438 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 115. 



masses ; as such, being a characteristic of 

 vigorous young mountains. 



Careful study of the ground made it clear 

 that no artificial discharge could be made 

 for the rising lake. As the impending flood 

 could not be controlled, every effort was 

 made to insure the safety of the people in 

 the valley below by timely warning of the 

 disaster. A telegraph line was constructed 

 from Hardwar, on the Ganges at the 

 edge of the plains, to Gohna, 150 miles 

 within the mountains. In April, 1894, 

 August 15th was set as the probable date 

 of the flood. A number of suspension 

 bridges were dismantled and removed. 

 Safety pillars were set up on the valley 

 slopes, at intervals of half a mile, and at 

 heights of from 50 to 200 feet above the 

 ordinary river level, thus indicating the 

 probable limit of the flood, above which 

 there would be no danger. 



The lake back of the dam grew to be four 

 miles long and half a mile wide. At mid- 

 night of August 25th-26th, during a heavy 

 rainfall, the flood began. In four hours 

 the lake was reduced to two miles in 

 length and quarter of a mile in breadth ; 

 10,000,000,000 cubic feet of water were dis- 

 charged, cutting down the barrier 390 feet ; 

 advancing at a rate of twenty miles an 

 hour at first, and ten miles an hour further 

 down the valley, sweeping away many miles 

 of valley road, completely destroying two 

 bridges that had been left standing, because 

 of remonstrances from local authorities 

 against their removal, and leaving no ves- 

 tige of many villages and three consider- 

 able towns ; yet so fully was the danger an- 

 nounced tliat not a single life was lost. 

 W. M. Davis. 



Harvard Univeksity. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 



THE AMERIQUE INDIANS. 



There has lately appeared in Paris a 

 book with the title ' L'Amerique a-t-elle 



droit sous ce nom a un nom indigene ?' by 

 M. Franciot-Legall. 



The question discussed is one which at 

 various periods has risen in the Congres 

 Internationale des Americanistes, and de- 

 rives its origin from the fact that some- 

 where in Central America there has been 

 known a native tribe with the name 'Amer- 

 iques;' and it was argued that Columbus in 

 his fourth voyage met this tribe and from 

 it his associates gave the name to the land, 

 — not from Amerigo Vespucci, as the geog- 

 rapher Waldseemiiller says, or, at least, in- 

 dependently of him. 



Some have doubted that there was a tribe 

 so-called, but their existence must be con- 

 ceded. They have been met by explorers 

 of the present day— by Mr. Crawford, for 

 example. Their afiinity and precise loca- 

 tion have, however, not been stated. These 

 points have been settled lately by M. Alph. 

 Pinart, who, as he lately informed me, se- 

 cured a vocabularj'^ of their tongue and 

 found it to be of the Lenca stock, and their 

 present home to be in the State of Hon- 

 duras. 



30TH EEPOET OF THE PEABODY INSTITUTE. 



The last report of the Curator of this in- 

 stitution. Professor F. W. Putnam, shows 

 it to be in a flourishing condition. Among 

 the results of its field work are numerous 

 specimens of chipped stones said by the 

 Curator to be ' found in the glacial deposits 

 of the Delaware Valley,' about the age of 

 which deposits it is fair to saj^ geologists 

 are not agreed. 



Mr. Gordon's researches in Copan are re- 

 ferred to, and the fact emphasized that the 

 establishment of that city was far more an- 

 cient than the surface ruins and standing 

 monuments. 



The report closes with some excellent sug- 

 gestions for a course of instruction in an- 

 thropology, comprising a group of studies 

 some acquaintance with which is essential to 



