September i, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



125 



ster on the shield represents the fabulous Ahuizoltl, or 

 water animal," whereas, while duly considering the possi- 

 bilities of such identification, Mrs. Zelia Nuttall stated, 

 in conclusion, "that she was prevented from upholding 

 it," and drew attention to the resemblance between the 

 outlines of the Ambras "monster" and those of the coyote 

 or prairie wolf, as de23icted in the Codex Mendoza to ex- 

 press ikonomatically the name of the Pueblo GoyohucLcan — 

 place of wolves. Dr. Edward Seler subsequently endorsed 

 Mi's. Nuttall's identification of the Ambras monster as a 

 coyote or praii'ie wolf. 



Dr. Heger, however, declines to recognize the device as 

 representing a wolf, and declares it to be a bear from "its 

 fangs, claws and shaggy coat," — characteristics, by the way, 

 also common to the wolf. He admits that "the tail is rather 

 long for a bear," but adduces, in support of his hypothesis, 

 the fact that bushy tails are possessed by the smaller 

 species of bears, and proceeds to evolve from his inner 

 consciousness a Mexican species of small, long-tailed bear, 

 unknown alike to ancient Mexican pictographers and 

 more prosaic but exact modern zoologists. Such author- 

 ities as "Wallace^ and W. H. Flowers state that only 

 one sj)ecies of bear, TJrsus ornalus, is known to occur in 

 the Neotropical region, which includes the American con- 

 tinent from the northern limits of Mexico to Patagonia, 

 and that species is the spectacled bear, restricted to the 

 Chilian sub-region. 



Is it possible that Dr. Heger confused the true bears 



4. "Geographical Distribution of Animals," Vol. II., p. 201. 



5. "Mammals Living and Extinct," p. 565. 



(Ursidse) with the raccoons (Procyonidse) familiarly known 

 in Germany as "Waschbaren," from their singular 

 habit of washing their food. These, however, are not 

 bears but small bear-like animals with long tails, com- 

 monly annulated. These raccoons do occur in Mexico, 

 but they are characterized by "turn up" noses, which give 

 them a mild and inquisitive appearance, differing widely 

 from the wolverine aspect of the Ambras "monster," 

 which looks as much like a wolf rampant with protruded 

 claws as heraldic designs with that intent in general. The 

 feet of the coyote or prairie wolf are more correctly indi- 

 cated in the pictograph of the coyote from the Mendoza 

 codex. The bears are flat-footed and cannot retract their 

 claws, which form the only ursine feature of the Ambras 

 monster. 



Dr. Heger's fallacies, misquotations and self-contradic- 

 tions are amusingly exposed by Mrs. Zelia Nuttall, in the 

 current number of the Internationales Archiv fur Ethno- 

 graphie, Part 6, 1893. To use a familiar metaphor, it will 

 be seen that the lady has left neither Dr. Heger nor his 

 hypothetical, long, bushy-tailed, small 3Iexican bear a leg 

 to stand upon. Facsimiles of both the Ambras shield 

 and the feather head-dress of the time of Montezuma are 

 exhibited in the Ethnological Department of the Chicago 

 Exposition. "We believe Mrs. Nuttall is about to enter on 

 the official duties connected with her appointment as 

 "Judge of ethnological exhibits in the Y\^omen's Depart- 

 ment," to which she has been recently nominated. 



Agnes Cbane. 



Brighton, Eng. 



Horsford's Acid Phosphate 



Is the most effective and agreeable 

 remedy in existence for preventing 

 indigestion, and relieving those dis- 

 eases arising from a disordered 

 stomach. 



Dr. "W. W. Gardner, Spring- 

 field, Mass., says, "I value it as an excel- 

 lent preventative of indigestion, and a 

 pleasant acidulated drink when proper- 

 ly diluted with water, and sweetened." 



Descriptive pamphlet free on application to 



RUMFORD Chemical Works, Providence, R. I. 



Beware of Substitutes and Imitations. 



For sale by all Druggists. 



[Free of charge to all, if of satisfactory character. 

 Address N. D. C. Hodges, 874 Broadway, New 

 York.l 



For exchange — Complete set of serial slides of em- 

 br3^o chick, 12 to 72 hours old ; of rat)bit lorn long, 

 and various stages of development of tadpole, 

 mouse and rat. Will sell or exchange for botani- 

 cal slides, or books or photographic apparatus. D. 

