April 17, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



221 



of observations, showing (1) the extent of this second motion on 

 diiJerent sides of a storm or high area, (2) the relation of the 

 direction of this second motion to that of the storm or liigh area, 

 (3) the cause of this motion, etc. At the same time, the facts 

 and views here presented show that this subject is of the gi'eatest 

 Interest, and may be of the highest importance. 



H. A. Hazen. 

 Washingtou, D.C., April 11. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 

 Die Mutter bei den Volleern des Arisclien Stammes. By Michael 



VON Zmigeodzki. Munich, 1886. 

 La Question de la Femme c'est la Question de la Mere. By 



Michael von Zmigeodzki. Paris, 1890. 

 Zur Geschichte der SuastiJca. By Michael von ZsnoEODZKi. 

 Munich, 1890. 

 The application of the facts drawn from ethnology and archse- 

 ology to the practical social questions of the day is one of the new 

 and valuable acquisitions of science. Being new, one may rea- 

 sonably expect that some time will elapse before it is employed 

 with the best advantage; but meanwhile all lionest and earnest 

 efforts in this direction should be respectfully considered. 



One such is before us in these works of the Polish writer Zmi- 

 grodzki. Appreciating that the position of woman in the social 

 organization is the test of its excellence, he reviews the growth of 

 the Aryan nations, both anthropologically and historically, and 

 seeks to draw from his material the wisest rules for the place of 

 woman in the present and the future of European and general 

 civilization. 



Without discussing the mass of learning on which he founds his 

 conclusions, it is worth while stating what these ai'e. He first 

 urges that both sexes have naturally, and should be guaranteed 

 legally, absolutely equal civil rights, equal opportunities for gain- 

 ing an independent livelihood, equal wages, equal admission to aH 

 professions, avocations, and State eraployinents. No marriage should 

 be allowed until the woman is twenty and the man twenty-five years 

 of age. The ceremony of marriage should be religious only, and 

 the bond should be indissoluble, divorce for any ground being 

 inadmissible. Illegitimate children should inherit equally with 

 legitimate, and prostitutes should be condemned to forced labor 

 for two years. During pregnancy, a woman who is earning 

 salary or wages should have her income continued without labor 

 on her part. 



It is evident how impracticable and even grotesque are some of 

 these recommendations ; but, as they are founded on a supposed 

 logical development of the theory of the equality of the sexes, 

 they are interesting as illustrating the inherent difficulties in the 

 way of this theory. There is also an evident desire on the part 

 of the author to square his conclusions as much as possible with 

 the precepts of the Roman Church, which obviously hampers his 

 freedom. 



His pamphlet on the Svastika is an endeavor to prove that this 

 mysterious symbol is strictly Aryan in character, and is connected 

 with the Mlutterreeht. He seems to forget that his extreme devo- 

 tion to the Aryan history and culture is often in rather ludicrous 

 contrast to his obeisances to the Semites, Moses, Luke, Peter, etc., 

 whom lie frequently quotes, and whose religion he has adopted, 

 as distilled through Roman alembics. 



The American Race : A Linguistic Classification and Ethnographic 

 Description of the Native Tribes of North and South America. 

 By Daniel G. Brinton, A.M., M.D. New York, N. D. C. 

 Hodges. 8°. $2. 



Following close upon his "Races and Peoples," which ap- 

 peared last year, the present volume is a further evidence, if such 

 were needed, of Dr. Brinton's untiring devotion to linguistic and 

 ethnographical studies. "The American Race" is the first at- 

 tempt to classify systematically the peoples of the continent of 

 America, who are its aborigines, upon a basis of language, — a 

 basis of classification which %vould seem to be more safe and more 

 useful in America than in any other quarter of the globe. In his 

 use of language as a classifier of peoples, the author attaches 



primary importance to grammatical construction, although he ad- 

 mits that our knowledge of the grammar of some American peo- 

 ples is very meagre. 



