340 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 924 



method of keeping the initial displacement 

 small under a disturbing force be devised, but 

 it is equally undesirable that the moment of 

 inertia be materially increased by the intro- 

 duction of the stabilizing device. This con- 

 sideration alone would serve to discard all 

 methods of stabilization making use of heavy 

 masses, such as heavy gyroscopes or pendu- 

 lums, and an effective stabilizing device would 

 have to call into play the stabilizing surface 

 by means of a mechanism of transmission 

 operated by a light mass sensitive to light dis- 

 turbing forces, such as a small but rapidly 

 rotating gyroscope. Direct stabilization by a 

 heavy pendular mass, for instance, is a purely 

 chimerical procedure. G. O. James 



Washington University 



EABLY MAN IN SOUTH AMERICA 

 Five years ago the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology published a bulletin on Skeletal 

 Remains Suggesting, or Attributed to, Early 

 Man in North America, based on the re- 

 searches of Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, Curator of 

 Physical Anthropology in the U. S. National 

 Museum. There is to appear shortly in sim- 

 ilar form, under the title of Early Man in 

 South America, a resume of the investiga- 

 tions of Dr. Hrdlicka, in collaboration with 

 Mr. W. H. Holmes, head curator of the De- 

 partment of Anthropology in the TJ. S. Na- 

 tional Museum, Mr. Bailey Willis, of the 

 TJ. S. Geological Survey, and Messrs. Fred. 

 Eugene Wright and Clarence E. Fenner, of 

 the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington. 



Even before the completion of his report on 

 ancient man in North America, Dr. Hrdlicka 

 became interested in the evidence bearing on 

 the corresponding problem in South America, 

 and subsequently, at the suggestion of Mr. 

 W. H. Holmes, he was sent by the secretary 

 of the Smithsonian Institution to visit Argen- 

 tina for the purpose of making a study at 

 first hand of the available material and an 

 investigation of the most promising regions. 

 In view of the important position occupied 

 by geology in studies of this nature, Mr. 

 Bailey Willis of the U. S. Geological Survey 

 was chosen to accompany Dr. Hrdlicka. 



The chief objects of the expedition were: 

 the examination of the skeletal remains re- 

 lating to early man, in Brazil and Argentina; 

 the study of the principal localities and de- 

 posits from which these finds came; and, if 

 possible, the collection of osseous, archeologic 

 and other specimens bearing on the subject of 

 man's antiquity. It was hoped that thorough 

 investigation on the ground would enable the 

 explorers to form more definite conclusions 

 concerning the finds than the literature re- 

 lating to them warranted, and that possibly 

 by means of new discoveries additional light 

 would be thrown on the whole subject of early 

 man in South America, especially in Argen- 

 tina. 



The party reached Argentina early in May, 

 1910. Dr. Hrdlicka spent two months in that 

 country, while Mr. Willis remained some- 

 what longer, nearly all of this time being 

 given to the researches recorded in the re- 

 port. The work was greatly facilitated by 

 several of the local men of science, and the 

 authors express warm appreciation for the 

 valuable assistance thus rendered. During 

 the first part of the stay in Argentina, Dr. 

 Hrdlicka devoted his time to the study of the 

 available skeletal material attributed to an- 

 cient man, found in the various local mu- 

 seums, while Mr. Willis examined the various 

 samples of baked earth, and other objects be- 

 lieved to have been associated with the activ- 

 ities of prehistoric man. Several localities in 

 Buenos Aires where local exposures could be 

 studied, including the drydock where the 

 " Diprothomo " skull had been found some 

 time before, were carefully examined. On 

 May 24 the party set out for the coast where 

 important specimens had been discovered, and 

 a few days later were joined at Mar del 

 Plata, by the late Professor Florentine 

 Ameghino and his brother Carlos, who as- 

 sisted the expedition materially, accompany- 

 ing Dr. Hrdlicka and Mr. Willis for more 

 than three weeks from place to place on the 

 coast, and to several inland points of interest. 



After the completion of this general sur- 

 vey, Dr. Hrdlicka visited the valley of the 

 Rio Negro whence came several fossil crania 

 many years ago, while Mr. Willis proceeded to 



