The general result shows a greater variability in the climate of Jersey. The daily range during six years of mutual good observation was 11.6° in Jersey and 8° in Guernsey, and the mean monthly range 27.9° and 20-6° respectively. All these particulars of climate are further illustrated by a careful comparison of tabulated results. The barometric pressure in Jersey generally varies less than in Guernsey; and the two islands by no means correspond in range or actual pressure. They occupy different positions with regard to the great atmospheric wave. Jersey is less cloudy than Guernsey; the number of days of rain-fall is smaller, and the quantity of rain is also smaller. The two islands are exceedingly different in respect to humidity, both in amount and season. The monthly range of humidity is greatest in Jersey. On the whole, Jersey is drier and warmer than Guernsey, and has a clearer atmosphere; it is hotter in summer and cooler in winter. The pressure of the air varies less frequently, but within larger limits; heavier rain falls there, but more rain falls in the year, and it falls on more days, in Guernsey. The climates of Alderney and Sark have not been carefully observed. It is generally considered that both are more bracing than the larger islands. All the Channel Islands agree in some general conditions of the climate. A general summary of these will be useful. The equability and duration of autumn are, in ordinary seasons, extremely remarkable. Storms, and occasional heavy rains, usher in this season; but they are not succeeded by cold. In the intervals, up to the end of the year, the weather is remarkably fine and genial, with no night frosts. From the 10th October to the end of the month is what is called St. Martin's summer, and the weather is then singularly agreeable. The same kind of weather often recurs in the middle of December. During the spring months, east, north-east, and north winds, and sometimes north-west winds, are frequent and violent, and often extremely disagreeable. They feel cold, but do not bring down the thermometer. They are often very dry. The night temperature is still comparatively high, hoar frost being rarely seen, except in exposed, bleak, and high positions, and in the months of January and February. February is the coldest month of the year. The days in summer are rarely hot; the nights are cool and pleasant, almost without exception. The latter part of summer is generally fine and pleasant, passing into early autumn without perceptible change. A Journey to Harran in Padan-Aram and thence over Mount Gilead into the Promised Land. By CHARLES T. BEKE, Ph.D., F.S.A., F.R.G.S., &c.* Towards the close of the year 1861, Dr. Beke, accompanied by his wife, undertook a journey to Harran, the residence of the Patriarch Terah and his descendants, and thence over Mount Gilead into the Promised Land, by the road taken by the Patriarch Jacob in his flight from his father-in-law Laban. Harran is a village situate at the eastern extremity of the Ghuthah or Plain of Damascus, which Dr. Beke identifies with the Land of Uz (Hutz) of the Book of Jobt. It is usually distinguished as Harran-el-Awamid, or Harran of the Columns, from three Ionic columns, which, with numerous other remains, prove that in the intervening ages there was here a Greek or Roman city. The name of this city is lost, Harran having resumed its Scriptural appellation before the twelfth century, when it was described by the Arabian geographer Yakut as one of the towns of the Ghuthah of Damascus." 66 At the entrance from the west is a draw-well of great antiquity, which Dr. Beke identifies with the well at which Abraham's steward, Eliezer of Damascus, met Rebekah. Some of the water has been analysed at the Royal School of Mines, by direction of Sir Roderick I. Murchison, and found to contain 109.76 grains of solid * See also Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xxxii. pp. 76–100. · matter in the gallon. The water of a second well near the former is so impure as to be no longer fit for use, and at the present day the inhabitants obtain their chief supply of water through an artificial canal. On the first day of the present year (1862), the travellers left Harran on their way to Mount Gilead. They first came to the river Awaj, the ancient Pharpar, forming with the Barada-the Abana of Scripture-the two "Rivers of Damascus,' the capital of Aram or Syria; which rivers gave to Aram Naharaim, or "Aram of the Two Rivers," its distinguishing appellation. This district, though not incorrectly called "Mesopotamia of Syria," has been supposed to be the Mesopotamia of Assyria, between the two rivers Euphrates and Tigris, whence have arisen considerable errors in Scripture geography and history. When, according to the Scripture narrative, Laban set "three days' journey" between his flocks and those of his son-in-law Jacob, it is reasonable to infer that the latter led his flocks in the direction best adapted for his contemplated flight from Padan-Aram; that is to say, up the left bank of the Awaj. The spot where he crossed the river would consequently have been at or near Kiswe, a town on the great pilgrim-road between Damascus and Mekka; and thence he would have proceeded south over the plains of Harran. This is the road taken by Dr. Beke; and certainly nothing could so graphically describe it as the few simple words of Scripture:" He passed over the river, and set his face toward the Mount Gilead." A traveller, however much unacquainted with the country, has only to