July 15, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



39 



side, it is proved by- my statements that in this peculiarity both 

 the Dresden Codex and the Palenque tablet differ from the CodSx 

 Troano-Cortez. For in the latter document the beginning of the 

 \ ears is in the days han, muluc, ix, cauac. Tliis is proved by 

 Codex Troano 23-20, when compared with the Dresden Codex 

 3")-38. From this, and the general character of the Codex Troano- 

 Cortez, we may safely infer that this manuscript is of a later date 

 tlian the Dresden Codex, and, perhaps, of a somewhat different 

 lojality. 



Alluding to 9 C 9 D of the Palenque tablet. Professor Thomas 

 remarks that on plate 48 and twice on plate 50 of the Dresden 

 Codex no number-symbol is attached where the day is the twen- 

 tieth of the month. This is obviously an erroneous statement; for 

 in all the three cases named, and also in the Palenque tablet, there 

 i?i a particular element attached to the hieroglyph of the month; 

 and this particular element reveals itself as a graphic representa- 

 tion of the two eyes of the man {itinic), the substitute of the head 

 of the slain, which I have shown is the usual representation of 

 the man (^itinic) or the number twenty (uinal) (see Zeilschrift fiir 

 Ethnologie, xix., pp. 237-240. 



With reference to Professor Thomas's last remarks, I will add 

 that the symbol of the band, as it is seen in the hieroglypth mdnik, 

 is to be understood as a sign-language character for "to eat," and 

 therefore has the phonetic value chi (compare the hieroglyph 

 chikin, west). The figure of the outstretched hand occurs as a 

 substitute for the hatchet, the probable expression of the sound 

 ch'ac, '■ to cut." The proper phonetic and figurative value of the 

 outstretched hand seems to he pax, " to beat." 



Dr. Ed. Seler. 



StegUtz, Germany, June, 1892. 



A Grape Vine Produces Two Sets of Leaves During the Same 

 Season. 



The scarcity of information upon the production of leaves at 

 abnormal times furnishes an excuse for the following communi- 

 cation. 



In the yard adjoining me there is a large grape-vine of several 

 years' growth. A month ago this was a vigorous plant ; the leaves 

 were numerous and healthy, and the branches were loaded with 

 grapes. About that time numerous caterpillars attacked the vine, 

 and in less than a week there was not a leaf left upon it. Numer- 

 ous petioles, bearing fragments of the principal veins, were all 

 that remained of the foliage. The grapes began to shrivel, and 

 the smaller twigs to show signs of premature decay. 



But the end was not yet. About a vpeek after the leaves were 

 destroyed, buds located at the nodes — buds which normally would 

 have remained dormant until next year— began to develop a sec- 

 ond foliage. Although not yet full-grown, these leaves have given 

 a new lease of life to the vine. The few shriveled bunches of 

 grapes that have survived the great draught upon their moisture 

 are rapidly regaining their plumpness. The plant is itself again. 



One fact is worth noting; although almost four weeks have 

 elapsed since the leaves were destroyed, the petioles remain 

 attached to the stems. These petioles are as green as ever, and in 

 most cases they retain short bits of the principal veins of the 

 leaves Near the petioles these veins are green, but their free ex- 

 tremities are shriveled and brown. C. H. Turner. 



University of Cincinnati, July 10. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



The Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages. A Popular Treatise on Early 

 Arehceology. By John Hunter-Dutar. London, Swan Son- 

 nenschein & Co. New York, Macmillan & Co. 285 p. 

 $1.35. 



As the author claims for this book no other character than that 

 of a popular treatise, it will be suflBcient to inquire whether it is 

 a fair representation of the most approved views of the science, 

 as expressed by those who have made it a speciality. This it 

 usually is, although the author, who never quotes his authorities, 

 has inserted opinions here and there which are certainly not those 

 generally accepted. For instance, he understates the artistic 



relics of the Palaeolithic period ; he assumesjthat the weapons of 

 the river drift were more ponderous than those of later date; he 

 asserts that no idols have been recovered from the stations of that 

 epoch; and that no human remains have been unearthed from 

 the European kitchen-middens. Our countrymen will also be 

 surprised to learn that Mound City is another name for St. Louis 

 (p. 142). 



In spite of such slight blemishes, the book can be recommended 

 as a convenient and usually accurate manual of this attractive 

 science. It begins at the beginning, tracing the story of man 

 from early post-tertiary times through the drift and cave periods 

 in Europe, and the neolithic, bronze, and iron ages. There are 

 special chapters on the lake-dwellers, fossil man, myths, pot- 

 tery, sepulture, and art, and one on the mound-builders of the Ohio 

 Valley. 



Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South 

 Wales. Vol. XXV. 189L 848 p. 



The creditable publications of this active society have already 

 reached their twenty-fifth volume, and it comes replete with en- 

 tertaining material. Several reports from the Sydney Observatory 

 on celestial photography will have interest for the astronomer; 

 articles on Kaolinite and the microscopic structure of Australian 

 rocks will attract the geologist ; the causes of death among sheep 

 and rabbits in Australia will be welcome to the agriculturist; the 

 folk-lorist will turn with pleasure to Mr. Pratt's translations of 

 songs and myths from Samoa; while the mechanicians and cranks 

 will be glad to read about a ship which can be j)ropelled by the 

 action of the waves alone, and a flying machine Which is to navigate 

 the sky by the motive power of compressed air. This is certainly 

 a varied repast, at which each may find a dish to his liking. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 



A WORK on the "Migration of Birds," by Charles Dixon, will 

 shortly be published by Messrs. Chapman & Hall. 



— Messrs. Longmans, Green, & Co. have issued a third edi- 

 tion, revised and enlarged, of Professor E. A. Schafer's "Essen- 

 tials of Histology." The intention of the author is to supply 

 students with directions for the microscopical examination of the 

 tissues. 



— A ■' Dictionnaire de Chimie industrielle" is being issued in 

 parts, under the direction of A. M. Villon, by the " Librairie Tig- 

 nol." It gives an account of the applications of chemistry to 

 metallurgy, agriculture, pharmacy, pyrotechnics, and the various 

 arts and handicrafts. 



— Hem-y Stevens & Son, 39 Great Russell Street, London, promise 

 for next month Henry Harisse's "Discovery of North America: a 

 critical, documentary, and historic investigation, with an essay 

 on the early cartography of the New World," etc. This important 

 work by the foremost investigator in the field will make a quarto 

 volume of 800 pages, with 23 plates and many illustrations in the 

 text, and will be issued to subscribers in three styles, ranging in 

 price from £5 to £13 16s. Only 360 copies are to be printed. 



— The American Society for the Extension of University Teach- 

 ing, Philadelphia, has just issued five monographs on various 

 phases of the university extension movement, being reprints from 

 the Proceedings of the Society. These are: " The Place of Uni- 

 versity Extension in American Education," by William T. Harris, 

 U. S. Commissioner of Education; "The Organization and Func- 

 tion of Local Centres," by Michael E. Sadler, secretary of the 

 Oxford Univei-sity Extension Delegacy; "The Church and Uni- 

 versity Extension,'" by Rev. John S. Macintosh; " The Ideal Sylla- 

 bus,'" by Henry W. Rolfe; and " The University Extension Class," 

 by Edward T. Devine. 



— With the number for July, the " Annals" of the American 

 Academy of Political and Social Science begins its third volume. 

 The first article in the current number is entitled " Cabinet Gov- 

 ernment in the United States." It is by Professor Freeman Snow 

 of Harvard, and is an answer to the many pleas for the adoption 



