So 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. XX. No. 



chipping sparrow, bat still the latter quit nesting in my yard 

 before the former commenced. 



I put up boxes which were formerly occupied by bluebirds. 

 As soon as the sparrows nested in my yard they took possession of 

 these boxes; and when the blue birds came they did not ha^'e the 

 grit or strength to turn the intruders out, and they went else 

 where to nest. After nesting time they are seldom seen in the 

 city during the summer. Very clearly the sparrows have driven 

 the blue birds out of this part of the city, and possibly thechippees; 

 but if they have affected any other kinds, my obervation has not 

 been keen enough to detect it, though I have had my attention 

 •directed to it for years. F. A. Sampson. 



Sedalla, Mo., July S5. 



On Maya Chronology. 



In a former communication, answering Professor C\rus 

 Thomas's "Brief Study of the Palenque Tablet," I stated that the 

 theory brought forward by Professor Forstemann, that the Dres- 

 den Codex does not count the days from the first of the given 

 month but from the last of the preceding month, is to be put 

 aside. Professor Forstemann's theory is based on the supposition 

 that the calendar system of the Dresden Codex was the same as 

 that which prevailed in Yucatan at the time of Bishop Landa's 

 "writing. This supposition, however, is an erroneous one. In the 

 "Zeitschrift filr Ethnologie," Vol. XXIII., I have shown that 

 the priests who wrote down the Dresden Codex did not begin their 

 years with the signs kan. muluc, ix, cauac, as in Landa's time, 

 but with the signs been, e'tznab, akbal, lamat, exactly correspond- 

 ing to the sisns used by the Mexicans to designate their respective 

 years. Beginning the years in this manner, the day 4 aliau, 8 

 ■curriku, is really the eighth day of the month cuviku in the been 

 or "cane" years, and conformingly all the other dates through- 

 out the whole Dresden Codex. 



I wish to call attention to a passage of the Chilam Balam of 

 Mani which seems to confirm my opinion. It is said there (Brin- 

 ton, Maya Chronicles, p. 98): "In the Katun, 13 Ahau, Ahpula 

 died. It was in the course of the sixth year before the ending of 

 the katun, as the coimting of the years was in the east, and (the 

 year) 4 Kaji seated upon the throne, on the 18th day of (the 

 month) Zip, on the day 9 Fruix, Ahpula died " Now it occurs 

 only when beginning the count with the first day of the month, 

 that a day 9 Fruix is the 18th day of the month Zip. And, 

 indeed, in the year that begins with the day 4 Kan, the day 9 

 Fruix is the ISlh day of the month Zip — beginning the count 

 with the first. 



Here, therefore, we have the same designation of a date by the 

 sign of the day and the position it holds in the number of twenty, 

 or a Maya month, as in the Dresden Codex. It seems scarcely 

 probable that the natural manner of counting seen in the passage 

 of the Chilam Balam, quoted above, should be replaced in the 

 Dresden Codex by another and wholly unintelligible one. 



Dr. Ed. Selee. 



•StegUtz, July 34, 1892. 



The Palenque Tablet. 



Allow me to say in reply to Dr. Seler that I did not " follow 

 Dr. Forstemann" in regard to the peculiar method of counting 

 days in the Dresden Codex. I had discovered this peculiarity be- 

 fore I was aware that anyone else had noticed it, and have now 

 an unpublished article on the series, — Pis. 46-50, — based on that 

 method, which was prepared some time ago. While at work on 

 this paper the thought occurred to me that the series might be 

 based, as Dr. Seler supposes, on a calendar in which the years 

 •commenced with Been. Ezanab, Ahbal, and Lamat, and a table 

 was prepared on this theory. 



I quote from that paper my reply to the suggestion. After 

 noting the fact that the count began with the last day of the 

 month, I remark, " It might be argued from this that the years 

 and months began with what have been considered the last days, 

 but for the fact that all the historical evidence is against such a 

 conclusion, and, as can be shown, a full and complete explanation 

 of this series can be given without resorting to this theory." 