proceed along the high road, running straight from north to south over an almost level plain, without a mountain intervening to lead him astray, and he soon sees before him the summit of Gilead, standing out separately and distinctly, and towards it he "sets his face." The distance travelled by Jacob before Laban "overtook him in the Mount Gilead" is stated to have been "seven days' journey." Travelling much quicker than the patriarch could have done, it was on their fifth day from Harran that Dr. and Mrs. Beke ascended the side of Gilead, where they soon came to some delicious springs of water in the midst of luxuriant pasturage. At such a spot the Patriarch Jacob, with his wearied flocks and herds, would naturally have stopped and pitched his "tent in the mount," where he was overtaken by Laban. A few minutes more brought the travellers to the summit of Gilead, where they enjoyed an extensive view over the Promised Land, embracing Mount Tabor, Nazareth, Cana, Tiberias, and other places rendered ever memorable by Our Lord's ministry and miracles. After the reconciliation between Laban and Jacob, it is said that "Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him, .... and he called the name of the place Mahanaim." Close to where Dr. Beke crossed the summit of Gilead is a ruin called Mahneh, which may be looked on as representing the spot where the patriarch, on his first coming within sight of his native country after an absence of twenty years, was favoured with this manifestation of the Divine preShortly after leaving the pass of the mountain, Dr. and Mrs. Beke came to a cromlech, in form and appearance almost identical with Kits-Coty House, in Kent. Thence proceeding down Wady Ajlun, and then crossing Wady Rajib, they reached the Ghor, or plain of the Jordan, not far to the north of Wady Zerka, the river Jabbok of Scripture, over which the Patriarch Jacob crossed before meeting his brother Esau, and where "there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day; .... and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel." sence. After his meeting with his brother, Jacob, professing to accompany him, journeyed to Succoth, "leading on softly," and there stopped to "build him an house, and make booths for his cattle;" whilst "Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir." Succoth has been supposed to be on the west side of Jordan, a few miles to the north of the Jabbok; but the whole context shows that the patriarch, in order to get free from his brother, pretended to be going on with him towards Seir, but stopped all at once, as if weary, at Succoth, whilst Esau unsuspectingly continued his journey. Succoth is accordingly placed by Dr. Beke at a short distance to the south of the Jabbok, on the east side of Jordan. Crossing here the river, the triarch would, on the opposite side, have entered the mouth of Wady Far'a, where it joins the Jordan from the north-west, and continuing up the valley, he at length pa 66 came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-Aram, and pitched his tent before the city." Dr. and Mrs. Beke, being unable to obtain an escort to accompany them as far south as the Jabbok, crossed the Jordan at the point where they first reached it. While proceeding along the opposite bank, they were attacked by a party of Beduins; after freeing themselves from whom, they at once crossed the mountains between the Ghor and Wady Far'a, where they again fell into the road taken by the Patriarch Jacob, along which they continued to Nablus, the ancient Shechem, arriving there on the tenth day after their departure from Harran. On the Geography of Mont Pelvoux, in Dauphiné. By the Rev. T. G. BONNEY, M.A., F.G.S. This district of the Alps is very imperfectly laid down on all the maps at present published. The following are the principal authorities known to me :-(1.) A map by General Bourcet, published at Paris in the year 1758. It is a most laborious performance, and very accurate for all parts below the snow-line, but above that of little use. (2.) A paper by M. Elie de Beaumont, in the 'Annales des Mines,' 3me Série, tome v. In this there is some very valuable information, but given in so confused a manner, that it requires a thorough knowledge of the district to understand it. (3.) A most interesting article on Dauphiné, by Professor Forbes, at the end of his work on Norway and its Glaciers (published 1853). He did not, however, pierce the "massif" of the Pelvoux, and consequently, being misled by Bourcet's map, he speaks of it as a single mountain, overhanging the valley of La Berarde. (4.) A paper by Mr. Whymper, in the second volume of the second series of Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers' (published in 1862). This gentleman ascended, for the first time on record, the highest peak of the Pelvoux, but misunderstanding Elie de Beaumont, he has fallen into several topographical errors. was also ascended during the past summer by Mr. Tuckett, of Bristol, who was The Pelvoux the first person to clear up the difficulties about the heights and names of the mountain. On his return through Paris, he saw at the Département de la Guerre the manuscript map made from Capt. Durand's survey in 1828. He obtained a tracing of the district in the immediate neighbourhood of the Pelvoux, of which he has kindly sent the author a copy. It is impossible to speak in too high terms of commendation of this map, but unfortunately it will not (as he was informed at the Department) be published for five years. The