Septembek 26, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



437 



placed at the disposal of the National Museum 

 of Mexico, to make such selections as it thinks 

 desirable and the remainder becomes the prop- 

 erty of the patrons of the school. The first di- 

 rector of the school was Professor Edward 

 Seler, of Berlin, appointed by Prussia; the 

 second was Professor Franz Boas, of New 

 York, appointed by Columbia; the third was 

 Professor Jorge Engerrand, of Mexico, ap- 

 pointed by Mexico, and the fourth will be 

 Professor A. M. Tozzer, appointed by Harvard. 

 It has been the endeavor of the successive 

 directors to organize the work of the school in 

 such a way as to concentrate the energies of 

 the school on a few carefully selected tasks. 

 Professor Seler undertook an investigation of 

 the ruins of Palenque and of some of the less- 

 known ruins of Yucatan, and, after the com- 

 pletion of this work, inaugurated investiga- 

 tions on the aroheological types of the valley 

 of Mexico. In the same year Professor Boas 

 devoted some time to linguistic studies on the 

 dialects of the Nahua. In the second year the 

 archeological studies in the valley of Mexico 

 were continued, and a series of stratigraph- 

 ical examinations of sites was undertaken. 

 These led to the discovery of a regular se- 

 quence of three cultural types, the presence of 

 which was known before, although their rela- 

 tive ages had not been determined, and 

 pointed out the need of extended stratigraph- 

 ical investigations in the valley of Mexico. 

 Remains were found deep below the level of 

 the lakes of the valley of Mexico, showing the 

 great antiquity of the various types of culture. 

 On the hills, sites were discovered in which 

 the oldest type of culture appeared on the sur- 

 face. The investigation of the dialects of 

 Mexico was continued, particularly through 

 studies on the southern dialects of the Nahua. 

 Studies on Mexican folklore were also taken 

 up, which yielded the most abundant and in- 

 teresting results, suggesting the most curious 

 interrelations between the folklore of Spain, 

 Africa and America, and suggesting a much 

 more important influence of Spanish folklore 

 upon American tradition than has generally 

 been assumed to exist. In the third year, Pro- 

 fessor Engerrand continued similar lines of 



work. Under his direction the stratigraphical 

 work was continued on a large scale in the 

 valley of Mexico, and yielded most interesting 

 results, clearing up still further the historical 

 relation between the three cultural types. A 

 comparative study was also made in the state 

 of Colima. One of the fellows of the school 

 who worked under his direction made a large 

 follvloristic collection in Oaxaca, and studied 

 the Huave, one of the isolated languages of 

 that area, which he proved to be related to the 

 Mixe. Another fellow continued his studies 

 on the language, religion and folklore of the 

 Tepecanos, a Pima tribe in northern Jalisco. 

 The importance of the stratigraphical work 

 conducted by the school has proved so great 

 that the Geological Institute of Mexico is now 

 continuing this enterprise on a large scale by 

 means of borings. During the coming year, 

 under the direction of Professor Tozzer, the 

 stratigraphical work in the valley of Mexico 

 will be continued, and the study of folklore 

 will receive particular attention. The studies 

 on the Nahua dialects will also be continued. 



TEE AMERICAN FISEEEIES SOCIETY 

 The forty-third annual meeting of the 

 American Fisheries Society was held in Bos- 

 ton from September 8 to 11 under the presi- 

 dency of Dr. C. H. Townsend, of the New 

 York Aquarium. Dr. Henry B. Ward, of the 

 University of Illinois, was vice-president, and 

 the vice-presidents of divisions were as fol- 

 lows : Fish Culture, James Nevin, Madison, 

 Wis. ; Aquatic Biology and Physics, L. L. 

 Dyche, Pratt, Ivan. ; Commercial Fishing, W. 

 J. Hunsaker, Saginaw, Mich. ; Angling, H. 

 Wheeler Perce, Chicago, HI. ; Protection and 

 Legislation, Dr. T. S. Palmer, Washington, 

 D. C. The program of scientific papers was as 

 follows : 



William P. Seal: "Suggestions of possible In- 

 terest to the American Fisheries Society and to 

 Fish Commissions. ' ' 



Dr. C. H. Townsend, director, New York Aqua- 

 rium : ' ' The Private Fish Pond — a neglected re- 

 source. ' ' Recent Progress in Oceanography. 



F. F. Dimiek, secretary, Boston Fish Bureavi: 

 "The Fish Trade Organizations." 



