Febeuaky 17, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



267 



from a bed known to be contaminated or sus- 

 pected of typboid. 



We have shown also the frequent occurrence, 

 in various shell-fish from the shops, of anaerobic 

 spore-bearing bacilli giving the characteristics 

 of the B. enteriiiidis sporogenes recently de- 

 scribed by Klein. 



As the result of our work, we make certain 

 recommendations as to the sanitary regulation 

 and registration of the oyster beds, and as to 

 quarantine for oysters imported from abroad. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 



ETHNOGRAPHY OF LIBERIA. 



In U Anihropologie, for August, the French 

 Consular Agent at Blonrovia, M. Delafosse, 

 gives a sketch of the present ethnography of 

 Liberia. The colored immigrants from the 

 United States, usually with more or less white 

 blood in their veins, have mixed indiscrimi- 

 nately and largely ' de la main gauche ' with 

 the native inhabitants. They form a parti- 

 colored population, not of a promising charac- 

 ter. The indigenous languages belong to four 

 stocks, the Mande, the Kru, the Gola and the 

 Guele, the last mentioned being that of the 

 cannibal tribes on the southeast. The original 

 people of this part of the coast were the De, 

 who were related to the Kru tribes and those 

 of the Ivory Coast. The Vei belong to the 

 Mande (or Mandingo) stocks, and are interest- 

 ing as using a peculiar syllabic alphabet, first 

 observed by Lieutenant Forbes, U. S. N. M. 

 Delafosse says that it was not their invention, 

 as has been stated, but was borrowed by them 

 from some tribe near the source of the Niger. 



THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SKULL-MASKS. 



The use of skulls, or imitations of them, as 

 masks, was not uncommon in America, and is 

 quite frequent in Polynesia. Their symbolism 

 and signification are examined by L. Frobenius 

 in the Internal. Archiv fur Ethnographie (1898, 

 Heft IV.). Rejecting former and incomplete 

 suggestions, he finds this custom arose from that 

 of the adoration of skulls themselves. It is 

 well known that in primitive religion the skulls 

 of men and animals are conspicuous objects of 

 worship, as representing the spirits of the de- 

 parted. This was connected with the religious 



homage to ancestors, to deceased chieftains 

 and to the brute eponymous forefathers of the 

 totem. Sometimes the symbolism of the skull 

 in the mask was reduced merely to the inser- 

 tion of teeth or some such single feature. 



THE SVASTIKA IN AMERICA. 



That a simple figure, like the Svastika, may 

 arise independently, representing quite different 

 objects, is again illustrated by Mr. Wm. W. 

 Tooker in an article in the American Antiqua- 

 rian for December. Among the marks which 

 were tattooed on the backs of the Virginian 

 Indians as totemic designs we find the Svastika, 

 as Mr. Tooker says, 'in full bloom.' In this 

 instance, from other figures given, the design 

 seems to represent four tomahawks crossed in 

 pairs, the blades in opposite directions. But, 

 as Mr. Tooker remarks, " It is a simple figure 

 which, when compared with others of aborig- 

 inal origin, might be evolved from an Indian's 

 brain," without evoking the hypothesis of a for- 

 eign immigration. As a ' symbol ' it has no 

 constant and universal meaning, and the mys- 

 tical importance which has been attached to it 

 by some imaginative writers has no foundation 

 in facts. 



D. G. Brinton. 



University of Pennsylvania. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



Dr. p. L. Sherman, formerly instructor in 

 general chemistry in the University of Mich- 

 igan, has gone with Professor Worcester to the 

 Philippines as his secretary. 



Dr. I. BoRNMULLER has gone to northern 

 Persia on a botanical expedition. 



The Berlin Academy of Sciences has made a 

 grant of 2,400 Marks toward the expenses of a 

 botanical expedition to Java by Dr. Paul 

 Knuth. 



The herbarium of Professor Chodat, of the 

 University of Geneva, has been destroyed by 

 fire. 



Representative Samuel J. Barrows, of 

 Massachusetts, will be appointed Librarian of 

 the National Library. This is regarded as an 

 excellent appointment, that will insure the con- 

 duct of the Library without reference to politi- 