In his introductory remarks. Dr. Brinton reviews the general 

 aspects of American anthropology, touching upon the various theo- 

 ries advanced regarding the peopling of the New World, the age of 

 man in America, the glacial epoch, racial traits and characteristics, 

 arts, religion, languages. His conclusions are that there is an 

 " American race," and that primitive American man in all proba- 

 bility migrated by way of the North Atlantic land-bridge from 

 the Eurafrican continent. 



He divides the American race into five great groups: I. The 

 North Atlantic group; II. The North Pacific group; III. The Cen- 

 tral group; IV. The South Pacific group ; V. The South Atlantic 

 group. 



As regards " temperament, culture, and physical traits," Dr. 

 Brinton considers that there is a " distinct resemblance " between 

 the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic groups, and that there 

 is "an equally distinct contrast" between these and the Pacific 

 groups. 



Of the main portion of the book, pp. 59-164 are occupied with 

 the discussion of the peoples of North and Central America; pp. 

 165-332, with those of South America. The "Linguistic Appen- 

 dix " (pp. 333-364) is invaluable, containing comparatives, vocabu- 

 laries (of sixteen words and the numerals from one to five) in no 

 fewer than one hundred and twenty languages and dialects of 

 Mexico, Central and South America. Dr. Brinton's characteristic 

 wealth of suggestion appears throughout the book, particularly 

 in the portions which deal with the peoples of Central and South 

 America, to whom special attention appears to have been given. 



In the North Atlantic group are classed (1) the Eskimo, who 

 formerly ranged much farther south, and whose primitive home 

 was in the Hudson Bay region; (3) the isolated Beothuks of Nevr- 

 foundland, who appear to have no marked aflinities, as far as 

 language is concerned, with any other people; (3) the wide-spread 

 Athapascans, who are found over the wide territory from the 

 Arctic Ocean to the frontiers of Mexico, and from Hudson Bay to 

 the shores of the Pacific; (4) the Algonkins, who inhabited the 

 North Atlantic littoral and the lake region of Canada ; (5) the Iro- 

 quois, an inland people, with whom are affiliated in language the 

 Cherokees; (6) the Chahta-Muskokis ; (7) diverse tribes, such as 

 the Catawbas, Yuches, Timucuas, etc., svhom the author believes 

 to be the remnants of the peoples who occupied the region before 

 the immigration of the Muskokis from the North and West (it 

 would appear, however, that to these AUophyllian tribes the 

 Catawbas, at least, no longer belong, as they have distinct affinities 

 with the Siouan stock) ; (8) Pawnees or Caddoes; (9) the important 

 Dakotan or Siouan stock; (10) Kioways. 



The North Pacific group comprises the tribes of the North-west 

 coast and California, besides the Yumas and Pueblo peoples. There 

 is room for much research vi'ithin this group of tribes ; and the 

 recent investigations of careful observers like Dr. Boas have cleared 

 up not a few troublesome questions in the ethnology of the Pacific 

 region. 



Under the Central group Dr. Brinton classes the Uto-Aztecan 

 (comprising the Shoshonian, Sonorian, and Nuhuatl); the various 

 tribes of Mexico and Central America, such as the Otomis, 

 Zapotecs, Chapanec, Chontals, Mayas, Lencas, Musquitos, etc. 



Here for the first time we learn the affinities of some of the 

 Central American languages; such as the Rama, for example. 



The chapters of the book relating to South America are more 

 detailed, and the reader will find in them an excellent guide with 

 which to thread the mazes of South American tribal nomencla- 

 ture. 



The first great division of this half of the continent is the South 

 Pacific group, which embraces (1) the tribes of the Columbian 

 region, and (2) the tribes of the Peruvian region The principal 

 Columbian peoples are the Cunas, Changuinas, Chocos, and others 

 of the Isthmus of Panama and the adjacent coast, the well-known 

 Chibchas, the Paniquitas and Paezes (identified as one by Dr. Brin- 

 ton), and the various tribes of the southern states of Cauca and 

 Antioquia. In this region the author determines the Cayapa and 

 Colorado to be dialects of the same stock. 



