Indian Museum

Summary 1. 128 sibships comprising 489 sibs and 845 sib‐pairs belonging to the Rárhi Bráhmin community of West Bengal have been studied for p.t.c . taste thresholds by the serial dilution method with a final sorting test. 2. Expectations on the basis of (A) the hypothesis of recessive inheritance of the ‘non‐taster’ phenotype and (B) the hypothesis of chance combination of pairs without any influence of heredity have been compared with the observed data of sib‐pairs. 3. Neither of the two hypotheses shows a satisfactory agreement (by the x 2 test) with the entire mass of observed data. The hypothesis (A), however, appears to be a much closer approach (x 2 = 17·5 and 20·55, 2 d.f.) to the facts than the hypothesis (B) which yields much higher x 2 values (x 2 = 87·11 and 86·93, 2 d.f.). 4. The extreme ‘tasters’ and ‘non‐tasters’ when separated from the intermediate phenotypes show a very good agreement (x 2 = 4·340, 3 d.f.) with the hypothesis (A), but a wide divergence (x 2 = 75·892, 3 d.f.) from the hypothesis (B). 5. The intermediate ‘tasters’ and ‘non‐tasters’, however, indicate merely a slightly nearer approach (x 2 = 18·45, 3 d.f.) to hypothesis (B) than to hypothesis (A) (x 2 = 26·69, 3 d.f.) The author records his thanks to Dr N. Datta‐Majumder, the Director, Department of Anthropology for providing the facilities for the work and to Dr E. C. Biichi, the Superintending Anthropologist for useful discussions. Thanks are also due to Sm. Lalita Ghosh for her sincere assistance.

With five Plates and one Map

SEA 1 NTRODUCTION "We must interpret the present by the past" (Osborn, 1925).

Summary 1. P.T.C. taste threshold data for 127 families have been given, of which one family has been rejected on account of illegitimacy. 2. A x 2 test by the ‘2×2’ contingency table indicates that the matings in the families studied were random (x 2 = 097, P>0.3). 3. Analysis of the families by Fisher's method following Race & Sanger (1954) indicated a ‘good fit’ (P > 0.1) between the observed and the expected numbers of T × T as well as T × t (including t×T) families. 4. Fisher's test following Smith (1956) indicated a ‘good fit’ (P>0.1) for the totals of families of each of the types T×T and T × t (also t × T) –each family containing at least one non‐taster child. But a significant discrepancy (P<0.01) was found for the family size 4 of T × T type mating type considered singly. 5. Comparison of x 2 calculated on the totals of the observed and the expected numbers of non‐tasters in sibships produced by T × T as well as by T × t (including t×T) matings, each of which contained at least one non‐taster indicated a significant discrepancy (0.05>P>002). 6. Discrepancies have been noticed between the observed and the expected numbers of non‐taster children in the combined family sizes 2 and 3 out of T × T matings, and the family size 4 out of T×t (and t×T) matings–each producing at least one non‐taster child (P<0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively). 7. Totals of x 2 values for families of all sizes (calculated separately for each size) in respect of the numbers of non‐taster children indicated a significant discrepancy (P< 0.02) for T×T families, but a satisfactory agreement (P>0.05) for the T×t (including t×T) families–each family containing at least one non‐taster child. 8. Summing up the x 2 values calculated on totals under the four different tests following Smith (1956), a single x 2 of 13–38 with 4 D.F. was obtained, which finally indicated a significant divergence (P< 0.01) between the theory and the data taken as a whole. 9. It has been suggested that an assumption of incomplete penetrance (say, about 90 %) of the dominant taste gene might interpret the entire P.T.C. data (including the sib‐pair data of Harris & Kalmus, and Das referred to already) more satisfactorily than the simple hypothesis as it stands to‐day.

(1956). XII.—A new Langur (Primates: Colobidae) from Goalpara District, Assam. Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Vol. 9, No. 98, pp. 86-88.

