528 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 18. 



Lieut. Powell's narrative is lively and entertaining, 

 containing numerous notes on the climate, people, 

 and characteristics of the region he visited. The work 

 of the station was going on in a manner believed to 

 be satisfactory. Over 90,000 magnetic observations 

 had been made from December, 1881, to August, 

 1882, by Messrs. Murdoch and Smith, and coincident 

 meteorological observations carried on. Under the 

 supervision of Lieut. Kay, in command of the party, 

 daily exercise had been enforced, and other precau- 

 tions taken for the health of the party, which had 

 continued good, though it was thought best to replace 

 two of them by new men. The determinations of 

 position and chronometer rates are presented in a 

 voluminous appendix by Mr. Winslow Upton of the 

 signal-service; but owing to bad weather and other 

 causes they were so unsatisfactory as to be worthless, 

 and might better have been omitted. Precautions 

 have been taken to secure better results this season. 

 The third report is that of Lieut. Ray, and gives a 

 general account of the work of establishing the 

 station; of a journey made by him during the winter 

 toward the north-east, where a river was discovered 

 which was named Meade Eiver; of the arrival of 

 vessels in the spring, the loss of the whaler North 

 Star, and other matters. Little is said of the scien- 

 tific work of the station, for the reason, frankly stated 

 by the author of the report, of his entire inexperience 

 in such matters, his duties being solely of an execu- 

 tive nature. The extraordinary statement which 

 follows appears in the last paragraph of the report, 

 and is, we have reason to believe, based upon an 

 entire misconception, the ' hut ' spoken of having 

 nothing to do with the magnetic observations. 

 " Lieut. Powell brought but one magnetic hut, and 

 it is designed for pendulu'm observations. I shall put 

 it up, and use it for the new magnetic instruments ; 

 but I cannot be responsible for the results, as it is 

 nailed with iron nails throughout." If the above 

 were permitted to stand unexplained or uncoi-rected, 

 every person possessed of any knowledge of mag- 

 netics, who might read this report, could not fail to 

 experience the liveliest apprehensions as to the 

 results of such proceedings on the quality of the 

 observations. We believe, however, that it is due to 

 the extreme haste in which the report was necessarily 

 prepared, and that the statement, as it is, results 

 from a transposition or accidental misuse of terms, 

 such as Mr. Kichard Grant White has taught us to 

 call ' heterophemy.' The pamphlet is illustrated 

 with a track chart of the Neptune in BaiBn's Bay in 

 1882, and appears as ' Signal-service notes, no. v.' 

 In the endeavor of the chief signal-officer thus to 

 preserve in permanent form scientific observations 

 apart from their stated work, which may be made by 

 members of his corps, he will have the hearty sym- 

 pathy of the scientific public. 

 — The annual meeting of the members of the 



Archaeological institute of America was held in 

 Boston on the 19th ult., Prof. C. E. Norton, the 

 president, in the chair. 



The fourth annual report of the e.xecutive com- 

 mittee showed, that, since January, Mr. Bandelier has 

 prosecuted his researches in New Mexico, steadily 

 increasing the sum of knowledge concerning the 

 number, the distribution, and the local peculiarities 

 of the ancient Pueblos, and gradually accumulating 

 the information upon which conclusions with respect 

 to the mutual relations and the migrations of the 

 various branches of the native stock, as well as to 

 the limits of their civilization, may be safely based. 

 In a letter dated San Juan, Arizona, April 9, Mr. 

 Bandelier sketches the route which he proposes to 

 follow, in order to trace the two streams into which 

 he believes the main current of immigration to have 

 been divided. First he will go, vi& Georgetown, to 

 Chihuahua and Casas Grandes, returning to Tucson. 

 The second route will be southward from Tucson, 

 through Sonora, Sinoloa, etc., to the City of Mexico. 

 From the latter place he will follow the route of 

 Cortes to Vera Cruz, and along the coast to Mon- 

 terey. In this way Mr. Bandelier will have studied 

 the whole of Mexico north of the 19th parallel. 

 Should Mr. Bandelier be able to accomplish this 

 proposed journey during the present year, one of the 

 most important objects of the institute in the inves- 

 tigations intrusted to him will have been attained. 

 A general survey of the Pueblo settlements, from 

 their northern limit as far as the City of Mexico, 

 will have been made by a competent observer, and 

 many points hitherto in doubt, not only in regard to 

 the Indians, but also concerning the early Spanish 

 discovei-ies and settlement of the country, will have 

 been determined. 



Allusion was made to the celebration of the 333d 

 anniversary of the settlement of Santa F6, to be held 

 in that place in July; and it was stated that a second 

 edition of Mr. Bandelier's report upon Pecos, which 

 was issued by the institute in 1881, had been prepared 

 to meet a demand which had already come from that 

 section of the country. Unfortunately, Mr. Bande- 

 lier's report upon the work done by him in Mexico 

 in 1881 still remains unprinted, though about one- 

 half is in type, owing to a lack of funds. Special con- 

 tributions are solicited for this purpose. The report 

 contains valuable information in regard to the great 

 pyramid of Cholula, and the decorated houses of 

 Mitla. 



Work in Assos was stopped during January, but 

 was resumed later, and the explorations pushed 

 forward with energy in order to accomplish as much 

 as possible before the expiration of the firman at the 

 end of May. At that time nothing will remain to 

 be done but to close the works, and divide the objects 

 found with the Turks. Steps have been taken to 

 obtain from the Turkish government the right to all 



