276 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



and the anthropology of America has been only once before translated into 

 the English language, from its Spanish original, by Mr. R.. H. Major, of 

 the British Museum, and published in London for the Hakluyt Society in 

 1847; but as it was penned by its author in the old Spanish language of the 

 fifteenth century, that translation into English, having been done by a 

 foreigner who lived in the nineteenth century, naturally contains several 

 almost unavoidable inaccuracies, and lacks the necessary appreciation of 

 the many fine and subtle meanings in phraseology, deviating from the rules 

 of grammar, which the original document possesses. 



It begins by giving a detailed account of the second voyage of Christopher 

 Columbus to America, from the very moment of starting from the port of 

 Cadiz, Spain, on the 25th day of September, 1493, their temporary stop at 

 three of the Canary Islands, and when arriving at the Cannibal islands of 

 Dominica, Marie Galante, Guadeloupe, Martinique, etc., he describes in 

 a most instructive and interesting way the customs and habits of the abo- 

 rigines. Continuing his vivid and graceful narrative, he speaks of the vari- 

 ous trees, flowers and fruits found there, in Porto Rico and Santo Domingo, 

 also of the animals and minerals and several important points connected 

 with the ethnology and the anthropology of that group of the West Indian 

 islands which Columbus visited. 



Dr. de Ybarra, who is the author of the only existing Medical History of 

 Christopher Columbus, has made this quaint historical document more 

 interesting and instructive by adding a large number of explanatory notes 

 and geographical and historical remarks. 



The Section then adjourned. 



M. A. BiGELOW, 



Secretary. 



SECTION OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 



March 12, 1906. 



Section met at 8:15 P. M., Professor Kemp presiding. 



The minutes of the last meeting of the Section were read and approved. 



The following program was then offered: 



A. E. Stevenson, The Water Supply of Bermuda. (Illustrated by 



lantern.) 

 J. Howard Wilson, Was there a Newfoundland Ice Sheet? 

 Robert T. Hill, The Broader Geological Structure of the 



Mexican Plateau. (Illustrated by lantern.) 



A discussion followed each paper. 



