118 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



imals, and illustrate simply the beginning of pictorial art ; 

 others we know were intended to commemorate events or to 

 represent other ideas entertained by their authors ; but to a 

 large extent these were simply mnemonic — not conveying 

 ideas of themselves, but designed more thoroughly to retain 

 in memory certain events or thoughts by persons who were 

 already cognizant of the same through current hearsay or 

 tradition. If once the memory of the thought to be pre- 

 served has passed from the minds of men, the record is pow- 

 erless to restore its own subject-matter to the understanding. 



The great body of picture-writings is thus described ; yet 

 to some slight extent pictographs are found with characters 

 more or less conventional, and the number of such is quite 

 large in Mexico and Central America. Yet even these con- 

 ventional characters are used with others less conventional 

 in such a manner that perfect records were never made. 



Hence it will be seen that it is illegitimate to use any pic- 

 tographic matter of a date anterior to the discovery of the 

 continent by Columbus for historic purposes ; but it has a 

 legitimate use of profound interest, as these pictographs ex- 

 hibit the beginning of written language and the beginning 

 of pictorial art, yet undifferentiated ; and if the scholars of 

 America will collect and study the vast body of this material 

 scattered everywhere — over the valleys and on the mountain 

 sides, from it can be written one of the most interesting 

 chapters in the early history of mankind. 



History, Customs, and Ethnic Characteristics. 



On these subjects the following papers have been read : 



Ancient Maps of North America ; by John C. Lang. 



On the Effacing Power of Tropical Forest-growth 

 in Trinidad Island ; by Miles Rock. 



On the Determination of the Age of Prehistoric 

 Remains ; by Edward P. Lull. 



A Strange Chart ; by W. Bainbridge HofF. 



The Indian Land Title — the Method and Chronology 

 of its Extinguishment by the United States; by C. C. 

 Royce. 



