22 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 105. 



tion of photographs. The upper half of 

 Plate 20 reduces Holmes' drawing of the 

 shore lines of Lake Bonneville, from Gil- 

 bert's monograph ; the lower half represents 

 the floor of an extinct lake in the Swiss 

 valley of Engelberg, from a photograph ; 

 and the first is distinctly more educative 

 than the second. The Delaware and Grand 

 Rivers, Plate 16, are not successful repro- 

 ductions ; good drawings would be more in- 

 structive, even if less accurate than the 

 original photograph ; but good drawings 

 cost too much nowadays. Brevity of treat- 

 ment in a number of passages calls for the 

 aid of a good teacher before the student 

 will understand the problems discussed. 



W. M. Davis. 



Haevaed TJniveesity 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 



AMERICAN GAMES AS EVIDENCE OF ASIATIC 



INTEECOUESE. 



In the Internationales Archiv fiir Ethnog- 

 raphie (Bd. IX., Supp.), Dr. E. B. Tylor 

 returns with fresh zeal to his ancient con- 

 tention that the presence of two games so 

 much alike as pareheesi in India and patolli 

 in Mexico shows intercourse between the 

 continents before the time of Columbus. 



This betrays a regretable misconception 

 of the principles of ethnology as now 

 adopted by its foremost students. Games 

 are alike because men are alike the world 

 over. The same similarity extends to 

 myths, social constructions, laws and arts. 

 That Lewis F. Morgan, forty years ago, 

 should insist that the Iroquois of New 

 York learned their totemic system from 

 East Indians was pardonable in that day. 

 N"ow it scarcely would be. 



Dr Tylor should also study his ethnog- 

 raphy closer. The Tarahumaras are not 

 a distant people of an alien language ' to 

 the Aztecs, but closely related and speaking 

 a tongue of the same Uto-Aztecan stock. 

 That is why they call the game patole. 



EACIAL STUDIES IN SWITZEELAND. 



In the first number of the new Swiss 

 'Archiv fiir Volkskunde,' Dr. Rudolph Mar- 

 tin, of Zurich, urges a complete and careful 

 study of the living adult population of 

 Switzerland, " in order to determine what 

 types represent pure varieties, and what 

 others indicate hybrid forms." 



He proposes that the observer should use 

 only a few simple implements, an anthro- 

 pometer and a calliper, costing together 

 about 85 francs. These, he suggests, could 

 be provided by a society and loaned to ob- 

 servers who would find it inconvenient to 

 purchase them. 



His paper is supplemented with blank 

 forms, showing what observations are desi- 

 rable. These give the individual's name, 

 age, birthplace, etc. ; then his measure- 

 ments, 28 in all ; and his descriptive cri- 

 teria, color of hair, eyes and complexion, 

 shape of head, face, nose, etc. These items 

 he believes would be ample for the purpose. 

 D. G. Brinton. 



TJniveesity of Pennsylvania. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



Db. Emil Heine. DuBois-Reymond, pro- 

 fessor of physiology in the University of Berlin, 

 died on December 26th, at the age of seventy- 

 eight years. 



The Emperor of Germany has conferred upon 

 Dr. Roux the Royal Order of the Prussian 

 Crown of the second class, which is said to be 

 the highest decoration in his gift. It will be 

 remembered that this order was conferred upon 

 Pasteur some two years ago and declined by 

 him. The German Emperor has in this case 

 shown tact in conferring the order on one who 

 in many ways is Pasteur's successor, and who 

 it is understood will accept it. Dr. Behring, 

 the discoverer, with Dr. Roux, of the anti- 

 diphtheretic serum, has had the Grand Order 

 of the Crown of Italy conferred on him. 



The Czar of Russia has conferred on M. 

 Gerard, director of the Municipal Laboratory, 



