July 18, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



95 



peopled the West Indies. Was this race 

 derived from the great northern or south- 

 ern land masses or was it an offspring from 

 the early inhabitants of Yucatan, the great 

 peninsula of Mexico which projects to- 

 wards the end of Ciiba ? Many theories of 

 the peopling of these islands have been pro- 

 pounded, but none is regarded with full 

 confidence. Although this race was the 

 first seen by Europeans, by whom it has 

 been known for the longest time, compar- 

 atively little accurate study has been given 

 to it by the anthropologist. Documen- 

 tary evidences are not meager, but eth- 

 nological data are limited, for the race 

 disappeared within a few generations after 

 its discovery and lost much of its distinctive 

 characteristics by mixture with other 

 peoples. Archeology furnishes more ma- 

 terial bearing on the problem than eth- 

 nology, but this material has not been cor- 

 related, being widely scattered in diiferent 

 museums in Europe and America, and in 

 collections which remain in private hands. 

 A great amount of archeological data yet 

 remains hidden in the soil awaiting the 

 spade of the explorer. 



Although English scientific literature 

 on the archeology of Porto Rico is remark- 

 ably limited, the study has attracted sev- 

 eral anthropologists whose works are of 

 highest importance. It has been zealously 

 cultivated by several native Porto Ricans 

 whose publications, in Spanish, are little 

 known to students in the United States, 

 since some of the most important of these 

 contributions have appeared in local news- 

 papers of the island having no foreign 

 circulation. The main sources for the more 

 important historical works of modern his- 

 torians are standard writers like Oviedo, 

 Herrera, Munoz, Las Casas, and liiigo with 

 notes by J. J. Acosta, and rich unpublish- 

 ed dociunentary material by Tapia y Ri- 

 vera. The more prominent modern Porto 



Rican historians are Salvador Brau and 

 Coll y Toste, who deal more especially with 

 historical epochs, while the writings of 

 Padre Nazario, Neuman, Gandia and Tor- 

 res, many of which are controversial, are 

 important aids in the same lines of re- 

 search. 



No institutions have exerted a more 

 stimulating influence on the local study of 

 Porto Rican history than that of the 

 ' vSocieded Economica de Aniigos del Pais,' 

 and the Ateneo Puertorriqueiio of San 

 Juan. The former, founded by enthu- 

 siastic students in Europe, no longer exists, 

 but the latter has a fine library on the 

 plaza Alfonso XII. where there are a num- 

 ber of portraits of famoiTS Porto Ricans. 



A most valuable scientific pviblication, 

 on the Indians of Porto Rico, and the only 

 modern Spanish work which follows 

 archeological methods is by Dr. A. Stahl, 

 a native of the island, educated in Ger- 

 many, who has made many important con- 

 tributions to the study of the flora and 

 fauna of the island. This work, 'Los 

 Indies Borinqueiios ' appeared in 1889 and 

 while criticised in unessentials has held its 

 place as a work of highest merit. 



Professor Mason's catalogue of the Lat- 

 imer and Guersde collections are the most 

 important archeological works which have 

 yet been published on the antiquities of the 

 Antilles. There are many scattered refer- 

 ences in the writings of Stevens, Dr. Gron- 

 au and other authors which augment this 

 information and practically complete the aU 

 too meager literature of a great subject. 



It would be impossible for me in this 

 brief address to do more than outline in 

 a general way the prehistoric culture 

 of Porto Rico. I have in preparation a 

 more extended account in which I have 

 drawn largely from sources above men- 

 tioned, from an examination of many 

 archeological specimens in private collec- 



