P OP ULAR MIS CELL ANY. 



571 



"we find the same state of things. The 

 British producer fails to understand the im- 

 portance of pure knowledge ; be despises 

 and disbelieves a knowledge of principles, 

 and imagines that the only thing he need 

 know is the application of those principles 

 to his own particular work. In his eyes 

 practice is everything, knowledge for its own 

 sake, knowledge of principle, is nothing ; as 

 if there could be any value at all in practices 

 unless he knows the reasons on which they 

 rest. Our producers are like students who 

 cram for an examination by getting up 

 'tips,' instead of getting up sound knowl- 

 edge of the subject. The present cry for 

 technical education is itself, to a large ex- 

 tent, only a new example, in an exaggerated 

 form, of the same vicious idea. So far as it 

 leads people to suppose that success in pro- 

 duction or in life is to be gained from a 

 knowledge of teclmique — of methods, of 

 processes, of manipulation — instead of im- 

 pressing upon them that all these are wholly 

 unimportant and useless in comparision with 

 a real education in the subject concerned, 

 and a knowledge of the principles on which 

 the technique is founded, its effect will be 

 wholly bad. The idea that there are short 

 practical cuts to just so much knowledge, 

 and no more, as we need for the particular 

 job in hand, is one which, if adopted, would 

 demoralize our education to its root, as in 

 diametrical opposition to the whole tenor of 

 the evidence which has been collected in Ger- 

 many and other countries." 



A Jadcite Adze from Mexico. — Mr. George 

 F. Kunz exhibited at the American Associ- 

 ation a jadcite adze found at Oaxaca, Mexi- 

 co, about twenty years ago, which was re- 

 markable for its extraordinary size, and for 

 the peculiar character and excellence of the 

 working exhibited in so hard a material. It 

 is 10j[-| inches long, 6 inches wide, 4| 

 inches thick, weighs 2293 oz. troy, and 

 is light grayish green, with streams of an 

 almost emerald green on the back. In style 

 of ornamentation it closely resembled a gi- 

 gantic adze of granite which is mentioned 

 by A. Chavcro in his " Mexico al Traves 

 de los Siglos," and it has almost an exact 

 counterpart in the aventurine quartz adze 

 now forming a part of the Christy collection 

 at the British Museum. It, however, differs 



from these objects in having no ornamenta- 

 tion on the forehead, and in having in addi- 

 tion three dull markings on each ear, one 

 under each eye, and one near each hand, 

 which could serve no other purpose than to 

 hold thin flakes or films of gold, of which, 

 however, no trace can now be seen. The 

 adze is, from all appearance, the result of 

 the shaping of a bowlder, for it presents 

 evidences of weathered surfaces. The lapi- 

 dary's work on this piece is perhaps equal 

 to any that has ever been found, and the 

 polish has not been surpassed. It is an in- 

 teresting fact that, notwithstanding this adze 

 is one of the finest objects which its Mexican 

 owners possessed, they desired to " extend " 

 the material ; and for that purpose made 

 three attempts to remove pieces from the 

 object. Enough has been cut from the back 

 of the adze to equal, perhaps, one eighth of 

 the entire weight. The appearance of the 

 cuts gives support to the supposition that 

 the cutting was done with a string and some 

 abrasive. The author had previously de- 

 scribed in the " American Journal of Science " 

 for July, 1882, a sapphire pebble found in 

 a brook at Oaxaca. If the people were ac- 

 quainted with this mineral, we can more 

 readily understand how they were able to 

 work so hard a substance as jadeite. So far 

 as the author was able to understand, no 

 similar object of such magnitude and equal 

 archaeological interest exists. The Humboldt 

 celt, the Leyden plate, the Vienna adze, and 

 the adze in the Ethnological Museum at 

 Dresden, can hardly compare with it. 



The Name of America. — Evidence is ac- 

 cumulating that the name of America is in- 

 digenous to our continent, and not borrowed 

 from the name of an early navigator, as the 

 world till now has supposed. M. Jules Mar- 

 cou has found it in the name of a range of 

 mountains in Central America — the Amerique 

 range — and also in that of a tribe of Indians 

 living upon it — the Ameriques. A more 

 careful and thorough study of the subject 

 has been made by Mr. " Thomas de St. Bris," 

 whose pamphlet. Discovery of the Origin of 

 the Name of America, can be obtained by 

 addressing P. 0. Box No. 1853, New York 

 city, or from the American News Company. 

 It appears from his investigations — the 

 sources of which he names and are nearly 