 T. MacDougal, University of Mmnesota, Minneapo- 

 lis, Minn. 



For sale or exchange.— A fine collection of Lep 

 idoptera, native and exotic. For particulars ad- 

 dress Addison Ellsworth, Binghamton, N. Y., care 

 Republican. 



For sale or exchange for works on entomostraca, 

 WoUe's "Desmids of the U.S.," Hentz "Spiders of 

 the U. S.," The Amer. Entomologist & Botanist, 

 Vol. 2, The Amer. Entomologist. Vol. i, Harris's 

 "Insects Injurious to Vegetation," colored plates, 

 copy formerly owned by Townend Glover. C. 

 Dwight Marsh, Ripon, Wis. 



"The Conchologist : a Journal of Malacology," 

 Vols. I and 2, with wood cuts and plates, value 12 1 - 

 will exchange for any works or pamphlets on Amer- 

 ican Slugs or Anatonry of American Fishes. W. E. 

 CoUinge, Mason College, Birmingham, England. 



I wish to exchange a New Model Hall Type- 

 writer, price $30, for a Daylight Kodak, 4x5 prefer- 

 red. George A. Coleman, Dep't. Agric, Div. of 

 Ornithology, Washington, D. C. 



Exchange — The undersigned is desirous of ob- 

 taining correspondents interested in macro-lipidop- 

 tera, in Alaska, the far Western, Southwestern 

 Southern States. Will also exchange rare 

 lepidoptera for entomological literature. Levi W. 

 Mengel, Reading, Penn. 



Wanted to exchange— Medical books. Obstetri- 

 cal Transactions, London, Works of Sir J. Y. 

 Simpson, Beck's Medical Jurisprudence. Hand- 

 book for the Phj-siological Laboratorv, by 13umton, 

 Foster, Klein and Sanderson, Quai'n's Anatomy, 

 and about fifty others. Catalogues given. Want 

 Geological, Botanical and Microscopical books in 

 exchange. Dr. A. M. Edwards, 11 Washington St., 

 Newark, N. J. 



Wants. 



I WOULD be grateful to receive replies to any of 

 ' the following questions.— Is copper found native 

 m Mexico P Is it found native in Cuba ? If so, in 

 either or both cases can I purchase authentic speci- 

 mens ? Can any one furnish me with results of anal- 

 yses of native Mexican or Cuban copper, also anal- 

 yses of unalloyed copper reduced from the ore 

 trom Cuba or Mexico? Is it possible to procure 

 aborigmal implements of copper from Cuba or 

 Mexico > Answers to these questions will greatly 

 aid the preparation of a report tor a scientific insti- 

 tution. C. B. Moore, 1321 Locust St., Philadelphia, 

 Pa. 



A YOUNG woman who has been an assistant for 

 '^ a literary and scientific man desires a similar 

 position. Is an experienced and accurate stenog- 

 rapher and typewriter, thoroughly educated, and 

 sufficiently familiar with literary work to write, in- 

 dependent of dictation. Has some knowledge 

 of the Spanish language. Will go to any part of the 

 United States. Address, Box 147, Ravenna, Ohio, 



A GRADUATE of an American Polytechnic insti- 

 •f^ tution and of a German University (Gottingen), 

 seeks a position to teach chemistry in a college or 

 similar institution. Five vears' experience in 

 teaching chemistry. Address' Chemist, 757Cary St. 

 Brockton, Mass. 



W^ 



ANTED.— A position as teacher of Biology, by 

 an experienced teacher, a college graduate 

 with four university post-graduate courses in the 

 Sciences. Good endorsements, and eighteen years' 

 experience. Address A. N. Somers, La Porte, Ind. 



WANTED.— Assistant in Nautical Almanac office, 

 Navy; Department. The Civil Service Com- 

 mission will hold an examination on August 15 to 

 ■^" a vacancy in the position of assistant (computer) 

 the Nautical Almanac office. The subjects will 

 be letter-writing^, penmanship, trigonometry, rudi- 

 lents of analytical geometry and calculus, loga- 

 thras, theory and practice of computations, and 

 itronomv. Each applicant must provide himself 

 with a five-place logarithmic table. The examina- 

 tion will be held in Washington, and if applications 

 are filed in season, arrangements may be made for 

 examinations in the large cities. Blanks will be 

 furnished upon application to the Commission at 

 "Washington. 



