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ally different; and the voice resembles sometimes the alto of an eunuch—there being a peculiarity about it by which he can always be distinguished. Dr. Louis Büchner, after summing up the peculiarities of the Negro, says they exhibit the most decided approach to the ape. Other distinguished anatomists and physiologists had expressed a similar opinion. The assertion that the Negro only requires an opportunity for becoming civilized is disproved by history. The African race have had the benefit of the Egyptian, Carthaginian, and Roman civilization, but nowhere did they become civilized. The many cases of civilized blacks are not pure Negroes; but, in nearly every case where they had become men of mark, they had European blood in their veins. In the West Indian Islands it has frequently been observed that all the Negroes in places of trust which require intelligence have European features. Negro children are precocious; but no advance in education can be made after they arrive at the age of puberty -they still continue mentally children. It has been said that the present slave-holders of America no more think of rebellion amongst their full-blooded slaves than they do of rebellion amongst their cows and horses. That was because the tranquillity of Negoes in their approach to civilization resembled the content of domestic animals. From all the evidence brought forward, the writer of the paper saw no reason to believe that the pure Negro ever advances further in intellect than an intelligent European boy of fourteen years of age. After citing authorities to prove the low psychological character of the Negro, the paper continued:-"We now know it to be a patent fact that there are races existing which have no history, and that the Negro is one of these races. From the most remote antiquity, the Negro race seem to have been what they now are." The writer could see no evidence to support the opinion of some writers that the Negro had degenerated from some higher form of civilization. Everywhere we see the European as the conqueror and the dominant race; and no amount of education will ever alter the decrees of Nature's laws. The general deductions he would make were-First, that there is as good reason for classifying the Negro as a distinct species from the European as there is for making the ass a distinct species from the zebra; second, that the Negro is inferior intellectually to the European; third, that the analogies are far more numerous between the Negro and the ape, than between the European and ape. There was in the Negro that assemblage of evidence which would induce an unbiassed observer to make the European and Negro two distinct species.

Mr. GALTON said that the case was briefly this:-Among the Negroes

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of Africa there were more frequent instances of an abject and superstitious character, combined with brutal behaviour, than could be paralleled elsewhere in the world. It was a wonder that people like those of Dahomey could mould themselves into any form of society at all, and it was actually found that when the chief of such a tribe died it disintegrated and rapidly disappeared. In short, the tribes of Africa were remarkable for their rapid formation and short continuance. Many of their chiefs were of alien descent, and it was remarkable how their greatest kingdoms had been ruled by Tawareks-men with Arab blood-or, as Captain Speke now informed us, by straight-haired Wahumas. How did it happen, then, that so degraded a people could furnish men capable of constructing nations out of the loosest materials? The question once stated was almost its own reply. The Negro, though on the average extremely base, was by no means a member of a race lying at a dead level. On the contrary, it had the capacity of frequently producing able men capable of taking an equal position with Europeans. The fact of a race being distinguished by the diversity of its members was well known to ethnologists. There were black and red sub-divisions of many North African races, and the contrast between the well-fed and ill-fed classes of the same tribe of Negroes was often such as to amount apparently to a specific difference.

Mr. CRAFT said that though he was not of pure African descent he was black enough to attempt to say a few words in reference to the paper which had just been read. Many scientific gentlemen present would probably dispute that; but at any rate, supposing Adam to have been the founder of a race of men, white men had no stronger claim to him as their father than black men, as it was admitted that owing to the climate in which he commenced his existence, he could have been neither black nor white, but copper coloured. As Africans were very dark, and the inhabitants of Northern Europe very fair, and as, moreover, the nations of Southern Europe were much darker than those of Northern Europe, it was perfectly fair to suppose that climate had a tendency to bleach as well as to blacken. The thickness of the skull of the Negro had been wisely arranged by Providence to defend the brain from the tropical climate in which he lived. If God had not given them thick skulls their brains would probably have become very much like those of many scientific gentlemen of the present day. The woolly hair was not considered by Africans as a mark of inferiority, though some of them shaved it off, but it also answered the purpose of defending the head from the sun. With regard to his not being a true African-his grandmother and grandfather were both of pure Negro blood. His grandfather was a chief of the West Coast; but, through the treachery of some white men, who doubtless thought themselves greatly his superiors, he was kidnapped and taken to America, where he (Mr. Craft) was born. He had recently been to Africa on a visit to the King of Dahomey. He found there considerable diversities even among the Africans themselves. Those of Sierra Leone had prominent, almost Jewish features. Their heels were quite as short, on the whole, as those of any other race, and upon the

