The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-11 00:00:00

Ethnological College,

Yesterday evening an ordinary meeting of the
Ethnological Society was held in their rooms in
St. Martin's-place—the president, Mr. Lubbock, in
the chair. An elaborate paper, contributed by Mr.
Khanikoi, was read, entitled, " Contributions to
the Natural History of Iranians." The paper
commenced by asserting that the highest point of
the Old World, the plateau of Thibet, and the chain
of the Himalaya, divides four different nationalities
—the Chinese to the east, the looranians to the
north, the Hindoos to the south, and the Iranians
or Persians to the west. Philological and historical
researches, it was said, have established-the commu-
nity of origin of the Hindoos and Iranians, who, at
very remote periods, lived together under the com-
mon name of Aryans. He took that position as the
foundation of his researches, which led him to infer
that the Persian inhabitants scattered in the fertile
valleys situated between the Hindookush, the chains
of Poughman and of Koshi Baba, and the well-
watered plains of Herat, Scistan, and Kinnan, were
the true aborigines, and that among them may be
found representatives of the primitive type of that
family. Mr. Khanikof then proceeded to consider the
evidence in support of that opinion, which depended
principally on the craniological examination of the
[ different figures sculptured on ancient monu-
ments, and the crania of the existing inhabitants of
the region. The measurements of the heads of the
Guebers or fireworshippers, of Hindoos, Affghans,
Kurcli, and Bactrians, established a considerable
difference in the conformation of the heads in eastern
and western Iranians, and showed that the Kurds
and the Bactrians are the opposite of Hindoos and
Guebers in all diameters of the skull.
Sir HENRY RAWLINSON differed from Mr. Khanikof
with respect to the Iranians being the original race
of mankind. He thought that the looranians pre-
ce.ded the Aryan race, and that from the fertile
valleys of Central India the various races that now
people Asia, Europe, and Africa were disseminated.
The Hungarians, the Basques, and the original in-
habitants of this island, he believed, were descended
from the looranians. The cuneiform characters on
ancient Assyrian monuments were, he considered,
derived from the same source.

Mr. CRAWFURD took the opportunity of reassert-
ing his conviction that black and white men were
not of the same race, and could not have sprung
from the same stock.
Dr. DONOVAN remarked on the absence of all
mention of the brain in such papers, when so much
stress was laid on the formation of the skull. To
that objection
Mr. LUBBOCK replied that the skull was all that
remained, and that in the absence of the brain the
brain-case was the best evidence obtainable of what
had been its contents—in the same manner as, in
the examination of fossils, geologists were obliged to
content themselves with the shells, or casts of them,
in the absence of the molluscs.

A paper was then read, contributed by Sir Wood-
bine Parish, "On the Artificial Eyes of certain
Peruvian Mummies," several specimens of which
were laid on the table. The eyes were found in
a mummy-pit near the town of Arica, in which
many bodies supposed to be the dessicated corpses
of ancient Peruvians, were deposited. The
eyes shell into numerous concentric layers, and on
examination were discovered to consist of the crys-
talline lenses of the eyes of large cuttlefish. The
bodies were deposited on the slope of a hill, the soil
of which was of a light sandy nature. In every
case they were of a dark colour, with all the flesh
on the bones, and with the hair still adhering to the
skull. There was no evidence of their having been
prepared as mummies. In the sockets of some of
the skulls the artificial eyes were found. Near each
body were various implements, including flint ar-
row heads, and some hard earthenware vessels, but
in no instance was there a vestige of cloth or wood,
nor anything in which the eyes might have been set
as ornaments. Mr. Bollaert, who had found simi-
lar objects in the grave mound at Arica, made a few
observations on the paper ; and the meeting ad-
journed to the 27th inst., when a paper on civilisa-
tion in North Celebes will be read by Mr. Wallace,
and also a paper by Professor Busk._

