NA TURE 



[November 4. 1897 



pernowne, the latter of whom had laboured more assidu- 

 ously than any previous worker at the intimate structure 

 of parts of South Devon. More frequent references are 

 made to William Vicary, who happily survives, and whose 

 grand collection has done so much to illustrate the life- 

 history of the rocks of Devonshire ; and there are several 

 references to John Edward Lee, though not to his 

 ■ collection of Devonian fossils, perhaps the finest of its 

 kind as regards South Devon. Such omissions may not 

 be deemed of great importance, but to one not familiar 

 with the subject the book is apt to convey the notion 

 that Pengelly was almost the sole worker, in his time, 

 on Devonshire geology. 



A great portion of the volume is taken up with letters 

 from Pengelly to various members of his family, giving 

 interesting accounts of his journeys and lectures, and of 

 the many men of science and others whom he met ; and 

 there are numerous extracts from letters of Lyell and 

 others addressed to Pengelly. The fame of Kent's 

 Cavern brought many an illustrious visitor to Torquay, 

 and although Pengelly's time was a good deal taken up 

 in describing the cavern and its contents, he was naturally 

 gratified at the interest manifested. In society he was 

 always a genial companion, full of fun, and notoriously 

 full of puns ; so much so indeed that in 1862, at the first 

 meeting of the Devonshire Association, which he was 

 mainly instrumental in founding, he was christened Mr. 

 Fungelly by the President, Sir John Bowring. 



Prof Bonney, in a concluding chapter, has given a 

 capital account of the scientific work of Pengelly ; and 

 appended to it is a list of his papers, apparently compiled 

 from the Royal Society " Catalogue of Scientific Papers." 

 Unfortunately these are not enumerated in strict chrono- 

 logical order, nor is the list complete. It would have been 

 well to make it so, for it would have been an appropriate 

 record of Pengelly's many sided labours. One of his 

 elaborate papers, published in the Transactions of the 

 Devonshire Association (vol. v.), dealt with "The signs 

 of the hotels, taverns, inns, wine and spirit vaults, and 

 beershops in Devonshire "—a subject that should not be 

 without interest to the field-geologist. 



Those who were personally acquainted with Mr. Pen- 

 gelly will read this work with especial interest, including 

 the accounts of many minor circumstances that otherwise 

 may appear somewhat trivial and unnecessary. When, 

 however, we remember that the work has been edited 

 by the loving hand of a daughter, we may well pardon 

 any excess of zeal, and thank her for having given so 

 excellent a biography of one who laboured manfully, 

 enthusiastically, and successfully in the cause of science. 



H. B. W. 



MEXICAN ARCHyEOLOGY. 

 Archeological Studies among the Ancient Cities of 

 Mexico. Part ii. By W. H. Holmes. Pp. 200. \ 

 (Chicago, 1897.) I 



'^T^HE second part of Mr. Holmes' work on the ancient 

 -»• cities of Mexico has this year appeared, and com- 

 pletes the first part of a series of anthropological publi- 

 cations to be produced under the auspices of the Field 

 Columbian Museum at Chicago. This work, extending 

 as it does to over 300 pp. and containing numerous I 

 NO. 1462, VOL. 57] 



plans, sketch-maps, drawings and photographic repro- 

 ductions, has been conceived on a somewhat more 

 ambitious scale than previous publications of the Field 

 Columbian Museum. It is evident at a glance that the 

 greatest pains have been taken in the preparation of the 

 plans and drawings, while the numerous papers Mr. 

 Holmes has already contributed to various scientific 

 journals are a sufficient guarantee of his competence to. 

 undertake a survey of one or more of the cities of 

 ancient Mexico. In this field of archaeological research 

 there are already many patient workers who devote much 

 time to the excavation and survey of the ruins, but there 

 is no lack of material for study, and many sites still 

 remain comparatively untouched. We must admits 

 however, that the two parts before us are a little dis- 

 appointing. From the obvious care expended on them 

 we were prepared to welcome them as a contribution of 

 the first importance to Mexican archaeology, but on 

 perusal they do not quite justify our expectations. Let 

 us hasten to add that this is due to no fault of the 

 author, but is a necessary consequence of the plan and 

 nature of the expedition of which the volumes are 

 a record. 



Mr. Holmes' studies among these ancient sites were 

 undertaken in the spring of 1895, when he spent three 

 months travelling in these regions with Mr. A. V. 

 Armour, of Chicago, and other friends. Botany, geology, 

 anthropology and natural history were impartially studied 

 by the party, and, as Mr. Holmes remarks in his preface, 

 he himself as " Curator of Anthropology " in the Field 

 Columbian Museum, " was expected to examine and 

 describe such archeologic remains as happened to be 

 encountered during the journey." It must not, however, 

 be supposed that the book is merely the record of a 

 pleasure trip. The localities visited are dealt with 

 systematically, but in every case too little time was 

 given to the examination and measurement of the ruins. 

 The first part of the trip was devoted to the monuments 

 of Yucatan, when the islands of Contoy, Mugeres, 

 Cancun and Cozumel, and the mainland opposite them, 

 were examined in less than two weeks, during which 

 period the party went as far south as Tuloom, where 

 they did not land, but Mr. Holmes sketched the ruins 

 from the sea. In the interior of Yucatan the remains at 

 Tikul, Uxmal, Izamal and Chichen-Itza were also 

 examined in less than a fortnight. The first part of 

 the book dealt with these places, but it will be obvious 

 that so little time having been spent at the actual ruins, 

 Mr. Holmes' notes were necessarily superficial. He 

 thereby lays himself open to correction by more 

 systematic explorers than himself, and, as a matter of 

 fact, Mr. Alfred P. Maudslay, who in 1889 encamped 

 for five months at Chichen-Itza, which Mr. Holmes and 

 his party in 1895 did in a week, has already pointed out 

 in the columns of Nature (vol. liv. pp.. 274^) several 

 inaccuracies in his observations. The second part of 

 the work, which has just appeared, deals with the 

 monuments of Chiapas, Oaxaca, and the Valley of 

 Mexico, and though larger in bulk than its predecessor, 

 represents the result of observations made in an even 

 shorter period, four days being spent on the ruins of 

 Palenque, a week at Mitla, a day on Monte Alban, while 

 from Mexico two brief excursions were made to San 



