Oct. 9, 1884] 



NATURE 



579 



these races. He described the causes that led to the architecture 

 of the petty clans, such as a need of protection which induced 

 them to seek the caves in cliffs, and traced the history of the 

 "Pueblo" or communal dwellings. The art of pottery, he 

 said, was practised in the "Pueblo" district to a very great 

 extent. He gave an interesting account of the formation of the 

 Zuni gourds, or water vessels, showing how they were covered 

 with wickerwork in order to preserve them. Basket-work ves- 

 sels were also used, these latter being covered with a preparation 

 of clay in order to prevent the escape of the contents. Mineral 

 coal was used in the manufacture of earthenware vessels and also 

 upon the corrugated surface given to the bowls. A curious fact 

 with regard to the food utensils of the Zunis was that they re- 

 gard the bowls they make as possessing something in the nature 

 of life or spirit. They place food and water near the vessel, and 

 as a woman completes it she imagines she has made something 

 like a created being. The different sounds made by the pots as 

 they are struck, or as their contents boil, for instance, are be- 

 lieved to be the voices of the beings which are associated with 

 the vessels. Apertures or blank spaces are left for the escape of 

 this spirit. A Zuni woman, as she closes the apex of a pointed 

 clay vessel, turns her eyes away, and says that it is " fearful " to 

 watch this operation. She thinks that if she knowingly (that is 

 in her sight) closes this orifice, which she regards as a source of 

 life, the source of life in herself may be closed, and that she may- 

 be debarred from the privilege of child-bearing. Other evils are 

 also expected to follow if she does not turn away as she com- 

 pletes the vessel's shape by closing the apex. The Zunis, in re- 

 presenting animals, always show a kind of line or passage lead- 

 ing from the throat to the heart, and cannot be induced to dis- 

 pense with this line in any pictorial representation of animals. 

 In conclusion, the reader of the paper referred to the probable 

 origin of the shapes used in the pottery of America. 



Dr. Daniel Wilson then read a paper on The Huron- Iroquois, 

 a Typical Race of American Aborigines. — He remarked upon the 

 natural boundaries of countries, and the difficulties they pre- 

 sented to nomadic races. East of the Rocky Mountains the 

 ethnology was comparatively simple. There were but three 

 great races or families, the Iroquois, the Algonquin, and the 

 Athabascan. The Blackfeet were, however, a different race, 

 and possessed different characteristics. West of the Rocky 

 Mountains the subdivisions were more numerous, but not so 

 large. He mentioned the valuable though imperfect vocabulary 

 of Jacques Cartier, which showed something of the language 

 used by the Iroquois or Six Nations. He enumerated the 

 nations of which this confederation was composed, and remarked 

 upon the localities in which they lived. The original native 

 population of this part of Canada, Dr. Wilson said, was the 

 Huron-Iroquois. They were found in the valley of the St. 

 Lawrence by the early explorers. Some of them had been 

 driven out and had returned to Canada at the time of the 

 American Revolution, in one case, he said, bringing with them 

 the silver communion service given to the Mohawk church by 

 Queen Anne, and now used in the Tuscarora church. Dr. 

 Wilson referred to the Indians of Lorette and of Anderdon as 

 representing the ancient type of Hurons. These people, he said, 

 believed that their ancestors came from the neighbourhood of 

 the "great sea" or the Atlantic. The speaker then showed a 

 skull, probably that of a Hochelaga Indian, which had been 

 found near this spot. This, he said, presented all the types of 

 the Huron race. He contended that it was a Huron people that 

 had been found here by Jacques Cartier, though he said that the 

 funeral customs of that nation did not seem to have been prac- 

 tised in this district. These funeral customs, and the ceremony 

 of the "feast of the dead" were described in an interesting 

 manner by the Professor. Dr. Wilson remarked upon the want 

 of knowlege of metallurgy shown by the inhabitants of North 

 America, and the general slow progress in civilisation which was 

 displayed by these people. Copper in large quantities was ready 

 to their hand, but no trace of its being used was found, and the 

 application of fire to the metal seemed not to bethought of. He 

 noticed the earth-works of the Ohio Valley, which he said should 

 be visited by the British visitors before their return to Europe. 

 He concluded by referring to the influence that the half breed 

 population of Manitoba might have in future times upon the 

 inhabitants. 



Dr. Tylor, after expressing his thanks to Prof. Wilson for his 

 communication, called upon Mr. Horatio Hale to make some 

 remarks upon the subjects on which-the last speaker had touched. 

