INOS en SMITHSONIAN EXPEDITIONS, IQIO-IQII 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. Hrdli¢ka 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 codperate 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 codperate 
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 
