528 



NATURE 



[February 15, 191 2 



those whom he does not bring back, a circumstance which 

 renders the chiefs more careful in leading* their warriors." 

 Smoking the calumet is associated with preparation for 

 war and with peace treaties. The Natchez language 

 appears to be the result of a mixture between a Musk- 

 hogean and a non-Muskhogean people. 



The Chitimacha were less warlike and more cowardly 

 than the tribes higher up the Mississippi ; their culture 

 differed from the latter principally by the increased import- 

 ance of food from the waters and the decreased importance 

 of food from land animals ; but wild vegetable food was 

 their mainstay, though they cultivated maize and sweet 

 potatoes. Fish were caught mainly with hook and line, 

 but nets and traps were used. The blowpipe was 

 emploved, the darts of which were made of slender pieces 

 of cane feathered with thistledown (Fig. i). Pottery was 

 made : but the chief glory of the Chitimacha was, and still 

 is, their basketry (Fig. 2). Like some other tribes of the 

 district, there were nobles and commoners, with different 

 terms of etiquette for each ; but, unlike the Natchez, their 

 nobles were constrained to take partners from their own 

 ranks, thus forming a caste. Matrilineal totemic clans 

 existed. Every village of any size had a bone-house, in which 

 a fire was kept continually burning. The bones of people 

 were dug up by " turkey-buzzard men " and kept in the 

 house for some time, and finally buried in a mound. Every 

 large village had also a dance-house for religious and social 

 ceremonies, as, for example, the initiation of boys. 

 Different from this was the solitary fast and confinement 

 which each boy (and, it is said, each girl also) underwent 

 in order to obtain a guardian spirit. The so-called 

 " temples " of the Natchez and other Lower Mississippi 

 tribes were only variants of the bone-houses of the Chiti- 

 macha and Choctaw. Further study may be expected to 

 throw light upon the evident fusion of at least two stocks 

 in the tribes recorded by Mr. Swanton. A number of old 

 illustrations are reproduced, but many of the photographs 

 are not very satisfactory ; there is a useful map. 



The excellent archaeological work of Dr. Fewkes in ex- 

 ploring and conserving cliff-dwellings has been referred to 

 already in Nature. In Bulletin 50 he gives an account of 

 his stewardship of the Navaho national monument in 

 .Arizona. The excellent illustrations to his report bring 

 home to the reader the great interest of these remarkable 

 remains (Fig. 3). He makes some suggestive remarks upon 

 the significance of the dwellings. " The ancients chose this 

 region for their homes on account of the constant water 

 supply in the creek and the patches of land in the valley 

 that could be cultivated. . . . Defence was not the primary 

 motive that led the sedentary people of this canyon to 

 utilise the caverns for shelter . . . the cause of their 

 desertion was not so much due to predatory enemies as 

 failure of crops or the disappearance of the water supply." 

 Dr. Fewkes does not regard these ruins as of great 

 antiquity ; such evidence as has been gathered supports the 

 Hopi legends that the inhabitants were ancient Hopi 

 belonging to the Flute, Horn, and Snake families. 



A. C. Haddon. 



BACTERIAL DISEASES OF PLANTS. 

 'T'HE second volume of Dr. E. F. Smith's work upon 

 bacteria in relation to plant diseases, published by 

 the Carnegie Institution of Washington, comes very 

 opportunely to this country at a time when there are signs 

 of an awakening interest in the subject of bacterial diseases 

 of plants, and botanists, especially those interested in agri- 

 culture or horticulture, are beginning to turn their atten- 

 tion to the many economic problems in connection with this 

 branch of phytopathology. The first volume, published in 

 iq05, the author states, " had for its aim only the clearing 

 of the ground by a discussion of methods of work in the 

 general subject of bacteriology." 



Although this department of botanical study is only some 

 thirty years old, a considerable literature has arisen, even 

 when the subject is taken in its narrowest sense, but when 

 it includes, as in this case, many correlated topics, the 

 list assumes large dimensions. Everyone interested in plant 

 pathology will be grateful to Dr. Smith for bringing these 

 papers together and for giving us a book of reference which 



NO. 2207, VOL. 88] 



has been long needed, and which embrace a ronci- 

 historical account, leading up to the present ; 

 the subject and emfx)dying the most recent <! 



in this branch of research. .\ special feature u: 



is the authoi 's plan of including abstracts of many of tl 

 papers quoted, often of very considerable length, so th 

 direct appeal can thus be made to original investigation- 

 and although this method demands much space, tl 

 advantages are great, especially where controversial matt- 

 is being considered. Thus, under each sectional head, tl 

 author introduces extensive extracts from tho«e or- '•- 

 papers which he regards as critical studies, and cor 

 with a synopsis of the latest contribution to the pan 

 phase of the question dealt with, adding always .1 

 extremely valuable bibliographical record. In the historii . 

 review Dr. Smith has missed the fact that the existence > 

 a toxin and cytolytic enzyme secreted by the attackii 

 bacterium was proved as early as 1899 as regards tl 

 " soft-rots," ard in conjunction with carefullv conduct^ 



Fig. I. — Crown gall on daisy. 



Two tumours on the stem of a Paris daisy as the result of an 

 inoculation of Bact. tumefaciens by needle-pricks, and on 

 a branch above the upper one a secondary tumour on the 

 petiole of a leaf. Age of primary tumours about three 

 months ; that on the leaf is much younger, perhaps four 

 weeks old. 



inoculation experiments ; thus the bacterial nature of this 

 class of diseases was fully established at that date. 



The present treatise covers a wide field, and question- 

 relative to the action of bacteria upon various tissues, th 

 reactions of the plant, the interrelations of animal an 

 plant parasites, individual and varietal resistance, ani 

 problems relating to prevention, come naturally within th.^ 

 scope of the work. .A discussion of the various theories 

 regarding the root-nodules of the Leguminosae, and the 

 question of symbiosis as it touches parasitism, are also use- 

 fully introduced, and the large chapter devoted to thi- 

 relationship presents a valuable summary of results. Bu 

 a resume of conflicting views concerning bacterial symbios- 

 in insectivorous plants can scarcely be included under tlv 

 titular definition of the book, nor the bacterial symbiosis ir 

 Cryptogams, as, for example, in kephir and the ginger- 



