JANUARY 5, 1912] 
congress reconvenes. The treaty was con- 
cluded here last July and the final exchanges 
of ratifications between the governments 
ended two weeks ago. It now remains neces- 
sary only for the required legislation to be 
enacted. The bill to put the terms of the 
treaty into effect declares that no citizen of 
the United States shall kill or capture fur 
seals in the Pacific Ocean or seas of Bering, 
Kamschatka, Okhotsk or Japan north of the 
thirteenth parallel of north latitude, or kill sea 
otter in any of the waters beyond three miles 
from the United States shore line. Further, 
it is recited that no citizen of the United 
States shall equip or aid in equipping vessels 
to be used in pelagic sealing in these waters; 
that the importation of fur seal skins taken in 
those waters be prohibited except such as have 
been taken under authority of the respective 
governments parties to the convention to 
which the breeding grounds belong. Heavy 
penalties are provided by the bill for viola- 
tions of its provisions. 
Tue value of the total mineral output of 
Alaska in 1911 is estimated at $20,370,000, 
compared with $16,883,678 in 1910. The gold 
output in 1911 is estimated to have a value of 
$17,150,000; that of 1910 was $16,126,749. It 
is estimated that the Alaska mines produced 
22,900,000 pounds of copper in 1911, valued 
at about $2,830,000; in 1910 their output was 
4,241,689 pounds, valued at $588,695. The 
silver production in 1911 is estimated to have 
a value of $220,000, compared with $85,236 
for 1910. The value of all other mineral prod- 
ucts in 1911, including tin, marble, gypsum 
and coal, was about $170,000, an increase over 
that of 1910. By using the above estimates 
for the output of 1911, the total value of 
Alaska’s mineral production since 1880, when 
mining first began, is found to be, in round 
numbers, $206,600,000, of which $195,950,000 
is represented by the value of the gold output. 
The total production of copper in Alaska 
~ since 1901, when systematic mining of this 
metal began, is about 56,700,000 pounds, 
valued at about $8,170,000. 
Mr. N. Hottistsr, assistant curator of the 
division of mammals, U. 8. National Museum, 
SCIENCE 25 
announces the discovery of four new animals 
from the Canadian Rockies, in a paper just 
published by the Smithsonian Institution. 
During last summer a small party of natural- 
ists from the Smithsonian Institution accom- 
panied the expedition of the Alpine Club of 
Canada, to the Mount Robson region, where 
they made the first natural history collection 
ever taken in that vicinity. The paper men- 
tioned above is the first publication issued by 
the institution on this expedition, although 
Mr. J. H. Riley, 2a member of the party, has 
written a description of two new species of 
birds discovered on the trip, which has re- 
cently been published in the Proceedings of 
the Biological Society of Washington; both 
of the birds are of the sparrow family, one a 
song sparrow, and the other a fox sparrow. 
The natural history work of the expedition 
was under the charge of Mr. Hollister. He 
paid especial attention, however, to the mam- 
mals, four of which he describes, a chipmunk, 
a manteled ground-squirrel and two bats. All 
the specimens come from the neighborhood of 
Mount Robson, which lies in one of the wild 
and unexplored parts of British Columbia, at 
about 14,500 feet elevation. 
Tue Bureau of American Ethnology is 
preparing a new work which will form a 
“Handbook of Aboriginal Remains in the 
United States, and will have to do with the 
ancient abodes, camps, mounds, workshops, 
quarries, burial places, ete., of the Indian 
tribes. In connection with this work, Mr. F. 
W. Hodge, ethnologist in charge of the Bu- 
reau of American Ethnology, is sending let- 
ters of inquiry to all persons thought to have 
any knowledge of the subject of this under- 
taking, as well as to all institutions and socie- 
ties interested in American archeology and 
ethnology. The letter requests all informa- 
tion respecting the location, character and his- 
tory of the remains left by the Indians, or 
other indications of their former occupancy. 
In 1891 a catalogue of prehistoric works east 
of the Rocky Mountains was published, but 
that work is both out of date and out of print. 
It was compiled by Dr. Cyrus Thomas and 