chief features of the district are as follows. The watershed between the Romanche and the Durance, after passing the Col du Lautaret and running south for some four miles, turns to the south-west for about three miles, and then turns to the south again, passing through the Pointe des Ecrins (the highest mountain in the group), 13,462 feet, and l'Aléfroide, 12,878 feet. Where the line turns to the south, a large offshoot runs in a north-westerly direction, in which are the Aiguille du Midi de la Grave, 13,081 feet, and the great Glacier du Mont de Lans. From the Pointe des Ecrins a short spur runs out to the east, dividing the Glaciers Blanc and Noir. From the Aléfroide another large spur runs out to the east, terminating in the Grand Pelvoux, 12,973 feet. This portion of the chain may be said to consist of four distinct peaks-(1) l'Aléfroide, two rocky aiguilles without name, 11,772 feet? and 12,845 feet? respectively, and the Grand Pelvoux, with its five heads. Besides these there are several other mountains in the district, from 11,000 to a little over 12,000 feet. The authority for the heights is a list obtained by Mr. Tuckett from the Etat-Major Français. The scenery of this part of Dauphiné is of the grandest description; some of the snow-fields and glaciers are of great extent, and the magnificent precipices that surround them equal, if they do not surpass, anything that can be found in Switzerland or Savoy. On Colour as a Test of the Races of Man. By J. CRAWFURD, F.R.S. Colour in different races appeared to be a character imprinted upon them from the beginning, because, as far as our experience goes, neither time, climate, nor locality has produced any change. Egyptian paintings 4000 years old represent the people as they are now. The Parsees in India who went from Persia are now the same as when they migrated a thousand years ago. African negroes that have for three centuries been transported to the New World remain unchanged. The Spaniards settled in tropical America remain as fair as the people of Arragon and Andalusia. He contended that climate had no influence in determining colour in different races. Fins and Laps, though further north, are darker than the Swedes; and within the Arctic circle we find Esquimaux of the same colour and complexion as the Malays under the Equator. Yellow Hottentots and Bushmen live in the immediate neighbourhood of Black Caffres and negroes. There is as wide a difference between the colour of an African negro and a European, between a Hindoo and a Chinese, and between an Australian and a Red American, as there is between the species of wolves, jackals, and foxes. The arguments for the unity of the human race drawn from anatomical reasoning would also prove that there was no difference between hogs and bears, the bovine and equine and the canine families. On Language as a Test of the Races of Man. By J. CRAWFURD, F.R.S. The author commenced by observing that on former occasions he had referred to the subject of this paper, but now he did not hesitate at once to affirm that language, though yielding valuable evidence of the history and migrations of man, affords no sure test of the race he belongs to. In illustration he said that the majority of the people of this country, who 2000 years ago spoke their own native tongues, whatever those might have been, now spoke a language derived from Germany, on which has been engrafted a considerable portion of one which had its origin in Italy, while of their native tongues two examples only remained, and these, without doubt, were doomed in a few generations to extinction as living languages. France, Egypt, Northern India, the New World, and other regions, also exhibited cogent illustrations of a similar character, one of the most important being the fact, well ascertained, that, so wonderful is the flexibility and compass of the human organs, the children of races the most opposite, when duly taught from infancy, will acquire a complete mastery over any foreign languages, be they ever so difficult of pronunciation or complex in structure. Some Observations on the Psychological Differences which exist among the Typical Races of Man. By ROBERT DUNN, F.R.C.S. Engl. The object of the author in this paper was to indicate and suggest to the psychological and ethnological Members of the British Association a field of investigation and inquiry, which, in his estimation, if thoroughly explored, could not fail, unless he was greatly mistaken, of yielding a rich harvest, and of throwing a flood of light upon the causes of the psychological differences which exist among the typical races of man. He maintains that the Genus Homo is one, and that all the races of the great family of man are endowed with the same instinctive intuitions, sensational, perceptive, and intellectual, the same mental activities,-in other words, that they all have as constituent elements the germs or original principles in common, of a moral, religious, and intellectual nature, so that, however great and striking their psychological differences may be, they are nevertheless differences in degree, and not of kind. Viewing the brain or encephalon as the material organ of the mind, where the ultimate molecular changes precede the mental states, and from whence the mandates of the will issue, whether for the production of voluntary motion or for other acts of volition, he dwells on the paramount importance of assiduously studying, and carefully comparing and contrasting, the cerebral developments of the different races, with