Januaky 22, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



149 



Professor H. F. Blichfeldt : ' On the order of 

 linear homogeneous groups II.' 



Pbofe.ssor E. J. WiLCZYNSKi : ' Studies in the 

 general theory of surfaces.' 



Professor E. J. WiLCZYisrsKi : ' A fundamental 

 theorem in the theory of ruled surfaces.' 



Professor G. A. Miller : ' On the roots of 

 group operators.' 



Dr. D. isr. Leiimeb: 'On the Jacobian curve of 

 three quadrie surfaces and a certain ruled sur- 

 face connected with it.' 



Dr. D. N. Lehmer: 'On a new method of find- 

 ing factors of numbers.' 



Mr. W. a. Manning : ' On the primitive groups 

 of classes six and eight.' 



Professor M. W. Haskell : ' Approximations 

 to the square root of positive numbers.' 



In the absence of their authors, Dr. Blake's 

 models were explained by Professor Haskell, 

 Professor Wilcz3aiski's papers were presented 

 by Dr. Lehmer, and Mr. Manning's paper was 

 read by the secretary. G. A. Miller, 



Secretary. 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON". 



The 3o2d meeting was held December 15, 

 1903. The committee on the preservation of 

 ancient monuments reported a form of peti- 

 tion to congress which might be sent out for 

 signatures. The report was accepted, the 

 connnittee continued and instructed to give 

 publicity to the petition, and they were author- 

 ized to frame a bill on the lines of the petition. 



Mr. W. II. Babcock communicated to the 

 society a letter from Mr. J. E. Betts on the 

 aborigines of China called Changkia and 

 Miao. 



The paper of the evening was by Dr. George 

 Byron Gordon, of Philadelphia, on the sub- 

 ject, ' The Ruins of Oopan.' 



Doctor Gordon traced the limits of the 

 Maya and Aztec peoples, and said that they 

 sprung from a stem whose origin and location 

 is wrapped in mystery. Views of the elabor- 

 ately carved monoliths of Quirigua were 

 thrown on the screen and Doctor Gordon said 

 that those showing has reliefs of men are 

 placed to the north and those of women to the 

 south of a given line through the ruins. No 

 metals were found here and few stone tools, 

 but the sculpture was worked out with stone 

 implements. The phases of art displayed in 



the monoliths were discussed and it was 

 pointed out that the dragon-like carvings of 

 serpents represent the rattlesnake, the spots 

 on the back being transferred to the side in 

 the carving. Views of the sculptures, the 

 ruins and surroundings of Copan were nest 

 presented and discussed. One of the pyramids 

 has been partly cut away by a stream, and in 

 the section are a number of successive pave- 

 ments and sewers, giving evidence of consider- 

 able antiquity to the structures. 



Dr. IT. M. Baum asked whether the present 

 Mayas are descendants of the people who made 

 the buildings. Doctor Gordon replied that 

 none of the tribes know anything about them 

 so far as any one has been able to discover. 



Doctor Fewkes said that the Pueblo Indians 

 call the north, male; the east, female; the 

 south, male ; and the west, female. The great 

 pkimed serpent of the Pueblo mythology is 

 also related to the serpent of Central America. 

 Doctor Pewkes believes that the different cities 

 of Copan carry back man on this continent 

 a long period. 



Doctor Hrdlicka said, in reference to the 

 buried cities of Copan exposed in the section 

 of a pyramid, that the work may represent 

 different periods of advancement of the struc- 

 ture rather than different ages. 



At the close of the meeting a vote of thanlvs 

 of the society was given to Doctor Gordon for 

 his interesting paper. Walter ITough. 



THE science club op THE UNIVERSITY OP 

 WISCONSIN. 



A MEETING of the club was held on Novem- 

 ber IT, when two papers were presented by 

 Professor Augustus Trowbridge, as follows : 

 (a) ' Personal Reminiscence in an Italian Uni- 

 versity.' This paper was illustrated with 

 lantern slides and dealt with the lecturer's 

 experiences while recently traveling in Italy. 

 (&) ' New ExiDeriments in Wireless Teleg- 

 raphy,' was a description of some recent 

 original devices got up by the lecturer for 

 receiving wireless messages. The paper was 

 illustrated, and wireless messages were re- 

 ceived in the lecture room during the lecture. 

 Victor Lenher, 



Secretary. 



