356 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 113. 



conquest of the country by Europeans. Most 

 of these are the work of tribes speaking either 

 the Nahuatl (Aztec) or the Maya languages ; 

 but others are from the Zapotec or Mixtec re- 

 gions, these representing different linguistic 

 stocks. 



The accurate reproduction, by modern meth- 

 ods, of these remarkable monuments of a per- 

 ished civilization is one of the most valuable 

 services which can be rendered to the study of 

 American archaeology ; and in presenting in all 

 respects a fac-simile of one of the most perfect, 

 the Codex Vaticanus No. 3773, the Duke de 

 Loubat has added another and a most impor- 

 tant item to his many claims on the gratitude of 

 those interested in the ancient history of Amer- 

 ica. His edition leaves nothing to be desired 

 in point of faithfulness to the original; and that 

 it is in fact a gift to science, being chiefly dis- 

 tributed to public libraries, excites just admira- 

 tion for the liberality as well as the appreciative 

 scholarship of the donor. 



The Codex in this edition is accompanied by 

 two articles from the pen of the well-known 

 archseologist. Father Francisco del Paso y 

 Troncoso, one on the proper sequence of the 

 pages of the manuscript, the other on its prob- 

 able age and origin. The former is indispensa- 

 ble to its comprehension. 



This Codex was included by Lord Kingsbor- 

 ough in his great work published in 1831 ; but 

 not only was the copy prepared by his artist 

 defective in various particulars, but its pages 

 were erroneously arranged, so that the study of 

 it became hopelessly confusing. 



From what is know of the classes of native 

 writings, this Codex is recognized as of Nahuatl 

 origin and is concerned with the ritual year of 

 260 days, doubtless either in its divinatory ap- 

 plications, or as regulating the fasts, festivals 

 and other religious ceremonies of the temples. 

 The opening pages give the tonalamatl, or list 

 of days, and on the last is the picture of a 

 masked figure indicating the astrological rela- 

 tionship of the various parts of the body. 



As we have in the ' Borgian Codex ' a docu- 

 ment from the same locality, and also ritual in 

 its character, there are facilities for the expla- 

 nation of this Vatican Codex not to be found 

 in other instances. 



So far as its history is concerned it rests in 

 obscurity. It was certainly in the Vatican 

 library as early as 1596, and may have reached 

 there about 1550. But, of course, no question 

 can be raised concerning its authenticity, and its 

 composition previous to any European influence 

 in Mexico. We thus have, by the generous 

 action of M. de Loubat, placed within the 

 reach of students probably the best conserved 

 example of that once rich native literature in 

 which were stored the history, religion and sci- 

 ence of aboriginal American civilization. 



D. G. Brinton. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 



AMERICAN CHEMICAL JOURNAL, FEBRUARY. 



A Contribution to the Study of Water Solutions 

 of Some of the Alums : By H. C. Jones and E. 

 Mackay. Various methods have been used in 

 investigations of the conditions existing in a 

 solution from which double salts will crystallize 

 out. The question to be decided was whether 

 the double salt was present as such in solution, 

 or was formed at the moment of crystallization. 

 The methods used may be grouped under the 

 following heads, as they have to do with (a) the 

 diffusion, (6) the thermal changes, (c) the vol- 

 ume changes, (d) the solubility, (e) the electrical 

 properties, or (f) the cryoscopic behavior of 

 solutions of the compounds under investigation. 

 After reviewing these methods the authors state 

 that the aim of the present work was to obtain, 

 from a study of the conductivity of solutions of 

 alums, data which would justify more definite 

 conclusions than had yet been drawn. They 

 have compa-red the electrical conductivity and 

 cryoscopic behavior of the double salts with 

 that of their constituent salts to see if they 

 corresponded to mixtures. The methods of 

 work, analyses and preparation of various alums 

 are given. The results obtained by the con- 

 ductivity method show that in dilute solutions- 

 the complex alum molecules are broken down 

 completely into the molecules of the simpler 

 sulphates, which dissociate as if alone, while in 

 more concentrated solutions the alums are either 

 partially undecomposed or the dissociation is 

 not complete. Potassium chrome alum appar- 

 entlj' exists as such in moderately concentrated 