There are also some difficulties in the way of this theory. 

 Pushing back the series one day is a very simple process ; but it 

 will sometimes throw dates in the five added days which do not 

 belong there, and would break the continuity of the Katunes and 

 cycles. Moreover, I think this custom of counting from the last 

 day of the month will explain the reason for commencing the num- 

 bering of the Katunes with 13. 



1 think it quite probable that, if Dr. Seler will attempt to trace 

 out on his theory the three long series on Plates 48-50, each run- 

 ning through 104 years, he will find that it will fail to work. 

 If not, then it is immaterial, except as regards the succession of 

 the epochs, whether we count the commencing days the last or 

 first of the month. 



As this theory is wholly unnecessary to explain the peculiarities 

 of this Codex, and as Plates 25-38 appear to be based on the 

 method of counting from the last day of the month, I see no good 

 reason for adojiting it. 



Dr. Seler thinks my statement that day-numbers were not at- 

 tached to month-symbol.s on Plates 48 and 50 of the Dresden Co- 

 dex when the number was 20, is erroneous, and calls attention to 

 certain characters which he believes are symbols for this number. 

 The little characters he alludes to are certainly present, and, as 

 they are not parts of the month characters, may be intended to 

 denote the fact that the month is completed. But it is difficult 

 to explain on his supposition the fact that the symbol on Plate 48 

 to which this sign is attached is that of the month Yax, when the 

 date is 1 1 Eb, the twentieth day of Chen ; and one of those on 

 Plate 50 is the symbol for the month Pop, when the date is 11 Ik, 

 the twentieth day of Ciimhu. In other words, the symbol in each 

 case is of the month following and not that to which the twenty 

 days apply. His explanation therefore fails to solve the difficulty, 

 and cannot as yet be accepted as fully satisfactory; nevertheless, 

 it must be admitted that these added characters have some refer- 

 ence to the completion of the month. 



His interpretation of the open-hand symbol by pax, " to beat," 

 appears to be erroneous, as there is nothing connected with it 

 representing the phonetic element p. Cyrus Thomas. 



Smithsonian Institution, WagWngton, D.C. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



On the Modification of Organisms. By David Syme. Melbourne, 

 George Robertson & Co. 8°. 



On account of the many questions dealt with in this book, it is 

 difficult to do justice to its contents within our limits. The prime 

 object of Mr. Syme's clearly-written and forcible work is to show 

 the falsity of the theory of natural selection, and to present an- 

 other hypothesis to explain the cause of the modification of or- 

 ganisms. The greater part of the volume is taken up with crit- 

 icisms of Darwin's statements and method of exposition, and the 

 author's ideas as to the true cause of modifications are not brought 

 forward tUl near the close of the work. 



They are embodied in what may be styled the doctrine of " cel- 

 lular intelligence." "The cell is the biological unit," Mr. Syme 

 asserts. "It is the irreducible vital entity; it is the seat of life 

 and energy; it is the key that unlocks the mystery of organic 

 modifications " (p. 142). But it is more than this. It is the ele- 

 ment which " feels, thinks, and wills" (p. 144). In other words, 

 it is intelligent. 



Startling as this doctrine is, the author does not hesitate to 

 claim for it a wide application. In the movements of the stamens 

 and pistils of flowers, the selection of grains of sand by rhizopods, 

 and the healing of wounds, he sees the operation of this "cellular 

 intelligence." 



Modifications of organisms are brought about by the stimulat- 

 ing influence of external conditions. "These conditions, if uni- 

 form, pronounced, and prolonged, will, according to their nature, 

 invariably incite the organism to change in a definite direction." 

 Mr. Syme holds that modifications result from the action of the 

 organism itself and not from any direct influence of environment. 

 Hence he rejects the terms "use" and "disuse,"' which mean 

 only "function and its absence,'' and prefers to say that modifica- 