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—It will be seen by the news from Ame-
rica which we publish this morning that the Confe-

derates have in their turn achieved a success which
will be, at all events, some set-off against their re-

verse at Savannah. The first of the two accounts
from Wilmington, upon which we commented on
Monday, is now confirmed by despatches from Ad-
miral Porter himself, and it is no longer doubtful
that the great expedition so long threatened against
that city has, for the present at least, completely
failed. There are, indeed, contradictory accounts
as to the movement of the fleet under Admiral Por-
ter's command—one report stating that he has re-
turned to Beaufort, North Carolina, to await fur-
ther orders, the other asserting that the bombardment
of the fort by the guns of the fleet still continued.
It is certain, however, that General Butler had re-
turned to Fortrtss Monroe with part of his troops,
and that the rest were following him. As the mili-
tary force has thus been withdrawn, upon the asser-
tion of its commander that the fort attacked was
impregnable to an assault, there canbe no prospect of
success from a merely naval attack, and if the fleet,
therefore, was not immediately withdrawn it can
hardly fail soon to follow the land force. Wilming-
ton, therefore, may consider itself safe from attack
for some time to come. As to the details of the
engagement, we have the advantage of possessing
simultaneously both the Northern and the Southern
accounts. The official telegrams from Wilmington
contained in the Richmond papers were published
in our impression of Monday, and it appears that a
correspondent in our columns yesterday was right
in the inference which he drew from a comparison of
their dates, that the withdrawal of the expedition
was already announced in them. The details as
they are thus reported present many points of inte-
rest, and a fuller account will probably be very in-
structive. The point of attack was a series of
works commanding the eastern inlet to Cape Fear
river, about 20 miles below Wilmington. These
are situated on the southern extremity of a narrow
strip of land, the eastern side of which is
open to the Atlantic, and, therefore, to
the operations of the Federal fleet and army.l
The principal fortification—Fort Fisher—is de-
scribed as a 6 4 casemated earthwork," of great
power, mounting 36 heavy guns, some of them
rifled, and having a range of more than three miles.
This fort was the key of the position, and was the
object of the Federal bombardment. The armament
which made the attack was extremely formidable.
It consisted, according to the various accounts of the
Federal Press, of from 50 to 80 ships, carrying from
600 to 700 guns, some of them of the largest calibre;
and two divisions of the Federal army under General
Butler accompanied the fleet. It is said that at least
200 guns could be brought to bear at one time upon
the fort. If this be an accurate account, the com-
plete failure of so extraordinary a force to make any
considerable impression upon an earthwork, how-
ever powerful, will be one of the most remarkable
incidents of the war. The attack was opened on
the day before Christmas-day by a novel expedient.
A ship, containing between two and three hundred
tons of gunpowder, was run on shore under the
walls of the fort, and was there exploded. The
effects anticipated from this explosion may be esti-
mated from the fact that the whole amount of
powder which produced the late terrible explosion at
Erith was but 55 tons. It is said, indeed, that the
idea was partly suggested by the account of that
event. When we remember the tremendous effect

then produced, and in particular the destruction of
the river wall, it is extraordinary to hear that little
effect was produced upon the works. It is still more
remarkable that the Confederate report from Wil-
mington of the same day speaks only of a " furious
attack," and does not even mention the explosion.
Immediately after this attempt a bombardment
was commenced, and was continued throughout
the day, an average fire being kept up, according to
the Confederate account, of no less than 30 shots a
minute. The Confederates replied, it is said, slowly
and deliberately, and at the end of the day they
report their loss at only 23 men wounded. The
bombardment was renewed on Sunday morning,
and at the same time the co-operating force of
General Butler effected a landing above the fort.
The news of this lodgment was received with some
anxiety in Richmond, but the Confederates were
soon relieved. The troops made a reconnaissance
in the rear of the fort the same evening, but found
the works to be of such strength that an assault was
impracticable. Gen. Butler and his subordinate
officer decided, in fact, that the works were impreg-
nable except by protracted siege operations. These
it was considered impossible to undertake, partly in
consequence of the high sea which prevailed, and
which made it difficult to land the troops, and partly
in consequence of the rapid advance of a force from
Wilmington. The troops were therefore re-em-
barked on the Monday morning and sent back to
Fortress Monroe. It would be premature to draw
any inferences from the extraordinary defence thus
offered by a single fort to so powerful a fleet until
we, have more detailed accounts of the engagement,
but it is plain from these facts that the failure has

