POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



57i 



ance disappointing. While here and there 

 polished axes are found, the polished imple- 

 ment is the exception, not the rule, especial- 

 ly on higher ground. Again, comparing the 

 chipped implements with those from regions 

 abounding in flint, obsidian, and the finer 

 varieties of the silex group, a large collec- 

 tion of them has a somewhat rude appear- 

 ance. All this is due, however, to the mate- 

 rial. The ancient Potomac dweller was re- 

 stricted to bowlders of quartzite found in 

 quantities inexhaustible all over his area, to 

 veins of milky quartz outcropping here and 

 there, and to an occasional quarry of soap- 

 stone. Types of pottery and impressions of 

 woven fabrics contribute to our knowledge 

 of the degree of advancement which the 

 people had reached, and cast light on the 

 tribal distributions. The most serious prob- 

 lem that faces the archaeologist in this area 

 has been proposed by Mr. Thomas Wilson, 

 in the evidence of the existence of two pe- 

 riods of occupation — the one Palaeolithic and 

 ancient, and the other Neolithic and modern. 

 While the camp-sites along the water-courses 

 yield abundance of finely chipped arrow- 

 heads, spear-heads, knives, polished imple- 

 ments, soapstone vessels, and pottery, the 

 hills back from the river are wanting in the 

 smaller, finer forms, but abound in coarser, 

 flaked arte/acta, mixed with broken imple- 

 ments and spalls. 



The American Association. — The thirty- 

 ninth meeting of the American Association 

 will be held in Indianapolis, beginning 

 Wednesday, August 20th. The general 

 sessions and the meetings of the sections 

 will be held in the new and commodious 

 State-House, where also will be the offices of 

 the Local Committee and of the Permanent 

 Secretary. The hotel headquarters of the 

 Association will be at the Denison House, 

 and the preliminary meeting of the Council 

 will be held there on Tuesday, the 19th. In- 

 terest will be added to this meeting by the 

 fact that it will mark the fiftieth anniversary 

 of the organization of the Association of 

 Geologists and Naturalists, the parent of the 

 American Association. The sessions will 

 continue till Tuesday evening, the 26th, and 

 a meeting of the Council will be held Wednes- 

 day, the 27th; Saturday, the 23d, will be giv- 

 en to excursions ; and the excursions, after 



the close of the meeting, will extend to Au- 



gust 30th. 



The officers-elect for the meeting of 1890 

 are: , 



President. — George L. Goodale, Cam- 

 bridge, Mass. 



Vice-Presidents. — A, Mathematics and 

 Astronomy — S. C. Chandler. B, Physics — 

 Cleveland Abbe. C, Chemistry — R. B. 

 Warder. D, Mechanical Science and En- 

 gineering — James E. Denton. E, Geology 

 and Geography — John C. Branner. F, Bi- 

 ology — C. S. Minot. H, Anthropology — 

 Frank Baker. I, Economic Science and 

 Statistics — J. Richards Dodge. 



Permanent Secretary. — G. W. Putnam. 



General Secretary. — H. Carrington Bolton. 



Secretary of the Council. — James Loudon. 



Secretaries of the Sections. — A, Wooster 

 W. Beman ; B, W. Leconte Stevens ; C, W. 

 A. Noyes ; D, M. E. Cooley ; E, Samuel Cal- 

 vin ; F, John M. Coulter ; H, Joseph Jastrow ; 

 I, S. Dana Horton. 



Treasurer. — William Lilly. 



Auditors. — Henry Wheatland, Thomas 

 Meehan. 



A Papuan Bridge. — A native suspension 

 bridge, crossing the Yanapa River, is de- 

 scribed by Sir William MacGregor, British 

 Administrator of New Guinea, as being, con- 

 sidering its locality and the primitive situa- 

 tion of the inland natives of the district, a 

 remarkable structure. Advantage is taken 

 of the narrowing of the river by the projec- 

 tion of a rocky point, so that the bridge is 

 only about seventy yards long. At one end 

 it is chiefly supported by a large banyan-tree, 

 whence it starts at an elevation of about fifty 

 feet above the pool below. It descends then 

 in mid-stream to about twelve or fifteen feet 

 from the water, and rises to about twenty 

 feet on the right bank. It is then suspended 

 to a tree not strong enough to hold it firmly. 

 The tree is, therefore, supplemented by a 

 post put in the ground, and this is again 

 strengthened by a cross-bar against the tree, 

 fixed by stays extending backward to trees 

 behind. The material of the structure is rat- 

 tan cane. Fifteen canes are used to form sup- 

 ports, those not long enough to cross the river 

 having been built up by knotting. The floor 

 of the bridge is formed of four of these canes. 

 Above the floor are two " guard lines " on 



