THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



bones were gathered together and placed in niches, but some- 

 times they were allowed to remain on the floor. Often they 

 were painted red. In some instances the metate and hand stone 

 for grinding corn and the clay griddle for baking the tortillas or 

 corn-cakes were placed in the chamber, with numerous incense 

 burners. Then the door was sealed with a large stone, and 

 usually objects of value, such as personal ornaments and mosa- 

 ics, were thrown into the space in front of the vault. Probably 

 some of the oft'erings of food, drink and incense were intended 

 for the deities whose efflgies (the funeral urns) were placed near 

 by. A mound of earth, adobe bricks and stones was raised over 

 the structure and sometimes covered with a dome of cement. 



Marshall H. Saville. 



HE Guide-Leaflet, "Primitive Art," which accom- 

 panies this number of the Journal, is a compara- 

 tive treatment of the collections in some of the 

 halls of the Department of Ethnology. The ma- 

 terial illustrating the decorative art of the Indians, 

 the Eskimo and other native tribes of North America and eastern 

 Asia is very full, and the Leaflet is intended for use both as a 

 resume of the subject and as a general introduction to the ex- 

 haustive study which may be carried on by means of the collec- 

 tions and with the aid of the literature to which reference is 

 made in the bibliography printed at the end of the text. 



THE GIANT SPIDER CRAB FROM THE JAPANESE SEAS. 



The following note in regard to the size of the Giant Spider 

 Crab from the Japanese Seas has been communicated by Ge- 

 heimer Hofrath Dr. A. B. Meyer, director of the Royal Zoological 

 ]\Iuseum, Dresden, who is a Life Member of the Museum. 



"On page 25 antea the size of the fine specimen of the Giant 

 Spider Crab in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology (figured) 

 has been given at somewhat more than 1 2 feet between the tips 



60 



