134 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1073 



made in March, 1915, and a careful inspection 

 showed that the number of carvings on the 

 rock was very large, and that some have been 

 coated over to such depth that they may be 

 made out only in the most favorable illumina- 

 tion or shading. Others show as deep furrows 

 with weathered surfaces, visible at a hundred 

 yards or more, while none of recent origin 

 have yet been found. 



A slice of the travertine extending across 

 four lines of a complex pictograph and down 

 to the granite base was cut out, and the sur- 

 faces of the sample are now being polished 

 and prepared for critical examination. Some 

 time may be required to determine the degree 

 of uniformity, or of differentiation into layers 

 which might indicate more than one period of 

 deposition, and a series of such samples may 

 be necessary for the reconstruction of the his- 

 tory of Blake Sea and of Salton Lake. 



The carvings were apparently not made in 

 the granite, but in the travertine, and ex- 

 tended study may be necessary to determine 

 the depth at which the figures were made, and 

 what deposition and weathering has since 

 taken place. The facts favor the presumption 

 that Blake Sea was a fluctuating body of water 

 and not a continuously receding one. The 

 final proof of the matter will rest chiefly upon 

 biological evidence concerning the activities of 

 organisms in connection with the deposition of 

 tufas, to which the botanist may be expected 

 to contribute. 



D. T. MacDougal, 

 Godfrey Sykes 

 Besert Laboratory 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON 



At the 486th meeting of the society, held April 

 6, Dr. Gudmund Hatt, of the University of Copen- 

 hagen, read a paper entitled "At Home with 

 Lapps and Heindeer, " illustrated with lantern 

 slides. About 6,000 of the 30,000 Lapps are no- 

 mads and retain much of their old culture, because 

 old habits and thoughts are necessarily connected 

 with their nomadic life. The Lappish world is full 

 of supernatural powers that seem to be recruited 

 from the ghosts of the dead. An underground peo- 

 ple, generally invisible, called "saivo, " are be- 



lieved to be reindeer breeders. The shaman some- 

 times goes to the saivo world to secure the recov- 

 ery of a sick person and until recently offerings 

 were made to it to prolong life. Vagrant spirits, 

 "muones, " bring siekuess. There are also local 

 spirits, not spirits of the dead, who inhabit and 

 own certain localities. Every part of the lodge is 

 connected with supernatural powers. The place be- 

 hind the fire is sacred. Lapps are considered great 

 magicians, the main purposes of their art being to 

 bring sickness and death and to cure sickness. The 

 evil influences that bring sickness are driven away 

 by terrifying the hostile power. Again, the sick 

 part may be touched by the object from which the 

 evil came, in order to cure it. The idea of rein- 

 deer luck is characteristic. Until lately, sacrifices 

 were in vogue to insure it. No bone must be 

 broken in the sacrifices of reindeer. The bones 

 were formerly sometimes placed in a spring. 

 Formerly the same deity presided over the birth 

 of children and of reindeer calves. To take the 

 life of a human being will buy reindeer luck. 



At the 487th regular and 36th annual meeting 

 of the society, held April 20, Dr. Henry E. Evans, 

 of the Bureau of Education, read a paper on ' ' The 

 Old and New Magic." In addition to explana- 

 tions given in his book under this title, the doctor 

 explained that thought transference and even hyp- 

 notism might be the real explanation of the phe- 

 nomena exhibited by so-called mediums and clair- 

 voyants. Dr. Gudmund Hatt said that Lapps 

 caused and cured sickness through hypnotism and 

 practised second sight. Mr. Mooney gave in- 

 stances of hypnotism as practised by medicine men 

 among American Indians. Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt, 

 Mr. Francis La Flesehe, and Dr. E. L. Morgan re- 

 lated their observations upon sleight-of-hand and 

 other tricks practised among the Iroquois, the Paw- 

 nees, and other tribes. For example, "arrows" 

 made of pliable vines were swallowed; also other 

 objects by means of a tube inserted in the throat. 

 Iroquois jugglers forfeited their life unless each 

 produced a new trick at the annual meeting of the 

 jugglers and correctly told the dreams of others. 



The following ofSeers were elected for the en- 

 suing year: Dr. John R. Swanton, President; Dr. 

 I. M. Casanowicz, Vice-president; Dr. Daniel 

 Folkmar, Secretary; Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt, Treas- 

 urer; and Messrs. William A. Babeock, Francis La 

 Flesehe, George C. Maynard and Felix Neumann, 

 and Dr. Edwin L.'Morgan were elected Councilors. 

 Daniel Folkmar, 



Secretary 



