1903. ASHMEAD—-HUACOS POTTERIES OF OLD PERU. 391 
indigenous race and that it was ante-mortem. Broca concluded that 
such an operation was performed for extravasation of blood in the 
cranium from a number of causes~—wounds, punctured fracture, 
violent inflammation, suppuration, delirium, coma, etc.—just as is 
done by our surgeons to-day. 
I have also pictures of ten huacos potteries of La Plata Museum, 
Argentina, which Dr. Lehman-Nitsche submitted to me. As will 
be seen also by a reference to those of the Bandelier Collection of 
the American Museum, New York, while amputation of the feet is 
often represented, in not one single pot is there a hand amputated. 
Dr. Polakowsky raised the point that if these amputations were due to 
disease there should be representations of amputated hands as well 
as feet. But he overlooked the important fact that then the soul 
of the departed could not reach out his hand for the wine or water- 
bottles which are necessary for his future life in the grave or for his 
four days of journey to Paradise. The whole intent of putting 
these little bottles in the grave with the corpse is to keep death 
from becoming definite. A fand/ess soul representation would 
destroy their religious belief. Therefore, even if the hand of the 
corpse was amputated, they would put on the image they buried 
with that corpse, good hands to help the individual in the other 
world. 
* Dr. Carrasquilla was of opinion that these amputation represen- 
tations do not treat of disease at all, but of punished criminals ; 
that for little faults they cut off the nose and upper lip, and when 
they punished ‘‘relapsers’’ they amputated also the feet, for the 
purpose of hindering them from committing new crimes or to keep 
them from running away. 
Dr. Carrasquilla promised to send documentary proofs of this 
belief of his, but they were found to be totally insufficient to prove 
his point. Dr. William Von den Steinen has consulted all the lit- 
erature of South America, like, for example, the works of Cieza 
de Leon, of Garcilaso de le Vega, and he has zof been able to find 
indications of mutilations that prove that the representations on the 
clay figures have been produced by punishments which had been 
applied to the individuals. He believes that they refer to the rep- 
resentations of a disease. Mr. Sttibel participated in the same 
belief. Mr. Bastian and Mr. Middendorf thought that they treated 
simply of punishments applied to criminals. Mr. Seler believed 
that leprosy had existed in pre-Columbian d/exico, because of the 
