heart; (3) Fibrillation and Pulsation of the Dog's Heart, by H. Kronecker and F. C. Busch: The Effects of Successive Stimulation of the Viscera and Vasomotor Nerves of the Intestine, by M. Bunch; On the Innervation of the Thoracic Part of the Esophagus, by H. Kronecker and W. Muklberg; Experiments on a Dog with a Vella Fistula, by H. Kronecker and T. E. Essdemont; On Variations in the Tonus of the Sphincter of the Bladder and The Dependence of the Tonus of the Muscles of the Bladder in Rabbits on the Spinal Cord, by H. Kronecker and Dr. Arnold; On Respiration on Mountains, by H. Kronecker and Dr. Burgi; Protamines and their Cleavage Products: Their Physiological Effects, by W. H. Thompson; The Vascular Mechanism of the Testes, by W. E. Dixon; Observations on Visual Acuity from Torres Strait, by W. H. R. Rivers; On Protamines: The Simplest Proteids, by Prof. Kossel; and Observations on Visual Acuity from New Guinea, by C. G. Seligmann.

K. Botany.-Sir George King presided over this section, and gave as his address a sketch of the history of Indian botany. He pointed out that the first contribution to the knowledge of the botany of what is now British India was made by the Dutch. The active study of botany on the binomial system of nomenclature invented by Linnæus was initiated in India by Koenig; and the subsequent history of botanic science in India might be divided into two periods, the first extending from Koenig's arrival, in 1767, to Sir Joseph Hooker's arrival, in 1849, and the second extending from the latter date to the present day. He