August 26, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



115 



QUERENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. — XIII. 



{Edited by D. O. Brinton, M.D., LL.D.-\ 

 The Primitive Carib Tongue. 



The expedition led by Dr. Karl von den Steinen, which 

 explored the head-waters of the Schingu River in Brazil, 

 made some remarkable discoveries. Tribes were found who 

 had never heard of a white man, and were utterly ignorant 

 of his inventions. They were still wholly in the stone age, 

 uncontaminated — the word is not misapplied — by any 

 breath of civilization. In ethnography, the most interesting 

 find was the identification of the Bacahiris with the Carib 

 stem, and apparently its recognition as perhaps the nearest 

 of any of the Carib tribes to the original stock. 



Dr. von den Steinen has just issued his linguistic material 

 obtained from this tribe in a neat octavo of 403 pages, " Die 

 Bakairi-Sprache " (K. F. Koehler, Leipzig, 1892). It contains 

 abundant sources for the study of the group, vocabularies, 

 texts, narratives, grammatical observations, and, what is 

 peculiarly valuable, a close study of the phonetic variations 

 of the various Carib dialects as far as they have been ascer- 

 tained. He shows that in all the associated idioms the same 

 laws of verbal modification hold good, although each has 

 developed under its own peculiar infiuences. The thorough- 

 ness which marks throughout this excellent study places it 

 in the front rank of contributions to the growing science of 

 American linguistics. 



The Ethnic Distribution of Roofing Tiles. 



As a floating leaf will indicate the current and eddies of a 

 stream better than a floating log, so oftentimes a humble art 

 will be a more accurate indication of the drift of civilization 

 than the more ostentatious products of human ingenuity. 

 This has been happily illustrated by Professor Edward S. 

 Morse in a paper " On the Older Forms of Terra- Cotta Roof- 

 ing Tiles," published in the Essex Institute Bulletin for 

 March of this year. 



He finds that the older roofing tiles of the world group 

 themselves into three distinct types, the normal or Asiatic 

 tile, the pan or Belgic tile, which is an outgrowth of the 

 normal tile, and the flat or Germanic tile, which is an inde- 

 pendent form. The geographic areas in which these various 

 tiles are found and the history of their distribution are re- 

 liable indications of the conquest or peaceable advance of 

 certain forms of civilization. Professor Morse's paper is 

 abundantly illustrated, and an interesting map is added, 

 showing the present distribution of the three types of tiles 

 over Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia. 



That his study may not remain one of archaeology only, 

 the author adds a number of practical hints on the use and 

 value of terracotta tiles as roofing material, and suggests 

 their wider introduction in the United States. They offer 

 the best of all roofing material, durable, Bre-proof, cheap, 

 decorative, warm in winter, and cool in summer. 



Celts and Kymri, 



Professor Topinard is not satisfied with the result of the 

 discussion of the Celts in Science, March 11, 25, etc. He 

 takes it up in L'Anthropologie for June, and draws a dis- 

 tinction between the Celts of the "men of letters," among 

 whom he classes the editor of these "Notes," and the anthro- 

 pologists, represented — by himself. 



"For the former," he says, "the Celts are blonds, they 

 constructed the megalithic monuments, and spoke a language 

 now unknown. For the latter they are the brachycephalic 

 people of western Europe, who appeared at the neolithic 



epoch, and lived during the age of bronze side by side with 

 those who later bore the name of Gauls. . . . For Broca, 

 the term Celt designated the brachycephalic group of western 

 Europe, and the term Kymri the blond group, with long and 

 narrow face, etc. We retain the meaning he gives to Celtic, 

 but to meet certain objections substitute for the word Kymri 

 that of Gall or Gaulois." 



As the opinion of Broca to this effect was quoted with ap- 

 proval in the discussion (see Science, April 22), it is difii- 

 cult to perceive the grounds on which the learned Parisian 

 professor makes his objections. But it is desirable that his 

 own views, which are always worthy attentive consideration, 

 should be presented. 



Architecture as an Ethnic Trait. 



The significance of architecture as an ethnic trait has 

 been fully recognized — too fully at times — in reference to 

 the domestic architecture of the American Indians. The 

 views of Mr. Lewis A. Morgan, who could see nowhere on 

 the continent other than "long houses" and "communal 

 dwellings," contained a genuine discovery which has been 

 pushed at times beyond its reasonable limits. 



Some excellent articles on this subject have appeared from 

 time to time from the pen of Mr. Barr Ferree, in the Ameri- 

 can Naturalist and the American Anthropologist. He 

 treats such subjects as "The Sociological Influences of 

 Primitive Architecture," and the climatic influences which 

 have given rise to this or that peculiarity or style. His es- 

 says are thoughtful and well reasoned. 



In the first fascicule of the Bibliotheque Internationale de 

 1' Alliance Scientifique, M. Cesar Daly pursues this train of 

 thought to the point of announcing — " given a social condi- 

 tion, it will have such a religion and such an architecture." 

 In regard to " styles," he discriminates between that of the 

 architect, which is transient, and that demanded by the 

 tastes and requirements of the community, which depends on 

 it alone and will last as long as these remain. " A style in 

 architecture is therefore something national, social, and re- 

 ligious, and not royal, as that of Louis XIV., nor that of an 

 artist, had he all the genius in the world." 



Types of Beauty among American Indians. 



In a note published in this series {Science, June 3). atten- 

 tion was directed to the power of beauty in developing the 

 race toward a certain standard of physical perfection. Some 

 interesting facts bearing directly on this topic are presented 

 by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt in a recent pamphlet on "Indian 

 Types of Beauty." 



He begins with the suggestive remark that men of the 

 lower type of development cannot perceive the beauty in 

 the women of the higher type nearly so readily as the men 

 of the higher type can recognize the comeliness in the 

 women of the lower. This is as we might expect, the edu- 

 cation in the elements of the beautiful being principally a 

 result of development. 



Dr. Shufeldt inserts a number of photographs of Indian 

 beauties, an inspection of which will satisfy any one that 

 the opinion which in their own tribe awards them the palm 

 for good-looks is justified by all standards. The same fact 

 is borne out by Mr. Power in his work on the Indians of 

 California. He calls attention to the attractive appearance 

 of the maidens of several tribes reputed among their own 

 people as beauties. 



While in all stages of civilization there are false and ab- 

 normal standards of the beautiful — notably so among our- 

 selves — there is also a gradual and certain tendency toward 



