544 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 20. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY {VIIL). 

 A SPELiEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Of course, everybody knows what spele- 

 ology means — or perhaps there are one 

 or two who do not, considering that the 

 word was manufactured only last year. Its 

 sponsor was M. E. A. Martel, a French 

 scientist distinguished for his numerous 

 and skillful explorations of caves for scien- 

 tific purposes. In Greek Spekeus means a 

 cave, and ' spelseology ' is the science of 

 cave-hunting,as it was called by the English. 

 A society has been formed in Paris with that 

 as a specialty, concerning which the curious 

 inquirer can learn more if he addresses M. 

 Martel, No. 8. Kue Menard. 



The subject is one richly deserving this 

 kind of concentrated and special study. No 

 localities preserve more perfectly the records 

 of the past than caverns. In their darkness 

 and silence, guarded by their massive walls, 

 layer after layer of deposits have been 

 strown by their occasional visitors, by inun- 

 dations and by percolation. A stalagmitic 

 floor, clean, hard and imperishable, seals the 

 traces of every occupant in perfect preser- 

 vation through all time. Some of the most 

 important discoveries in geology and archse- 

 ology are due to these conditions. I need 

 but mention the labors of Lartet, Christy, 

 Boyd Dawkins, and in this country of Cope 

 and Mercer, to attest this. 



But nowhere is ignorant excavation more 

 fatal than in cave-deposits. There is a high 

 science ta their examination ; and M. Mar- 

 tel has planned an admirable scheme to 

 disseminate valuable instruction on this 

 essential point. 



A VALUABLE STUDY IN PRIMITIVE ART. 



A STUDY in-primitive art of the most satis- 

 factory character has been lately pubUshed 

 by the Royal Irish Academy. It is entitled 

 ' The Decorative Art of British New Guinea: 

 A Stud J' in Papuan Ethnography,' by Alfred 

 C. Haddon, M. A., Professor of Zoology in 



the Royal College of Science, Dublin. The 

 author approaches his topic with an exten- 

 sensive personal knowledge of it, and a " 

 thorough appreciation of its bearings on the 

 leading questions of ethnologj' in general. 

 The memoir is in large quarto, with twelve 

 full-page plates and many cuts inserted in 

 the text. Some of the designs are colored, 

 and all are copied with fidelity and clear- 

 ness. Their variety is astonishing, con- 

 sidering that we are dealing with the art of 

 cannibalistic savages, and the sense of pro- 

 portion and harmony often manifested is 

 just and real. The rapid development of 

 conventionalism is evident, and even in 

 such primitive examples one soon loses the 

 traits of the original design. This has often 

 been commented on in American aboriginal 

 art. 



Professor Haddon corrects the impression 

 which sometimes prevails, that art decora- 

 tion, for itself, is unknown to savages. Art 

 is related to ease; as he says, 'Art floui-ishes 

 where food is abundant.' Another vital 

 conclusion he expresses in these words: 

 " The same processes operate on the art of 

 decoration, whatever the subject, wherever 

 the country, whenever the age, illustrating 

 the essential solidarity of mankind." No 

 truer words have been spoken on the sub- 

 ject, and ethnographers should learn them 

 by heart. 



In every respect the memoir is most 

 creditable to the writer and to the institu- 

 tion which publishes it. 



D. G. Brinton. 



University of Pennsylvania. 



JAMES EDWARD OLIVER. 



On March 27th, 1895, after an illness of 

 ten weeks, died Professor J. E. Oliver, of 

 Cornell Universitj'^, universally honored and 

 beloved. 



For more than twenty years he has been 

 at the head of the department of mathe- 

 matics in this great institution. 



