456 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 17. 



THE ORIGIN OF NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE. 



Among the Americanists of Europe, Dr. 

 Eduard Seler easily ranks in the first class. 

 He is lecturer on American archajology in 

 the University of Berlin, and his numerous 

 writing are of the most solid merit. Two 

 recent articles by him are significant. One 

 in 'Globus' (Vol. 65, IsTo. 20), entitled 

 ' Where was Aztlan ? ' was inspired by Mr. 

 Wickersham's aticle in ' Science,' December 

 8, 1893, in which that writer endeavored to 

 discover ' Asiatic analogies ' between the 

 Aztecs, the Puget Sound Indians and vari- 

 ous Asian tribes. Seler"s second article is 

 broader. It is entitled ' On the Origin of 

 the Ancient Civilization of America,' and 

 appears in the Preussische Jahrbiicher (Vol. 

 79, 1895). 



In these able and pointed papers he sums 

 up with masterly force the arguments which 

 prove that the culture of ancient America 

 in all its details was indigenous, starting at 

 various centers independently, and in no 

 item or shred derived from instructors from 

 across the ocean or across Bering Straits. 

 ' American science,' he pertinently says, 

 ' can only win by giving up once for all the 

 vain attempts to construct imaginary con- 

 nections between the cultures of the old and 

 new continents,' and he points out clearly 

 that this independence of historic connec- 

 tion is what lends to American archteology 

 its greatest importance. 



In singular and sad contrast to these 

 truly scientific views are the efforts of a 

 local school of American students to rehabil- 

 itate the time-worn hypotheses of Asiatic 

 and Polynesian influences in the native cul- 

 tures of our continent. The present leader 

 of this misdirected tendencj^ is Professor O. 

 T. Mason, whose articles in the ' Interna- 

 tional Archives of Ethnography' and in 

 the ' American Anthropologist,' bearing on 

 this question do the utmost credit to his 

 extensive learniag and the skill with which 

 he can bring it to bear in a lost cause. His 



latest, entitled ' Similarities of Culture ' 

 (Amer. Anthrop. April, 1895), is so excel- 

 lent an effort that it is all the more painful 

 to see its true intent is to bolster uj) a mori- 

 bund chimera. It is to be hoped that they 

 will not influence the younger workers in. 

 the field to waste their energies in pursuing 

 these will-o'-the-wisps of science which will 

 only lead them to bootless quests. 



ARCH^OLOGICAX NEWS FROM SWITZERLAND^ 



Two or three years ago the curious dis- 

 covery was made in Switzerland that at one 

 time, during the neolithic period, a dwarf 

 race, true pj'gmies, flourished in Europe. 

 The bones of a number of them were un- 

 earthed at Schweizersbild, near Schaif- 

 hausen, in connection with polished stone 

 implements and pottery. The average height 

 of the adults was about 140 centimeters, close 

 to that of the Bushmen. They apparently 

 lived along with other tribes of ordinary 

 stature, as the remains of both were found 

 together. The cubical capacity of the skull 

 was about 1 200 c. c. Several anatomists have 

 given the skeletons close attention, notably 

 Professor J. Kollman, of Basel, in the ' Ver- 

 handlungen der Anatomischen Gesellschaft,' 

 May, 1894, who appends to hispaper a bib- 

 liogrophy of articles relating tothe find. 



The abundant richness of Switzerland as 

 an archseological field is strikingly shown 

 by an archaeological mapof the canton Zur- 

 ich, prepared by Dr. J. Heierli, and just pub- 

 lished in the city of the name. It is veiy 

 neatlj' printed in colors, showing by the 

 tint the relative age of the station, whether 

 neolithic, Eoman, Allemannian, etc. The 

 author has added a pamphlet of explana- 

 tions and an index, so as to familiarize stu- 

 dents with the local sites and what they 

 signify. It is heartily to be wished that 

 some State of our countrj^ would foUow this 

 excellent example and thus lead to a more 

 intelligent comprehension and a better pre- 

 servation of the antiquities on our soil. 



