760 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 778 



descent of the sections and totems is counted 

 through the mothers in all cases. 



Dr. Hewitt reports that the Chepara and 

 Turrubul tribes on the coast from Point 

 Danger to Brisbane and Pine rivers " had no 

 social organization in classes or totems, the 

 regulation of marriage being by locality; and 

 descent of name in the male line.'" Speaking 

 of the Kaiabara tribe at the Blackall or 

 Bunya Bunya Ranges, he also asserts that 

 '' descent is in the male line."* 



In 1898 I reported that the Turrubul tribe 

 had the four intermarrying divisions, Barrang, 

 Banjoor, Bunda and Derwain, -with descent 

 always reckoned on the female side, the chil- 

 dren taking the phratry and totem name of 

 their mother. At the same time I also showed 

 that descent in the Kaiabara tribe is through 

 the women and not through the men." 



In 1883 Dr. Howitt published a table of the 

 four intermarrying divisions of the Mycoolon 

 tribe on the Oloncurry River, Queensland, 

 and stated that descent was through the 

 father, giving as a reason that " under the 

 influence of agnatic descent the girl is of the 

 same class name as her mother's mother."" 



In 1898 I contradicted this statement and 

 showed that descent in the Mycoolon tribe is 

 counted through the mother only." Dr. 

 Howitt in his late work, " Native Tribes of 

 Southeast Australia," does not refer to my 

 contradiction, from which it may be inferred 

 that he maintains his statement of 1883. 

 Whether he does so or not, it becomes neces- 

 sary for me to repeat that I am quite certain 

 that descent in the tribe mentioned is indis- 

 putably maternal. It should be mentioned 

 that Mr. E. Palmer had also previously arrived 

 at the same conclusion as myself." 



" " Native Tribes of Southeast Australia," pp. 

 136-7. 



'Op. oit., p. 229. 



^'Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc, XXXVII., pp. 328- 

 31, with map; Journ. Roy. Soo. N. 8. Wales, 

 XXXII., pp. 81-3. 



"Journ. Anthrop. Inst., London, XIII., p. 346. 



"Journ. Roy. Soc. N. 8. Wales, XXXII., pp. 

 82-3. 



"Journ. Anthrop. Inst., London, XIII., p. 302. 



I have thought it right to draw attention 

 to the differences between Dr. Howitt's state- 

 ments and mine in order that the anthro- 

 pologists of America and Europe may have 

 both our views before them to assist them in 

 arriving at a conclusion regarding the line of 

 descent in the cases under notice, because it is 

 a matter of the highest importance. 



R. H. Mathews 



UNIFORMITY IN ENGLISH ABBKEVIATIONS 



To THE Editor op Science: Is not the time 

 ripe for uniformity in English abbreviations? 



Perhaps the best way of bringing about 

 such uniformity is through the issue, by some 

 authoritative body, of a code in which, so far 

 as possible, the roots of the words would be 

 retained, a code somewhat similar to that used 

 by the employees of the Associated Press. 

 From such a code writers could probably be 

 induced to take all their abbreviations which 

 are to appear in print. 



Such a code, if supported by strong author- 

 ity, would probably be used by many writers 

 for the press; and if learned through a course 

 of years would not likely be a great strain on 

 the memory, even though somewhat elaborate. 



The present time seems to be propitious be- 

 cause workers in many special fields are intro- 

 ducing abbreviations of their own devising, 

 many of them calling for the consultation of 

 a table. From the point of view of the general 

 diffusion of technical knowledge, it will prove 

 unfortunate if the trials of the lay reader are 

 increased by abbreviation of technical terms 

 and the most direct road to preventing this is 

 to decrease the labor of the scientist by ab- 

 breviating common terms. 



The undersigned would be glad to hear from 

 any parties who are interested in such a plan. 



John N. James 

 Inbiana State Normal School, 

 Indiana, Pa. 



indiscriminate killing op musk oxen 

 To THE Editor of Science: A number of 

 facts are coming to light at the present time 

 which must, in the minds of all thoughtful 



