624 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 720 



Boas's " The Eskimo of Baffin Land and 

 Hudson Bay " is concluded in Part II. (pp. 

 371-570, pis. V.-S., figs. 173-269) of Volume 

 XV. of the Bulletin. Material gathered by a 

 number of independent observers is shown to 

 yield corroborative evidence for the author's 

 previously expressed conviction that Eskimo 

 culture from Alaska to Greenland formed 

 originally a firm unit; and that differentia- 

 tions are due to local causes, such as the influ- 

 ence of the coast and Yukon Kiver Indians 

 on the Alaskan Eskimo. 



Part V. (pp. 381-498, pis. LIX.-LXXH., 

 figs. 68-118) of Volume XVII. of the Bul- 

 letin consists of Dr. Roland B. Dixon's mono- 

 graph, " The Shasta," closely patterned in 

 general mode of treatment on his description 

 of the Northern Maidu. The Shasta are 

 found to share part of their material culture 

 with the tribes of northwestern California, but 

 are fundamentally distinct in religious and 

 social life. A relatively close connection with 

 Oregonian culture is hypothetically advanced. 



In Part IV. (pp. 279^54, pis. LVII.- 

 LXXXVIII., figs. 103-180) of Volume XVII. 

 of the Bulletin Dr. Kroeber discusses ths 

 religious life of the Arapaho. The sun-dance 

 of the northern Arapaho of Wyoming is com- 

 pared and found essentially identical with 

 that of their southern congeners in Oklahoma, 

 and there is a brief account of old tribal cus- 

 toms. This is followed by a detailed treat- 

 ment of modern ceremonial objects with de- 

 scriptions of the crow-dance and the peyote 

 cult, which have superseded the ancient cere- 

 monial organization. After discussing num- 

 ber and color symbolism, the author concludes 

 with a sketch of individual relationship to 

 the supernatural. 



Part IV. (pp. 327-^01, pis. XXIV.-XXVH., 

 figs. 536-592) Volume III. of the Memoirs 

 contains two papers — Lieutenant George T. 

 Emmons's " The Ghilkat Blanket " and Pro- 

 fessor Franz Boas's " Notes on the Blanket 

 Designs." Emmons describes in detail the 

 process of weaving the ceremonial robe, once 

 characteristic of all the North Pacific coast 

 tribes, but now confined to the Ghilkat, a 

 branch of the Tlingit. Boas describes the dis- 

 position of design' units in the Ghilkat 



blanket, showing that the ornamentation is 

 not influenced by the technique of weaving, 

 but is bodily derived from the decorative sur- 

 faces of painted pattern-boards. 



Egbert H. Lowie 



BOTANICAL NQTES 

 PAPERS ON AEOHEGONIATES 



Peofessoe Doctor D. H. Gampbell de- 

 scribes in a recent number of Torreya some 

 of his experiences in collecting liverworts in 

 Java, " perhaps the most interesting region in 

 the world for the botanical student." On ac- 

 count of the heavy rainfall, and the great 

 range in elevation, from sea-level to an alti- 

 tude of more than ten thousand feet, the flora 

 is very rich in species as well as individuals. 

 " It is said that there are over fifteen hun- 

 dred species of trees in the island " which 

 botanists will remember is about double the 

 number we have in North America. In this 

 region Dr. Gampbell found the greatest abun- 

 dance of liverworts, some of remarkable in- 

 terest. 



The same author's paper, " Studies on the 

 Ophioglossaceae " in the Annates du Jardin 

 Boianique de Buitenzorg (Vol. VI.) adds ma- 

 terially to our knowledge of the round of life 

 of these low ferns. The prothallia of the two 

 species studied (Ophioglossum molluscanum, 

 and 0. pendulum) are " subterranean and 

 normally destitute of chlorophyll." That of 

 the first species is short-lived, while in the 

 second it is " apparently capable of unlimited 

 reproduction by means of detached buds." As 

 to relationship the author says " the nearest 

 affinity of Ophioglossum is probably with the 

 Marattiaceae, but it is probable that there .is 

 also a remote affinity with the Equisetineae." 



In a later paper on " The Prothallium of 

 Kaulfiossia and Gleichenia, in the same 

 journal (Vol. VIII.), Dr. Gampbell describes 

 and figures the prothallium, antheridium, 

 archegonium and embryo of Kaulfussia 

 aesculifolia a somewhat rare fern of the 

 Marattiaceae found in the Indo-Malayan 

 region. The prothallium is fieshy and more 

 than one cell in thickness except at the ex- 

 treme margin, and looks much like the game- 



