The Morghani family, of whom Sir C. Wilson spoke, are well worthy of notice. They believe themselves to have originally come from Bokhara, and certainly the leading members are decidedly Mongol in appearance. The family is the head of the great Morghani sect, which has up to the present exerted so powerful an influence throughout the Súdan, an influence which in the late troubles was always exerted against the rebellion and in favour of peace. The late Seyid Osman El Morghani did all that lay in his power to prevent the spread of the rebellion in the vicinity of Kassala, and his two sisters, who lived at Shendy, did all they could to assist General Gordon. It is worthy of note, and is a proof of the influence of Morghanis that although these two ladies have always been openly opposed to the Mahdi and lived in a district in which most of the inhabitants joined his cause, yet they have been respected and uninjured up to the present time. The conduct of the Morghani sect compares favourably with that of the Senoussi to whom Sir C. Wilson also alluded as having so much influence in the northern parts of Africa and who have positions of influence on the roads leading from Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers to the interior. The Senoussi are very fanatical, and are strongly opposed both to Christians and to Turks, whom they appear to regard as debased followers of Islam. As all accounts tend to show that the sect of the Senoussi is spreading and its influence is increasing, we shall probably hear more of them later on.

CAPTAIN C. R. CONDER, R.E., remarked that it would be presumption on his part to say anything much after the exhaustive and valuable paper just read, since he had served only in Lower Egypt and had no special knowledge of the Súdan tribes. Two points, however, struck him in the paper, and one point in Major Watson's speech.

The practice among the Núba tribes of tracing descent from the mother, recalls the ancient practice of Arabia on which Professor Robertson Smith has written a learned work and which is supposed to be connected with primitive polyandry. It has always seemed to the speaker that there was no evidence that these two customs ever prevailed among Semitic peoples; and that the polyandrous people mentioned by Strabo in Southern Arabia, must probably like the Núba, have belonged to a Hamitic or Cushite race, akin perhaps to the non-Semitic Cossai or Cutheans of Elam, whose name is said to mean "dark," and whose coloured representation as a dark, straight-haired race has been discovered it is said on bas reliefs by M. Dieulafoy at Susa. This dark race called the Aithiops of Asia, by Herodotus (who says they differed from the Ethiopians of Africa, in having straight instead of curly hair) was perhaps distantly connected with the Akkadians and with the Hittites, and according to Lenormant with the Dravidians of India. Is it not possible that the Núba may be a branch of this race, which crossed over, as the Arabs also did, from Southern Arabia

into the Súdan? We have much evidence of such migration from Arabia, not only in the traditions of the tribes, or in history, but also in the derivation of the Amharic and Æthiopic alphabets from the old alphabet of Yemen.

66

The second point concerns the name of the Jahalin. Sir C. Wilson will remember that there is a tribe so called in Southern Palestine, between Beersheba and the Dead Sea, and while investigating the meaning of the word, Captain Conder found it was connected with Jahl "" ignorant or simple," a term used by Moslems to signify those who lived before Islam, and who were "ignorant" of the truth. Possibly the name shows that the Jahalin are an archaic people, who were so named by Moslem Arabs at a time when they themselves were non-Moslems, just as Kafir (Caffre) is an Arab name for the Bantu peoples of South Africa, signifying " Pagans," and not a real ethnical title.1

Major Watson mentioned that the Morghani family came from Bokhara. This is the centre from which many of the secret Moslem societies (Dervish orders) have spread; as for instance, the Bektashi. The freemasonry of the Dervish orders is well known, and the Morghani influence appears to show that they form such a religious order, although they are not one of the "regular" orders, of which there are more than forty. The influence of these orders if properly used might be made one of the best resources of sympathetic native government in the East.

Mr. BOUVERIE-PUSEY and the PRESIDENT also joined in the discussion.

Sir CHARLES WILSON said in reply that he could not agree with Major Watson that the To-Bedawiet speaking tribes were Arab (Semitic), though they have many Arab customs, common to all nomads, and the Sheikh families are of Arab origin. They may, however, have belonged to a Hamitic race in Southern Arabia, and have, as Captain Conder suggests, emigrated thence to the Súdan. With regard to the origin of the name Já'alin, that which the author had given, on the authority of Mr. Van Dyck, who was well acquainted with the tribes of Palestine, and the peculiarities/ of Syrian Arabic, was he thought correct.

Is not Bedu or tobedawi, the language of the "desert" (as the words in Arabic would imply), showing that it is the tongue of the dwellers in the desert as distinguished from the Arabic of the towns and of the settled country?

FEBRUARY 22ND, 1887.

FRANCIS GALTON, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

The Minutes of the last meeting were read and signed.

The election of JOSEPH STRAKER, Esq., LL.B., of 10, King's Bench Walk, Temple, was announced.

The following presents were announced, and thanks voted to the respective donors:

FOR THE LIBRARY.

From DR. G. A. COLINI.—Cronaca del Museo Preistorico ed Etnografico di Roma. 1884, 5, 6.

