July 2o, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



149 



title of 'Guide Leaflet,' is an illustrated hand- 

 book to the butterflies found within fifty miles 

 of New York City. It comprises 52 pages 

 and 96 figures and should be in demand by 

 local entomologists. 



An English dealer in minerals was the 

 first to advertise volcanic dust from Mt. Pelee, 

 and the British Museum is the first, and only 

 one, to make a special exhibit illustrating 

 the recent volcanic eruptions in the West 

 Indies. This, as described in The Museums 

 Journal, comprised a series of maps and 

 diagrams showing the geography of the 

 Lesser Antilles and the relations of their 

 volcanoes to the general structure of the globe, 

 and particularly to the disturbed area in Cen- 

 tral America. Pictures and photographs give 

 an idea of the scenery, buildings, vegetation 

 and human inhabitants of the ruined islands. 

 The poverty of the fauna and flora, due per- 

 haps to previous eruptions, is likewise illus- 

 trated by specimens and drawings. Various 

 products of the present and previous erup- 

 tions are exhibited and explained, while near 

 by is an exhibit of typical volcanic products 

 from various sources, all carefully labeled. 

 Pictures and photographs illustrate the erup- 

 tive phenomena of other volcanoes, and ex- 

 tinct or possibly dormant volcanoes of other 

 parts of the world. 



SOCIETIES -lA'D ACADEMIES. 

 THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 331st meeting was held April 22. Dr. 

 Emily Brainerd Ryder gave a talk on the Par- 

 sees of Bombay, and exhibited costumes, re- 

 ligious objects and a model of a Tower of 

 Silence. 



Dr. Ryder spent a great many years in 

 India, and is thoroughly familiar with the 

 customs and religion of the followers of Zoro- 

 aster. In describing their religion she stated 

 that before they were driven from Persia, 

 their native country, by the Mohammedan 

 invaders, their temples, in which the sacred 

 and eternal fire was kept burning, were in 

 the form of round towers, seven stories in 

 height, seven being a sacred number in their 

 religion. When they fled into India they de- 



cided, in order to live in peace with the Hin- 

 doos, that they would build fire temples small 

 in size and in out-of-the-way places, so as to 

 attract as little attention as possible. Hence, 

 all over India their places of worship are small 

 and obscure, in comparison with the temples 

 and mosques of other religious bodies, not- 

 withstanding the fact that they are the wealth- 

 iest and most progressive people in India. 



In these temples the sacred fire, the symbol 

 of Aliriman, the sun or god, burns on an 

 altar of white stone. Three priests relieve 

 each other at the end of every eight hours, 

 and every time the fire is replenished with 

 sandal wood, a gong is struck to notify out- 

 siders that the sacred fire is being promptly 

 tended and watched. In the opening of a 

 new temple the fire of its altar has to be ob- 

 tained from heaven; in other words, it must 

 be a part of the divine or electric spark, and 

 frequently it is months before this can be 

 obtained. 



According to the Zoroastrian faith, the hu- 

 man body, after the soul has departed, must 

 not be allowed to pollute the air, the water, 

 or the earth, and for that reason the Parsees 

 have what they call their Towers of Silence, 

 a large, round, roofless building, in which the 

 remains of their dead are exposed to be de- 

 voured by vultures. The body is carried to 

 its last resting place on a bier, the priest fol- 

 lowing leading a white dog of a peculiar 

 breed with a yellow spot over either eye. Just 

 before reaching the gate of the tower the face 

 of the dead is uncovered, to let the sun shine 

 upon it for the last lime, after which the 

 priest holds the dog's nose toward the face of 

 the dead four times, and from all fouj" quar- 

 ters. The animal is called the 'four-eyed 

 dog,' and this curious custom is so old that, 

 in Mrs. Ryder's opinion, the Parsees have 

 lost its meaning and significance. 



'The Vinter's Bush' was the title of a paper 

 read by Dr. H. Carrington Bolton, on the 

 ancient custom of using a bush as a wineshop 

 sign in the same manner that three balls are 

 used as a sign by pawnbrokers, and a striped 

 pole by barbers. He was followed by Mr. G. 

 H. Matthes, who has lately returned from 

 Sumatra, who read a paper on the Malays of 



