800 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 50. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY {XV.). 

 ANCIENT MEXICAN MOSAIC WORK. 



Slight attempts at inlaying with shells, 

 mica and the like, are not unfamiliar in the 

 art of the northern native tribes of Amer- 

 ica; but nowhere else on the continent was 

 the technique so developed as in Mexico. 

 This is beautifully illustrated in an excel- 

 lent monograph by Mr. Charles H. Read, 

 of the British Museum, in ' Archseologia ' 

 (Vol. LIV.), on * An Ancient Mexican 

 Head-piece coated with Mosaic' His scope 

 is much more extensive than his title. ISTot 

 only does he describe accurately the piece 

 referred to, and give a large colored engrav- 

 ing of it, but he deals with all the known and 

 accessible relics of the kind, eight in num- 

 ber, figuring and explaining them minutely. 

 As it has long been doubted whether 

 true turquoise is to be found in Mexico, 

 Mr. Eead adds a note from Mr. Eudder, of 

 the Museum of Practical Geology, in which 

 that question is answered positively in the 

 affirmative. This monograph should be 

 consulted by all who would understand the 

 real advances made by the I^Tahuas and 

 their neighbors in the fine arts. 



EUSKUAEIAN ETHNOLOGY. 



Few ethnic problems are more compli- 

 cated than that of the Euskuarians, or 

 Basques, of the Pyrenees. 



The lexicon of their language is practi- 

 cally Aryan, while its grammar is as un- 

 Aryan as could well be imagined; physically 

 they differ from their neighbors in well-de- 

 fined traits, and also between each other in 

 a not less positive degree. 



A most valuable contribution on the 

 somatologic side has appeared recently in 

 L'Anthropologie by Dr. R. Collignon, sur- 

 geon-major in the French army and a dis- 

 tinguished anthropologist. He succeeds in 

 clearing away the obscurities arising from 

 the misapprehensions of Broca and other 

 older observers, and establishes the real 



Basque type. His conclusion is, " that the 

 true physical traits of the Basques attach 

 them indisputably to the great Hamitic 

 branch of the White Race, to that repre- 

 sented by the Berbers and ancient Egyp- 

 tians ; and not at all, as some have argued, 

 to the Esthonians or Finns. The Basque 

 affinities are North African or European, 

 certainly not Asiatic." 



This conclusion, thus announced by one 

 of the highest authorities, is substantially 

 that expressed in my ' Races and Peoples,' 

 published in 1890 (page 142). 



MAYAN HIEEOGLYPHICAL STUDIES. 



It is pleasant to note the amount of at- 

 tention now shown to the decipherment of 

 the hieroglyphical writings of the ancient 

 Mayas. A brief notice of some late papers 

 on this branch may be welcome. 



In July Dr. E. Forstemann issued the 

 fifth part of his researches entitled ' Zur 

 Entzifferung der Mayahandschriften.' It 

 is devoted to a definition of the astronomical 

 and ritual years of the Mayas, based largely 

 on analyses of the Dresden manuscript. 



An article by Dr. E. Seler, in Globus, Bd. 

 68, ISTo. 3, is upon the significance of the 

 Maya calendar for the historical chronology 

 of Yucatan. It is characterized by that 

 keen-sighted erudition which Dr. Seler pos- 

 sesses, and is a contribution of great merit. 



The same writer, in the Verhand. der 

 Berliner Anthrop. Gesell. has discussed the 

 bat-god of the Mayas and also explained 

 the symbols and glyphs on a vase found at 

 Chama by Mr. Dieseldorfif. 



The American Anthropologist for July con- 

 tains a careful article by Mr. J. Walter 

 Fewkes on "The god ' D ' in the Codex 

 Cortesianus." He differs from the conclu- 

 sions I have expressed in my ' Primer of 

 Mayan Hieroglyphics,' and the question is 

 probably not closed by either of us. 



D. G. Brinton. 



University of Pennsylvania. 



