754 The Smithsonian Institution 



sented in 1842 by Charles Russell, a former Consul of the 

 United States in Mexico. It was transferred to the Smith- 

 sonian in 1858, and its relation to the famous group of the 

 cross recognized by Doctor George A. Matile, who was en- 

 gaged in making a cast of it at the request of Professor 

 Henry. Del Rio and Dupaix gave a poor figure of it in 

 position in the Temple of the Cross, but it was probably 

 broken in 1832, and Stephens in 1839 noticed its scattered 

 fragments. The first trustworthy representation we thus 

 owe to Doctor Rau's memoir, as mentioned above. 



The account of the Palenque treasure was followed by a 

 valuable contribution on "Archaeological Researches in Nica- 

 ragua," and preceded by " Observations on Mexican History 

 and Archaeology " by Brantz Mayer, both of which articles 

 were timely additions to a knowledge of a great subject. 

 Other smaller but no less important works on the "Antiqui- 

 ties of Guatemala" should not be overlooked, especially that of 

 Bransford and Kneeland, both of which are frequently quoted. 



WEST INDIES 



The Smithsonian possesses a most valuable collection of 

 ancient Carib art in stone, and has published several impor- 

 tant works on the antiquities of the Antilles. Professor E. 

 D. Cope in 1883 discussed the contents of a bone cave in the 

 island of Anguilla, giving an interesting insight into cave life 

 in a comparatively unknown quarter. The purchase of the 

 Latimer collection of stone objects from Porto Rico enabled 

 Professor O. T. Mason to prepare an elaborately illustrated 

 article on idols, or zemes, and Carib stone implements, a 

 picture of a style of stone working unsurpassed on the 

 American continent. Somewhat later he was able to sup- 

 plement this report by an examination of beautifidly exe- 