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whole they were well formed. Persons who had any knowledge of Africans knew that, when they enjoyed advantages, they were capable of making good use of them. He might refer to the instance of the little girl brought to this country by Captain Forbes. This child was presented to the Queen, who had her carefully educated. When she grew up, she mingled in good society, and interested every one by her proficiency in music, and recently she had been married to a commercial gentleman of colour at Lagos. Another case was mentioned by Mr. Chambers in one of his works, and another case was that of Mr. Crowther, who was well-known to many gentlemen in this country. One word with reference to the ancient Britons. When Julius Cæsar came to this country, he said of the natives that they were such stupid people that they were not fit to make slaves of in Rome. It had taken a long time to make Englishmen what they now were, and, therefore, it was not wonderful if the Negroes made slow progress in intellectual development. It was, however, proved that they made very rapid progress when placed in advantageous circumstances. As to the Negro not being erect, the same thing might be said of agricultural labourers in this country. He pointed to Hayti as furnishing an instance of independence of character and intellectual power.on the part of the Negro, and contended that in America the degraded position which he was forced to occupy gave him no chance of proving what he really was capable of doing. He was sorry that scientific and learned men should waste their time in discussing a subject that could prove of no benefit to mankind. He spoke with great deference to their opinions, but, for his own part, firmly agreed with Cowper that

Fleecy locks and black complexion

Cannot alter nature's claim;

Skins may differ, but affection

Dwells in white and black the same.

The Rev. H. B. TRISTRAM said he had been a chaplain for several years in a mixed school for blacks and whites in one of the West Indian islands, and could testify that the children of free Negroes who were engaged in honourable occupations were invariably more intelligent than the children of slaves.

Mr. CARTER BLAKE said that he agreed substantially with the author of the paper upon the anatomical evidence which he had brought forward with regard to the Negro race. Mr. Craft had stated that the heels of the Negro were not longer than those of Europeans, but that was contrary to the testimony of anatomists. He contended that in nearly every instance of a Negro attaining intellectual eminence it had been ascertained that there was an admixture of European blood in his veins. The evidence of the paternity of full-blooded African Negroes, in contact with Europeans, was rather difficult to ascertain. Anatomists had ascertained that there were wide differences in the structure of the Negro and European, and he specified some instances of such diversity. If the woolly hair and thick skull of the Negro were given to him by a bountiful Providence to fit him for living in a tropical climate, the inhabitants of Brazil were suffering great

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injustice, for they had neither woolly hair nor thick skulls. With regard to the philanthropic element, he thought it ought not to have been introduced into the discussion. In conclusion, he expressed his opinion that, till Mr. Craft could rail away the seal which nature had impressed on the physical character of the Negro, his breath was all spent in vain when he contended for the equality of the African and European races.

Sir E. BELCHER said that he had spent nearly all his life among the Africans, and believed that, when properly educated, they could be as true, as faithful, and as sound-hearted as Englishmen. He mentioned several instances which he had met with in his travels of remarkable intelligence in the Negro, and scouted the idea that he was naturally, either physically or mentally, of inferior capacity to other human races.

