INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICANISTS. 687 



paintings of the palace of Mitla, in red and white, containing 

 many remarkable mythological figures and symbols, which he 

 had copied on the spot, and photographed the pictures. 



Desire" Charnay read a long paper on resemblances between 

 the Central American structures and those of eastern Asia, China, 

 and Cambodia, as indicating a derivation of the American race 

 from Asia. 



Dr. Seler followed him with remarks on ancient Mexican 

 goldsmith's, lapidary's, and feather work, all of which reached 

 a high condition in that country. We know as yet but little 

 of their methods.' The gold was melted up by the Spaniards; 

 most of the feather work great quantities of which were sent 

 to Europe in the early days of the conquest has perished by 

 moth-eating, neglect, and dirt. Handicrafts were probably still 

 more extensively carried on in the earlier days of the conquest ; 

 but the old chroniclers seldom took pains to give any details on 

 this subject. Exact descriptions can be found only in the Aztec 

 text of P. Sahagun's history. The speaker had copied a large 

 part of two originals in Madrid during the last spring. The 

 ancient Mexican goldsmiths applied gold chiefly silver only in 

 inlaying to a kind of linen-lawn fabric. They made cast and 

 hammered ornaments. For casting, a model of the article was 

 carved out of a mixture of fine sun-dried earth and powdered 

 charcoal and covered with a thin wash ; or the form was made 

 of clay and coarsely broken coal. Luster was given to the cast 

 object by heating it in an alum bath, and then in a bath of clay 

 mixed with salt. There was a double technic, too, with feather 

 work. In one kind, whole feathers were used. They were stiffened 

 with bamboo and woven together with threads. In this way were 

 many devices fashioned, which the Mexican war chiefs wore 

 strapped to their backs in the dance and in battle. In the other 

 style the feathers were cut up and glued to paper. The feather 

 mosaics, constituting a kind of painting in feathers, were made 

 thus : A ground was formed of the more common, cheaper feath- 

 ers, and upon it were overlaid brilliant feathers from the tierra 

 caliente. 



Senor de la Rada y Delgado exhibited a number of ancient 

 Peruvian pieces preserved in the Madrid Museum, that were ob- 

 tained in the expedition of Ruiz y Paron. He pointed out as 

 particularly characteristic the identity in the form of the utensils 

 of stone and of bronze, and showed a fine bronze axe, which was 

 almost an exact reproduction of the stone hatchet with its string- 

 fastened wooden handle. The handle of this axe is remarkable 

 for its beautiful ornamentation of silver inlayings in the bronze. 



The afternoon session of this day was opened by Dr. Brinton 

 with an address in English. M. Eugene Beauvois brought for- 



