506 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 



In Italy and Spain one meets the local frescoes 

 and portraits at times in the streets. I am told 

 that Leonardos and Luinis abound in the Milan- 

 ese, and a friend of mine has seen a mother and 

 three daughters conspicuously Etruscan in Massa 

 Marittima. Myself I have seen the following 

 and can show photographs for the elder part 

 (I have no modern photographs) : In Siena, chil- 

 dren like Matteo di Giovanni's. In Viterbo, a 

 woman like the " Roman School." In the Emelia, 

 women like Mantegna's and the local school. In 

 Aries, women like the Roman Sarcophagi. In 

 Venice, ecclesiastics like Gentile Bellini's; women 

 like Carpaccio's. In Spain, women like the Lady 

 of Elohe. 



These last are alike in the matter of figure and 

 carriage and expression, as well as feature. 



The Double Curve Motive in Eastern Algonkian 



Art: Dr. Fkank G. Speck. 



This paper presents a brief preliminary report 

 of investigations in decorative art being carried 

 on among the tribes of the northeastern Algon- 

 kian group, including the Abeuadi, Penobscots, 

 Passamaquoddies, Malisits, Miemacs, Montagnais 

 and Nasdapis. The predominant design unit is a 

 figure described for convenience as the " double 

 curve," two opposing incurves. Variations of this 

 elementary figure occur so universally throughout 

 the region discussed, that the double curve mo- 

 tive is really characteristic. While it is also 

 seen occasionally in Iroquois and Ojibway art, it 

 is none the less distinctive of the northeastern 

 Algonkians. Formerly the designs were produced 

 in the moose hair and porcupine quill techniques, 

 and by painting; nowadays most of the examples 

 are seen in beadwork, except among the Nasdapi, 

 where painted decorations still occur. In wood 

 carving and etching on birch bark the more 

 southerly tribes still preserve the old type of 

 decoration. 



The main body of material discussed in the 

 paper is based upon collections made among the 

 Penobscots, who are being made the subject of 

 an independent monograph by the writer. Some 

 forty typical forms of the double-curve design, 

 showing different degrees of elaboration, are used. 

 The simplest is the bare double curve, the modifi- 

 cations ranging up through highly complex ex- 

 amples with a score or so of compounded orna- 

 ments filling up the interior. In the more modi- 

 fied examples the original double-curve unit is 

 sometimes hardly distinguishable on account of 

 the numerous embellishments. Aside from simple 

 ornament, not any particular symbolism has so 



far been found that would apply to the whole 

 region. Investigations in the field of symbolism 

 have only produced satisfactory results among 

 the Penobscots, where the designs seem to have 

 originally been floral representations with a mag- 

 ical medicinal value through the association of 

 the design with the herbal remedies which play 

 so important a part in the life of these Indians. 

 Judging, however, from the lack of such an inter- 

 pretation among the Malisits, so far as has been 

 discovered, it would seem, at present, as though 

 the matter will have to be investigated along 

 independent lines in each particular tribal area. 



Materia Medica of the Algonkian Indians of 

 Virginia: Mr. J. Ogle Warfield. 

 This paper treats : ( 1 ) Of the subject as re- 

 corded by the early authorities. This is far from 

 being full and concise and yet is of value even 

 for the little information it contains. (2) The 

 remnants of these tribes now remaining, having 

 been so closely kept in contact with the English 

 settlers and their , descendants for the past three 

 hundred years, have lost all ceremonial functions 

 and ideas connected therewith; and have even 

 lost the limiting of such practise to any par- 

 ticular person or coterie of such persons. That 

 which they use is chiefly in the form of decoctions 

 or " teas " made of barks and roots, which are 

 gathered and made by the mother or grand- 

 mother of the famil}'; outward applications are 

 also used. Quite a number of such remedies were 

 obtained. They are not simply recollections of 

 the past, but are used and believed in firmly. 



In the absence of Professor Hiram Bingham, 

 his paper on '' The Ruins of Choquequirau " was 

 read by Mr. George P. Winship. It and the paper 

 (read by title) by Mr. Stansbury liagar on "The 

 Four Seasons of the Mexican Ritual of Infancy," 

 are to be published in the American Anthropol- 

 ogist. Dr. Edward Sapir's two papers, " The 

 Wolf Ceremonial of the Nootkas " and " The Lin- 

 guistic Relationship of Nootka and Kwakiutl," 

 will also appear in the American Anthropologist, 



The papers read, of which the secretary was. 

 unable to obtain abstracts were: 



Professor Wm. H. Goodyear: "Measurements; 

 in 1910 in the Spiral Stairway of the Leaning 

 Tower of Pisa." 



Dr. Elihu Grant : " Philistine and Hebrew in 

 Palestine." 



Professor E. M. Fogel : " The Survivals of Ger- 

 manic Heathendom in Pennsylvania German 

 Superstitions." 



