PREHISTORIC MAN-A somewhat remarkable discovery of human and animal remains has been communicated by Professor Capellini, of Bologna, to the Gazetta dell' Emilia. The Professor, on his return from Denmark, whither he had gone to be present at the International Pre-historic Congress, was rendered so zealous by what he had heard there, that he was induced to make many excursions in the neighbourhood of Spezzia. In the course of these excursions he visited many caverns, and in one of these he was successful in discovering traces of pre-historic man. This was in a grotto in the island of Palmeria, the access to which was difficult and dangerous. Here he caused excavations to be made; and the result was the discovery of numerous flint and stone implements, the workmanship of which showed they belonged to the earliest period of the stone age. Besides these wrought implements and various other objects brought into the cavern by its human occupants, he found a considerable quantity of bones of animals mingled with bones of human beings. The condition of these latter bones, he says, "would justify the inference that the grotto had been inhabited by anthropophagi, and that the Italians of that epoch were cannibals, like their contemporaries in Belgium, France, and Denmark. Among the human bones, I found those of women, and part of the jawbone of a child some seven or eight years of age. Some of these bones were entire; others were partially calcined. In the centre of the cave, it was possible to discern traces of a fire-place. Whoever has busied himself in prehistoric researches, whoever has read Spring's excellent work on the Chauvaux cavern in Belgium, and the writings of other authors on the subject of the caverns in France, will not hesitate to admit that the discoveries in the island of Palmeria prove that the Italians were, as I have said, man-eaters. For the present, it will be sufficient for me to direct the attention of naturalists to the subject. The Cyclopeans spoken of in the fable were probably these cannibals." THE scientific world (says the Berliner Post, January 1869) has been gladdened by the unexpected return of Gustav Vallis, the naturalist, from South America, where, during the last fourteen years, he quite alone explored the almost unknown regions of the sources of the Marañon. An affection of the eyes, for which Mr. Wallis is now under the care of the celebrated oculist, Graefe, prevents, for the present, the publication of his papers. This, however, did not prevent him from delivering an address before the Geographical Association, in which he gave the outlines of his explorations, during which he observed, in districts never before trodden by a European foot, from seventy to eighty Indian tribes, the whole number of which he computes to approach five hundred. He expressed, touching these children of Nature, a much more favourable opinion than has been derived from legendary or even mendacious reports. Some of the tribes were in a condition of surprising culture, honest and hospitable, given to agriculture and industry, such as was not known of the Indians of present America. Amongst some few tribes, however, Wallis met with cases of anthropophagy, which has hitherto not generally been ascribed to Indians. The publication of the papers promise, apart from the interesting anthropological and ethnographical facts, to rectify our knowledge of the sources of the Amazon river, its fauna and flora. CURIOUS DISCOVERY AT TENBY.-The Rev. G. N. Smith, rector of Gumfreston, near Tenby, in writing to a local paper, states :-" No longer back than the last low tides, the head and horns of the great extinct ox, or bos primigenius, bave been dug out of the sand and mud, in which the roots of the old forest are so frequent and visible, and which forms a part, in a large sense of the word, of the Cantrav y Gwaelod, of Lowland Hundred, once attached to the shores, opposite Amroth Castle, about five miles from Tenby. A stag's horn was also found. Remains of the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, the bear, the tiger, the hyæna, and the stag, have been found in our coves in the mountain limestone at different periods, and all that we want is the next link that shall connect this bos with the cave remains. Could but one tooth or bone of either of the wild beasts named above, which are not indigenous, be picked up where the horns of the extinct ox were found, and in the same circumstances, the evidence of contemporaneousness would be very strong indeed."-Standard. IN the forest between Beschine and Moench-Motschelnitz (Silesia), after blasting an erratic block of enormous size, there was found beneath it, at a depth of six feet, a stone hammer of serpentine, of beautiful workmanship. -Anzeiger für Kunde der Deut. Vorz., No. 7, 1868. LISCH found the remains of a foundry of the Bronze Period in the peatmoss of Holzendorff; namely, a perfect mould for bronze missiles.-Ibid. PILE works were discovered in the Streitzig lake, near Neustettin, and near Sonnenberg (Ore Mountains). Four human skulls were also found in the latter place.--Ibid. THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL REVIEW. No. XXIX. APRIL, 1870. ON THE ACCLIMATISATION OF EUROPEANS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. BY JAMES HUNT, Ph.D., F.S.A., F.A.S.L., etc.* Ar the Meeting of the British Association at Manchester, in 1861, I had the honour to read a paper on the Acclimatisation of Man.