November 23, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



805 



River and Quinaielt baskets deciphered. We 

 have lately heard that Fig. 9, Plate XXIII, for 

 which Dr. Farrand was not able to obtain ex- 

 planation, stands for the forms assumed in the 

 clear fresh water lakes. This design reaches 

 far to the southward. Dr. Hudson has gath- 

 ered the meanings of about 80 symbols from 

 the Pomos ; Dr. Hough, many from the Mokis ; 

 and Mr. Roland B. Dixon understands many 

 in middle California. 



Complementary to Mr. Teit's studies is that 

 of Mr. Harlan I. Smith, a trained archeologist, 

 at Spence's Bridge, Kamloops, and in Nicola 

 Valley, a former paper (III) being devoted to 

 Lytton, at the junction of the Fraser and the 

 Thompson. There is no evidence on the upper 

 Fraser of great antiquity. One interesting dis- 

 covery of Mr. Smith's was of rock-slide burial. 

 The bodies of the dead were laid at the foot of 

 a talus, at times covered with a framework as 

 of a miniature tent. Rocks and debris were 

 then slid down over all. In this exploration, 

 the resources of the former population, includ- 

 ing copper and nephrite, were brought to light, 

 as well as their arts in stone, bone, shell, wood 

 and textile. Not a shadow of pottery was en- 

 countered. The ancient people were hunters, 

 fishers and 'diggers,' skin-dressers, stone- 

 workers and makers of basketry ; they smoked 

 and gambled. In fact, in all important respects 

 they were the ancestors of the 'Couteaux.' 

 They were not coast people, though they bor- 

 rowed from the last named ; but they had 

 chosen afiinities with tribes of Oregon and 

 California, both physically and industrially. 



Dr. Farrand's second paper (No. I of Vol. 

 Ill) is devoted to the traditions of the Chilcotin 

 Indians (Athapascan family), living on the 

 Chilcotin River, a branch of the Fraser, 52° 

 north. This tribe of Athapascans, wedged in 

 between Wakashan and Salishan tribes, offers 

 an extraordinary opportunity of testing the 

 modern fad in ethnology, that of ' independent 

 development.' We are not surprised to find 

 a practiced field hand like the author say- 

 ing " there is not a very rich, independent my- 

 thology, but surprising receptivity to foreign 

 influences. * * * Comparatively few of the 

 traditions exhibit unmixed Athapascan char- 

 acteristics." Nearly every element of the cul- 



ture-hero story is said to be found in one or 

 more of the neighboring tribes, while in no one 

 is there a complete correspondence in the whole 

 myth. Mr. Farrand had a goodly mass of ma- 

 terial for comparison in the voluminous writ- 

 ings of Father Morice, Abbe Petitot, Boas, 

 Teit and Rand. 



Mr. Lumholtz's generous monograph, of 

 228 pages, does not belong to the Jesup North 

 Pacific Series, but treats of a little known tribe 

 of Nahuatlan Indians, called Huichols, num- 

 bering 4,000 souls and living in the Sierras, on 

 the Chapalangana River, a branch of the Rio 

 Grande de Santiago, in the northwestern corner 

 of the State of Jalisco, Mexico. These Indians, 

 though conquered by the Spaniards in the 16th 

 century, keep their ancient customs, beliefs, 

 and ceremonies. Mr. Lumholtz devotes a few 

 pages to the Hnichols and their arts and then 

 sticks bravely to his text, the patient detail of 

 their symbolism. The four principal male gods 

 are the god of fire, the chief deer god, the sun 

 god, and the god of wind or air (Elder Brother, 

 or Grandfather). The chief female deities are 

 Grandmother Growth, Mother East-Water, 

 Mother West Water, Mother South-Water, and 

 Mother North-Water. SacriBces are made to 

 these and many others as prescribed. 



The interesting cult of hi'kuli, the mescal 

 button (Anhalonium Lewinii) is described and 

 illustrated, and the names of cult animals iden- 

 tified. With great care the author sets forth 

 and pictures the ceremonial dress and objects 

 and symbols. Mr. Lumholtz's personal equa- 

 tion has a decided leaning against accultur- 

 ation. This prejudice reaches its climax on 

 page 206, where he figures a musical bow of 

 African origin and says: "These facts settle 

 beyond doubt the questions recently raised 

 whether or not there is a musical bow indig- 

 enous to America. To deny its existence 

 among the Coras and their northern neighbors 

 would be equivalent to denying the originality 

 of the Huichol drum." That is a little too 

 strong. But the notched bones figured on the 

 same page are infinitely more interesting, hav- 

 ing a far more puzzling distribution. The con- 

 cluding chapters, in which symbols and prayers 

 are briefed and indexed, will enable the student 

 to utilize the author's material economically. 



