366 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 1423 



that after a period of quiescence of some cen- 

 turies the great volcano Popocatapetl had 

 again become active in 1920, and that its 

 activity still continued. 



During the last decade evidence that great 

 volcanic disturbances had taken place at long 

 intervals has been forthcoming. Two distinct 

 types of figurines have been found in conditions 

 which indicate that the topography of the valley 

 has been changed and its inhabitants destroyed 

 by great catastrophes antedating the arrival of 

 the Nahuas or Aztecs. 



Of these figurines the first, provisionally dis- 

 tinguished as the sub-gravel type, was brought 

 to Mrs. Nuttall's notice in 19'20, when specimens 

 were offered for sale by Indians, and she herself 

 discovered an example in situ under a gravel 

 bed at Atzacapotzalco. They were delicately 

 fashioned of fine clay, with slender bodies, long 

 faces, smooth-hanging hair, some wearing chap- 

 lets. All presented a worn and polished sur- 

 face. In the VaUey of Mexico the gravel beds 

 extend under the lava fiow at the base of the 

 extinct volcano Auseo. 



Under the lava bed, to which Dr. Tempest 

 Anderson assigns an age of at least 20,000 

 years, Mrs. Nuttall in 1908, and afterwards 

 Senor Gamio, head of the Department of Arch- 

 eology of Mexico, have discovered a second type 

 of figurine, to which the name "sub-lava type" 

 has been given. This type is characterised by 

 turbans and caps, evidently of fine stuffs or fur, 

 and decorated with circular ornaments of stone 

 or shell. They indicate that the southern part 

 of the valley was inhabited by a race totally 

 distinct from that of the "sub-gravel type" and 

 the Aztec. The distribution of the clay figurines 

 is now under investigation. They have been 

 traced as far as Guatemala. 



Mrs. Nuttall also described the results of re- 

 cent excavations at Teotihuaean, during which 

 a small pjTamid was opened up and recon- 

 structed by Senor Gamio. A tunnel pierced at 

 the height of 35 feet to the center of the pyra- 

 mid revealed that it had been formed of mud 

 filled with innumerable fragments of pottery 

 vessels which had prevented the mud from 

 cracking when it baked in the sun. A remark- 

 able discovery was that of the remains of the 



ancient pyramid temple with a wonderful sculp- 

 tured frieze which had been partly destroyed 

 and then concealed by another terraced pyramid 

 temple built in front. The sculptured serpents' 

 heads and the masks of the water-god Tlaloc 

 are of a form hitherto unknown. Associated 

 with them are sculptured shells, principally the 

 conch shell and the pecten or pearl shell. Not 

 only is it remarkable that sea-shells should be 

 represented in sculpture in the heart of the 

 continent, but the association of the water-god 

 with the ocean is entirely new. 



In the discussion which followed Mrs. Nut- 

 tail's paper, Mr. Maudslay expressed the hope 

 that it might be possible before long, by the 

 elaboration of a system of stratification, to date 

 Mexican antiquities. As Mexico appeared to 

 have been untouched by outside influence, the 

 study of its antiquities afforded evidence of the 

 highest value for the study of the development 

 of the human mind acting by itself. Mr. T. A. 

 Joyce emphasized the importance of the evi- 

 dence relating to the figurines, and pointed out 

 that the British Museum had acquired a figurine 

 of similar technique from Ecuador. Professor 

 Eliot Smith expressed the opinion that, con- 

 trary to what had been stated by Mr. Maudslay, 

 Mexican antiquities showed clear evidence of 

 infiuence from outside and in particular from 

 Asia. Mrs. Nuttall's work showed that this 

 culture must have crossed the Pacific. 



THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF 

 ENGLAND 



The council of the Royal Agricultural Soci- 

 ety of England has, as reported in the London 

 Times, unanimously adopted a report from the 

 chemical committee of the society, which had 

 been instructed "to consider in what way, in 

 view of the altered circumstances, the scientific 

 side of the society might be developed." The 

 council afterwards appointed the following 

 research committee to carry out the research 

 proposals made by the chemical committee : 



The Duke of Devonshire, Lord Bledisloe, 

 Professor W. Somerville, D.Sc. (Oxford), Mr. 

 Dampier Wlietham, F.R.S. (Cambridge), Mr. 

 Henry Ovennan, and Mr. John Evens, with 

 Mr. Charles Adeane (chairman of the finance 