 This Mr. Hale did, saying that the tradition amongst the Hurons 

 was that their ancestors had moved westward from the districts 



in which they were found by Cartier. With regard to the ques- 

 tion of the language of the Hurons as compared with that of the 

 Iroquois, Mr. Hale read a letter from the Hon. Judge Force, of 

 Cincinnati, who had studied this subject. Mr. Hale also made 

 some interesting observations on the difference of pronunciation 

 between these people, his remarks being listened to with deep 

 attention. 



Prof. G. Lawson read a paper on Food Plants used by the 

 Indians. The Professor began by remarking on the various 

 berries that were found on this continent, as well as the numbers 

 of nut-bearing trees. He showed that the wants of the abori- 

 gines would be supplied by the natural products of the woods 

 and field-., and spoke particularly of the wild potato of Nova 

 Scotia, which was so well known among the Indians. Other 

 plants noticed were the bean, fields planted with this vegetable 

 being found by Columbus and by Jacques Cartier, and maize, 

 which was also much used. Beans were grown among the 

 Indian corn, which formed the main crop. Evidence showed 

 that plants like mel ms pumpkins, and others of the same nature 

 were cultivated by the Indians. Columbus, in 1492, found these 

 plants surrounding Indian villages in such a condition as proved 

 that they were cared for. 



Lieut. A. W. Greely exhibited a collection of photographs of 

 Esquimaux relics. 



Lieut. P. H. Ray read a paper On the Habits and Customs of 

 the Inn of the Western Shore and Point Barrow. Many of the 

 natives had been measured, and it was found that the tallest 

 height was 5 feet 10 inches, and the lowest 5 feet 1 inch. This 

 was mu h higher than the natives of Greenland. Their powers 

 of endurance were wonderful. Marriage laws they had none : 

 the contract was severed at will. They never quarrelled or 

 entered upon any controversy, and were extremely kind to their 

 parents. Lieut. Ray described the manner in which these 

 people prepared their food for travelling, and in which they cap- 

 tured the reindeer and the seal. Though they did not believe 

 in a future existence, they were intensely superstitious, as Lieut. 

 Ray found when he learned their language, and they paid great 

 veneration to the oldest of their women. He thought these 

 people the most primitive that white people had ever come in. 

 contact with. 



Mr. K. Law read a paper by himself and Mr. J. Horsfall, 

 On Some Small Flint Implements found beneath Peat on Several 

 Elevated Points of the Pennine Chain lying between Huddersfield 

 and Oldham. — Mr. Law introduced his subject by saying that, 

 though perhaps of a local nature, it might be interesting. In the 

 course of his paper he said that the flint implements which had 

 been discovered had been submitted to competent authorities, 

 and it was considered that they were the smallest ever discovered 

 in England. They were supposed to have been carving imple- 

 ments, and some of them were not more than one inch in 

 length and a quarter of an inch in breadth, while they were 

 carefully marked and chipped on the edges. The speaker 

 concluded by describing the moorland country and geological 

 character of the soil in which these implements were found. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The Journal of the Franklin Institute for August con- 

 tains : — Wire triangular truss, by Chas. J. Quetil, C. and M. E. 

 (illustrated). — New British standard wire gauge. — Report on 

 the trial of the "City of Fall River," by J. E. Sague. M.E., 

 and J. B. Adger, M.E., with an introduction by Prof. R. H. 

 Thurston (continued from vol. cxviii. p. 74, illustrated, and with 

 a table). — Tests by hydrostatic pressure, by S. Loyd Wiegand, 

 M.E. — Velocity of approach in weir computations, by A. W. 

 Hunking and Frank S. Hart (with tables). — The earth's ellip- 

 ticity, by L. D'Auria. — Suggestions for the improvement in the 

 manufacture of glass, by George W. Holley. — Survey of the 

 future water-supply of Philadelphia, by Rudolph Hering, C.E. — 

 Influence of high pressure on living organisms. — Atmospheric 

 changes at Nice. — Bernauf's telescope. — Microscopic organisms 

 on the surface of coins. — Magnetism in Madagascar. — Selective 

 absorption of solar energy. — Use of oxygen as a refrigerant. 



Annalen der Physik und Chemie, No. 8, July 1. — On a new 

 method of determining the vapour-densities of bodies with a low 

 boiling-point, by Nik. von Klobukow (10 figures and a table). — On 

 a new method of determining the vapour-densities of bodies with 

 high boiling-points, by Nik. von Klobukow (7 figures). — On the 

 influence of pressure on the viscosity of liquids, particularly of 

 water, by W. C. Rontgen (2 figures and 2 tables). — On the 