been singularly complete. Gen. Bragg reported to
Mr. Davis on the evening of Monday that he had
visited the fort and found " the damage slight, ex-
cept of the buildings not necessary for defence."
Only two guns were disabled. It is possible that
the high sea which is said to have prevailed may
have rendered the Federal fire thus ineffective ; but
to whatever secondary causes the result may be at-
tributed, the Confederates will naturally be greatly
encouraged by so complete a success. It is not
merely that they retain Wilmington, the loss of
which would have been a serious blow to them, but
they have at length made a conspicuous break in
the tide of adverse events which has swept in upon
them since the close of the active campaign in Vir-
ginia; and the despondency which might have seized
them in consequence of Sherman's success and the
failure of Hood will now at least receive a check.
The vigour of the Federals will indeed allow them
no rest. At the same time that we hear of the aban-
donment of the attack on Wilmington we learn
that a military expedition has landed at Pasca-
goula, in Mississippi, and is marching on Mobile.
The fall of this city, however, would not be
of nearly the importance of the capture of
Wilmington, and the interest of the war will
again centre for awhile with the three main Federal
armies—those of General Grant, General Sherman,
and General Thomas. As to the former, we only
hear rumours that General'Lee will shortly assume
the offensive. It still remains to be seen to what
purpose Sherman proposes to put his capture of
Savannah. At present he has only despatched a
column southwards on the line of the Albany and
Gulf Railroad, to endeavour, it is said, to release the
Union prisoners of war who were withdrawn from
Millen at his advance. The Richmond papers speak
of his contemplating a march northwards towards
Virginia ; but a march through South and North
Carolina would be a very different thing from a
march through Georgia, and it is difficult to believe
that such a design can be seriously entertained.
Ytt, except for operations in South Carolina, it is
hard to see of what use an army can be in Savannah.
A combined attack on Charleston may possibly take
the place of the abortive expedition against Wil- I
mington ; but the Confederates ought to make that
city cost more than it is worth. They have, no
doubt, severe work before them in the course of
this year • but that, as President Davis told them
a little while ago, is only what they must expect.
The question is not so much whether they can de-
feat the North in a series of campaigns as whether
they can and will resist sufficiently long, and with
sufficient vigour, to weary out their adversaries.
Some of their more sanguine leaders, indeed, ap-
pear to be not without hope that they may yet, per-
haps with the help of the negroes, succeed in turn-
ing the tide. At all events, none but a hasty judge,
and one little swayed by the evidence of history,
will see in mere military successes, either on one
side or the other, any necessary tendency towards
a speedy termination of the war.
POST.—We have arrived apparently at a period
at which public expenditure has reached its zenith,
and is again declining towards the horizon of our
former economy. If the Emperor Napoleon 111. is
ever pictured as Cincinnatus, M. Fould will cer-
tainly be drawn standing by the ploughshare. The
French Minister of Finance is resolved that the
France of Magenta and Solferino shall also, but a
few years. after those victories were fought, be a
country reducing its armaments and confiding in
peace. There is no reason why this should not be
so. Europe, in 1865, ought at any rate to be an
Arcadia. She has nothing left to fight for. Two
great questions, indeed, have arisen since the
Italian war—the questions of Poland and Den-
mark ; but the Western Powers having declined to
draw the sword in either cause, it has fairly been
asked what is the use of all these military arma-
ments. It is this practical consideration which
leads M. Fould to the expectation he holds out, that
the extraordinary naval and military expenditure of
France will before long disappear. A more pacific
avowal, and at the same tune a more reasonable
conception, could hardly have been made by any
Minister of Finance. " These happy results," says
M. Fould, " are due to the confidence inspired by
the GOvernment, and to the peaceful sentiments
with which Europe knows that your Majesty is
animated." To descend into details, the French
Minister of Finance reviews the financial results of
three successive years, and he shows that a pro-
gressive improvement has taken place in each.
This he succinctly states as follows :—The deficit
chargeable on the year 1863 has been reduced by
15,000,000 f. The deficit estimated upon the
year 1864 has been filled up, and an equilibrium
between expenditure and revenue is likely to be
obtained, For 1865 there will be a reduction of

