communicated to me in return that which served him as a point of comparison. We proceeded together to a detailed and rigorous examination, which has only served to bring out still more the exactitude of the appreciations of M. Pruner-Bey, and the truly surprising similitude between these two specimens, belonging, one to the stone, the other to the iron age.

The members of the Academy will certainly understand, from what has gone before, that the jaw-bone of Moulin-Quignon, looked at from an ethnological point of view, and with regard to the origin of European populations, possesses the highest interest. This interest,

I repeat, is quite independent of the geological question. This is why I have endeavoured, from the commencement of these debates, and again at the last meeting, to distinguish clearly between the question of the authenticity of the jaw-bone and all those which I foresaw would arise from the discussions.

Thus my regret was very great when I saw that the report made no mention of the opinions expressed upon this subject by our illustrious perpetual secretary. Now that is all that I wished to show in my preceding communications; for that is what had been almost universally denied in Paris as in London. It will be understood, then, how important to me was the assent of M. Elie de Beaumont, and how sorry I was not to find any traces of it in the report. I trust that our illustrious colleague will only see, in the expression of this sentiment, another proof of the high value which I attach to his opinion.

May I be allowed to make another observation upon the subject of the paper by M. Elie de Beaumont ?

This paper raises two questions, both new, and both entirely distinct from the question of the authenticity of the jaw-bone and the haches of Moulin-Quignon. Besides, these questions are, from certain points of view, very different from each other.

First, M. Elie de Beaumont declares that he shares the opinion of Cuvier, and does not believe in the contemporaneity of man with elephas primigenius. Secondly, he expresses the opinion that the drift worked at Moulin-Quignon does not belong, properly, to the diluvium.

The first of these questions, that of the contemporaneity of man with certain species of extinct animals, may be solved, it seems to me, apart from geological controversy. I therefore think myself allowed to have upon this point an individual opinion; I should state, that, after having for a long time shared the belief of Cuvier, I have arrived at a contrary opinion.

The second question, that which touches upon the age and origin of the soil of Moulin-Quignon, Menchecourt, Saint-Acheul, etc., is exclusively geological. Once more, I have no pretentions to deal with this last problem, and I intend to remain entirely aloof from the discussions which may arise from it. But for this very reason I must insist upon separating it very clearly from the two others, in order to prevent, as much as I can, a confusion which has evidently been produced in a great many minds.

EXAMINATION OF THE JAW-BONE OF MOULIN-QUIGNON FROM AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW. BY M. PRUNER-BEY.

Considering the discordant views held by geologists in all that appertains to the deposit in which the jaw-bone was found, it will be desirable to inquire whether anthropological science will furnish us with the means of classifying it.

On a cursory examination, this object indicates by its proportions, and by the absorption of some dental alveoli, that it belonged to an individual of small size and of middle age; and I will add that this individual was most probably brachycephalic. The following is the series of facts which argues in favour of that opinion. M. Merlot (vide Etudes Géologico-Archéologiques, etc., 1860) showed in the section of the cone of la Tinière, near Villeneuve, three successive ages represented by stages. The lowest bed, representing the stone age, has yielded a brachycephalic cranium, as also have the beds belonging to the bronze age in the vicinity. Lastly, I have established the presence of this type in the iron age, and even among living individuals in the same localities, and I have traced elsewhere the detailed portrait of this type by which the history of man in our countries, according to our present knowledge, commences, without the type being extinct.

In the second place, the palæontological researches and discoveries made in France, though the number of data respecting man be very limited, in no way invalidate what I have just alleged. Thus the human chin-bone found by M. de Vibraye shows by the roundness of its contour that it does not belong to the Celtic race, and by its dimensions that the cranium of which it formed a part, was small, and consequently brachycephalic. The same may be said of the specimen the knowledge of which I owe to the kindness of M. Lartet. This celebrated palæontologist found this outer half-ramus of the lower human jaw in the cavern of Aurignac, associated with antediluvian animals, etc. This bone again strikes us by its smallness, which extends even to the three molar teeth which were implanted in it.

Our last fact appears to me to serve as a touchstone in this question as difficult as it is important. I have in my possession a small series of bones of the lower jaw, belonging to the brachycephalic type of Switzerland. These bones, which have been referred to the iron age, were extracted from an immense gravel tumulus, containing numerous kistvaens, in which were found skeletons and their remains for the most part Celtic, and by their side a few with brachycephalic crania, and of small size. Now, one of these last jaws, apart from the prolongation of its coronoid apophysis, corresponds in all its other details with the Abbeville jaw-bone. This applies not only to its form but also to its dimensions. Now if we consider the small amount of stability in the characteristics generally presented by this bone in individuals of the same race, and if we add to that the immense interval of time which separates them, I think I shall remain greatly within the limits of probability, if I presume to enunciate this:

First. That the jaw-bone of Moulin-Quignon belonged to a brachycephalic individual of small size, belonging to the stone age.

