Scientific Serials

Abstract

Bulletins de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris, tome 9ème, 3ème fascic. 1886.—On the relations between the organs of touch and smell, by Dr. Fauvelle. In this paper the author considers the proposition advanced by M. Pozzi that the attitude of an animal is always in accord with the exercise of its predominant organ of sense. On this assumption the biped station would be the consequence of the predominance of vision over smell, and the attitude of quadrupeds the result of the relatively higher development of their sense of smell. In refutation of this view the writer argues that the relations between the organs of sight and smell in bipeds and quadrupeds are the result, rather than the cause, of their different stations, while he shows that wherever in the animal series the organs of sight would seem to have lost their importance in proportion to the development of the sense of smell the latter is aided by delicate organs of touch situated on those parts of the body which form its anterior side when moving forward. Thus in the vertebrates all the organs of the senses are situated at the cephalic extremity of the body.—On a woman with a tail. The case, reported by M. Melikoff, was observed by Dr. Eliséeff, of St. Petersburg, author of an interesting work on men with tails. According to the statement of the woman, who suffered great pain from her caudal appendage, a similar abnormality had been observed in several female members of her family, in all of whom it had appeared between the ages of 12 and 17 years. Dr. Eliséeff refers this formation to embryogenic causes, such as an arrest of development in the fœtus, and observes that such cases are more frequent in males than in females, the latter, according to him, presenting a much more advanced corporeal development than men.—A case of double uterus, by Dr. Landowski.—On short-tailed dogs, by M. Duval.—Observations on the crania of several insane subjects, by M. Manouvrier.—On the weight of Gambetta's brain, by M. Duval. This paper, and the discussion to which it gave rise, are especially interesting from the new light which they throw on the assumed relations between the large volume of the brain and intellectual capacity, the weight of Gambetta's being only 1160 grammes, or, according to M. Duval, 1246 after making all possible allowance for accidental diminution by faulty methods of preparation, while the mean for persons not gifted with more than ordinary intelligence is 1360 grammes.—On a new variation of the ossa wormiana, by M. Manouvrier.—A case of pilosity in a young Laotian girl, by Dr. Fauvelle.—On acclimatisation in reference to French colonisation, by Dr. Fauvelle.—On the anthropological characteristics of the Indo-Chinese peoples, by Dr. Maurel.—On the origin of the bronze and tin of prehistoric times, by Mme. Clémence Royer. The writer believes that Europe supplied the sources whence bronze implements were fabricated by early man, while M. Mortillet considers that both the material and the production of the weapons, ornaments, and other objects of this kind which belong to prehistoric times must be referred to India and the Far East.—Enumeration of the megalithic remains of Nièvre, by Dr. Jacquinot. The number of such remains in the whole of France, as certified by official inquiry, amounts to 6310, of which thirty-five belong to Nièvre. Among these special interest attaches to the horizontal slabs of Saint Agnan, which Dr. Jacquinot considers to have been altars for human sacrifices.—Summary of the answers given by New Caledonians to the interrogatories of the Society of Sociology and Ethnography, by M. Moncelon. These answers supply interesting materials for the ethnographic study of these races, and show the importance of following a definite plan in pursuing such inquiries.—Anthropological observations of the Khmer tribes of Cambodia, by Dr. Maurel. The writer, who supplies numerous anthropometric measurements, believes that these peoples belong to the Mongolian group.