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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 718 



was created by act of Congress approved June 

 29, 1906. It is situated on the border of the 

 Montezuma Valley, just south of the ancient 

 Montezuma road, and contains some of the best 

 preserved relics of the prehistoric cliff dwell- 

 ers in the country. During last spring Dr. 

 Fewkes had charge of the excavation and 

 repair of Spruce-tree House, one of the largest 

 and most typical cliff dwellings of the park. 

 A wall forming the front of this village, for- 

 merly hidden under fallen debris, was brought 

 to light and repaired throughout its whole 

 length. The former plazas were restored to 

 their original condition. In the course of the 

 work 120 rooms were cleaned out and repaired. 

 Eight of these, which are circular in form, 

 were found to be ceremonial in nature. They 

 were excavated to their floors and their archi- 

 tectural features revealed. The roofs of two 

 of these circular rooms were restored, follow- 

 ing aboriginal lines of construction. Provi- 

 sion was made to prevent destruction of the 

 walls by freshets or water falling on them 

 from the rim of the overhanging cliff. In 

 order to increase the attractiveness of this 

 ruin to visitors, explanatory labels were 

 placed on the more important rooms. 



AccoRDiNO to the Simla correspondent of 

 the London Times, Dr. Sven Hedin sums up 

 the results of his explorations as follows: 

 My great discoveries are, first, the true 

 sources of the Brahmaputra and Indus, and 

 the genetic source of the Sutlej east of 

 Mansorawar Lake; secondly, the exploration 

 of Bongba, which I traversed twice by dif- 

 ferent routes. But the greatest of all is the 

 discovery of that continuous mountain chain 

 which, taken as a whole, is the most massive 

 range on the crust of the earth, its average 

 height above sea level being greater than that 

 of the Himalayas. Its peaks are 4,000 feet to 

 5,000 feet lower than Everest, but its passes 

 average 3,000 feet higher than the Himalayan 

 passes. The eastern and western parts were 

 known before, but the central and highest 

 part is in Bongba, which was previously un- 

 explored. Not a tree or a bush covers it; 

 there are no deep-cut valleys, as in the Hima- 

 layas, for rain is scanty. The absolute 



heights remain to be calculated from observa- 

 tions made on the ten passes which I crossed. 



The bison range in the Flathead Indian 

 Reservation in Montana, to establish which 

 congress at its last session appropriated $40,- 

 000, has been selected. The location of the 

 range is the one recommended by Professor 

 Morton J. Elrod, of the University of Mon- 

 tana, after he had carefully examined several 

 parts of the country. It lies directly north 

 of the Jocko River near the towns of Ravalli 

 and Jocko. Approximately 12,800 acres are 

 embraced in the tract, which will be fenced 

 in a substantial manner under the direction of 

 the engineering department of the United 

 States Forest Service. Of the $40,000 appro- 

 priated only $10,000 will be available for fen- 

 cing the range and constructing the shelter 

 sheds and other buildings necessary for the 

 proper maintenance and care of the bison. 

 The remaining $30,000 will be paid to the 

 owners of the land, many of whom are In- 

 dians. Funds for the purchase of bison are 

 being raised under the auspices of the Ameri- 

 can Bison Society, which was largely instru- 

 mental in securing the appropriation. The 

 first person to spend actual money in the effort 

 to preserve the American bison from total 

 extinction was the late Austin Corbin, who 

 many years ago fenced some 6,000 acres at 

 Blue Mountain Park, New Hampshire, and 

 secured a herd of bison. The Corbin herd 

 became in course of time the inspiration of 

 the national movement which is now furthered 

 by the American Bison Society. This society, 

 of which President Roosevelt is honorary 

 president, and Williani T. Hornaday, director 

 of the New York Zoological Park, is presi- 

 dent, was founded in 1904, and the Montana 

 bison range is directly the result of its 

 efforts. Details of the management of the 

 herd in the new national bison range will be 

 worked out as soon as the herd is purchased, 

 when the construction work on fences and 

 buildings will also be begun. 



At the recent third International Congress 

 of Philosophy, held at Heidelberg, it was de- 

 cided that the fourth congress will take place 

 in 1912 at Bologna. 



