March 6, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



349 



biyo sac into parenchyma tissue coordinate with the 

 phenomenon so common in stamens. 



The synoptical resume given above, upon 

 examiaation, indicates that in general the 

 influence of the cecidiogenic stimulus is es- 

 sentially atavistic in character and results. 

 Chlorosis, antholysis, hypertrophy, all may 

 be considered as reversion phenomena. A 

 peculiarly good example is the conversion 

 in cecidia of ligulate flowers into tubular. 

 The specialized organ becomes more gener- 

 alized. It is not improbable that cecidia 

 forms, when thoroughly understood, will be 

 found to present a series comparable with 

 the paleontologic or ontogenetic series ot 

 organisms, and that they will aiibrd similar 

 ground for speculations concerning descent, 

 if not of species, at least of certain tissues 

 and organs. 



Conway MacMillan. 



CVBRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 

 THE WALL PAINTINGS OF MITLA. 



Arch^ologists are well aware of the 

 mystery which has surrounded the ruins of 

 Mitla in Oaxaca, grandiose remains which 

 were found deserted and nigh forgotton 

 when the Spaniards first conquered the 

 country. A handsome large folio volume 

 has recently been published in Berlin (A. 

 Asher & Co.) in which Dr. Eduard Seler 

 presents a study of the singular wall-paint- 

 ings, portions of which still adorn the inner 

 surfaces on the walls of some of the rooms. 



Dr. Seler copied these with fidelity and 

 now reproduces them with an admirable 

 study of their meaning and origin. He is 

 of opinion that the central figure in the re- 

 ligion of the Zapotecs, who are believed to 

 have been the builders of Mitla, was Quet- 

 zalcoatl, a familiar and prominent divinity 

 of the Nahuatl tribes. The transfer he ex- 

 plains by the influence which the coast 

 branches of the Nahua exerted upon the 

 Zapotecan priesthood. This thesis is de- 



fended \vith a great deal of learning. Many 

 views of the ruins are given in the full- 

 page plates and numerous mythological 

 figures in the text. The monograph is 

 throughout marked by the thorough schol- 

 arship for which the author is so well 

 known among students of American anti- 

 quity. 



It is a work which our large libraries 

 should not fail to procure. 



COMMERCE ACROSS BERING STRAITS. 



Dr. Benjamin Sharp at a recent meeting 

 of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila- 

 delphia, gave some suggestive information 

 about possible ancient commerce across 

 Bering straits. The distance is about forty 

 miles and in the middle are the Diomede 

 Islands, say twenty miles from each shore. 



On the American side there is abundance 

 of wood from which canoes, etc., might be 

 made, but there is none on the Siberian 

 side. The skin boats used by the Sibeiian 

 natives, made from walrus hide, could not 

 have been sewed sufficiently tight by bone 

 needles to have served to cross the strait. 

 The distance is bridged by ice about once in 

 five years, but the passage across is con- 

 sidered quite dangerous, and nothing but 

 the love of tobacco will induce a native to 

 venture. The inhabitants of the Asian side 

 appear to have been more influenced by the 

 Eskimo arts than the reverse. 



These facts and the general bearing of 

 Dr. Sharp's observations are unfavorable to 

 an extended early communication from the 

 Siberian coast to the American. 



THE SOCIETY OP AMERICANISTS OF PARIS. 



For many years French scholars have 

 taken a creditable interest in the study of 

 American subjects, and another evidence in 

 this direction is the formation of a society 

 in Paris devoted especially to this subject. 

 It is entitled the ' Societe des American- 

 istes,' the president being Prof. Hamy, and 



