August 29, iqoIj 



NA TURE 



425 



All the smoothed curves agree in presenting a minimum 

 between the full moon and the last quarter (the third, second, 

 or first day before last quarter). As to the maximum, it is 

 about new moon in A and B, the first quarter being not much 

 below ; but in C the first quarter comes into prominence. 



The salient facts of A might be put in this way. If all the 

 wet days (1S2) were uniformly distributed throughout the four 

 weeks, each group of three days would have about 20 cases 

 of that degree of wetness (-5 in. or more). Now the lowest 

 group (about the day before last quarter) has S, and the highest 

 (say about new moon) has 29, or nearly four times as many. 

 The corresponding numbers for B are : av. 17, min. 10, max. 

 25 : and for C, av. 46, min. 36, max. 58. The contrast becomes 

 less marked as we lower the limit. 



Individual days have some interesting features. Thus the 

 third day before the last quarter has never, in these 24 years 

 (summer half) had as much as -4 in. of rain ; and last quarter day 

 has had such only once. 



The data of Class A were further dealt with in this way. The 

 odd years were treated as one group, and the even years as 

 another. Both agreed in giving a minimum between full moon 

 and last quarter. The maxima were about new moon in one 

 case, and about first quarter in another. 



In view of the present position of the moon-and-weather 

 question, I content myself with merely giving these facts and 

 inviting criticism. 



It might happen that another 24 years would obliterate those 

 distinctions, putting others in their place. Should the same 

 relations continue in future, it would appear that in the few 

 days before last quarter we have the best chance of escaping 

 days which would be considered thoroughly wet. 



Alex. B. MacDo\v.\li-. 



NORTH AMERICAN FOLKLORE} 



ALTHOUGH the habits and surroundings of the 

 American Indians are undergoing a gradual change 

 through the advance of western civilisation, and their 

 original conditions of life are disappearing, yet, thanks 

 to American enterprise in the fields of archieology and 

 folklore, the records of such things are being faithfully 

 kept that they may not entirely die out or become vague 

 tradition. It is with this object that two valuable papers 

 on Arizona have been published in Part 2 of the 

 " Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology," the first dealing with the Navaho hogans or 

 houses, and the second givmg an account of excavations 

 in Arizona in 1895. The former, by Mr. Cosmos 

 Mindeleff, contains, not only his material, but also much 

 of the late A. M. Stephen, who lived for many years 

 among the Navaho. The Navaho Indians now occupy a 

 reservation of more than eleven thousand square miles in 

 the north-eastern part of .Arizona and north-western corner 

 of New Me.\ico, the whole tract lying within the plateau 

 region, and under modern conditions they are slowly 

 developing into an agricultural tribe, although they still 

 retain their pastoral habits. It is with the curious cus- 

 toms relating to the building oi Slogans or houses by this 

 people that the author has concerned himself, and he 

 lias elicited many interesting facts about them. The 

 Navaho are accustomed to build two kinds of hogan, 

 one for the winter and one for the summer ; the former 

 resemble mere mounds of earth hollowed out, yet they 

 are comfortable and excellent for their purpose, and 

 although they are of rough appearance their builders 

 conform, not only to custom, but even to what amounts 

 almost to ritual in their construction, with inaugural 

 ceremonies of the most elaborate description. There is 

 no attempt at decoration ; a framework is formed of 

 interlocked forked timbers, to which are added stout 

 poles for the sides, and the whole is covered with bark 



1 *' The Annual Report of the B 

 J. W. Powell, Director, Washington, (Si 

 2TJ ; Eighteenth, Part i, 1S99, pp. Ivii-f 5 



NO. I 66 I, VOL. 64] 



of American Ethnology." 

 th. Part 2. 189S, pp. 



and earth. Usually a hogdn can be finished with the 

 help of the neighbours in one day, and in the same evening 

 begins the dedication. The goodwife sweeps and 

 garners the new house, while a fire is kindled inside 

 directly under the smoke hole. The head of the family 

 then comes in and, after rubbing a handful of dry meal 

 on the five principal timbers and strewing some on the 

 floor, begins to chant the following : — 



" May my house be delightful. 



From my head may it be delightful. 

 To my feet may it be delightful, 

 Where I lie rr.ay it be delightful," 



and so on. The Navaho have a tradition that they were 

 taught hut-building by the God of Dawn, while to the 

 tribes of the plain were given skin lodges, and to the 

 Pueblo stone houses. Long ago, when First-man and 

 First-woman were living in the lowest Underworld, their 

 dwelling was the prototype of the present hogdn, and 

 some say that instead of a covering of bark and earth 

 its poles were wrapped in a film of sunbeams and rain- 

 bows. This Underworld was peopled by monsters who 

 also lived in huis built after the same fashion, but of 

 different materials. In the east dwelt Ti^holtsodi in a 

 house of cloud, with Thunder guarding his door, while 

 in the south sat the Frog in a dwelling of blue mist. The 

 western mirage afforded a home to the Salt-woman, 

 before whose door the Water-sprinkler dances, and 

 towards the north the Blue Heron built himself a hogdn 

 of green weed with the Tortoise as his gate-porter. When 

 mankind had ascended to the present or fourth world 

 by the power of the Magic Reed, the kindly Dawn God 

 taught them the methods of building that were best fitted 

 for their several conditions. The hogdn is but a tem- 

 porary habitation, as is obvious from the following 

 Navaho custom : When an Indian dies within a house, 

 the beams are pulled down over the corpse while the 

 remainder is usually set on fire, and the ruin then 

 becomes iabii to the tribe for a long time to come. 



The second and larger part of the volume is an account 

 of the excavations which were carried on in 1895 by Dr. 

 Walter Fewkes among the ruined pueblos and dwellings 

 of Arizona. His object was to examine the ruins in the 

 valley of the Rio \'erde and the neighbourhood, as well 

 as various other ruins, in order to solve certain problems 

 connected with American archaeology. The Moki or 

 Hopi Indians, who now inhabit the limited area called 

 Tusayan, claim to be descended from the pristine inhabi- 

 tants of its ancient villages, and Mr. Fewkes was well 

 fitted to conduct such investigations, having spent several 

 summers previously among these tribes. 



The ruined dwellings of the Rio X'erde may be classified 

 into three divisions. First, the pueblos, or independent 

 habitations, that is to say those dwelling-places, ancient 

 or modern, which are isolated on all sides from cliffs. 

 Secondly come the cliff houses, with some part of their 

 walls formed by the natural rock as it stands ; and 

 thirdly we find the cavate dwellings, where the rooms are 

 excavated from the cliff wall. Dr. Fewkes carefully 

 examined the latter class, of which so many exist on the 

 left bank of the Rio \'erde, and he considers that this side 

 of the river in ancient times must have swarmed with 

 people. In many of the chambers the fireplace was 

 easily discovered, and many more had their ceilings 

 blackened with smoke. In the neighbourhood were a 

 few pictographs on rocks very similar to those found in 

 Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. 



Among his other explorations. Dr. Fewkes excavated 

 part of the ruin of .^.watobi, which is the connecting link 

 between the prehistoric civilisation of Sikyatki and 

 modern Tusayan life. It was one of the largest Tusayan 

 pueblos in the middle of the sixteenth century, and notices 

 of its mission occur in contemporary documents. We 



