944 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 441. 



The 570th meeting was held May 23, 1903. 

 The evening was devoted to memorial ad- 

 dresses on deceased members as follows : By 

 Dr. A. F. A. King, on Dr. S. C. Busey, lec- 

 turer, sanitarian and author; by Mr. B. E. 

 Green, on Mr. Edward Clark, for many years 

 architect of the Capitol; by Professor F. H. 

 Bigelow, on Professor William Harkness, late 

 of the Naval Observatory; by Mr. H. L, 

 Marindin, on Professor Henry Mitchell, 

 hydraulic engineer, latterly of the Massachu- 

 setts Institute of Technology; by Dr. Swan 

 M. Burnett, on Mr. Charles Nordoff, journal- 

 ist and author; by Mr. Gr. W. Littlehales, on 

 Admiral W. T. Sampson, U.S.N. 



Notices of Major J. W. Powell and Mr. J. 

 W. Osborne that had been expected were un- 

 avoidably postponed. Charles K. Wead, 



Secretary. 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 346th regular meeting was held on 

 April 28. 



Professor W. H. Holmes gave an account 

 of his explorations in a hematite mine in 

 Franklin County, Missouri, where there are 

 ancient workings consisting of pits and drifts 

 honeycombing the whole mass of ore. Nu- 

 merous stone hammers, flint and chips were 

 found about the pits, and it is evident that 

 this locality was a favorite one among the 

 Indians for procuring paint which occurs in 

 pockets in the iron ore. 



A communication from Mrs. Catherine 

 Foote Coe, giving her impressions of travel 

 in Japan, was heard with great interest, and 

 a vote of thanks was extended to her. 



Dr. W J McGee announced that the In- 

 ternational Archeological Commission for the 

 study and preservation of antiquities, which 

 originated at the Pan-American conference 

 held in Mexico in 1901, has made progress 

 toward organization, and that on the third 

 Monday in December next the representatives 

 of the American republics will meet with 

 adequate powers to complete the organization. 



Mr. Ainsworth R. Spofford read a paper 

 entitled * The Folk-Lore of Popular Sayings.' 

 Mr. Spofford, in calling attention to the great 

 collections of sayings and proverbs in different 



languages, spoke of the wealth of such say- 

 ings in English and Irish. These, he said, 

 possess a distinct ethical value in that they 

 are almost invariably optimistic. The best 

 sayings are of Latin, Greek or Oriental origin 

 from the ages past. Sayings relating to the 

 inanimate world, the animate world, profes- 

 sions in life and color were given, also rhymed 

 sayings, sayings of noted men, maxims of 

 unknown origin, weather proverbs and sayings 

 referring to the days of the week. In the dis- 

 cussion of th« paper Professor McGee remarked 

 that proverbs prevail in lower culture and are 

 wonderfully paralleled among diiferent tribes, 

 and said that we may almost predicate the 

 stage of development of a people by their use 

 of proverbs. In answer to a question Mr. 

 Spofford said that no one can trace the origin 

 of proverbs. The secretary pointed out the 

 debt of language and literature to these pithy 

 sayings, which are in reality word sentences. 

 Mr. Pierce said that in many cases proverbs 

 show their locality of origin, and Mrs. Tul- 

 loch gave examples. The president. Miss 

 Fletcher, said that among Indians ethical 

 proverbs are used in teaching, as, ' Stolen 

 food does not satisfy hunger,' an expression 

 of the Omaha. 



' Some Exploded Theories concerning South- 

 western Archeology ' was the title of a paper 

 by Mr. TJ. Francis Duff. These myths are 

 the exaggerated estimates of early population, 

 a distinct race of cliff dwellers, dwarf tribes, 

 the destruction of tribes by cataclysms or 

 pestilence, the destruction of villages by lava, 

 the Gran Quivera myth, and the finding of 

 gold in the southwestern ruins. Professor 

 McGee, in discussing the paper, said that in 

 the valley region the extensive irrigation 

 works show that the population was very large, 

 as it would not be necessary to take water far 

 out in the valley to higher levels if the land 

 were not occupied in the near valley. In 

 answer to a question by Mr. MeGuire as to 

 the Spanish origin of the ditches. Professor 

 McGee said that the irrigation works show 

 no traces of European culture. Other points 

 were taken up and discussed by members. 

 Walter Hough, 



Secretary. 



