aromatic stimulants, each of the two first-named families being subdivided into two tribes. Each of the substances comprised under these several heads receives in turn full discussion; its history, preparation, uses, chemical composition, and physiological effects being carefully studied. There are also some curious tables contrasting the good and evil effects of the several stimulants, a body of useful statistical information, and some valuable bibliographical notices. Professor Mantegazza's style is essentially popular, and the work is enlivened by numerous anecdotes and scraps of poetry. The student of anthropology will read with much interest the introductory chapter, which is really a reproduction of Mantegazza's opening address to his first course of lectures on anthropology delivered at Florence in 1870. In this essay, the Professor defines the science of anthropology, traces its history and antecedents, and points out the method to be pursued in its study. ORGANIC PHILOSOPHY. Vol. III. Outlines of Biology. Body, Soul, Mind, Spirit. By HUGH DOHERTY, M.D. London: Trübner and Co. 1871. THIS is the third of a series of five volumes, in which the author intends to develope his system of organic philosophy. Those already published treat of Epicosmology, the three kingdoms of terrestrial nature, and Ontology, eternal forces, laws, and principles. The plan pursued by Dr. Doherty in the present volume is to trace the parallels and analogies which he supposes, and no doubt rightly, to exist between psychological and physiological phenomena. We much fear, however, that the author's style will prevent many persons from judging for themselves whether or not he has been successful. It must be said for Dr. Doherty that, at least, he is original, in the sense of holding opinions not accepted by others. We have an instance of this in his acceptance of the ancient doctrine of the pre-existence of the human "soul." Incarnation, indeed, occupies a very important position in Dr. Doherty's biological system, as may be seen from the statement that "embryogenesis is the act of the incarnative soul, which forms its own body by associating the atoms of substance prepared in the egg, to form organic cells and fibres, tissues and organs, within the complex unit, in accordance with the progenetic type from which the egg was first derived." A system which is founded on an idea so purely hypothetical can hardly be called scientific. The following curious account of a phenomenon, recorded as having been actually observed by the author, is worth preserving. The living body of a woman at Batavia, a small village near Buffalo, in North America, was "taken possession of by an invisible spirit, which gave the features a totally different caste of general form and expression, and spoke in the voice of a man, utterly unlike that of the woman possessed, and in a language unknown to all present (with the exception of a few words known to some), the invisible spirit representing itself to have been formerly an Indian inhabitant of that part of the country." Whether this was an actual case of "possession," or whether the phenomenon—the reality of which can hardly be doubted, seeing that several other persons also were so afflicted-is capable of another explanation, we shall not try to determine. C. S. W. SUR LA DÉFORMATION TOULOUSAINE DU CRÂNE. Par M. PAUL BROCA. 8vo. Paris: 1872. THE peculiar abnormity here described has almost escaped the notice of previous authors on the artificial deformation of the skull. It was mentioned by M. Gosse, who described and figured the three pieces of the head-dress-the serre-tête, the béguin, and the bandeau, which, resting on the nape of the neck, depress (from above to beneath, and from the front backward) not only the bregmatic fontanel, but also the anterior third of the sagittal suture, and the greatest part of the squama of the frontal bone. From this results a peculiar cephalic conformation, which is recognisable at the first glance. M. Broca had many times occasion to observe this Toulousaine deformation amongst the sick in the hospitals; and each time before he inquired of the patients he was able to announce, without error, that they were born in the departments of Aude, or in the Haute Garonne. The autopsy of an old woman from Toulouse, aged seventy-four, indicated that the calvaria was firmly attached to the dura mater: the osseous tissue was neither rarefied nor condensed, nor thick, nor thin; it appeared entirely normal. The pia-mater and the brain did not present any lesion. The cerebral substance, with the pia-mater, weighed only 1,079 grammes; the cranial capacity was 1,198 cubic centimètres. We must call attention to M. Broca's plan for ascertaining the relations of the coronal and lambdoid sutures to the convolutions immediately subjacent to them. The occipital fissure almost always corresponds in a rather exact manner to the lambdoid suture; whilst the fissure of Rolando in the human brain is always situated well behind the coronal suture. The conclusions of Gratiolet are thus proved to be not perfectly correct. Turning to the