«94 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No 414. 



Pawnee Indians, and Dr. Dorsey, in lieu 

 of reading his paper on a 'Wichita Crea- 

 tion Myth' (which is to appear in an early 

 number of the Journal of American Folk- 

 lore), added to the data obtained by Miss 

 Fletcher, from his own observations among 

 the same people. Miss Fletcher's ex- 

 cellent paper will shortly be published 

 in full in one of the anthropological 

 journals. The need for the speedy investi- 

 gation of such tribes as the Pawnees was 

 emphasized by Dr. Dorsey, who stated that 

 one of Miss Fletcher "s chief informants had 

 died since she had obtained the data in 

 question. In reply to an inquiry from Mr. 

 Kronau, Miss Fletcher expressed the opin- 

 ion that the religious ideas of the Pawnees 

 had not been deeply influenced by the 

 whites, and that their high ideas of the 

 controlling forces of the world were not 

 derived from missionary teachings. 



The afternoon session was presided over 

 by Seiior Chavero, who, after resunieing 

 the work done in Mexico, presented his 

 paper (in Spanish) on the 'Palenque Cal- 

 endar,' in which he discussed the various 

 interpretations of the day-signs from Pio 

 I'erez to Gmickel and other recent writers 

 and investigators. The author concludes 

 that ' the day-signs of the Palenque calendar 

 are the same as those of the Maya calendar. ' 

 Seiior Chavero 's paper in printed form 

 was laid before the congress. 



A considerable portion of the day was 

 taken up by the papers on the long-expected 

 'Lansing Man,' who proved, after all, not 

 to be the enfant terrible he might have 

 been. The now famous skull was on ex- 

 liibition and was examined with great in- 

 terest by many of the delegates. Professor 

 T. C. Chamberlin, of the University of 

 Chicago, who was among those announced 

 to speak on the subject, could not be pres- 

 ent. Professor Putnam, after a few intro- 

 ductory remarks, resumed the paper of 

 Professor Williston, which detailed the 



geological and other conditions under 

 which the bones in question were discov- 

 ered, and that of Dr. Hrdlicka, giving an 

 account of his recent examination of the 

 skull and other osseous remains. Dr. 

 Dorsey also stated his opinion, as a craniol- 

 ogist, of the skull of the Lansing man, 

 agreeing with Dr. Hrdlicka in considering 

 it of 'the ordinary type of the Indians of 

 the region in which it was found.' No 

 evidence of a 'plant' is forthcoming in this 

 case, and also no question of a skull of a 

 peculiar ancient type; so, if the geologists 

 can settle the time of the deposit, we have, 

 as Professor Putnam, in closing the dis- 

 cussion, said, clear evidence of the presence 

 of the American Indian in that region at 

 that epoch. 



Professor Putnam spoke on the ' Archeol- 

 ogy of the Delaware Valley,' illustrating 

 his exposition of the progress made in the 

 investigation of the famous Trenton 

 Gravel with charts and specimens. The 

 ensuing disciission was participated in by 

 Dr. McGee, Professor Holmes and Dr. Mc- 

 Curdy. On the whole, the current of opin- 

 ion expressed was rather more favorable 

 to the contentions of Professor Putnam 

 than in years past, and he had every right 

 to be well pleased thereby. 



The evening again was free, and many 

 of the members availed themselves of the 

 courtesies extended to them by the Univer- 

 sity, Author's, Century and other clubs, 

 and those offered by private individuals. 



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23. 



After the usual demonstration of collec- 

 tions in the museum, the members went in 

 a body to Columbia University in accept- 

 ance of a cordial invitation from President 

 Butler, who with Professors Hirth, Perry, 

 Farrand, Peck, Cattell and Moore, re- 

 ceived them in the Trustees ' room at 11 :30. 

 After making a tour of the buildings of 

 the university, under the expert guidance 



