Septembee 13, 1912] 



SCIENCE 



341 



• Arroyo Siasgo and Alvear, to study the geol- 

 ogy of these territories and several specimens 

 of baked earth supposed to be the product of 

 ancient human industry. Early in July, both 

 explorers met again in Buenos Aires, and 

 .after finishing their work in that region 

 started for Ovejero, a locality in northwest- 

 ern Argentina that has come into prominence 

 in the last few years through its yield of hu- 

 man bones; they also visited Tacuman, San 

 Juan and Mendoza. Dr. Hrdlicka then pro- 

 ceeded to Peru while Mr. Willis returned to 

 Buenos Aires. 



The researches occupied nearly three 

 months. Every specimen relating to ancient 

 man that could be found was examined and 

 every important locality was investigated. 

 Unfortunately the general results of the in- 

 quiry are not in harmony with claims previ- 

 ously made by the various authors who re- 

 ported the several finds. On the contrary, the 

 conclusion was reached that to the present 

 time the evidence is unfavorable to the hy- 

 pothesis of man's great antiquity, especially 

 as to the existence of very early predecessors 

 of the Indian in South America; nor does it 

 sustain the theories of the evolution of man 

 in general, or even that of an American race 

 alone, in the southern continent. The facts 

 gathered attest everywhere merely the pres- 

 ence of the already differentiated and rela- 

 tively modern American Indian. This should 

 not be taken as a categorical denial of the ex- 

 istence of early man in South America, how- 

 ever improbable such a conclusion may now 

 appear; but the position is maintained that 

 the final acceptance of the evidence on this 

 subject can not be justified until there is ac- 

 cumulated a mass of strictly scientific ob- 

 servations, requisite in kind and volume, to 

 establish a proposition of so great importance. 



The expedition secured numerous geolog- 

 ical, paleontological and anthropological 

 specimens, some of which throw light on the 

 question under investigation. All these 

 specimens have been deposited in the United 

 States ISTational Museum for further study 

 and exhibition. 



THE NEW ALLEGHENY OBSESVATORT 

 The new Allegheny Observatory, situated 

 in Riverview Park, Pittsburgh, was dedicated 

 on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 28, 

 in the presence of the members of the Astro- 

 nomical and Astrophysical Society of Amer- 

 ica, and of many of the Pittsburgh friends of 

 the institution. The principal instruments 

 of the new observatory are a 13-inch visual 

 refractor, a 30-inch reflector (a memorial to 

 James Edward Keeler), and a 30-inch photo- 

 graphic refractor (a memorial to William 

 Thaw and his son, William Thaw, Junior). 

 The last of these telescopes is not quite com- 

 pleted, as the objective remains to be sup- 

 plied. Addresses were made by Dr. John A. 

 Brashear, chairman of the observatory com- 

 mittee; by Dr. Samuel Black McOormick, 

 chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, 

 of which the observatory forms the astronom- 

 ical department; by Dr. Frank Sehlesinger, 

 director of the Allegheny Observatory, and 

 by Professor E. C. Pickering, director of the 

 Harvard College Observatory. Mrs. William 

 Eeed Thompson, the daughter of William 

 Thaw and the sister of William Thaw 

 Junior, closed the exercises with the unveil- 

 ing of the memorial tablet on the Thaw teles- 

 scope. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



Dr. W J McGee, known for his contribu- 

 tions to geology, anthropology and the con- 

 servation of natural resources, died at Wash- 

 ington on September 5, aged fifty-nine years. 



Dr. M. Plance, professor of theoretical 

 physics in the University of Berlin, has been 

 elected permanent secretary of the mathemat- 

 ical and physical section of the Berlin Acad- 

 emy of Sciences. 



Dr. Jean Mascart, of the Paris Observa- 

 tory, has been appointed director of the Lyons 

 Observatory in succession to M. Andre. 



It was stated in last week's issue of Science 

 that the friends and former students of Pro- 

 fessor Wilhelm Wundt had presented to him 

 on his eightieth birthday a foundation for the 

 University of Leipzig. The disposition of the 

 foundation was left to Professor Wundt, who 



