July 8, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



43 



Mr. "William Niven's archteological re- 

 searches in that State. A sketch of them 

 is given in the periodical Modern Mexico, for 

 May, 1898. I have previously referred to 

 his article on Omitlan (Science, December 

 10, 1897). West of Chihihualco he found 

 ruins of a similar character, that is, built 

 of stone with firm cement, on all the prom- 

 inent ridges and hills. He also describes a 

 cave containing old deposits of skeletons, 

 some of the skulls singularly deformed by 

 artificial means. A complete investigation 

 of such relics is much to be desired. 



THE QUICHE LANGUAGE. 



This language is spoken in western 

 Guatemala, and is a dialect of the Maya 

 stock. For archaeologists it has peculiar 

 interest, as the ancient Quiches were quite 

 civilized, and their mythology has been 

 preserved in the remarkable ' Popol Vuh,' 

 or National Book, edited by the late Abbe 

 Brasseur de Bourbourg. 



For these reasons, students will be 

 pleased to learn that the British and For- 

 eign Bible Society has published in Guate- 

 mala a translation of the Gospel of St. Mark 

 into the tongue, the Spanish and Quiche 

 being printed in parallel columns. The 

 translation was made, I understand, by Mr. 

 F. de P. Castells, agent of the Society, or 

 under his supervision. Ordinary type is 

 used, the phonetic values of the letters be- 

 ing sometimes from the Spanish, sometimes 

 from the English, and the gutturals indi- 

 cated by compound consonants or by dif- 

 ferent fonts. D. G. Beinton. 



XJniveesity of Pennsylvania. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 IMPORTANT VERTEBEATE FOSSILS FOE THE NA- 

 TIONAL MUSEUM. 



Professor O. C. Marsh has recently trans- 

 mitted from New Haven to the Director of the 

 United States Geological Survey the fourth large 

 instalment of Vertebrate Fossils secured in the 

 West, in 1882-92, under his direction, as Paleon- 



tologist of the United States Geological Survey 

 in charge of Vertebrate Paleontology. The col- 

 lection is packed in one hundred (100) hoses, 

 and weighs over thirteen (13) tons. In accord- 

 ance with law, the material will be deposited 

 in the National Museum. This collection in- 

 cludes twelve sculls and other remains of the 

 gigantic Ceratopsia from the Cretaceous ; various 

 Dinocerata fossils from the Eocene ; a series of 

 rare specimens of Brontotherium, Elotherium, 

 Miohippus and other genera from the Miocene ; 

 a very extensive collection of Rhinoceros and 

 other mammals from the Pliocene, as well as 

 various interesting fossils from more recent de- 

 posits. 



The other important collections of vertebrate 

 fossils secured by Professor Marsh in the West 

 for the Geological Survey, and previously trans- 

 ferred to the National Museum, may be briefly 

 enumerated as follows : 



(1) Seventy-two (72) large boxes of Pliocene 



fossils, weighing about 7,500 pounds, were 

 transferred December 31, 1886, and were 

 stored in the Armory February 8, 1887. 

 The record of these boxes is on file in the 

 office of the Geological Survey, and the 

 Smithsonian numbers of the boxes are 

 6,601-6,672. 



(2) Thirty-three (33) large boxes (weighing 



6,960 pounds), of rare vertebrate fossils, 

 ready for exhibition, were transferred July 

 17, 1891, and were placed in a case speci- 

 ally prepared for them in the National 

 Museum, before the opening of the Inter- 

 national Congress of Geologists held in 

 Washington that year. 



(3) Forty-three (43) large boxes (weighing 



4,380 pounds) of Pliocene vertebrate fossils 

 were transferred April 17, 1896. 

 These various collections, with other smaller 

 consignments transferred to the National Mu- 

 seum (255 boxes in all, with a total weight of 

 over 20 tons), were secured under the special 

 direction of Professor Marsh, as Paleontologist 

 ofthe United States Geological Survey in charge 

 of vertebrate paleontology, during 1882-92. 

 The remaining collections thus made, and still 

 at New Haven, will be sent to Washington as 

 soon as their scientific investigation, now in 

 progress, is completed. 