† I now propose to bring again this important subject under the notice of the Association, by directing attention to the same question. I purpose to take, in the first place, the United States of America, and to consider the question of the cosmopolitanism of man with reference to the great American Republic. I am induced to commence with the United States, on account of the importance of the subject to the English nation in particular; and because it is a portion of the globe where the pernicious influences of a change of residence are so slow in their operation as to prove very deceptive to superficial observers. I propose to show that not only travellers, but even the Europeans in America, are beginning to discover that this physical metamorphosis, which has developed the so-called Yankee type, acts in such a manner as to render the perpetuation of the old stock of settlers a matter of grave doubt, and that as things are, and are likely to be, for some time to come, the immigrant population and their descendants are perpetually filling up the places of the former inhabitants, or primitive settlers and their offspring. This must inevitably be the result of the rapid decrease of the number of births of the old stock in proportion to their deaths; while, on the other hand, the new settlers are said to produce from two to three times as many births as the Americans. This is, at least, the case with one of the oldest * This paper was prepared by the late Dr. Hunt for the meeting of the British Association at Exeter in 1869. + Printed at length among the Reports in the Transactions of the Association for the year 1861. VOL. VIII.-NO. XXIX. K and healthiest states of the Union, and we may rationally conclude that it will be the same in the new and younger states when the inhabitants shall have resided in them the same length of time. Since my last communication, attention has been directed to this question by several of our colleagues in Paris, as well as on the other side of the Atlantic. The history of the rise and progress of Anthropological science has sufficiently indicated to us that the masses of mankind strongly object to be informed of anything relating to their past or future history which is not in accordance with their own wishes. We cannot, therefore, wonder that the Europeans settled in America have not discussed this question, which so nearly affects their future destiny, with that philosophical calmness we should desire; and that they dismiss, as altogether beyond the limits of possibility, such a question as the probability of the degeneracy of their physical condition, which may end in total extinction. Such a result as the total extinction of the Anglo-Saxon race in America is, perhaps, impossible, for this reason-the improbability that the supply of immigrants from Europe will ever entirely cease. As long as that continues, so long will new blood be supplied to replenish the degenerate condition of the early American settlers, and so long will people—at least superficial observers-be blinded, or sceptical, as to whether the continuation of the race is due to a never ceasing supply of immigrants, or to the healthy reproductions of the old stock. Such a question would be finally solved were it possible to entirely separate the immigrants and their descendants from the old settlers. This has been done in the case of Massachusetts, and it ***** fully shows that the American race is being replaced by foreign immi grants. How far this is the case with reference to the other States I can not at present tell, but I shall show in the sequel that, according to American statisticians, the reproductive power of the original stock is said to have decreased 10 per cent since the beginning of the century. The Americans, however, instead of looking for the true solution of this question, attribute it to other causes, and deny-or rather treat as nonsensical-such assertions as those which attribute it to a degenerate physical condition produced by the influence of an unfavourable climate and other allied influences. To this there are o, honourable exceptions; but, as a rule, the cosmopolitan power of me man, and especially of the Anglo-Saxon race, is still one of the many popular delusions which are held as firmly in America as in Great Britain. The question before us is a very large and a very difficult one. With respect to America it is rendered doubly complex by the animus which has been shown against those who hold opinions such as those I have been obliged to adopt from the facts before us, and against those, especially, who venture to express such opinions; as well as, in the second place, by the scantiness of faithful and reliable statistical evidence. It is thus difficult to obtain either unbiassed opinions or pregnant scientific facts. We are consequently compelled either to leave this question undiscussed, or to use such facts and opinions as are available. The question, however, is far too important to leave undiscussed, for, as my late lamented colleague, Dr. Boudin, justly que maintained, this problem is the most important in Anthropology, and onion, del on it depend all systems of colonisation, as well as recruiting for on that & ac foreign stations. To this country especially it is of the greatest a tigh practical interest, and it is growing in importance day by day; no apology, therefore, need be offered for calling the attention of my colleagues to such facts as have come under my notice during the last eight years. I purpose commencing work with the United States of America, and shall endeavour to follow up the subject by other papers on different portions of the globe. First, then, as to the climatic conditions of this vast Republic. The climate of the United States is remarkably inconstant and cale of a variable. It passes rapidly from the frosts of Norway to the scorching heat of Africa, and from the humidity of Holland to the drought of Castile. A change of 20 deg. or 25 deg. Fahr. in one day is not considered extraordinary-a phenomenon which is attributed to the fact that the passage from the heat of the tropics to the cold of the arctic regions is not obstructed by any considerable mountain chain, running from east to west. The north-west wind, sweeping over a vast frozen surface, acquires an intense degree of cold and dryness, which operates very injuriously on the human frame; whilst the south-east, blowing across the Atlantic, adds greatly to the insalubrity of the littoral regions with which it comes in contact. The south-west produces the same effects in the plains at the foot of the Alleghanies. The that those inhabiting the lower country bordering on the Atlantic, anda?”. |