206 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 397. 



recent times is made evident by a variety 

 of considerations. 



I turn with favor to the natural explana- 

 tion offered by the theory of an extensive 

 subsidence of the Asiatic continent, ap- 

 proximatelj^ contemporaneous with the ac- 

 cumulation of ice during the glacial period 

 over North America and Europe. Such a 

 subsidence would produce thus in Central 

 Asia an internal sea as large and deep as 

 the Mediterranean. This vast body of 

 water in Central Asia would add so much 

 to the evaporating surface that it would 

 naturally largely increase the rainfall upon 

 the bordering mountains to the north. 



There are numerous indications that 

 Turkestan has been one of the most impor- 

 tant centers, if not the original center, from 

 which the human race has radiated. Here 

 the conditions of life are still extremely 

 favorable, and during earlier climatic con- 

 ditions were even more favorable than now. 

 All Central Asia is most admirably situated 

 for irrigation. All along the base of the 

 Hindu Kush, the Tian Shan, the Alexan- 

 drofski, the Ala-tau, and the Altai range 

 there is a broad rich belt of loess, the most 

 fertile soil in the world when well watered, 

 and the water for its irrigation is near at 

 hand. 



The conditions were preeminently favor- 

 able for the early development of civiliza- 

 tion. Even now the population along this 

 irrigated belt is dense. But it is evidently 

 far less than at a former time. Doubtless 

 this is partly due to the disorganized polit- 

 ical condition which has long characterized 

 the region, but in no small degree it is prob- 

 ably due to the diminution of the water 

 supply. In driving over the country one 

 finds in various places the remains of irri- 

 gating ditches long since abandoned, and 

 sees innumerable mounds -indicating a for- 

 mer population where now scarcely any is 

 to be found. 



In the same line it is also instructive to 



notice the many indications of a constant 

 migration from this center. By far the 

 most important theory of the origin of the 

 Aryan languages would fix it in Bactria, 

 from which center Aryan-speaking people 

 in prehistoric times migrated to India on 

 the one side and to Persia and Europe upon 

 the other. This too, was the probable center 

 of the Mongolo-Tartar races, whose families 

 radiated thence to Malaysia and China on 

 the one side, to Turkey, Hungary and Fin- 

 land upon the other, and, spreading out 

 over the vast wastes of Siberia, across 

 into America, peopled the western conti- 

 nent. 



When we come to know the whole history 

 of the great Tartar migrations it is likely 

 that we shall find that the gradual desic- 

 cation of the country through the climatic 

 changes had much to do with it all. 



The paper was illustrated by a map and 

 was discussed by J. Walter Fewkes, J. D. 

 McGuire, Harlan I. Smith, W J McGee, 

 Stewart Culin, William H. Holmes and 

 others. 



Mortuary Ceremonies of the Cocopa In- 

 dians : W J McGee. 



The Cocopa Indians occupy the lower 

 part of the valley of Colorado River, their 

 territory extending from the International 

 Boundary to the head of tides and salt 

 water entering from the Gulf of California. 

 Although they subsist in part by fishing 

 and the chase, they are essentially agricul- 

 tural. By reason of the floods of the Colo- 

 rado they are driven annually from the 

 bottom lands of the river to the higher 

 grounds, just as were the ancient Egyp- 

 tians occupying the valley of the Nile. The- 

 annual migrations are of great regularity, 

 and have affected the habits of the tribe in 

 various ways. One consequence of the en- 

 forced abandonment of homes during each 

 summer is an enfeebled home sense ; and 

 this is connected with mortuary customs,. 



