432 



SCIENCE. 



[X. S. Vol. XVII. Ni>. 428. 



fund, the interest of wliich might serve the 

 means of partial support, but through some 

 oversight a large portion of the original fund 

 was dissipated. I think our fund is as large 

 as it should be, perhaps larger. I shall be 

 surprised if some of the conservative and sub- 

 stantial fellows and members of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science 

 do not come out in support of the views here 

 expressed. W. J. Beal. 



Ageicultural College, Mich., 

 February 20, 1903. 



ABUNDANT HONORARY DEGREES. 



To THE Editor of Science : In Bulletin No. 

 12, Volume III., issued by the University of 

 Missouri, is a review of the manifold achieve- 

 ments of the university, especially those of 

 benefit to the state of Missouri. 



Along with other items appears the state- 

 ment that 2,869 degrees have been conferred 

 ' for work done.' ' Of honorary degrees 152 

 have been conferred.' Figured into percent- 

 age the number of honorary degrees becomes 

 nearly 5.3 per cent., or more than one hon- 

 orary degree for every twenty regular de- 

 grees. I think Missouri is to be congratu- 

 lated upon the extraordinary proportion of 

 eminent men connected with her university, 

 and I can not help wondering why I am so 

 ignorant as never to have heard of the names 

 even of many of those of the honorary 5.3 per 

 cent, class. I wonder less, perhaps, than 

 might be expected because the custom of be- 

 stowing honorary degrees on unknown people 

 is almost universal among American colleges 

 and universities. 



Is it not time to raise a universal protest 

 against this habitual debasement of the high- 

 est academic honor? All of our universities 

 sin grievously in this respect, and give hon- 

 orary degrees to soldiers, politicians and many 

 other classes of worthy people who can not 

 present the slightest claim to scholarly emi- 

 nence. 



When we consider how much more many 

 a little-known scholar does for the world than 

 many celebrated soldiers and politicians, it 

 seems proper that the practice should be re- 

 versed. I venture, therefore, to propose: 

 (1) That we all strive to restrict the bestowal 



of honorary degrees exclusively to scholars 

 and investigators, who alone have any claim 

 to them, and (2) that we petition the national 

 government to make all eminent physicists 

 honorary generals, all eminent chemists hon- 

 orary admirals, all eminent naturalists hon- 

 orary governors, and all members of the Na- 

 tional Academy honorary senators. 



C. S. M. 

 Boston, February 23, 1903. 



SHORTER ARTICLES. 

 THE SACEAL SPOT IN MAYA INDIANS. 



In 1901, while at Tekax, Yucatan, making 

 measurement of the Mayas of that district, 

 the parish priest told me that it was com.- 

 monly believed that every pure-blood Maya 

 Indian had a blue or purple spot upon his 

 back, in the sacral region. He said that this 

 spot was called uits, ' bread,' and that it was 

 an insult to a Maya to make reference to his 

 uits. To satisfy the curiosity of the priest, 

 and my own, I examined a boy of ten years 

 and two men, all of pure Maya blood. No 

 one of the three presented any trace of a 

 sacral spot, and I concluded that the common 

 belief, if it had any basis, must relate to an 

 infantile spot such as has long been known 

 to occur in the Japanese, Eskimo, etc. Hav- 

 ing no opportunity then to examine Maya 

 babies, I determined to watch for the sacral 

 spot among the infants of such tribes as I 

 might later visit. 



In my last journey to Mexico, just ended, 

 I expected to see babies among six Indian 

 populations — Aztecs, Zapotecs, Tzotzils, Tzen- 

 dals, Chols and Mayas. From changes in 

 my plan I really came into contact with the 

 Aztecs and Mayas only. Aztec friends in 

 whom I have confidence, in the states of 

 Pueblo, Mexico and Tlaxcala, agreed that 

 Aztec babies do not have a sacral spot; I made 

 no personal examination. 



In the town of Palenque, Chiapas, I ex- 

 amined all the little babies of the town— not 

 a heavy labor, as the town is small. The 

 people here call themselves Mayas, but claim 

 to be closely related to the Chols. Probably 

 the population is a mixture of the two peoples, 

 who are closely related in language, and 



