368 



SCIENCE. 



I Vol. II., No. 32. 



a lierd of buffaloes. The track left by the women's 

 feet is a regular pattern like a close-leaved vine, each 

 ■woman hopping exactly into her predecessor's foot- 

 steps. 



The fire before ■ referred to is built east of the cen- 

 tre of the tent, and contains four logs placed with 

 their inner ends joining, and their outer ends toward 

 the points of the compass. Daring the initiation of 

 a candidate, at a certain point in the ceremony when 

 he has fallen dead to the old life, and is raised to the 

 new, the four logs are taken away, and the ashes are 

 heaped in a sharply conical mound. 



The essayist also described one of the sacred rest- 

 ing-places for spirits on the bluffs of the Missouri 

 river. Such places are at intervals about fifty miles 

 apart. They are cleared and cleaned by sacred hands 

 every year. The place contained a depression in the 

 ground, of circular form except as to an extension of 

 the outline in an elongation or entrance exactly point- 

 ing to the east. The depression is just one foot in 

 circumference, and about six inches deep. An ad- 

 joining tree, now partly blown down, has the reputa- 

 tion among Iiidians of being haunted by spirits. The 

 author hoped that other observers would be able to 

 trace the probable connection between these observ- 

 ances and the building of the larger mounds. 



Osage -war customs. 



BY J. O. DOBSEY OF 'WASHINGTOiSr, D.C. 



The paper was read by the president of the sec- 

 tion, in the absence of the author. 



By means of an illustration the preparations were 

 shown which the tribe makes for a war-march, the 

 order followed being that of rank in the tribe. The 

 paper described the tactics by which the Osages camp 

 in a circle, the war-men on one side, and the non- 

 combatants on the other. The road travelled by the 

 Indians forms the line down through the centre of 

 the camp, and the division-line. The great war-tent 

 is placed with the rear to the west, the place of honor 

 being at the east. The author detailed at consid- 

 erable length, with the aid of illustrated charts, the 

 method of selecting the forces, and the ceremo- 

 nials prepai-atoi'y to war, the decoration of the Kean 

 Woctake, or Cheezhoe peacemaker, the form of the 

 dance around the village, the nature of the moving 

 dance, the order of march from home by twos four 

 abreast. Marriage ceremonials and funeral rites 

 were also described and explained in detail. A 

 marked feature of this paper was its use of draw- 

 ings illustrating the grouping of participants in 

 ceremonies. 



The Charnay collection at Washington. 



BY O. T. MASON OP "WASHIXGTOJT, D.C. 



The collection referred to contains the material 

 obtained by the Charnay expedition to Mexico and 

 Central America. The expenses of the expedition 

 were defrayed by Mr. Pierre Lorillard. The author 

 of the papar called attention to the fact that Mr. Lor- 

 illard was not himself proficient in any branch of 



science. The success of the expedition showed how 

 a gentleman of fortujie might render valuable service 

 to the cause of science, although not specially con- 

 versant with scientific lore. 



In this expedition, a point was made by obtaining, 

 as far as possible, casts (In plaster strengthened with 

 tow) of the objects of antiquity. By means of these 

 casts, the drawings of this and other exploring expe- 

 ditions can be verified and corrected. Great success 

 was attained, as to casts from little-known and almost 

 inaccessible ruins; and many new objects of beauty 

 and curiosity were brought to light, among them a 

 large number of interesting reliefs and statues. The 

 casts win be preserved in the museum at Washing- 

 ton, and in duplicate at the Trocadero museum in 

 Paris. Numerous photographs and drawings were 

 obtained; and measures have been taken, under the 

 auspices of the Smithsonian institution, to reproduce 

 several of the more important ruins by correctly 

 arranging the casts in position with suitable acces- 

 sories. Good success has already been attained, both 

 in making restorations of ancient temples and other 

 ruins, and in correcting recorded measurements and 

 drawings. 



The correspondence between the prehistoric 

 map of North America and the system of 

 social development. 



BY S. D. PEBT OP CLINTON, WIS. 



In introductory remarks, the author claimed that 

 the American continent was peculiarly favorable for 

 the study of primitive life. The isolation of the 

 continent, and the freedom from historical impres- 

 sions, had contributed to a unique development. 

 Tliere is no trace of a Homeric age. The symbolism 

 and mythology are homogeneous. In the eastern 

 hemisphere, we have mountain ranges running east 

 and west, which divided races: here we find little 

 trace of such divisions, and the people were to be 

 regarded as a unit. 



The theory of the author was, that the develop- 

 ment of the North-American aborigines depended 

 upon their surroundings. Dividing the development 

 into three successive grades of savagery, barbarism, 

 and civilization, he found these in successive paral- 

 lels from colder to warmer climates. Tbe Isothermal 

 lines of this continent do not follow parallels of 

 latitude; and due allowance must be made for their 

 deflections to the north and south, in considering 

 the effect of climate upon development. The author 

 differed from Mr. Morgan on certain points. The 

 production of pottery is not so certain an evidence 

 of emergence from barbarism as is the pursuit of 

 agriculture. While Mr. Morgan regarded the devel- 

 opment of village-life as a distinguishing feature, 

 Dr. Peet had found traces of village-life everywhere 

 among the aborigines. 



In respect to the origin of the American races, the 

 author believed that some aboriginal tribes came 

 from the east, and others from the west. It is pos- 

 sible that tills diversity of descent can be detected 

 by careful observation of the tribes on the Pacific 

 coast. 



