SCIENCE. 



Vol. XXII. No. ^49 



ian. In fact, it is not infrequently mistaken for black ob- 

 sidian or volcanic glass, which also occurs in great quantity 

 in this Territory. Uintahite is also very brittle. When 

 heated it melts readily, but will not burn. This sub- 

 stance is hauled in wagons from the mines near Fort 

 Duchesne, in Uintah County, to Pleasant Valley Junction, 

 on the Rio Grand Western E ail way, a distance of more 

 than a hundred miles, to be shipj^ed East for the manu- 

 facture of varnish. 



Wurtzillite bears a remarkably close resemblance to 

 uintahite. It has a similar color, lustre, fracture and 

 specific gravity, and it is about equally brittle. But wu.rt- 

 zillite readily burns, yielding a bright light from the com- 

 bustion of illuminating gases. Again, its streak is black, 

 and it is slightly sectile, being capable of being cut or 

 jjared by a knife much as rubber or horn may be pared. 

 Wurtzillite has been reported from Wasatch County, as 

 weU as from Emery and ITintah Counties, in considerable 

 amount. Aspihaltum occurs in Emery and San Pete Coun- 

 ties. It is somewhat mixed with sand and other impuri- 

 ties, but it is already being mined in considerable quan- 

 tity for paving the streets of various Western cities. 



In addition to wurtzillite, uintahite, asi^haltum and 

 ozocerite, other hydro-carbons are found in Utah; for ex- 

 ample — albertite, j)etroleum and natural gas. But, as yet, 

 none of the latter have been made productive. 



Henry Montgomery. 



University of Utah, Salt Lake City, July 29. 



Animal Vocabularies. 



A good deal has been said about the pirobable existence 

 of definite vocabularies in the language of the lower ani- 

 mals, and I believe one has gone to Africa to study Simian 

 speech. This is all well enough, but there is no need of 

 going beyond the barn yard to hear a definite animal 

 vocabulary of a considerable number of words. Hear the 

 rooster's warning cry when he sees or hears indications of 

 danger. It is a definite sound, and perfectly understood 

 by every hen and chick. Drop food to the mother hen. 

 She quickly inspects it, and if approved, tells the little 

 ones to eat, by uttering her well known "Coot, coot, coot !" 

 If she decides that it is not fit to eat, she as plainly tells 

 them to let alone. The other day a green worm fell from 

 a tree near a brood of chickens. Every chick ran to seize 

 the morsel. The mother gave one quick glance at the in- 

 sect and said, "Skr-r-r-p !" Every chick stopped instantly. 

 But one wilful child, loth to believe his mother's assur- 

 ance that it wasn't fit to eat, would make him sick, etc., 

 started a second time to pick uj) the worm. "Skr-r-r-p !" 

 commanded the hen sharply. Even the wilful child 

 obeyed this time, and the whole brood walked off content- 

 edly. Discuss as we will the particular reason for the 

 hen's cackle before and after laying, the fact remains that 

 it is a definite utterance, as plainly understood by both 

 gallinse and homines as any expression in human speech. 



My horse has a low whinny which means "water," and 

 a higher-keyed, more emphatic neigh means food. 

 When I hear these sounds I know as definitely what she 

 means as if she spoke in English. This morning, jDassing 

 along the street, I heard that same low whinny and, 

 looking up, saw a strange horse regarding me with a 

 pleading look. I knew he was suffering from thirst, and 

 no language could make it plainer. 



The language of the lower animals is not all articulate. 

 It is largely a sign language. The horse does a deal of 

 talking by motions of the head and by his wonderfully 

 expressive looks. He also, upon occasion, talks with the 

 other extremity. A peculiar switch of the tail and a ges- 

 ture, as if threatening to kick, are equine forms of speech. 

 The darkey was not far wrong who said of the kicking 

 mule, "It's just his way of talking I" 



The dog can not only "look volumes," but can express 

 whole sentences by wags of the tail more readily than can 

 the waving flags of the signal corjjs. All that is necessary 

 is to learn his code. We exjsect our domestic animals to 

 learn our language, and jjunish them cruelly if they fail to 

 both understand and obey our commands; yet, notwith- 

 standing our higher intelligence, we fail to learn their 

 language, by means of which we might better understand 

 their wants and disj)ositions, and thus control them by 

 kindness and symjiathy, instead of by harsh and arbitrary 

 treatment. I see horses passing along the street, which 

 are saying by every look and motion that they are suffer- 

 ing acute torture from a too short check rein. Their 

 drivers are often peop)le who would be shocked if they 

 could comprehend their own cruelty. But they do 

 not understand horse language, and some of them do nut 

 seem to have horse sense. 



The language of animals is a neglected subject. The 

 facilities for its study are within the reach of all, and no 

 jjrevious preparation is required. The study can be pur- 

 sued without interfering with other occupations, and even 

 a little systematic observation will bring large returns in 

 both pleasure and profit. Charles B. Palmer. 



Columbus, Ohio. 



A Maya Month-name— Khmers. 



In Science, Aug 4, Professor Thomas gives a new 

 name to the 17th month of the Maya calendar on the 

 basis of a phonetic rendering of its symbol. 



I do not intend to disjjute the correctness of his ren- 

 dering;! think it quite possible he is right; but I serious- 

 ly question his inference, that, because the symbol reads 

 ak-yab, that therefore was the month-name. 



The work kayah is from the verbal stem kay, to sing or 

 warble. As this concept cannot be objectively represented, 

 the Mayas had recourse to a method very familiar with 

 them, that of the rebus, to convey or keep in memory its 

 approximate sounds. They chose to indicate the guttur- 

 al initial k by a turtle, called in their tongue ak; prefix- 

 ing it to the syllable yob. 



This method of writing is what I have called " ikono- 

 matic," and I have shown abundant instances of it in 

 Mexico and Central America. (See my "Essays of an 

 Americanist," pp. 213-229). Through negiectin_g- to regard 

 its principles, both Prof. Thomas and Dr. Seler have made 

 several obvious errors in translating the Mexican and Maya 

 codices, as I expect to show in a work I am preparing on 

 the calendar system of those nations. 



With regarcl to the origin of the Khmers and their ethnic 

 affiliation, I do not think that Professor Keane's claim is 

 relevant to that put forward by Dr. Maurel. The latter 

 maintains that the Khmers belong to the "Aryan," in the 

 sense of the " Sanscritic" peoples; and that they are in 

 Cambodia an intrusive stock, arriving . practically within 

 historic times. I understand Professor Keane to differ 

 with both these opinions. D. G. Bbinton. 



Media, Aug. 7. 



Theory of Color Sensation. 

 An objection to my theory of color-sensation (an ab- 

 stract of which has lately ajspeared in Science) has been 

 more than once made to me, which needs to be met, but 

 which can be met very easily. It is that I suppose the 

 three j)rimary color-sensations to be conveyed to the brain 

 by one and the same nerve, and hence that the theory is 

 not consistent with the widely accepted doctrine of the 

 specific energy of nerves, — the doctrine, namely, as ap- 

 plied to the eye, that we recognize two reds to be like 

 sensations, not by any specific quality in the sensation, 

 but by the fact that they affect the same set of nerves, 

 and that if a pure blue light could by any possibility be 



