November 23, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



685 



Sebastian Camacho, Mayor of the city, an 

 elaborate eulogy of science and welcome to 

 the Americanists in the name of the city. 



The President of the Congress responded. 



Alfredo Chavero, author of that rare 

 tome, ' Mexico a traves de los Sieglos,' fol- 

 lowed with a toast to the three historians 

 of Mexico — Fernando Eomirez, Manuel 

 Orozco y Berra and Joaquin Garcia Icaz- 

 balceta. 



Dr. Edward Seler, of the University of 

 Berlin, the greatest of all Americanists, 

 spoke in Spanish, maintaining that the 

 civilization of the ancient nations of Mexico 

 was wholly indigenous. When this charm- 

 ing and absolutely unaffected scientist hesi- 

 tated for a Spanish word, and nervously 

 moved about the seven wine glasses in front 

 of him, his wife, sitting opposite, the only 

 woman at the banquet, herself a brilliant 

 Americanist, suffered feminine tortures for 

 her husband, all unnecessarily, for his 

 speech was the greatest success of the 

 evening, and applauded to the echo. 



Dr. Antonio Peiiafiel, the most respected 

 of Mexican archseologists, spoke of the 

 earlier historians, Clavigero, Cavo, Veytia 

 and others. 



The academician of Spain, Justo Zaragoza 

 spoke of how peace and prosperitj' under 

 President Diaz had prospered research into 

 Mexico's remote past. 



Just after the formal adjournment. Gov- 

 ernor Prospero Cahuantzi, a gigantic pure 

 Indian, gave in the Aztec language a speech 

 seemingly eloquent, to which Dr. Seler 

 gave intense attention and in part under- 

 stood. 



At ten next morning, October 16th, the 

 Congress visited the wonderfully rich Na- 

 tional Museum. Besides a new catalogue 

 of the Department of Archfeology, five other 

 new catalogues had been prepared for the 

 visit of the Congress and were presented to 

 all wearing the badge of 'Americanistas.' 

 Num. 1, Catalogo de la Coleccion de Mami- 



feros del Museo Nacional, segunda edicion; 

 Num. 2. Coleccion de Aves; Num. .3. de 

 Eeptiles, were by Alfonso L. Herrera, to 

 whom a prize was lately awarded by our 

 Smithsonian Institution. 



The highly creditable Num. 4. Catalogo 

 de la Coleccion de Antropologia del Museo 

 Nacional, 164 pages, with tables, was by 

 Alfonso L. Herrera and Ricardo E. Cicero. 

 The ' Guia para visitar los salones de His- 

 toria de Mexico del Museo Nacional ' was by 

 Jesus Galindo. 



The display lent by the State of Vera 

 Cruz, and the recently discovered colored 

 pictorial ancient manuscripts attracted great 

 attention. 



One of these, in depicting the deliberate 

 shooting with arrows of captives bound to 

 a ladder, smacked strongly of the stories of 

 our own ' Indios bravos.' 



The rampant cannibalism of the interest- 

 ing aborignes also came out strongly. 



At 4.10 in the Universitj^ the session was 

 opened by a reading of the minutes, and 

 then the ' Chicomostoc Memoirs,' by L. 

 Amador, of Zacatecas, were read by Eoman 

 S. de Lascurain. A papei- on the conditions 

 of commerce, money and exchange between 

 the towns of antique Mexico, by J. W. 

 Bastow, was read by J. Breaux. 



A discussion about Toltec and Aztec 

 idioms was started between Dr. Seler and 

 Sr. Leopoldo Batres, conservator of public 

 monuments, in which discussion of course 

 Sr. Batres had no chance. 



At ten o'clock the next morning, October 

 17th, the Americanists visited the ' Escuela 

 de Bellas Artes,' whose genial director, be- 

 sides his Spanish, is fluent in English and 

 German. Each member of tlie Congress was 

 presented with a specially prepared treatise 

 on Mexican Art, of the very highest interest 

 and value. 



At four o'clock the regular sessions were 

 continued. 



At eight o'clock on the morning of Oc- 