44,000,000 f. in the naval and military eipenclittirri
previously allowed for, and this reduction will
leave an:estimated balance in favour of the Treasury
of 18,000,000 f. to be carried on to the year 1866,
This surplus of revenue over expenditure for the
current year is at the same time put forward as
minimum ; for, over and above the amount so stated,
there is an additional 65,000,000 f. of extraordinary
naval and military expenditure, which the French
Minister hopes to reduce, and finally to extinguish,
so that the total of the possible surplus for the pre-
sent year may be some amount between 18,000,000 f.
and 83,000,000 f. This result will afford an earnest
of the peace of the world, while it will also be all
acceptable offering to the French taxpayers. It
would be hard to say, if we were to judge from these
figures alone, whether the course of French taxation
and expenditure had lately been increasing or dimi-
nishing. For the year 1863 the total of the ordi-
nary receipts were 1,729,000,000 f., while the spe-
cial resources amounted to 21,000,000 f., and the
extraordinary budget to 122,000,000 f. The total
general of the French receipts for that year was
therefore 2,069,000,000 f. At the same time the
estimated expenditure was 2,060,000,000 f., s"
as to leave a surplus of 9,000,000 f. This expecta-
tion, however, was disappointed, and a considerable
deficit actually happened in consequence, for the
most part, of the unforeseen expenses on account of
the wars in Mexico and Cochin China. In 1864
the ordinary receipts rose to 1,780,000,000 f., while
in 1865 the deductions of taxation which followed
lowered them to 1,752,000,000 f. To these figures,
of course, in order to gain the total of revenue for
each year, have to be added the extraordinary re-
venue required by the extraordinary taxation of
each year • so that, in both cases, this total exceeds
2,000,000,000 f. But the above figures are highly
satisfactory when clearly and fully understood.
The ordinary income for 1864 represents an in-
crease
under the same pressure of taxation,
over that of 1863, by nearly 60,000,000 f. ; and
the revenue for the current year, though
30,000,000 f. less than that of 1864, in consequence
of reduced taxation, is found to be compatible with
a substantial surplus. In 1864, on the other hand,
the expenditure rose with the receipts ; "the total
general of the former (that is inclusive of " •
traordinary" expenditure) was -estimated at
2,105,000,000 f. ; the total general of the latter at
2,llo,ooo,ooof.—showing on paper a surplus of
5,000,000 f. This, we believe, would have been
realised by the facts had not the uncertain expense
of the Mexican expedition run to a larger amount
than there was any reason to anticipate. For the
future we are glad to know that this expenditure
will be borne by the Mexican finances alone ; and
there is therefore at once an end to this drain, and
a reason why the present Budget of M. Fould should
not be liable to such unforeseen increase of expel'
diture as fell upon the previous estimates. The
French public have reason to rejoice that these inn-
proved prospects should come over their financial
position. In the present pacific attitude of Europe
there seems no reason for the French Government
to be spending 80,000,0001. a year, with a very
considerably smaller national debt than our own•
It is quite true that they have expenses of a kind
peculiar to themselves. The extreme centralisation
of the Government, which is in some senses a mis-
fortune as well as an advantage, devolves upon the
Imperial Treasury charges, some of which, though
they fall heavily enough on the nation itself in our
own country, do not appear in our public accounts.
This is the case with various local expenses, such 9-4
we defray for the most part out of local rates, while
France in great measure meets them out of the
Imperial Exchequer. It is therefore difficult to
measure the expenses of the French Government
by our own standard. That a saving, however,
was possible we never doubted. It will be
satisfactory to France, on financial grounds, to
find that such a saving will now take place ; but
it will be much more satisfactory, for broader,
reasons, to find that what we commonly cal'
the war expenditure of that country may now
be reduced until it is finally abolished. There has
been no reason why the French Government should
not have convinced Europe before that it mea9
peace, and not war. But we are all too apt to look
to the bold fact of armaments, and not to the rely
sons which have called them into existence, and have
continued to maintain them. France begins to fin";
that she has at last exhausted her enemies, and that
her policy is one with which peace will henceforth
be more surely compatible than before. This being
so, she has every reason to set the rest of the Con-,
tinent an example by disarming ; and we trust that
it is one which will be followed by her neighbours
on the Rhine.