Secondly. That we can follow the presence of this race through several successive ages; and

Thirdly. That it has left recognizable descendants among the living inhabitants of the extreme north of Europe, following the western border of our continent as far as Sicily.

Miscellanea Anthropologica.

Egyptian Skulls found at Cologne on the Rhine.-In the year 1847, on laying the foundations of a house near the Orphan Asylum at Cologne, there were found above sixty skulls, eighteen of which had on the right side large iron nails driven in. With them were found Roman vessels and coins of the pre-Constantine period. Professor Braun of Bonn, delivered an elaborate lecture on this subject in 1855, on the occasion of the celebration of Winkelmann's birthday, in which the Professor endeavoured to prove that the skulls belonged to the Martyrs of the Theban Legion, whose name was derived from Thebaïs in Egypt, and who were executed in 286 under Diocletian, the persecutor of Christians, because they would not fight against that sect. Dr. Mayer of Bonn expressed his opinion that these skulls presented all the characteristics of Egyptian skulls.

Within the last few days, there were found almost on the same spot near Weyer's Gallery, a number of similar skulls, some of which also had a large nail driven in on the right side. The Rev. Mr. Schaffrath

of Cologne, is in possession of one of the best specimens, which, as we hear, is to be sent to the Antiquarian Museum of Bonn. (Cologne Gazette, June 21, 1863.)

Colonies and Climate-a Prophecy. Extracts from a review of works on Public Hygiene, British and Foreign Medical Review, 1842. "We behold the British race peopling alike the western and southern hemisphere, and can already anticipate the time when two hundred millions of men on the shores of the Atlantic and in the isles of the Pacific, will be speaking our language, reading our authors, glorying in our descent." (The Principles of Population, etc. By A. Alison, 1840, v. ii, 348.)

Need we say that the responsibility of British statesmen and of the British nation, is most solemn ? In two or three centuries a larger population than exists in the whole of Europe will curse or bless us according as we have given a bias for good or evil to their infant institutions. . .

...

Taking a practical view of the high questions started, we should doubt much as physiologists, whether any system of public hygiene could effectually resist the influence of an enervating climate on man, or modify the thick neck and broad jaws of the Mongol so indicative of his destructiveness. It seems to us that the customs and habits created by climate induce changes in the cerebral organization of nations, as well as in the muscular and osseous formation, and that the mental and corporeal qualities which result from these changes becoming hereditary characterize the race.

Climate will, undoubtedly, change the character of the English race. It changes it in India; it is changing it in the United States, and in less than a century will dissolve the union.* It is of importance, then, in marking the limits of new colonies, to consider the ultimate effects of climate, and place natural boundaries between them.

When the United States separate, the northern will coalesce with the Canadas, and these unitedly will constitute the dominant empire of the western continent, and perhaps of the world. These changes will hardly take place without wars, and the length and destructiveness of these wars will depend considerably upon the nature of the boundaries, and the compactness of the territories to be defended. Portions of our empire in India might be garrisoned by colonies. The climate of the high lands in Central Asia so nearly resembles our own (as do also the inhabitants themselves) that Englishmen would not deteriorate there; and would do more for the civilization of Asia and the glory of England, than the innumerable colleges and missionaries in Hindostan.

* It must be remembered that this was written more than twenty years ago. EDITOR.

THE

ANTHROPOLOGICAL REVIEW.

NOVEMBER, 1863.

ON CEREBRAL PHYSIOLOGY.

No subject is perhaps of more importance and interest to the anthropologist than the researches which are made in ascertaining the functions of the encephalon. The progress made in cerebral physiology generally, will occasionally come under our review; and the approaching publication of a translation of the works of M. Gratiolet, and of Dr. Louis Büchner's Kraft und Stoff, will compel us to examine more minutely what is the exact state of our knowledge on this subject. In the meantime, we present our readers with a sketch of our present knowledge on some of the chief points of cerebral physiology, reserving some critical remarks until a future occasion.

Chemical Composition of the Brain. The investigations of Baron Bibra (Vergleichende Untersuchungen, etc., Mannheim, 1856) on the chemical composition of the brain of man and the vertebrata, led to the subjoined results. Bibra had always been of opinion that, though the physiological function of the brain did not altogether depend on its fatty constituent, yet that it was mainly conditioned by it. Experiments supported that opinion. Fat is an integral constituent of the brain, being closely connected with its functions, and does not perform the same office in the brain as in other parts of the organism. Even in diseases producing the greatest emaciation, the fat is not sensibly diminished in the brain. The average quantity of fat in eleven adult brains up to 48, amounted to 14.44 per cent. The medulla oblongata always contained most, the thalami optici and the corpora striata contained least fat. The average quantity of fat in six brains of very old men was but 13.13 per cent. Average quantity of water, 75.66 per cent. Generally speaking, those parts which have most fat have least water, and vice verså. The average of the

VOL. I.-NO. III.

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