Metapenaeopsis (Crustacea Decapoda Penaeidae) par Alain Crosnier Résumé.-Les nombreuses récoltes des campagnes MUSORSTOM I, II et III aux Philippines, auxquelles ont été jointes celles des campagnes CORINDON II et IV en Indonésie, celles du « Vauban » faites de 1970 à 1974 à Madagascar et diverses autres provenant notamment de mer Rouge, d'Australie et de Nouvelle-Calédonie, ont permis un réexamen des Metapenaeopsis indo-ouest-pacifiques d'eau profonde.Dix espèces dont trois nouvelles, M. liui, M. angusta et M. erythraea, et une sous-espèce nouvelle, M. provocatoria longirostris , sont ainsi reconnues.Une clé d'identification des espèces et de la sous-espèce, ainsi que des dessins de chacune d'entre elles sont publiés.Abstract.-The numerous samples collected during the MUSORSTOM I, II and III expeditions in the Philippines to which were added those of the CORINDON II and IV expeditions in Indonesia, those of the « Vauban » made from 1970 to 1974 around Madagascar, as well as various others, particularly collected in the Red Sea, Australia and New Caledonia, have permitted a reexamination of the Indo-West-Pacific deep-sea Metapenaeopsis.Ten species, of which three, M. liui, M. angusta and M. erythraea , are new, and one subspecies, M. provocatoria longirostris, also new, are recognized.A key to the species and subspecies, as well as illustrations of each are included.

We have, during the last two years, made a series of observations upon specimens of Sagartia troglodytes which are at least fifty years old, and have thought it worth while to give a somewhat detailed account of these, as, so far as we can ascertain, there is only one other recorded case of longevity in Coelenterates (see p. 302), and very few in the whole of the Invertebrata.

Abstract The peculiar sculptured shells of the Viviparidæ of Pliocene lake-basins in the old Austrian Empire and the Greek Archipelago have been discussed at length by several authors, notably in the first instance by Edward Forbes, and later by Brusina, by Tournouër, by Neumayr and by Newton. These authors have established the fact that in Slavonia and Dalmatia and in the island of Cos shells of the family ornamented with prominent spiral ridges gradually replaced those with a smooth surface in the course of the Pliocene age, while in the same countries the ridge shells have now disappeared and the Viviparidæ again have smooth shells. Neumayr has compared the Pliocene species with Nevill’s genus Margarya from Yunnan and (with greater justice in my opinion) with Tulotoma Haldeman from North America. We possess details of the ancestry not only in the European and Levantine forms but also of that of Margarya in Western China and of that of a very similar genus recently described by myself under the name Taia from the Shan plateau of Upper Burma. Of these three series we have details of the living forms and of the types of environment they inhabit or inhabited only in Taia, fresh observations on which are given below. If we compare the majority of the shells of the European and Levantine ridge-shelled Viviparidæ with those of either of the two eastern genera a very close resemblance in the general character of the sculpture is at first sight the most salient feature, but a closer examination reveals (with other minor points which it is unnecessary to mention here) an almost constant difference in the number of ridges on each shell (cf. figs. 3, 4 and 6). In the Pliocene European forms there are rarely more than two spiral ridges on the body-whorl; whereas in sculptured shells of either Taia or Margarya there are almost always three main ridges and as a rule several subsidiary ridges, and one of the main ridges, that on the periphery of the whorl, is often much the most prominent. This does not seem an important difference if adult shells only are examined; but if we consider the soft parts of the living forms in correlation with the structure of the shell and compare the embryonic shell, it is seen to imply a constant anatomical difference.

One of the main objects of the study of animal distribution is to determine the probable areas of origin and dispersal—Osborn's Centres of Radiation—of the different families and genera of the various classes of animals. This is not an easy matter, and, as reference to any standard work on molluscs would show, the questions of the origin, in time and space, of the various families of molluscs, as also their relationships, are often severely left alone. The classification is, as a result, often quite arbitrary and does not show the genetic relationships of the different members. In dealing with families with a world-wide and, more particularly, a discontinuous distribution, it is a matter of grave doubt whether several of the families, as defined, are homogeneous units which originated in any one area of the globe and spread to other regions.

