The Scrutineers gave in their Report and the following gentlemen were declared to be duly elected to serve as Officers and Council for the year 1888 :— President. Francis Galton, Esq., M.A., F.R.S. Vice-Presidents.-J. G. Garson, Esq., M.D.; Prof. A. H. Keane, B.A.; F. G. H. Price, Esq., F.S.A. Secretary.-F. W. Rudler, Esq., F.G.S. Council.-G. M. Atkinson, Esq.; E. W. Brabrook, Esq., F.S.A.; A vote of thanks to the Treasurer and Secretary for their services during the past year was moved by Mr. G. W. ATKINSON, Seconded by Dr. SUMMERHAYES, supported by the Rev. H. H. WINWOOD, and carried unanimously. Mr. A. L. LEWIS moved and Dr. GARSON seconded, a vote of thanks to the retiring Vice-President, the retiring Councillors, the Auditors, and the Scrutineers, which was carried by acclamation. 2 B VOL. XVII. ANTHROPOLOGICAL MISCELLANEA. The PRIMITIVE HUMAN HORDE. I do not think there is much to answer in Mr. Wake's note. His position seems to me insupportable because (1) He takes pains to discuss matters which I do not dispute; (2) He assumes conclusions on my behalf which I do not admit; and (3) He does not appear to accept the doctrine of survival in custom. (1.) The difference between Mr. McLennan's conception of the horde and mine is fully recognised and emphasized by me. Mr. Wake's observations on the same point are, therefore, superfluous. But because I differ from Mr. McLennan as to the organisation and construction of the horde, does it follow that I supply no evidence in support of Mr. McLennan's theory of the existence of the primitive group or horde? It was no part of Mr. McLennan's task to work out the details of the horde organisation; what he did was to arrive at the "conception " of such an organisation by working back through later stages of society until he came to the horde. Accepting Mr. McLennan's general conclusion, I sought to fill up the outline with some special researches. (2.) Mr. Wake's method of argument is curious. On p. 279 he assumes "that the totem organisation of the horde was based upon the same ideas as the gens. This assumption, in the following paragraph, becomes an "important conclusion," from which he is enabled to state that "the totem organisation in the primitive horde would thus require it to have been bound together by the ties of kin," and finally to conclude that totemism and exogamy imply the existence of kinship by blood. I cannot follow the steps in the logic of this singular paragraph; I dispute the assumption," the "important conclusions," and most of all the final conclusions, and I await Mr. Wake's proofs. 66 (3.) Mr. Wake considers that, because the Abor tribes have developed some agricultural and other advanced habits, therefore the particular qualities quoted by me are not evidence of "horde " organisation. May I ask him whether he cannot conceive the Abors to have retained some very primitive characteristics during the time they were advancing? He would admit it in the case of the Welsh who retained bride-capture in historical times. I quite admit that the evidence wants careful weighing, and I thank Mr. Wake for his observations on the tribes I have mentioned. On the question of the Andaman Islanders Mr. Wake pins his faith to Mr. Man's observation. I agree with Mr. 66 Featherman's criticisms of Mr. Man; but on this point I can understand Mr. Wake's criticism. But I altogether object to his ' assuming" something on my behalf and then demolishing me on the strength of this assumption. Thus, on p. 279, Mr. Wake says the Arab tribe " may be said to answer as nearly as possible to Mr. Gomme's horde," and then goes on to disprove the likeness and to speak of "unfortunately for his (i.e. Mr. Gomme's) hypothesis." Now I never considered, and do not consider, the Arabs have anything to do with the horde type of society, and I have expressly disclaimed the notion that any modern people could be taken, as a whole, to represent the primitive human horde. G. LAURENCE GOMME. Barnes Common. STATISTICS bearing upon the AVERAGE and TYPICAL STUDENT in By Dr. E. HITCHCOCK, assisted by Dr. H. H. SEELYE. THE three columns of figures on the next page are the results of an attempt to learn what are the measures and proportions of the average student, and the student of mean proportions in Amherst College as derived from the anthropometric data gathered in the Department of Physical Education and Hygiene. The first column gives the averages in the several different items-of all the students who have been connected with College from 1861-2 up to 1887-8 inclusive. The second column gives the averages of the same items of those students only who were of the average height of all College—those whose height was 1,725 millimetres, or 67.9 inches. The third column is made up in this manner :- -Each item is separated into numerical groups or columns of figures—of a small range of a few millimetres each, and arranged side by side on a horizontal line, so as to show the relative size of each one to the other, or of the largest to those of middle proportions, and of each of these to the smallest, the top of the columns representing an