624 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1008 



ocean. This last is probabl/' the original Brazil, 

 from which the others received the name, it being 

 identical with that of a myth! V.l pagan Irish hero 

 and also practically with that of St. Bresal. Out- 

 side of Ireland it first appears in the expression 

 ' ' grana de Brasile ' ' — grain of Brazil — in a com- 

 mercial treaty of Ferrara, Italy, dated 1193, and 

 another Italian document of 1198. The speaker 

 suggested that the primary Brazil, west of Ire- 

 land, may have been the region surrounding the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence. The m^os of Dalorto 1325 

 and Duleert 1339 were present, as the first show- 

 ing Brazil, a nearly circular fi dee west of south- 

 ern Ireland. The oorroborati'/jfe testimony of the 

 Norse sagas as to Great Ireland and the opinion 

 of Dr. Storm and Dr. Fisher identifying Brazil with 

 Markland are best supported by the Catalan map 

 of 1480. The general argument was that some 

 who spoke Irish reached the St. Lawrence Gulf 

 region at a very early period and gave it the name 

 Brazil. 



At a special meeting of the society held Feb- 

 ruary 3 at the National Museum, Miss Frances 

 Densmore, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 

 read a paper on ' ' Sioux War Songs, ' ' using the 

 stereoptieon, the phonograph and vocal selections 

 in illustration of her theme. A number of native 

 drawings of war incidents were shown. War 

 among Indians was not an occasional calamity, 

 it more nearly resembled a steady occupation. To 

 the individual it offered a career. A man could 

 best become rich and honored by going to war. 

 A man was rated according to his generosity, and 

 having given away his goods there must be some 

 way of securing a new supply of wealth. A war 

 party afforded this opportunity. War was a 

 means of revenge, was for the defence of the 

 home and was the protection of the hunting 

 ground which meant the food supply. A war 

 party traveled far and brought back strange tales 

 of distant lands. New customs were frequently 

 introduced into the tribe as a result of war ex- 

 peditions or the taking of captives. Only a suc- 

 cessful warrior could belong to the leading so- 

 cieties of the tribe, with their special tents for 

 meeting, their feasts and their parades. But the 

 greatest reward was the right to sing of one's 

 valor at the assemblages of the tribe. 



Daniel Folkmak, 



Secretary 



THE NEW OELEANS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



The annual meeting of the Academy was held 

 in Tulane University on Tuesda,y, March 17, with 



President Dr. Isadore Dyer in the chair and a full 

 quorum of fellows and members. The following 

 resolutions were passed upon the death of Dr. 

 Alcee Fortier: 



Whereas, By the death of Dr. Alcee Fortier 

 the New Orleans Academy of Sciences has lost 

 one of its oldest fellows, one who took an active 

 part in the reorganization of the Academy in 1886, 

 was its corresponding secretary from 1886 to 1890, 

 and published a valuable contribution on Romance 

 Philology in the proceedings of 1888, 



Besolved, That we, the fellows and members of 

 the New Orleans Academy of Sciences, do hereby 

 express our sincere appreciation of his most val- 

 uable services to this organization, not only in his 

 official capacity as secretary, but also as a schol- 

 arly contributor to its proceedings and further- 

 more our deep sense of the loss which the Acad- 

 emy has sustained by his death. 



Sesolved furthermore, that a copy of these reso- 

 lutions be incorporated in the minutes of the Acad- 

 emy and that copies also be sent to his family, to 

 Science and to the press of this city. 



OflScers for the ensuing year were elected as fol- 

 lows: 



President — W. B. Gregory, professor of experi- 

 mental engineering, Tulane University. 



First Vice-president — Gustav Mann, professor 

 of physiology, Tulane University. 



Second Vice-president — W. A. Bead, professor 

 of English, Louisiana State University. 



Secretary — R. S. Cocks, professor of botany, 

 Tulane University. 



Treasurer — Ann Hero, professor of chemistry, 

 Sophie Newcomb Memorial College. 



Librarian-Curator — J. H. Clo, professor of phys- 

 ics, Tulane University. 



Corresponding Secretary — Pierce Butler, pro- 

 fessor of English, Sophie Newcomb Memorial Col- 

 lege. 



The scientific program consisted of the follow- 

 ing papers : ( 1 ) " Some Theories of Valence, ' ' by 

 H. W. Moseley. The paper traced the develop- 

 ment of the doctrine of valence from a historical 

 view-point. Some of the modern theories were 

 then taken up in more detail, especially the theories 

 of Abegg, Spiegel and Arrhenius, Ramsay, Friend, 

 Thompson and Werner. The paper closed with 

 mentioning some recent observations of Bray and 

 others upon valency and tautomerism. The paper 

 was discussed by Dr. P. B. Caldwell. The second 

 paper was by R. S. Cocks calling attention to sev- 

 eral interesting facts connected with plant distri- 

 bution in Louisiana, dealing especially with the 

 eastern portion of the state. 



R. S. Cocks, 

 Secretary 



