DEPARTMENT OF PREHISTORIC ANTHROPOLOGY. 195 



ike the former, was also a labor of iiiveiitioii <u)d bad to be wrought out 

 step by step. 



I have continued my investigations upon the subject of implements 

 belonging- to the paleolithic period, and each step has increased my be- 

 lief in the existence of such a period. I believe we have found the 

 objects of industry belonging to the man of that period, and have been 

 able to extend the i>eriod of his antiquity greater than has before been 

 supposed. 



Another subject of special research in regard to material in my de- 

 partment was the investigation into the casts and models of the Aztec 

 and Maya antiquities from Mexico and Yucatan, as comprised in the 

 Lorillard collection made by Mons. Charnay, and by the Abadiano col- 

 lection. In this work I was materially assisted, in fact it was dcuie 

 almost exclusively by Mr. Gustav Eisen, of the California Academy of 

 Science, who has given years of serious study and investigation to 

 deciphering the Maya hieroglyphs. His interest is centered in the 

 glyphs, hieroglyphs, and ideographs of wiiich this Museum iwssesses 

 such a rich collecti(m in the form of casts. Mr. Charles Russell, consul 

 at Laguna, extracted and brought away the stone slab forming the right 

 side of the altar of the "Temple of the Cross," and it was deposited 

 in the Smithsonian Institution many years ago. It is described in 

 Dr. Ban's " Paleuipie Tablet," 1871>. This slab was unfortunately broken 

 on its voyage in three pieces nearly equal in size. Upon its arrival at 

 the Smithsonian Institution it was stored in the basement, where, by 

 some unfortunate and unlucky accident in the attempt to remove it, it 

 was again broken into several fragments. It was afterwards put to- 

 gether and restored. Many small pieces were bioken out along the 

 edges of the fractures and these were tilled with i)laster, and the attempt 

 made by engraving in this plaster to reconstruct the glyphs which had 

 l)een broken. In this the restorers were not successful, and there are 

 now found to be many errors, but the valuable portion of the discovery 

 now made is that sometime prior to the fracture of this slal» a cast had 

 been taken and a model made, Avhich is now in possession of the Museum. 

 This model contains the correct reproduction of these now broken and 

 destroyed glyphs, so that the plaster cast becomes of greater value 

 than the original slab. 1 am informed by Mr. Eisen that he has been in 

 communication with Mr. Charnay and that the latter informs him that 

 the casts from which these sculptures were taken have been so far 

 destroyed that they can never be used again; that there are no more, 

 or, at least, but one more set, of these casts of sculptures obtainable, 

 and that if any of these in our possession should be broken or destroyed 

 most of them can never be replaced. Consequently, their value is 

 is greatly enhanced. I feel it incumbent to recommend that the best 

 means be employed by which these valuable specimens be preserved. 

 As their value increases in time in accordance with our knowledge of 

 their importance, rarity, and difficulty of replacing, so we find that they 



