NOVEMBER 12, 1897.] 
sented on some of the existing remains of 
classical art, and that none such, so far as 
they knew, could be adduced. 
I am glad to supply this deficiency in my 
argument, and thus place my identification 
beyond question. When in Paris, in Sep- 
tember, I examined the galleries of ancient 
art in the museums of the Louvre with this 
in mind, and was fortunate in finding a 
striking and beautiful example in point. 
It is No. 68 in the ‘Salle des Caryatides,’ 
and is labelled ‘Athlete Vainqueur au 
Pugilat.’ Hach hand is wrapped in a ces- 
tus, and each is armed with a three-pointed 
Murmex, as accurately represented in the 
marble as this material allows. The statue 
is late Greek, from Rome, and the originals 
of the arms are now in Rome. No more 
conclusive evidence of my argument could 
be desired. 
THE GODS OF THE MAYAS., 
Serious students of the Mayan archeeol- 
ogy will receive with great satisfaction the re- 
vised edition of the essay by Dr. Paul Schell- 
has on the figures of the gods in the Mayan 
manuscripts (Die Géttergestalten der Maya- 
handschriften, pp. 34, Dresden, Richard 
Bertling, 1897). It first appeared in the 
Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, 1892, but the 
author justly considers that the progress in 
this line of research called for a revision of 
the text. He pursues the same method as 
before, designating the divinities by letters, 
and discussing their proposed identifica- 
tions as questions still open. All the im- 
portant attempts in that direction are re- 
ferred to, and such value assigned to them 
as he believes they merit. The mytholog- 
ical animals in the Codices are also named 
and figured, and their possible significa- 
. tions explained. The essay is dedicated to 
Dr. E. Forstemann, and certainly no one 
could be found more worthy of such a 
tribute. ‘ 
A colored reproduction of page 11 of the 
SCIENCE. 
729 
Dresden Codex is given as the frontispiece, 
and a number of illustrations in the text 
render the descriptions clear to the reader. 
ORIGIN AND IMPORT OF THE TOTEM. 
THE institution of the Totem, or some- 
thing equivalent to it, prevailed widely in 
savage conditions of life in both hemi- 
spheres. It has generally been considered 
to indicate kinship, either real or cere- 
monial. Miss Alice C. Fletcher, in her 
paper on ‘The Import of the Totem,’ read 
at the Detroit meeting, takes up the to- 
temic bond as found among the Omahas, 
and argues that among them it was not 
primarily a tie of relationship, but a purely 
religious lien, which connected together in- 
dividuals and groups who had received 
similar revelations from the gods. These 
joined in certain similar rites and formed 
societies devoted to special cults. In this 
manner the gentes and tribes came to be 
based on spiritual, not physical relation- 
ship. Although the origin was thus in one 
sense individual, it is recognized that a man 
of uncommon ability and fortune might 
impress the group who dwelt together with 
the power of his totem, that is, his vision, 
and this would naturally be sought after 
and found by his descendants. This would 
unite the physical and spiritual kinship. 
The paper is quite original in thought and 
founded on close personal study of the 
savage mind, as is evident on every page. 
D. G. Brinton. 
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 
Nature for September 23d contains an ac- 
count of the series of micro-photographs of 
polished and etched surfaces of alloys, 
which were exhibited by Mr. J. E. Stead at 
the last conversazione of the Royal Society. 
These photographs show in many alloys, im- 
bedded in the eutectic or what was once the 
mother liquor, crystals of alloys of definite 
