(_By our Anthropological Expert._)
PROFESSOR KEITH, of the Royal College of Surgeons, reporting on the
skeleton of a prehistoric twelve-year-old boy recently discovered near
Ipswich, pronounces his stature to be much the same as the average
height of a modern boy of the same age, but the size of the head is
remarkably large. The professor states that he and his colleagues are
trying to get hold of people of every period, going as far back as
they can. They will then be able to differentiate the types that lived
in any period, and check the changes that came over them. So far,
however, there has been very little change.
Perhaps the most striking result of Professor KEITH's appeal so
far has come from the Isle of Man, where a magnificent three-legged
skeleton has been discovered in the Caves of Bradda. The remains have
been pronounced by Professor Quellin, the famous Manx anthropologist,
to be those of a man not less than 175 years of age, whose facial
angle bears so marked a resemblance to that of Mr. HALL CAINE as to
warrant the hypothesis that he was one of the royal ancestors of the
eminent novelist. Close to the skeleton was a long bronze trumpet,
from which Professor Quellin, after several ineffectual efforts,
ultimately succeeded in eliciting a deep booming note. Mr. HALL CAINE,
who has taken the liveliest interest in the discovery, is at present
studying the instrument, and will, it is hoped, give a recital shortly
in the House of Keys.
The recent excavations at the famous Culbin Sands, undertaken by the
Forres Antiquarian Institute, have also resulted in some remarkable
finds. Prominent among these is a complete set of golf clubs belonging
to the Bronze period. In regard to length the clubs are very much the
same as the average implements used at the present day, but the large
size of the heads is remarkable, the niblick weighing nearly half a
hundredweight. It is plausibly inferred that clubs of this pattern may
also have been used as weapons, as the dwellers in this district in
the Bronze period are known to have been of a warlike and tumultuous
disposition. The game is believed to have been introduced by some
Maccabaean settlers, the ancestors of the clan of Macbeth, who
flourished in the vicinity.
In that fine spirit of enterprise which has always characterised _The
Daily Lyre_, the proprietors of that periodical have offered a prize
of L5,000 for the most characteristic relic of ancient and modern
British civilization, to be sent in by October 1. Already several
notable exhibits have been forwarded for the competition. Mr. Ronald
McLurkin, of Tain, has submitted portions of the boiler of an ancient
locomotive, apparently used on the Highland Railway in the time of the
Boer War. Dr. Edgar Hollam, of Brancaster, has sent a fine specimen of
a fossilised Norfolk biffin, and Miss Sheila Muldooney, of Skibbereen,
a copy of _The Skibbereen Eagle_ containing the historic announcement
that it had its eye on the Tsar of RUSSIA. Sir GEORGE ALEXANDER sends
a daguerreotype of himself in knickerbockers with side whiskers and
moustache, and Mr. BERNARD SHAW the first interview with himself
that he ever wrote. It appeared in _The Freeman's Journal_ in the
"seventies" and is illustrated with six portraits, in one of which
Mr. SHAW appears in an Eton suit and a tall hat, "the only one I ever
possessed."
Sir HENRY HOWARTH has forwarded a copy of _The Times_ containing
his first contribution to that journal, a letter occupying a
column-and-a-half of small print, on the mammoth as a domestic pet in
the Court of the early Moghul Emperors. Mr. WINSTON CHURCHILL competes
with an essay which he wrote, while a schoolboy at Harrow, on the
dangers of Democracy; and Master ANTHONY ASQUITH has sent the rough
notes of a Lecture on "The Balliol Manner" which he delivered many
years ago before a select audience at Claridge's. The contrast in form
and thought between this crude essay and his recent lectures on the
mysticism of RABINDRANATH TAGORE is quite amazing. We may also briefly
note the MS. version of an early sonnet by Mr. EDMUND GOSSE, addressed
to Sir SIDNEY LEE; several safety-pins and a sponge-bag which once
belonged to CHARLOTTE BRONTE and are now entered for the competition
by Mr. CLEMENT SHORTER; and a hot-water bottle used by S. T. COLERIDGE
when he was writing "The Ancient Mariner," now in the possession of
Sir HERBERT BEERBOHM TREE.
The interesting point that emerges so far is that while little change
is observable in the physique, habits and manners of the British,
as illustrated by these relics, up to the last ten years or so, the
development in every direction, since the foundation of _The Daily
Lyre_, has been quite extraordinarily rapid and pronounced. For
instance, a cast of the head of a modern "nut" shows a compactness
which compares most favourably with the overgrown cranium of the
prehistoric boy reported on by Professor KEITH.
* * * * *
[Illustration: _The Captain of the Preparatory School._ "WELL,
YOUNGSTER, WHAT IS IT? WANT MY AUTOGRAPH?"]
* * * * *
"To-day there are 2,000,000 muskrats in Bohemia, and, like
rabbits in Australia, they are spreading all over the fruitful
regions of the province and destroying fish in the breeding
ponds."--_Daily Mail._
You should see our rabbit destroying our trout.
* * * * *
"She was a flesh and blood woman, fit to be the mother of
husky sons."--_"Daily Sketch" feuilleton._
They would constantly rise up and call her blessed, and this would
account for their hoarseness. (Jones's jujubes are the best.)
* * * * *
"The sturgeon ... consists of fish, flesh, and fowl, the
latter part commanding a good saleable price."--_Carlisle
Journal._
The wings are particularly tender.
* * * * *
Fashions for Men.
"Lord Salisbury came with Lady Beatrice Ormsby-Gore, wearing
blue charmeuse."--_Daily Mail._
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Village Worthy._ "AH, I USED TO BE AS FOND OF A DROP
O' BEER AS ANYONE, BUT NOWADAYS IF I DO TAKE TWO OR DREE GALLONS IT DO
KNOCK I OVER!"]
* * * * *