September 23, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



407 



than that of pleuro-pneumonia, as the latter 

 does not pass through filters designed to 

 exclude ordinary bacteria. And it is also 

 highly probable that a further refinement 

 of the mici'oscope will bring to light not 

 only the organism of foot and mouth dis- 

 ease, but probably many more infinitesi- 

 mally small living forms. 



Simon Flexnbe. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 

 THE FOLK- BONG SOCIETY. 



As a branch of the study of folk-lore, 

 what may be called folk-songs, Volkspoesie, 

 has long held a prominent place. Ten years 

 ago Dr. Krejci wrote : " Die Volkspoesie ist 

 der eigenste Ausdruck der Volksindividu- 

 alitat." The time was quite ripe, therefore, 

 when this summer in London the first 

 meeting was held of the ' Folk Song So- 

 ciety,' under the presidency of Lord Her- 

 Schell. Its aim is to discover, collect and 

 publish folk-songs, ballads and tunes. 

 Meetings will be held from time to time 

 and collections will be published. 



The subscription is 10s. 6d. annually, and 

 those who wish to become members should 

 address the Honorary Secretary, Mrs. Lee, 

 41 Eosary Gardens, London, S. W. 



ARTICLES ON WAMPUM. 



In the American Antiquarian for February 

 there is an article by the Eev. W. M. Beau- 

 champ on ' Wampum Used in Council and 

 as Currency.' He collects a number of ex- 

 amples of both uses from early writers, but 

 acknowledges that " verj;^ few shell beads of 

 any kind are met with on the earlier sites 

 of the Huron-Iroquois." 



This fact accentuates a historic doubt 

 I have expressed in the Bulletin of the 

 Museum of the University of Pennsylvania 

 (May, 1898) that wampum belts were made 

 by the pre-historic Indians. All known to 

 me are later than the discovery and none 

 have been found in ancient burials. Even 



the form of bead seen on the belts does 

 not occur in pre-Columbian interments 

 (Holmes). 



native face- PAINTING. 



Painting the face is probably the oldest 

 of the fine arts, at least the learned Dr. 

 Hoernes says so in his last book. That it 

 is not yet extinct we all know. How it is 

 carried on among the Indians of British 

 Columbia is the subject of a handsome 

 monograph written by Dr. Franz Boas and 

 published bj' the American Museum of 

 Natural History, June, 1898. He explains 

 the complex designs adopted and the sym- 

 bolism they convey, and adds nearly a 

 hundred illustrations drawn from life. The 

 general artistic principle of the native artist 

 is to force the form into the decorative field 

 in such a way as to bring into view its 

 important parts, at no matter what sacrifice 

 of perspective and natural relations. Con- 

 ventionalism is carried to the extreme, and 

 it often exercises the ingenuity of the ob- 

 server to make out what subject is repre- 

 sented. 



D. G. Beinton. 



Univkbsity of Pennsylvania. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



Theee were about 200 members in attend- 

 ance at the Fourth luternational Congress of 

 Physiologists, which met at Cambridge from 

 the 23d to 26th of August. A number of im- 

 portant papers were contributed, of which we 

 may be able to give some account in a future 

 issue. The Fifth Congress will be held by invi- 

 tation of Professor Mosso at the University of 

 Turin in the latter part of September, 1901. 



At the closing meeting of the International 

 Congress of Zoology a committee was ap- 

 pointed, consisting of Professor Schulze, Pro- 

 fessor Pelseneer, Mr. A. H. Evans and Profes- 

 sor Mark, to report on the practicability of uni- 

 formity in abbreviations and other questions of 

 terminology. 



An international congress on maritime fish- 

 eries was opened at Dieppe on September 2d. 



