July 5, 1895.] 



SCmNGE. 



•9 



it have proved illusory." The causes of 

 this utter failure he finds mainly in the 

 false methods which have been pu^rsued; 

 and partly in expecting from it results wluch 

 in the nature of things it could never reach. 



He does not give it up as worthless, but 

 suggests more minute and extended investi- 

 gations and measurements, reduced by 

 mathematical formulas to averages and 

 means, which will indicate probabilities, 

 the higher as the observations are extended. 

 He exemplifies his suggestions by several 

 collections of Aino skulls, which he en- 

 deavors to analyze by numerous and ex- 

 tended calculations. 



No one can deny the justice of his criti- 

 cisms, and in a general way we must grant 

 the correctness of his procedure ; but, after 

 all, it seems to me that his own method of 

 means lacks the necessary noting of the 

 frequency of extremes ; in other words, it 

 fails just as the mean temperature, monthly 

 or annual, of a locality is practically no 

 guide whatever to its climate, and fails for 

 m^edical purposes. The range, daily and 

 weekly, etc., is the only temperature test. 

 The analogue to this, if I apprehend his 

 method, Prof, von Torok does not give in 

 craniology. His article, however, is most 

 important as pointing out present defi- 

 ciencies. 



A STUDY OF THE GUAYCUBTJ. 



A BOOK which is at once a ' thing of 

 beauty ' and a work of solid instruction is 

 one by Guido Boggiani, entitled ' I Caduvei ; 

 Viaggi d' un Artista nell America Meri- 

 dionale' (Koma, Loescher & Co. 1895). 

 The Caduvei are the Indians of the Chaco, 

 better known as the Guaycurus, among 

 whom the author spent many months study- 

 ing their habits, arts and mode of life. He 

 presents his observations in a pleasant lit- 

 erary form, and his pages are adorned with 

 more than a hundred admirable illustra- 

 tions, while a well-drawn map enlightens 



the reader as to the geographical relations 

 of the journey. So much in the latter direc- 

 tion is new that the Geogi-aphical Society 

 of Italy has officially joined in the publica- 

 tion. 



The Americanist is especially benefited 

 by an ' Historical and Ethnographical Study , ' 

 by Dr. G. A. Colini, added to the volume. 

 It presents a well-arranged vocabulary of 

 the dialect, with remarks on its grammar 

 and affiliations, and a review of what pre- 

 viously has been written about them. The 

 art designs of the tribe are especially inter- 

 esting and are exemplified by numerous il- 

 lustrations. 



WHY THE JAPANESE CONQUEBED. 



This is the title of an article by Otto 

 Ammon in the NaturivUsenmhaftliche Wochen- 

 sehrifi, March, 1895. It is appropriate for 

 comment here, because the author an- 

 nounces that the true answer is an anthro- 

 pologic one ; the Japanese conquered be- 

 cause they had a class of nobles, who were 

 the virtual rulers of the nation, and who 

 were of another and higher race than the 

 lower classes. For this statement he quotes 

 Dr. Doenitz and Professor Baeltz ; and from 

 what higher race, think you, they are de- 

 scended? From the Semites! Not the 'ten 

 lost tribes,' as one would naturallj' suppose, 

 but from the ancient Akkadians of Baby- 

 lonia ! 



This higher type he defines as narrow 

 faced and with long skulls (dolichocephalic) . 

 Generalizing further, the author finds that 

 in Europe, too, the higher tj^pe has these 

 characteristics. The finest examples are 

 naturally among the Germans, and the best 

 of all was old General Von Moltke himself. 

 The author indulges in gloomy anticipa- 

 tions about France, because it has destroyed 

 the power of the old nobility, and about the 

 present condition of Europe generally, be- 

 cause the political influence of the higher 

 classes is diminishing, and individuals of a 



