508 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 198. 



tion, on the River Darling, the mean tem- 

 perature for twenty-four days, from Janu- 

 ary 1 to January 25, was 120° in the shade. 

 The cause of the protracted hot spell was 

 the persistence of monsoonal conditions 

 over the interior during the month, with 

 weak gradients and light winds, there be- 

 ing no depressions of sufBcient energy to 

 drive the cool southerly winds inland. 



The seventh annual bibliographical num- 

 ber (for 1897) of the Annales de Geographie 

 contains the usual short notes on climato- 

 logical and meteorological publications is- 

 sued during that j^ear. 



E. DeC. Ward. 



Haevaed University. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 

 ON INSPIEATION. 



The curious phenomenon of trance, vol- 

 untary or involuntary, plays the leading 

 role in the ethnology of religions. In it all 

 faiths have their origins, and by it most 

 are sustained. A phase of it is known to 

 psychologists as ' suggestion,' but this does 

 not exhaust its aspects. Undoubtedly, 

 both a physiology and a philosophy lie be- 

 hind its superficial manifestations. 



Some sti'iking examples of it among the 

 Slavic peoples are given in the ' Archiv fiir 

 Eeligionswissenschaft ' (Bd. I., Heft, 3) by 

 Dr. Krauss, of Vienna. They are not sur- 

 passed by the Yogin of India or the high- 

 priest of N"agualism, and have been studied 

 by scientific observers. 



That wholly exceptional, really inexpli- 

 cable physical powers are obtained in the 

 ' Yoga ' none can deny ; and that equally 

 anomalous psychical faculties are developed 

 under its influence is just as certain. We 

 still await a sympathetic, clear, unbiased 

 study of this pregnant topic. 



eelics from the uloa valley. 

 The Uloa Valley opens into the Gulf of 

 Honduras about Puerto Cortes. Attention 



was first directed to its archseological re- 

 mains about 1888 by a German planter, 

 Mr. E. Wittkugel, who opened a number of 

 mounds and made a large collection of pot- 

 tery, etc. In 1896 and 1897 Mr. George 

 Byron Gordon conducted explorations there 

 under the direction of the Peabody Museum, 

 Cambridge. His results have appeared in 

 the Memoii-s of the Museum, Vol. I., ISTos. 

 4 and 5. It is amplj;- illustrated, and pre- 

 sents a clear and succinct narrative of the 

 work. The art-remains plainly show the 

 influence of Mayan culture ; but there is a 

 residuum which, in the opinion of both 

 Professor Putnam and Dr. Seler (whose re- 

 port may be found in the ' Verhand. der 

 Berliner Anthrop. Gesell.' 1898, p. 133), 

 should be assigned to some other people. 



In the same cover with Mr. Gordon's re- 

 port on the Uloa Valley is his brief state- 

 ment about cave exploration near Copan. 

 The results were somewhat negative, not 

 indicating extreme antiquity, though signs 

 of a special art- development were not want- 

 ^°S- D. Gj.. Beinton. 



Univeesity of Pennsylvania. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



A PEICE-LIST of the reprints of the papers of 

 the late Professor E. D. Cope has been drawn 

 up, and can be secured from Mrs. E. D. Cope, 

 Haverford College, Haverford, Pa. Owing to 

 Professor Cope's method of work and untimely 

 death many of his important contributions to 

 science exist only in these reprints, and the list 

 should be secured by all those interested in 

 paleontology, zoology and psychology. 



We are sorry to learn that the editor of 

 Natural Science feels compelled to discontinue 

 the editing of the journal after December. He 

 is prepared to hand it over to any competent 

 man of science who will relieve him of all re- 

 sponsibility and continue it as an independent 

 journal. Students of the natural sciences are 

 under very great obligations to the editor of 

 Natural Science, whose desire to remain anony- 

 mous during the continuance of the journal 



