l89 e. NOTES AND COMMENTS. 159 



nest. The dorsal surface of the abdomen itself not infrequently shows 

 signs of rubbing. We doubt, however, if this explanation is of 

 universal application, for in solitary wasps the fore-wing is similarly 

 folded, although these build, not nests, but mud-cells, in which there 

 is plenty of room to turn about. 



The Archaeology of Yucatan. 



The arid peninsula which lies between the Gulf of Honduras and 

 the Gulf of Mexico has recently afforded a rich harvest to the archae- 

 ologist. The numerous ruined cities of the Mayas have been described, 

 first, in Globus for October last, by Theobert Maler, and, secondly, 

 in an essay by Professor W. H. Holmes, of the Columbian 

 Museum, Chicago. A map of Yucatan and Tabasco appears in the 

 atlas to A. P. Maudslay's fifth contribution to the " Biologia 

 Centrali-Americana," together with numerous views of buildings and 

 architectural details. More within our scope, however, is the well- 

 illustrated volume on the Hill-Caves of Yucatan recently published 

 for Henry C. Mercer by Lippincott & Co., of Philadelphia. This 

 records a praiseworthy attempt to establish the relative antiquity of 

 man in Yucatan by means of a systematic investigation of the caverns 

 in the Sierra. The exploration was originally suggested by Professor 

 Heilprin, who had noticed the existence of a series of caves hitherto 

 undescribed, containing aboriginal carvings on their walls and showing 

 signs of human habitation. The expedition was financed by John 

 White Corwith, of Chicago, and its members spent two months of last 

 year in the country, mostly underground, visiting twenty-nine caves. 

 All these occurred within an area of 100 miles in length by ten in 

 breadth. Ten caves were excavated, of which six yielded valuable, 

 and three decisive, results, chiefly of a negative character. "We had 

 found no copper, gold, or silver, no jade, no gums, no preserved grains, 

 no apparatus for weaving, and had discovered no pipe and learned 

 nothing of pre-Columbian smoking or tobacco." The animal remains 

 found belonged either to recent or late Pleistocene species, and were 

 determined by Professor Cope. None were extinct. The shells 

 examined by Mr. Pilsbry yielded like results. " Pottery grew rarer, 

 or disappeared altogether towards the bottom of the ash films, yet 

 there was no evolution in the ware. We found no Palaeolithic man, 

 no Homo neandevthalensis, no Pithecanthropus evectus, but a builder of 

 cities inferably the superior of most North American tribes when he 

 appeared upon the scene." The primitive immigrants must have 

 visited the hill-caves for water ; they were but temporarily occupied 

 by a race of agriculturists rather than hunters. Some practised 

 cannibalism, possibly a ritual form. Split human marrow-bones were 

 found at Coyok, Loltun, and Actun Sabaka. 



All the evidence obtained from a series of trench-diggings down 

 to bedrock in various caves, revealing ashes, bones, and potsherds, 



