544 



SCIENCE, 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 118. 



loaaing specimens Mr. Bather dwells 

 lightly, owing to his connection with the 

 British Museum, whose policy in this re- 

 spect is well known. Here, again, we in 

 til is country are fortunate, as most speci- 

 mens, even types, may be borrowed by 

 workers in museums and some knotty 

 problems thereby unravelled, but the main 

 propositions in the paper demand a careful 

 consideration. Finally, Mr. Bather seems 

 to use the term type a little vaguely, as one 

 does not feel quite sure whether he means 

 type or typical material. There can be but 

 one type, or one series of specimens collect- 

 ively forming a type, and no museum can 

 afford to permanently part with these. 

 Typical specimens are quite another mat- 

 ter, and the more distributed the better. 



A DOG OF THE ANCIENT PUEBLOS. 



Among the many objects obtained by Dr. 

 Fewkes last summer from the ruined pueblo 

 of Chaves Pass, Arizona, is the cranium 

 of a domesticated dog, found in a grave 

 with a human skeleton. Although the 

 mere fact of a dog being discovered under 

 such circumstances is in itself interesting, 

 it is not at first sight remarkable, since it 

 is well known that in America, as else- 

 where, the dog was domesticated at an 

 early date, and Clavijero mentions an an- 

 cient dog which he calls " a quadruped of 

 the country of Cibola, similar in form to a 

 mastiff, which the Indians employ to carry 

 burdens." Aside from the fact that this is 

 the first dog's cranium discovered by Dr. 

 Fewkes, there are some points of special 

 interest in the present case. Most of the 

 Indian dogs are more or less wolfish in their 

 aspect, and have long skulls with compara- 

 tively low foreheads, thus showing a small 

 degree of specialization in the way of breed, 

 and this is true of Such of the mummied dogs 

 of Egypt as I have seen. The cranium of 

 the Chaves dog, on the contrarj', is of the 

 broad-faced type, with high forehead, and. 



curiously enough, is precisely similar in 

 size and proportions to the cranium of an 

 Eskimo dog from Cumberland Sound, the 

 resemblance extending to the peculiar con- 

 cavity and squareness of the nasal region. 

 While this is an interesting coincidence, it 

 is not brought forward as implying com- 

 munity of origin, but as instancing long 

 domestication in order that so well-marked 

 a breed could be established. A curious 

 confirmation of the early origin of this 

 breed was received from San Marcos, Texas, 

 where, in excavating for ponds, at the 

 station of the U. S. Fish Commission, a 

 human skeleton and bones of other animals 

 were found in a layer containing many flint 

 implements, overlaid by two feet of black 

 soil. The bones were those of existing 

 species, including teeth of several bison, 

 and there was also a fragment of a dog's 

 skull similar in size and proportions to 

 that obtained at Chaves Pass. Owing to the 

 circumstances under which the bones were 

 exhumed it is not known whether or not 

 the dog and man wei-e found together. 

 While none of the bones were mineralized, 

 the condition under which they were found, 

 and the character of the human cranium, 

 showed them to be of very considerable age. 



Dr. Fewkes states that the skulls of car- 

 nivores are used in Hopi religious cere- 

 monies and that the skull, paws, etc., are 

 regarded as powerful fetishes of warriors 

 and cherished by them with much care. It 

 is customary to bury a priests' fetishes with 

 him, and there is little doubt that the dog's 

 cranium from Chaves Pass was a fetish of 

 the man in whose grave it was found. As 

 Dr. Fewkes believes that the people of the 

 Chaves Pass ruin formerly lived far south, 

 in contact with Nahuatl peoples, it can 

 readily be seen how a dog's skull came to 

 be part of the ceremonial outfit of the priest 

 in whose grave it was found. 



F. A. LtroAS. 



U. S. National Museum. 