a view, and as the most efficient means, to the better understanding and elucidation of the psychological differences which exist among and characterize them. But the cerebral physiology of the typical races remains to be wrought out, and ethno-psychology is still a desideratum. Significant among them as the varying forms of the skull may be, and important as is the division of the whole human family, by Retzius, into Dolichocephalic and Brachycephalic, with its sub-division, according to the upright or projecting character of the jaws, into orthognathous and prognathous, and as characterizing and indicating elevation and degradation of type, the author considers that the time has come not to be satisfied with a mere external survey, but that the bony coverings should be removed, and, under the guidance of the chart provided by the indefatigable Gratiolet, the cerebral convolutions themselves should be thoroughly examined, and carefully compared and contrasted with each other, in all the typical races. When this has been done, but not until then, shall we, in his opinion, have a clue likely to unravel and elucidate many of the existing obscurities appertaining to their psychological differences. Much as it is to be regretted that the brains of the lowest and most degraded of the human races have been so little examined, it is now to be hoped that, in respect to the aboriginal tribes at the Cape of Good Hope, in Australia, and, within reach, the Hill Men of India, as well as elsewhere, medical men will be found to supply this desideratum of ethno-psychology. This accomplished, he thinks we shall cease to wonder how it happens that the North American Indians, on the very confines of civilization, should remain uncivilized-the same wandering lawless savages which they were when Columbus first set his foot among them; how their wigwams and the miserable bark huts of the aborigines of New Holland should have been swept away before the flood-tide of European civilization--those homeless savages themselves seeking refuge in the desert and the mountain; and, again, among the Mongolian nations of Asia, that we shall be better enabled to comprehend how it is that their civilization, so early attained, has not progressed, but remained stationary: China, boasting of a civilization nearly as old as that of Egypt, has remained stationary for thirty centuries. Lastly, even among the European nations, the distinctive characters of the Saxon and the Celt, he is inclined to believe, will be found to be engraven on their brains. As instances from savage life, he views, in contrast, the African Negro and the North American Indian, with the intent of showing, so far as the subject has hitherto been investigated, what light the differences in their cerebral developments can throw on their respective characters, mental manifestations, and destinies. Among the Negro tribes there is a great variety, and much difference in their mental endowments. Some have become excellent mechanics, others clerks and accountants, while others have remained mere labourers, incapable of any intellectual attainments, and characterized by low and receding foreheads. When free from pain and hunger, the life of the Negro is one of enjoyment. As soon as his toils are for a moment suspended, he sings, he seizes his fiddle, he dances. Easily excitable, and in the highest degree susceptible of all the passions, he is more especially so of those of the mild and gentle affections. The American Indians, on the contrary, are averse to civilization, and slow in acquiring knowledge. They are restless, stern, silent, and moody, and to them a ruminating life is a burden. They are revengeful, wild, vindictive, cunning, but wholly destitute of maritime adventure; too dangerous to be trusted by the white man in social intercourse, and too obtuse and intractable to be worth coercing into servitude. The Negro is Dolichocephalic, the Indian Brachycephalic, and both are prognathous. Their cranial and cerebral differences are striking. The skull of the Negro is long, but narrow, and the forehead low, but it rises higher, and is more developed in the intellectual and moral regions, than that of the Indian; the occiput is large. In the Red Indian the skull is small, and short from front to back; it is wide between the parietal protuberances, prominent at the vertex, and flat at the occiput; its great deficiency lies in the superior and lateral parts of the forehead. The anterior lobe of the brain in the Negro and Indian is small, while in the European it is large, in proportion to the middle lobe. The posterior lobe of the Indian is small, but the vertex of the middle lobe is prominent, and the brain is wide between the parietal protuberances. In the Negro the posterior lobe is more fully developed, but it is in the European brain that it reaches its maximum development. Both in the Negro and Indian the cerebral hemispheres are pointed and narrow in front, and their transverse convolutions in the frontal lobes are markedly conspicuous for the simplicity and regularity of their arrangement, and for the perfect symmetry which they exhibit in both of the hemispheres, when compared and contrasted with the complexity and irregularity which are presented in the brain of the European. Such differences as these, the author considered, warrant the inference that, alike in the Negro and the Indian, the nervous apparatus of the perceptive and intellectual consciousness falls far short of that fulness, elaboration, and com1862. 10 |