skull, the norma verticalis of this old woman shows an entirely unusual aspect, as the lower border of the orbit is in advance of the superciliary arches by more than one centimètre. M. Broca's figure perhaps best shows how this curious phenomenon is produced by the recession of the frontal bones. In the town of Toulouse deformations of the skull have become at the present day rather rare amongst individuals aged less than forty years, but they are frequent in the neighbouring country; and several generations will probably pass away before this last vestige of the manners of the ancient Tectosages shall have entirely disappeared. It may be objected to some conclusions which might be derived from the too literal exaggeration of the theory of Drs. Gosse and Broca, that in many religious orders of the Roman Catholic Church the serre-tête, the béguin, and the bandeau are worn often from extreme in fancy, and although they are bound tightly and are extremely painful at first, no deformation of the skull has occurred in my experience. C. C. B. M. DE QUATREFAGES has in preparation a large work on "General Craniology," in which he is assisted by the energetic young secretary to Dr. Broca, Dr. Hamy. Examples will be figured from the Paris museums, and from M. de Quatrefages' private collection. The atlas will comprise a hundred quarto plates, and the text will make a thick volume of the same size. It is, of course, premature to say when this vast work will be completed. I CHINESE SEALS FOUND IN IRELAND." I saw in the Phoenix a question regarding Mr. Getty's book on Chinese seals found in Ireland. met with the book in Shanghai about twenty years ago, and, by a little search in the shops of Shanghai, soon obtained a collection of the same seals identical with the figures in Mr. Getty's work, bearing the same inscription, and having in some cases the monkey on them, and in other cases the prized handles, as well as some with other figures not in the book. I soon found that these seals had no great antiquity, being about two hundred years old for the most ancient, while others were more modern. Having occasion to go to Dublin some years ago, I took some of the seals with me, and, in conversation with Mr. Edward Chittam, of the Royal Irish Academy, asked him about the seals, and if he could give any reason why they had been found so often in Ireland, when he gave me the following account. Some years ago, a nobleman-I think the late Duke of Northumberland- -was anxious to find out the history of these seals, and asked Mr. Chittam to offer a reward of from one to three or four guineas for every seal that might be brought to him. One or two seals were sent to him, for which he paid the offered price; but he could get no history of them. At last a respectable woman brought one or two seals, and offered them for the reward, which was paid her. She then said she thought she could get others, and she was told to do so, and that she should be paid as before. After she had thus received several guineas, Mr. Chittam said, 'Now that you have been well paid, what is the story of these seals?' Her reply was that an ancestor of hers, an Irishman, was in the China trade about a century ago, and he was in the habit of bringing home a quantity of China ware for friends, to whom he said that the shopkeepers from whom he had made his purchases gave him many of the seals, to which he had taken a fancy, and that he used constantly to give them away to friends in Ireland, and that they were carried about in all directions, being curious and interesting little things. The woman said that what she had been paid for were the remains of the large quantities formerly brought by her ancestor. Mr. Chittam said that this was the true account of the diffusion of the seals through many parts of Ireland. I was also told that the accounts given of the finding of the seals in many places of undisturbed sepulture of great antiquity are simply untrue, and will not bear investigation. Such I believe to be the story of the seals. - W. LOCKHART, M.D." SIR JOHN LUBBOCK, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. THE Minutes of the previous Meeting were read and confirmed. The following presents were announced, and the thanks of the meeting voted to the respective donors: FOR THE LIBRARY. From the INDIA OFFICE.-A Continuation to a Catalogue of Maps of the British Possessions in India and other parts of Asia. From the AssoCIATION.― Journal of the Royal Historical and Archæological Association of Ireland, No. 9, 1872. From Messrs. LONGMAN and Co.-Mankind, their Origin and Destiny, by M.A., of Balliol College, Oxford. From the SOCIETY.-Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 133. From Professor ECKER.-Archiv für Anthropologie, March 1872. From the INSTITUTION.-Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, vol. xv, No. 65A, 1872. From the EDITOR.—The Mining Magazine and Review for May 1872. The following note was read: NOTE on the PECULIARITIES of the AUSTRALIAN CRANIUM. By S. MESSENGER BRADLEY, F.R.C.S. I LATELY became possessed of the skulls of three South Aus VOL. II. L |