178 
worship in America ; that the ‘ Toltees’ spooked 
around Central America ; that the fables of the 
Aztec story-tellers can be assigned local ex- 
istence, and the like, is hard to understand; 
and why a scientific society spends its money 
in publishing such stuff would be more inexpli- 
cable did we not all appreciate the importance 
of not offending the genial members of such re- 
unions. 
Fully half this volume is taken up with such 
padding and with second-hand material. Rather 
than occupy the reader’s time with a discussion 
of it, it will be more profitable to mention some 
of the really valuable contributions to American 
studies, which are between the covers of the 
nearly six hundred pages. 
Naturally we look for special attention to the 
Nahuatl language. Nor are we disappointed. 
The Rey. Hunt Y. Cortes, distinguished by his 
previous studies in this tongue, offers a number 
of specimens of the classical idiom, with excel- 
lent analyses and grammatic observations ; Don 
José Maria Vigil called attention to the ancient 
Mexican songs still extant, and Don Mariano 
Sanchez Santos, an accomplished Nahuatl 
scholar, gave translations of several of them. 
Lauro Castanedo sent copies of a few old relig- 
ious manuscripts in a dialect, evidently corrupt, 
of the ancient tongue. Other linguistic memoirs 
are presented, one from Dr. Pimentel, on the 
present classification of the Mexican languages ; 
a catalogue of periodicals published in North 
American native tongues, by Sr. Cesare Poma ; 
a valuable grammatical sketch of the Guaraouno 
tongue, by M. L. Adam; two by M. Raoul de la 
Grasserie, on the Auca and the Yunga; a com- 
parison of the Huasteca and Nahuatl, by Alvarez 
y Guerrero, and several rather wild flings at the 
derivations of some native names. 
The only contribution of moment offered to the 
study of the hieroglyphic writing was a paper by 
Dr. Nicolas Leon on the employment of a script 
of the kind, of course devised by their Huropean 
teachers, among the Otomis, in a period long 
after the Conquest. We learn from this mem- 
oir that the spiritual fathers did all they 
could to keep the Indians in ignorance of white 
civilization, and thrashed them if they tried to 
learn Spanish ! 
The papers on the ancient monuments are 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Vou. VI. No. 151 
moderately full. Sefior Rodriguez describes 
the pyramid of Tepozteco at length, and Mr. 
‘HLS. Jacobs, in a somewhat flowery style, runs 
over the cliff-dwellers and the ‘dead empires, 
the wonderful evidence of prehistoric life, to be 
found in Mexico !’ 
Some minute questions in Mexican history 
are elucidated, and Mr. Thomas Wilson ad- 
vances various reasons showing the great 
antiquity of man in America. Professor Mari- 
ano Barcena submits again the evidence for 
the prehistoric man of the valley of Mexico, 
our old friend, the ‘Hombre del Pefon,’ 
about whom our departed colleague, Professor 
Cope, became skeptical in his latter days. 
There are some other articles in the volume, 
good in the way of compilations; one on the 
media of exchange of ancient Mexico, by Mr. 
J. W. Bastow ; one on the ancient commerce of 
Yucatan, by the late Bishop Carrillo Ancona ; 
on the medical knowledge of the Aztecs, by 
Alatriste de Lope; and others of minor impor- 
tance. 
Although the scientific value of the volume 
may be disappointing, the foreign associates 
were unanimous in their sincere recognition of 
the generous hospitality they received from the 
Mexican government and citizens; and it is 
very creditable to the Committee of Publication 
that the volume has appeared thus promptly, 
while the report of the Congress in Stockholm, 
in 1894, to employ a Gallicism, still ‘lets itself 
be waited for.’ 
D. G. BRINTON. 
Totem Tales. W. 8S. Puruires. Chicago, Star 
Publishing Co. 1896. Pp. 326. 
The present book pretends to be a collection 
of myths from the coast of the North Pacific 
Ocean. The author says: ‘‘The stories con- 
tained in this little volume under the title of 
‘Totem Tales’ are the result of careful study 
and research among various tribes of Indians of 
the Northwestern Pacific Coast. The Indian 
peculiarity of narrationis kept, as nearly as pos- 
sible, consistent with an understandable trans- 
lation from the native tongue into English.’’ If 
it were not for these claims the book might pass 
unnoticed, but since the author’s expressions 
might be taken seriously it may be well to 