ascent and descent. This will give a gradually ascending series from the left or smallest individuals to about the centre of the groups, where the columns will grow shorter and shorter to the right, or to the largest individuals. The central column, or the point between the two columns- -if they chance to be two columns of equal numberswill give the mean or typical measurement of the item. In the item of Height for example, we may divide it into groups of 10 millimetres, or about half an inch each, beginning with 1,600 to 1,610 millimetres or 63 inches, and running to 1,830 millimetres, or 72 inches. This will give us 25 groups in all—and each man's height as preserved in the book of records will have been placed in the proper groups. Items of Observation. When all are gathered together in this manner we have an ascending series from the lowest or smallest measure to a certaia point where the series begins to descend to the highest or largest measure. This point or recorded height-where the greatest number of observations are found, constitutes the mean or the central point of all the heights, and is to be regarded as the typical or standard height of all the students. Hence this third column indicates the student of mean Proportions, while the other columns indicate the relations of the Average Student. Average and mean anthropometric data of Amherst College Students, March, 1888 : These are "Metric" measurements, and where the item is taken double-right and left parts -the average of the two is the record. DISTRIBUTION of INDIAN TRIBES in NORTH AMERICA. THE United States Geological Survey has nearly ready for publication a map showing the distribution of the Indian tribes on this continent north of Mexico. Including the labour which Major Powell himself and his immediate assistants have expended in the collection, arrangement, and digestion of the material for this map, and that done by the Bureau of Ethnology, it will represent the work of about fifteen years, and will be one of the most important and interesting publications ever made by the Geological Survey. All of the Indians living in this country at the time of the white occupation have been divided into linguistic families, and the territory occupied by each one of these families is represented on the map by a distinctive colour. The number of these families is about 60, and the number of separate tribes between 300 and 350. One of the first and most important facts shown by this map is that the territory occupied by each linguistic family, with few exceptions, is continuous. An important deduction in relation to the habits of the Indians is drawn from this fact, that instead of being nomadic, and wandering over the continent at will, as has been generally supposed, the Indians had fixed homes, the boundaries of which were almost as plainly marked as the dividing lines between the several States are to-day, and that their wanderings were within limited areas, rarely or never extending beyond these fixed boundaries. The Indians had their permanent villages, in which they lived for five, ten, twenty, or perhaps fifty years. At certain seasons of the year they went to the coast or to the rivers to fish, or to the forest or plains to hunt. The boundaries of the territories occupied by each family were occasionally changed by conquest. A stronger tribe or family would by war push back its weaker neighbours, and thus extend its dominion. But the territory so conquered was recognised by the vanquished, as well as by the victor, as the property of the latter. If the Indians had been nomadic, and wandered over the continent, or over large portions of it, branches of the same linguistic family would have been found scattered broadcast all over the country. Some of the few exceptions to this general rule of distribution are exceedingly interesting, and throw a light upon the unwritten and even forgotten history of some of the tribes. For instance: a But little colony of the great Siouan family is found in Virginia. How it became separated, crossed the mountains, and maintained itself in the midst of another family speaking an entirely different language, suggests a very interesting topic for the study of the ethnologist. Again: all the north-western part of the continent was occupied by the Athabascan family, very peaceable Indians. the Apaches and Navajos of New Mexico and Arizona belong to the same family, and are among the most warlike on the continent. To their surroundings and the necessity of wresting their new home from its previous occupants and holding it, as well as to the inhospitable character of the country, may not their change of character be attributed? Another little tribe of the Athabascans is found in California. One of the most degraded families of Indians of North America in the Shoshonean, of which the Diggers are a branch. And yet, strange as it may appear, the Moquis, more advanced toward civilisation than any others of the Pueblo Indians, are Shoshonean. One exceedingly interesting feature of the map is the great number of little families that lived in California and Oregon. Some |