Professor WILSON claimed for the author of the paper and those gentlemen who supported him, the credit of being influenced by a desire to search out facts which could throw a light on the important subject under discussion. At the same time he differed considerably from them in some of their conclusions. It was very important to have sufficient data before forming a theory, and he thought that Sir Charles Lyell and others who contended that the intellectual progress of the Negro stopped at the age of fourteen, had fallen into the error which a person would who went into a workhouse among the most degraded and wretched of its occupants to find intellectual culture and capacity. The fact was that very few, if any, black children had any opportunity of pursuing their education after the age of fourteen, and, in addition to that drawback, they had the misfortune to belong to a degraded and oppressed class, which was crushed and held down in the social world. The wonder was that any of these unfortunate people had energy enough to make their escape and to acquire knowledge sufficient to enable them to carve a way for themselves through life as not many of them did. The English character was made up of many elements; but a few hundred years ago the inhabitants of this island were cruel, unlettered, practical people. When put under good training and subjected to certain influences the Anglo-Saxon proved capable of remarkable development, owing chiefly to the native energy of his character. The same quality was observable in some tribes of the present day, such as the New Zealander, and it was not wise therefore to argue as though the absence of combination denoted a natural and primary inferiority of race.

Mr. CRAWFURD made a few observations on Negroes generally. Dr. HUNT in reply said he was sorry that some speakers had attempted to draw away the attention of the audience from the great facts under discussion. Scientific physical facts had been met with vague general assertions, and no reply had been attempted to be made by any speaker against the facts that had been adduced. He would leave his scientific friends to judge of the value of Mr. Craft's remarks. He was sorry, however, that the speaker had not confined himself to uttering exploded theories, but had accused scientific men of wasting their time when discussing this subject. He for one

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thought it was a great pity that scientific men in this country had so long delayed to bring these facts prominently before the public, and thus explode some of the popular delusions on the subject. It was not at all necessary for Mr. Craft to tell anyone at all acquainted with the subject that he was not a pure Negro, although there were many present who were deluded with the idea that he was. As to the statement that Britons did not make good slaves, he was quite ready to admit the fact; and he knew of no European race that would make good slaves. In this respect Negroes were certainly far superior to Europeans. He then briefly replied to other speakers, and in conclusion, said the time was passed when the great fact he had brought forward could be longer ignored, and however reluctant he had been to introduce the topic, he felt that good would arise from the discussion that had taken place. All he asked was that scientific evidence of this character should be met by scientific argument, and not by poetical clap-trap, or by gratuitous and worthless assumptions.

On Cranial Deformities, more especially on the Scaphocephalic Skull. By WILLIAM TURNER, ESQ. (D a.)-The Author commenced by stating that deformities of the skull might be occasioned by artificial means, by pathological changes, by posthumous changes, and by developmental irregularities and deficiencies. He in a great measure restricted himself in his paper to a consideration of the effects produced on cranial form by developmental irregularities and variations in the mode of ossific formation, more especially by premature or retarded union of the cranial bones along their sutural lines and at their synchondroses. He arranged the sutures connecting the bones of the skull cap into a vertical-transverse group, a median longitudinal, and two lateral longitudinal groups; and agreeing with Professor Virchow, of Berlin, he stated that should a premature ossification take place in one, or more than one, of the whole, or a part, of a line of sutures, then the growth of the skull corresponding to, and in a direction perpendicular to the line of synostosis will occur, and diminished length, or breadth, or height, as the case may be, will be occasioned. He illustrated this proposition by describing a peculiarly elongated and laterally compressed form of skull to which, along with Professor Von Baer, of St. Petersburg, he applied the name Scaphocephalus. Four as yet undescribed examples of this peculiar boatshaped skull had come under his notice. The whole of these crania were characterised by possessing the following characters :-Absence of a sagittal suture, and consequent blending of the two parietal bones; absence of parietal eminences, lateral compression, great elongation. He then discussed at length the two theories which had been advanced to account for the production of such a form of skull;