From the AUTHOR.--Report on the Human Crania and other bones of the Skeletons collected during the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger," in the years 1873-1876. By William Turner,

66

M.B., LL.D.

The Physical Anthropology of the Isle of Man. By John
Beddoe, M.D., F.R.S.

Le antiche stazioni umane dei dintorni di Cracovia e del
comune di Breonio Veronese. Nota del L. Pigorini.

From the ACADEMY.-Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei. Rendiconti. Vol. II. Fas. 12.

1885-86.

From the BATAVIAASCH GENOOTSCHAP VAN KUNSTEN EN WETENSCHAPPEN. De vestiging van het Nederlandsche Gezag over de Banda-eilanden.

Realia. Deel III.

From the EDITOR. Nature. Nos. 902–903.

Science. Nos. 208-210.

Photographic Times. Nos. 281-2.

Revue d'Ethnographie. 1886. No. 5.

L'Homme. 1886. No. 23.

Professor FERRIER delivered a verbal address of which the following is an abstract:

On the FUNCTIONAL TOPOGRAPHY of the BRAIN.

By Professor D. FERRIER, M.D., F.R.S.

DR. FERRIER opened a discussion on the question, How far recent investigations on the functional topography of the brain could be brought in relation with craniological and anthropological researches with a view to establish the foundations of a scientific phrenology? The subject seemed to him to fall naturally under three heads:

1. How far can we yet speak of a functional topography or localisation of function in the brain as having been established?

2. How far is it possible by anatomical investigation of the brain to form an estimate of the powers or capacities of the individual?

3. How far can we arrive at the same result by examination of the cranium or head of the individual?

In respect to the first head, he said it was now almost universally accepted-in opposition to the doctrines of Flourens-that there were definite regions of the brain specially, if not exclusively, concerned with specific functions in the domain of motion or sensation. He then proceeded to describe the position of the various centres of sensation and motion according to the lines laid down in his work on the "Functions of the Brain " (1886). But only one of the aspects of brain function, viz., the physiological, had been determined. The other, or psychological aspect, the correlations between the physiological and psychological, and the anatomical substrata of the brain, were yet far from being clear. And yet until these correlations were definitely established, we could not consider a practical flesh-and-blood psychology applicable to the needs of the physician or anthropologist as having any existence.

The phenomena of disease, specially those relating to aphasia, indicated that the sensory and motor centres, besides being the medium of sensation and voluntary motion, were also the centres of registration and reproduction of our conscious experience and motor acquisitions; and of these in their respective cohesions and accompaniments, the fabric of mind was to be constructed.

Passing to the second head, he remarked that the determination of functional capacity from anatomical investigation of the brain involved many considerations and difficulties. Mere size of parts could not be considered a satisfactory criterion. We require to know something respecting the size of the individual, and the relation of brain to the sectional area of the nerves with which it was connected. We require to know, also, something as to the activity of the circulation and tissue change. And above all, we require to know much respecting the structure of the grey matter, its cells, processes, &c. Supposing all these points determined, then we might say that there is a relation between the size of a given region and the function with which it is related. He illustrated this point by reference to the facts of comparative anatomy, more particularly as regards the sense of smell, and also by local atrophies induced by congenital absence or early

removal of organs of sense and motion. And he then went on to consider, in detail, what might be indicated in a physiological and psychological view by relatively high development of particular regions. As to the frontal lobes, he expressed his belief that they were related to the higher intellectual faculties by forming the substrata of attention.

On the third head, he remarked that the difficulties as to the determination of capacity were greater than those involved under the second head. For though the skull might be considered as a mould of the brain, yet it was impossible to determine from the skull alone, whether the brain were sound or not; and all the finer complexities of convolution and details of structure were beyond our ken. Mere obvious differences in size of different lobes and regions were all that could be made out by craniological examination. That great differences did exist there was no doubt, and he instanced cases of idiocy and infantile cerebral disease in which marked abnormalities and asymmetries of the skull were very evident, and confirmatory of the conclusions as to the localisation of function otherwise determined.

In determining the greater or less degree of development of particular regions, they had as their guide the cranio-cerebral researches of Broca, Turner, and others. Whether these were as yet fine enough for the anthropologist, though perhaps sufficient for the surgeon, might, however, be questioned.

He described by reference to diagrams what had been determined in respect to the position of the main lobes, fissures and convolutions. In conclusion, he remarked that the data of a scientific phrenology were, as yet, very deficient; but there was reason to believe that if the subject were taken up from different points of view, by the anatomist, physiologist, psychologist, and anthropologist, great progress might be made.

DISCUSSION.

The following notes were sent by Dr. LAUDER BRUNTON, F.R.S., subsequently to the meeting :

As regards the possible change in the shape of the skull from development of the different centres, it seems to me that if a cortical centre expands in all directions, the number of cells in the longitudinal direction being much greater than in the transverse direction, the actual longitudinal increase will be much greater than the transverse, the proportional increase to the original size being the same. The development of the visual centre will thus tend to raise the vertex and elongate the head from above downwards, while the development of the auditory centre will tend to push the occiput backwards, and elongate the head in an antero