The study reports the frequencies of the types of ear lobe attachment among the Onge, a primitive negrito population inhabiting Little Andaman. Attached ear lobe is seen to predominate over the free type. Comparison of different Indian populations reveals much variation of the trait, and there is a clear contrast if the population data are arranged in terms of tribal and non-tribal origin.

In recent years, social scientists are concerned with individual well-being and also in identifying the high-risk groups. In South Asia, gender is an important determinant of variation in resource allocation. Three contrasting social groups of southern West Bengal, India have been studied to find out whether there is any gender discrimination in allocation of health facilities and also to assess the health status of these groups. In general, a tendency towards favouring the males appears to exist in respect of allocation of health facilities. Also, females are more affected with the ailments associated with hard work.

Summary Blood samples from five hundred and ninety five individuals belonging to Indore district of west Madhya Pradesh were tested for ABO blood groups, and two hundred and ninety three of them were tested for the sickle-cell trait. The investigated groups include: the Kadve Kulmi, the Khati, the Rami Mali, the Balai, the Bhil and a mixed sample of various castes. The aforesaid groups, within the district, are found to be homogeneous, as far as the ABO blood groups distributions are concerned. Frequencies for the O, A and B genes have been found to be 0.5251, 0.1587 and 0.3162, respectively, in the pooled data. Sickle-cell trait has been detected in the Balai, the Charmakar or Chamar and the Bhil.

Abstract The biometric data on 72 usable adult skulls excavated at Harappa and dated ca. 2500‐1700 bc have been re‐examined in the light of the genetic concept of “population.” The original study of the material considered separately and independently the various samples from locally differentiated cultural deposits, Cemetery R37, Area G, Cemetery H, etc., and used the typologic concept of racial analysis, a traditional method now sterile. One of the major findings of the study, postulating hypothetical original races, was that a varying proportions of different racial “types” constituted each sample. The present analysis is designed, first, to identify the particular population responsible for the growth of the true Harappan culture and, secondly, to define some selected physical characters of the population. Fifteen variables provided statistical evidence that the pooled remains of Cemetery R37 and Area G can be considered as a sufficiently homogeneous Harappan population. Further, in the absence of statistically significant differences in separate measurements, the entire material may be regarded as representing the Bronze‐Age Harappans. Accordingly, some selected cranio‐facial features of the population have been described.

N. Annandale, D.Sc., F.L.S., C.M.Z.S.; Notes on some Freshwater Sponges collected in Scotland, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 30, Issue 198,

No Abstract.

In the present communication an attempt has been made to measure the Index of Opportunity for selection in the Khamti, a migrant, endogamous, community of Narayanpur, Bihpuria areas in Lakhimpur district, Assam, based on data on pregnancy outcome of 29 Khamti ever-pregnant women aged 45 + years. The results of the present work were compared with those of the available data on the tribal populations of North Eastern India. It is observed from the present analysis that childhood death and embryonic death are very low but mean offspring size is high. The value of I and its mortality and fertility components are also low. I: is evident that selection is operating with low intensity in the Khamti of Lakhimpur district, Assam and the average general fitness of the population is high.

Stanley Kemp, B.A.; No. V.—Pelagic Crustacea Decapoda of the Percy Sladen Expedition in H.M.S. “Sealark.”, Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 2nd Se

The Ho, a settled tribal group of Chota Nagpur, India, were tested for five genetic characters. Genetic distance among eleven tribal groups of Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh are calculated according to Edwards ('71). Affinities of these tribes are discussed taking into consideration the languages spoken by them. These breeding groups may have drifted apart along the paths of their dialect differentiations. Cultural and geographical factors further enhanced their isolation.

(1878). XLVII.—Description of Didrepanephorus bifalcifer, the type of a new genus and species of Rutelidæ, remarkable for the huge sickle-shaped mandibular horns of the males. Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Vol. 2, No. 11, pp. 422-426.

ABO blood groups and ABH saliva secretion were investigated in two caste populations, Reddis and Kammas of Southern Andhra Pradesh, and compared with the data of other populations. In ABO gene frequencies, the present series of Reddis and Kammas approach the values from other Andhra caste data. Moderate gene frequency of non-secretor gene in both Reddis and Kammas are noted.