August 8, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



211 



furs, etc., tx-eated in this way will not be 

 subject to the attack of moths for a long 

 time, as the oily substances in the animal 

 fibers on which the moths feed have been 

 removed to some extent, leaving the fabric 

 undesirable. Decorative objects, with 

 which one does not come in immediate con- 

 tact, may be brushed with a weak solution 

 of corrosive sublimate in alcohol, one 

 fourth ounce to the quart. 



The paper summarized the experience 

 gained during the past seventeen years in 

 the. treatment necessary to preserve mu- 

 seum specimens from attacks of insects, 

 from dampness, dust, etc. 



The Australian Native: J. A. Fowler. 



This paper was illustrated by pictures 

 and read by title. 



The Growth of Children: F. Boas. 



This paper was read by title on motion 

 of the aiithor. 



Charcoal Covered iy Stalagmite from Put- 

 in-Bay: E. L. MOSELEY. 

 In Perry's Cave charcoal in different 

 layers of stalagmite shows that fires were 

 built in the cave at times separated by con- 

 siderable intervals. A specimen of char- 

 coal, which was exhibited, has a stalagmitic 

 covering about two inches thick. 



The Sandusky Engraved Slates: E. L. 



MoSELEY. 



Two argylite pendant ornaments were 

 exhibited. One was engraved with a pro- 

 boscidean on one side and a coiled rattle- 

 snake on the reverse. The other was en- 

 graved on each side with an Indian face. 

 The circumstances of their finding were nar- 

 rated. 



The aboriginal character of the engrav- 

 ings was questioned. 



.Exhibition of a Modern Clay Tablet from 

 Michigan: Harlan I. Smith. 

 A clay tablet from Michigan, and bearing 

 impressions, was exhibited. The object is 



of recent manufacture and bears no resem- 

 blance to native American art. It was 

 probably made and deposited, as have been 

 many similar objects, for deceptive purposes 

 and was exhibited in opposition to such an 

 end. 



Square Occipital in the Cranium of a Mod- 

 ern Othomi Mestizo: Dr. Nicolas Leon, 

 Professor of Anthropology and Ethnog- 

 raphy in the Museo Nacional, Mexico. 

 From among the mortuary spoils which 

 now and then are exhumed from the muni- 

 cipal pantheon of Tula Allende, State of Hi- 

 dalgo, Mexico, and which are thrown into 

 a common place called the ossuary, was tak- 

 en out, a short time ago with other Othomi 

 skulls, the one which is the object of the 

 present communication. 



It has all of the characters of a mascu- 

 line cranium, well defined, of about forty 

 years of age, and without notable asym- 

 metry.* 



An examination of the various parts of 

 the face and the margins of the anterior 

 apertures of the nasal fossffi manifest the 

 anatomical particularities of the American 

 Indian race. The author was able to ac- 

 quire some information respecting the in- 

 dividual to whom this cranium pertained, 

 and supposes it was the son of an Othomi 

 Indian father of pure blood and of a 

 woman descended from the whites, that is, 

 it was that of a mestizo. The anatomical 

 particularity of this slmll is worth pointing 



* The author is now preparing a critical study 

 of all the publications referring to the anthro- 

 pology of Mexico, especially those given to the 

 light by Mexicans. Figuring among them is the 

 paper of a pseudo-anthropologist who pretends to 

 obtain general laws of the biology and somatology 

 of the Me.xican aborigine, giving as racial char- 

 acters some anomalies, badly observed and inter- 

 preted, and deducing from a small number of 

 osteological measurements, by manipulation, gen- 

 eral laws. The title of this work is ' Anthro- 

 pologic Mexicaine Osteologie,' Mexico, 1900. 



