TIUNSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 



917 



)f avticlfts 



e dead. 



d, and ant 



awarded 



repay us 



fathers ol" 



heir piptM 



10 articles 



lals, bird.-', 



items wit li 



lan of tho 



rork witli, 



Lured with 



, matter of 



of artich^s 

 sopper Wiis 

 )hides ; the 



sand miles 

 trade must 

 the South, 

 ' mode of 



ign shells. 



; Clarke. 



^icau signs, 

 ire applied, 

 in Europe, 

 the several 

 he Chinese 

 lot, Navel, 

 right eye, 

 I language 

 lie Semitic 

 1 = Tongue ; 



L a common 

 xt Chinese, 

 but simply 

 letical, but 

 in existing 

 lost remote 



d West. 



n somewhat 

 d an inter- 

 which ideas 

 traces of a 



and raft.« of 

 few peculiar 

 i also some 

 was used as 

 ars to have 



adorned Assyrian helmets, and the trappings of horse.x, \xAh in A.<!.syria and Persia. 

 Then there is tlic Matjunhuitl, a Mexican weapon, consisting "f blades of obsidian in 

 a wooden handle, which appears also in rock carvings in Pevn, and an allinity to 

 which is seen in New Guinea and the Philippines. 



The remarkable resemblance existing between the pottery of Ilissarlik and 

 Peru is shown to extend to an ornament or symbol found frequently on the va.ses 

 of IIis.surlik, which appear.s reversed on vases in the Mexican paintings; whilst, 

 curiously enough, the Mcvkan form of this .symbol appears on the sculptured stones 

 of Scotland in conjunction with tlie T which forms one of the .Maya liieroglyphs. 



Another instance of similarity is found in the circle with lines'rimning through 

 it, which in Peru is said to represent a watercourse constructed by oiui of the Incns. 

 Another suggestive .symbol is the protruding tongue, .signifying Quetzalcoatl in 

 Mexico, but whicli is found in statues in VMrious otlu-r parts of Anicriea, and al.so in 

 I'Vypt and Etruria. The winged globe of Egypt, A.s.syria, and Persia, seems to 

 Imve its representative, but reversed, in ("entnil America, whilst some of the 

 I'iioenician letters, also reversed, appear .sculptured on the rocks in the Yonan I'ass. 



The stone circles, cairns, dolmens, and roeking-stones of lluropc and Asia, have 

 also their representatives in America, and in the case of the circles are coiniected 

 with the same legends, that is, that they were men and women turne<l to stone for 

 dancing instead of listening to a pro))liet or teacher. 



The paper does not deal with similarities in architecture, great tumuli, kc, 

 the.se having already received considerable attention; but the square apt'rturcs in 

 graves in Peru are compared with those in Cyprus and Sardinia, and with similar 

 holes of a round form in various parts of Europe and Asia. 'Hwsv holes are sup- 

 ))osed to be made to allow of the free passage of tlie spirit, a similar idea liavi ng 

 (originated the curious custom oi trepaniiini/, which prevailed in Europe in Neolithic 

 times ; this is found also in Peru, and is apparently indicated among the mound- 

 builders of Illinois. 



Several curious customs alike in the two hemispheres are mentioned, especially 

 that of the distortion of the head. 



All these coincidences, and many more which are omitted for want of syacc, the 

 author believes, can only be accounted for by some very early ineliistoric inter- 

 communication, the manner and route of whidi liave yet to be determined, there 

 Ijeing many difficulties in either route, whether across the Pacific from Asia, or the 

 Atlantic from Europe, being accepted, because of the absence of intennediate traces, 

 and the fact that in Peru, farthest removed from the Atlantic, we find the strongest 

 traces of ancient Hiiropecm influence, whilst the Mexican civilisation seems to 

 approach nearer to that of Asia. 



TUESBA Y, SErTEMIiKR 2. 



The following Iteport and Papers were read : — 



1. Report of the Committee for defraying the expenses of completing the 

 preparation of the final Report of the Anthropometric Committee.— 

 See Reports, p. 270. 



2. Notes on the Races of the Jews. By Dr. A. Neubauer. 

 In this paper an account is given of the race-elements whicli at various times 

 have become part of the Jewish nation. The author criticises the popular opinion 

 that the two divisions of Sephardim or Spanish-Portuguese Jews, and Ashkenazim 

 or German-Polish Jews, corre.spond with the tribal divisions of Judab and Ben- 

 jamin respectively; this opinion he considers to have no historical foundation. 



3. On a Skull from the Loss of Podbaba, near Prague, and a Skull found 

 in alluvium at Kankakee, "Illinois, along n-ith a Tooth of the Mastodon. 

 By Dr. Daniel Wilson. _^ 



m 

 m 







