382 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 479. 



well understood, and the subject has received 

 less attention than it deserves. There is, 

 however, a widespread interest in the more 

 noteworthy products of the skill of the aborig- 

 inal architect and builder, and for this reason 

 five examples of the great buildings of Mexico 

 have been selected and models prepared. The 

 building described is the largest in Uxmal, 

 and is 320 feet long, 40 wide and 20 high. 

 The walls are of rubble cement and earth 

 faced with limestone, the front wall 4 feet 

 and the back wall 9 feet thick. The remark- 

 able feature of this building is the cornice, of 

 which there is 740 feet, with 10,000 stones 

 set in it. Masks numbering 180, requiring 

 5,000 stones, meander over the cornice, and 

 at intervals are placed seated figures bearing 

 elaborate head dresses. The building was a 

 residential one, and was the first of a pro- 

 jected group around a square. The paper 

 was further illustrated with diagrams and de- 

 tail models. 



Professor L. S. Howe, of the University of 

 Pennsylvania, presented a brief communica- 

 tion, entitled ' The Work of the American 

 Academy of Political and Social Science.' 

 Professor Rowe said that there is serious 

 danger that political science will become a 

 mere dogma, and for this reason anthropology 

 should come to its aid, mainly by defining the 

 origin of social relations. To this end he 

 bespoke the good offices of anthropologists in 

 the field of political and social science. 



Dr. McGee said, in discussing Professor 

 Eowe's communication, that anthropology and 

 political science are closely related, and that 

 the appreciation of the aid of anthropology 

 is gratifying. The most advanced views are 

 upheld in the Anthropological Society of 

 Washington. In this society there are sec- 

 tions each devoted to an aspect of the science 

 of man. One is sociology, which embraces 

 the relations of man as groups. Political 

 science represents but one aspect of the same 

 object that social science has to deal with. 

 Political science has a narrower field, and 

 deals with only one face of the great diamond. 



Dr. Ales Hrdlicka read a paper entitled 

 ' The Indians of Sonora, Mexico.' The paper 

 was illustrated with lantern views of the 



people and scenery. Dr. Hrdlicka confined 

 his remarks to the Yaki and Opata, giving a 

 historic account and showing their geograph- 

 ical distribution. The Taki are a virile tribe, 

 and are not declining, while the Opata are 

 being amalgamated. Dr. Hrdlicka gave an 

 interesting account of these tribes, of which 

 there is so little scientific observation. Nu- 

 merous slides illustrated the paper which will 

 appear in extenso in the forthcoming Amer- 

 ican Anthropologist. Walter Hough, 



General Secretary. 



CLEMSON COLLEGE SCIENCE CLUB. 



The club held its regular monthly meeting 

 on December 18, 1903. Professor C. C. New- 

 man gave a paper entitled ' Notes on Pecan 

 Culture.' The speaker brought out the fact 

 that the pecan grows wild over quite a large 

 extent of territory in the United States. 

 Methods of propagation were described, the 

 fact being brought out that the usual method 

 of planting seed for the production of seed- 

 lings is unsatisfactory, since these latter do 

 not come true to seed. The high price at 

 which the nuts are sold for seed was mentioned 

 in passing. The only satisfactory method of 

 propagation is by grafting. The speaker, by 

 means of a number of specimens, illustrated 

 in detail the different methods of grafting 

 used. In closing, the possibilities of pecan 

 culture on a commercial scale in the south 

 and, especially South Carolina, were pointed 

 out. Quite a large amount of interesting illus- 

 trative material was used by the speaker who 

 gave this paper. 



Professor J. Volney Lewis gave a paper en- 

 titled ' Notes on the Physiographic Develop- 

 ment of the Rocky Mountains.' The author 

 prefaced his paper with an outline of the 

 leading events in the development of the 

 Rocky Mountains in their relations to other 

 portions of the continent. Some account was 

 then given of observations made in the sum- 

 mit region of the Rockies between the North 

 Platte valley in Wyoming and the canyon of 

 the Arkansas in Colorado, in connection with 

 the work of the U. S. Geological Survey in 

 the Encampment region during the summer 

 of 1902. The closely folded and faulted pre- 



