May 26, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



r47 



the drawing is the work of au artist, displaying 

 an accuracy not seen in any of tlie otlier Mexi- 

 can codices. It has been hidden from the world 

 in the recesses of the library of the Chamber of 

 Deputies, Paris. The writer had the priviledge 

 of carefully examining it in 1895, in company 

 with the Duke of Loubat, through whose gener- 

 osity its publication has been made possible. 

 The bright colors with which it was painted are 

 still well preserved, and the whole codex is in ex- 

 cellent condition. The first two pages and prob- 

 ably the last two are missing, undoubtedly having 

 been destroyed, or abstracted shortly subsequent 

 to the conquest. The division and mutilation 

 of the Mexican codices is a well-known fact. 

 This book, folded screen fashion, is painted 

 upon but one side, unlike the majority of the 

 Pre-Columbian codices. The pages bear texts 

 written in poor Spanish, partly explanatory of 

 their meaning. The first 18 pages contain the 

 Tonalamatl, the divinatory or astrological calen- 

 dar of the Aztecs. The contents of the missing 

 first two pages can be supplied by a study of the 

 other ritualistic calendars, of the Codices Vati- 

 canus 3773, Vaticanus 3738, Borgianus, Bo- 

 logna and the Boturini-Aubiu-Goupil Tonala- 

 matl. This subject has been exhaustively treated 

 by Dr. Ed. Seler. The Tonalamatl of the Codex 

 Borbonicus is far more complete than any 

 other yet published, and helps to clear up some 

 of their obscure points. Pages 19 to 38 contain 

 astronomical, religious and historical material 

 of great interest, and somewhat resemble the 

 paintings fouud in the Codex Telleriano Re- 

 mensis of the National Library, Paris, and its 

 counterpart Codex Vaticanus 3738. Pages 37 

 to 38 are instructive from the historical stand- 

 point. Page 37 represents the two prophets 

 who foretold to Montezuma the coming of the 

 Spaniards to subdue the country. The dates : 

 1, Tochtli ; 2, Acatl ; 3, Tecpatl, 1506-7-3, ac- 

 company these figures, and suggest that the 

 priests had heard of the appearance of the ships 

 of Diaz de Solis and Pinzon olT the coast of 

 Yucatan in 1506, notice of which was undoubt- 

 edly carried to most parts of the culture area. 

 When all the old Mexican codices are repro- 

 duced separately then the study will be much 

 simplified, and it is gratifying to note the 

 progress now being made in this direction, at 



the present time several unpublished codices 

 being in process of publication. 



M. H. Saville. 



Pflanzengeographie auf Physiologischer Grund- 

 lage. Von Dr. A. P. W. Schimper. Mit 

 502 Tafeln und Abbildungen in autotypie, 5 

 Tafeln in Lichtdruck, und 4 geographischen 

 Karten. Jena, Gustav Fischer. 1898. 8vo. 

 Pp. vi + 876. 



The appearance of this text marks a distinc- 

 tive period in the development of phytogeog- 

 raphy. The treatment is primarily ecological, 

 but the floristic is presented so fully and woven 

 in so logically that the arrangement is strictly 

 phytogeographical in the best sense. Such a 

 coordinate presentation of the subject-matter is 

 novel. The standard texts, especially such 

 classic ones as Humboldt's, De Candolle's and 

 Grisebach's, have been almost wholly floristic, 

 while Warming's recent Lehrbuch der Oeko- 

 logischen Pflanzengeographie is, of course, 

 purely ecological. Sketches of particular floras 

 have, likewise, been floristic in character, to the 

 practical exclusion of the ecological standpoint. 

 Naturally, this does not mean that the author 

 is the first to perceive the essential relation be- 

 tween floristic and ecology, a relation practi- 

 cally of cause and effect. The recognition of 

 this fact is as old as Humboldt's first work. It 

 does indicate, however, the advance made in 

 systematizing and in making more thorough the 

 methods of investigating the floral covering. 

 The appearance of the present excellent text 

 evidences the author's realization of his oppor- 

 tunity. The skillful manner in which the mat- 

 ter is handled bespeaks no small mastery of the 

 subject. The volume contains a number of 

 original and suggestive ideas, only a few of 

 which can be mentioned here. 



The work consists of three parts, the first 

 treating of the factors in ecology, the second of 

 formations and plant societies, the third of the 

 zones and regions of the floral covering of the 

 globe. The ecological factors considered in the 

 first part are water, temperature, light, soil, at- 

 mosphere and animals. The treatment of each 

 subject is as exhaustive as can be expected in a 

 general text, especially in consideration of the 

 enormous mass of detail available. In thorough- 



