136 
For one must remember that the Latin of botanic names 
is not classic Latin in many cases, and that the applica- 
tion of quantitative rules in the determination of accent is 
in such cases merely arbitrary. 
I have hesitated for some months about publishing this 
paper, but it has seemed to meat last that, if the question 
of a spoken language of botany is to be raised, it is im- 
portant to define such a language at its outset; and as I 
have felt that the definition here set forth is one most 
likely to obviate that potential store of silent synonyms, 
which must otherwise come upon us, I have suggested it 
_as a basis for improvement. 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 
«* Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. 
in all cases required as a proof of good faith. 
The writer’s name is 
On request in advance, one hundred copies of the number containing his communi- 
cation will be furnished free to any correspondent. 
The Editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with the character of the 
journal. 
The Ling on the Pacific Slope. 
Tue ling (Lofa lota maculosa) is found over a wide 
territory of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. 
I have taken it in the Great Lakes, at Winnipeg, in the 
Red River of the North, and it was reported to me at the 
head waters of the Saskatchewan, where it is said to ascend 
the smaller streams during the spawning season in such 
numbers that many could easily be killed by a single dis- 
charge ofa shot gun. I have also taken it in the Missouri 
at Craig, Montana. In short, it is found in all three of 
the large water basins of the Atlantic slope—the Sas- 
katchewan, St. Lawrence and Mississippi. 
At Golden, B.C., on the Columbia, I was told by a 
fisherman that in Autumn he had caught ling five feet 
long on night lines, but I secured no further evidence of 
their occurrence in the Columbia system during my ex- 
plorations in that region in August, 1892. When I 
reached Sicamous on Shuswap Lake in the Fraser system 
I was at once asked if I had secured any ling, of which 
they had some for dinner. As described to me, this ling 
appears to be a species of Zofa. I did not succeed in 
getting any specimensat this place, as the Indians, who 
alone knew where to take them, had left on the morning 
of my arrival. 
Since then I have received a large specimen from 
Golden, B.C., on the Columbia, which was secured for 
me by Mr. Green, manager of the Queen’s Hotel at that 
place. A comparison of this specimen with one from 
Lake Michigan does not show any specific differences. 
The known distribution of Lota Jota maculosa is therefore 
extended to the Pacific slope. 
CarL H. EIGENMANN. 
Bloomington, Ind. 
The Native Calendar of Central America and Mexico. 
I THINK it necessary to notice one or two errors in Dr. 
Brinton’s article in Sczence, Feb. 16, for it seems he has 
made precisely the mistake he attributes to me. But first 
it is proper to say that, as his reference to Dr. Seler’s 
explanation of cizc-chan relates to a different work from 
that referred to by me, my criticism on this particular 
point was inapplicable. 
If Dr. Brinton will examine my article in the American 
Anthropologist, he will see that my reference to the month 
names is limited expressly to those of the tribes of the 
Maya stock, hence his reference to the Nahautl names is 
out of place. It would be well for reviewers to read 
carefully and make themselves acquainted with that which 
they are reviewing. 
And again Dr. Brinton has wholly missed the point in 
my reference to the Java week. I certainly thought it 
SCIENCE. 
Vol. XXIII. No. 579 
was so clear that a person with but half an eye would see 
that the singular fact alluded to was that the Javanese, in 
assigning the days of their week and certain colors to the 
points of space, like the Zunis assigned a mzxed color to 
the focus. A similar assignment of mixed color to the 
centre is seen on plate 12, Borgian Codex.- 
Further comparison of the Polynesian calendar with 
that of Mexico and Central America will be seen ina 
Bulletin now in press and soon to be issued. 
Cyrus THOMAS. 
BOOK REVIEWS. 
Nagualism. A Study tn Native American Folk-Lore and 
fiistory. By Danirt G. Brinton, A.M., M.D., 
LL.D., D. Sc., Professor of American Archeology 
and Linguistics in the University of Pennsylvania. 
Philadelphia, David McKay. 1894, 65 p., 8°, $1.00. 
““ NAGUALISM ”’ is a word which the reader will search 
for in vain, even in the Century Dictionary, although Dr. 
Brinton points out that it has been in occasional use in 
English and American books for seventy years past. It 
means the doctrines taught by the sect or secret society 
of the ‘‘Nagualists,” who for more than three hundred 
years have perpetuated in Mexico and Central America 
many of the superstitions and rites of their ancestral 
heathenism, strongly infused with a debased Christianity ; 
which did not prevent a cordial hatred of that religion 
and of the race which introduced it from being a car- 
dinal maxim in their creed. / 
The Nagualists were also adepts in occult art, as 
skilful jugglers as those of India, telepaths, mesmerists 
and were-wolves. They had a secret slang or argot of 
their own, full of dark references and symbolic expressions, 
examples of which are given. The scenes of their 
mystic rites were glens and caves, where they held licen- 
tious orgies or ascetic penances. Inthe arts of divination 
and medicine they were acknowledged masters, and their 
horoscopes, founded on the ancient native calendar, were 
accepted with blind faith. 
Historically, they played an important part in the 
history of the country, as they were the instigators of 
nearly all the revolts of the natives against the Spanish 
power, a fact overlooked by previous writers, but clearly 
enough shown in this volume. One of the most remark- 
able facts brought out is the prominence accorded to 
women in this secret order. They seem to have been the 
leading spirits, entrusted with its fullest powers, and often 
to have controlled its most momentous actions. 
It will be seen that the subject of this monograph is an 
entirely new one, and of unusual interest. 
Text-Book of Comparative Geology. By K.. Kayser, Ph.D., 
Professor of Geology in the University of Marbury. 
Translated and Edited by Puitrp Laxkg, M.A., F.G.S. 
London, Swan, Sonnenschetn and Co.; New York, 
Macmillan and Co. 1893, 596 illustrations, 426 p., 
$4.50 
AmoncG the numerous valuable additions to geological 
literature in the year 1893, probably none will be better 
appreciated by English speaking readers than this new 
text-book of comparative geology. ‘The subject is one 
much misunderstood and undervalued accordingly, not 
only by the English geologist, for whom the above work 
is primarily intended, but also here in America. It is 
frequently regarded as vain to attempt to correlate pa- 
leontological zones, and to compare closely one région 
with another, yet it is safe to say that without some such 
broad conception of the science little real progress can 
be made. It is truly remarked by the translator in his 
preface that it is only to the use of the comparative 
