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 Finnan, 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,
Kurds, 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-
ceded 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 sionuments 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. D ONO VAN 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.