OCTOBKE 7, 1898.] 



SCmNOR 



475 



on the anthropology of that duchy (' Bei- 

 trage zur Anthropologie Braunschweigs,' pp. 

 163, 1898, Braunschweig, Vieweg). It con- 

 tains nine essays by local writers, beginning 

 with the remains of palseolithic man in the 

 ' diluvial ' strata by Dr. W. Blasius. The 

 relics seem to be adequate to proving his 

 presence at that time. The jade axes found 

 in the region are described by Professor 

 Kloos ; the bronzes by Instructor Voges ; 

 the medieval vessels by Dr. Hanselmann ; 

 ancient skulls by Dr. Berkhan ; local peas- 

 ant costumes by Dr. Eichard Andree ; wood 

 carving by Mr. Vasel ; megalethic monu- 

 ments by Inspector Grabowsky ; and some 

 curious folk-lore by Pastor Schattenberg. 

 The illustrations are abundant and good. 

 This is an excellent idea, and ought to be 

 followed in other localities on such occa- 

 sions. 



THE QUEEANDIES. 



An extended monograph on Argentine 

 ethnography has recently appeared from 

 the pen of Felix F. Outes (' Los Querandies;' 

 Buenos Aires, 1897, pp. 202 ; illustrated). 

 It is a study of the culture and afiiliations 

 of the tribe which, at the discovery, occu- 

 pied the site and vicinity of the modern city 

 of Buenos Aires. They were known to 

 early writers as the Querandis, a Guarani 

 term of no ethnic significance. Some 

 authorities have claimed them as of the 

 Guarani stock, others as of Pampean 

 (Aucanian) origin. Mr. Outes, following 

 Lafone Quevedo, holds them to have been 

 of Guaycuru affinity. Only a few proper 

 names remain, and their relics, which he 

 studies at length, are not decisive. The 

 evidence, however, leans in his favor. The 

 same can not be said when he includes their 

 neighbors to the north, the Charuas, in this 

 family also. There is negative evidence 

 which would place those either as a separate 

 stock or among the Brazilian families. 



D. G. Beinton. 



Univeesity of Pennsylvania. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



At the recent meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion Professor W. Ramsay and Dr. Morris Tra- 

 vers announced the discovery of a new elemen- 

 tary constituent of air, which they named 

 xenon, the stranger. It has been separated 

 from both air and argon by the process of lique- 

 faction and subsequent distillation. It has a 

 well-marked spectrum, similar in general char- 

 acter to that of argon, and, like it, greatly al- 

 tered in appearance by the interposition of a jar 

 and spark-gap ; but the positions of the lines of 

 the spectrum differ totally from those of argon 

 lines. 



Theough the generosity of Mr. Cornelius 

 Vanderbilt, the New York Botanical Garden is 

 about to undertake a botanical exploration of 

 the island of Porto Rico. The expedition, which 

 is now being organized, will leave for the new 

 colony within a few weeks, and will carry on 

 collecting of museum and herbarium specimens 

 and living plants for at least six months. In- 

 asmuch as very little is yet known concerning 

 the natural flora of the island, it is confidently 

 expected that much of value and interest will 

 be secured, and the collections will furnish the 

 basis of a report on the botany and vegetable 

 productions of our newly-acquired territory. 



DuEiNG the past summer much progress has 

 been made in the New York Botanical Garden, 

 in Bronx Park. The construction of the Mu- 

 seum building has proceeded rapidly, three- 

 fourths of its steel frame being in place, 

 the walls being completed as far as the second 

 story. The warm and wet summer has been 

 favorable to the plants. Much progress has 

 been made in planting the border, which will 

 be completed during the autumn. It will be 

 about two miles in length and will contain some 

 three hundred and fifty varieties of trees and 

 shrubs. 



A STATUE of Van Beneden, the eminent 

 zoologist, has recently been unveiled at Malines. 



De. Aethue BoEirrEAGEE has been ap- 

 pointed Director of the Agricultural Station at 

 Palermo. 



Me. "W. H. Holmes, of the United States 

 National Museum, has gone to California to 

 visit the Caliveras region. 



