Anthropology 753 



and as in the later transportation of some of the monoHths to 

 Germany — it is to be regretted that they did not all find a 

 home in Washington — one of the most interesting was lost in 

 the Pacific ocean, the figure of it given by Doctor Habel will 

 always remain unique. The estimation in which the volume 

 by Doctor Habel is held by scholars is voiced by the late Pro- 

 fessor W. D. Whitney, who wrote: " It seems to me a story 

 refreshing by its brevity and simplicity, very unlike the pom- 

 pous and boastful way in which such things are often heralded. 

 One may not agree with all the inferences drawn at the end, 

 but that is a matter of very small im.portance ; no two persons 

 would arrive at precisely the same conclusions. So far as I 

 can judge, the Institution has every reason to take pleasure 

 and pride in the issue of such a contribution to American 

 archaeology." 



The scientific discovery of these interesting monoliths and 

 a publication of the memoir upon them led to several interest- 

 ing studies by German archaeologists and to the final trans- 

 portation of the antiquities themselves to the Berlin Museum, 

 by which institution replicas have been distributed to the col- 

 lections of several European and American cities. 



Of all the interesting ruins of Central America to which at- 

 tention was called by Stephens and Catherwood, none excited 

 more wonder at the culture they revealed than those of the 

 great city of Chiapas called Palenque. A portion of one of 

 the most interesting shrines of that ancient city, now known 

 wherever archaeology is cultivated as the Palenque Tablet, 

 came into the possession of the Smithsonian, and was de- 

 scribed and figured by Doctor Charles Rau in the twenty- 

 second volume of the " Contributions." This stone tablet is 

 one of the most precious archaeological treasures in the Na- 

 tional Museum. It was formerly the property of the National 

 Institution for the Promotion of Science, to which it was pre- 



