﻿NO. II SMITHSONIAN EXPEDITIONS, I9IO-I9I I 15 



of the Sun, and about 20 feet north of the track of the local railroad 

 where there was a large level piece of ground without ruins. The 

 workmen had opened a long exploratory trench through this tract, par- 

 allel with the railroad. In an urn-shaped cavity Dr. Hrdlicka found 

 the skeletons of a man and a woman, and various dishes, rugs, and 

 knives. The skulls were artificially deformed. These objects were de- 

 posited in the museum at San Juan. The interest in this find lies, ac- 

 cording to Dr. Hrdlicka, in " the peculiar construction of the grave," 

 " the fact that here were buried together an adult man and an adult 

 woman, which suggests the sacrifice of the woman on the occasion of 

 the death of her husband/' what appears to be " a clear evidence that 

 the artificial head-deformation of the flathead type was actually 

 practised by at least a part of the ancient inhabitants of these regions," 

 and the evidence that " the ancient builders of Teotihuacan, or, at 

 least, an important part of them, were of the brachycephalic type." 



SMITHSONIAN BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE PANAMA CANAL 



ZONE 



The Institution in 1910 organized a biological expedition whose ob- 

 jective point was the Panama Canal Zone. It was undertaken at 

 the urgent solicitation of naturalists at home and abroad, who felt 

 that with the opening of the Panama Canal the natural conditions of 

 the fauna and flora of the land-bridge between North and South 

 America would be disturbed to such a degree as to complicate the 

 problems of geographical distribution in this important region. The 

 means of the Institution were insufficient to permit it to undertake 

 the field-work required, and it was not until they were augmented 

 by the generosity of friends that the expedition could be seriously 

 considered. When this pecuniary aid had been supplemented by the 

 cooperation of the departments of the government, the success of the 

 undertaking was assured. 



A letter was addressed to the President outlining the plan, and 

 inquiring whether it would meet his approval if the several executive 

 departments of the government were requested to cooperate in the 

 enterprise. The President gave his approval and authorized the 

 secretary of the Institution to communicate with the departments. 

 All those that were addressed signified their desire to cooperate 

 and assigned experts to aid in the work. 



The Institution is indebted to the Department of State, the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce and Labor, and 

 the War Department for courtesies which have made the expedition 



