650 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 121. 



of the International Scientific Series (D. 

 Appleton & Co. ) . This book has already 

 been reviewed in Science (Vol. II., 107- 

 108), so that extended comment on the 

 translation is not necessary. The volume 

 presents an interesting and complete ac- 

 count of the aurora in all its aspects, and 

 will prove a valuable addition to scientific 

 libraries. We note that the title page and 

 cover give the title as ' The Aurora Bore- 

 alis,' while the headings on the even pages 

 all through the book give it as ' The Polar 

 Aurora.' There are several illustrations of 

 different forms of the aurora, but we do not 

 find any index. 



R. DeC. Ward. 



HAEVAED UsnVEESITY. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 

 THE JEWISH PHYSICAL TYPE. 



The peculiar physical type which we call 

 ' Jewish ' is as easily recognizable in the 

 sculptures from Tello and Nippur, carved 

 two or three thousand years before the 

 Christian era, as it is in the satirical comic 

 papers of our own day. The most promi- 

 nent trait is the nose, which has the curve 

 of an italic figure 6 reversed. 



This is sometimes called the Semitic 

 type, but erroneously, as the purest Sem- 

 ites, the Arabians of the desert, do not ex- 

 hibit it. We must, therefore, seek its 

 origin elsewhere. In an article read be- 

 fore the Munich Anthropological Society, 

 printed in the Correspondenzblatt for January, 

 Professor Oberhummer agrees with von 

 Liuschan in attributing it to the ancient 

 Anatolian people, probably of Caucasic 

 (Alarodian) afl&nities, residents in Arme- 

 nia before the Aryan Armenians possessed 

 the land, and whose branches were the 

 Elamites and Susians of the south. 

 These, by intermarriage with the Semitic 

 invaders, impressed upon them this phys- 

 ical type, though not their language or cul- 

 ture. 



This theory does not fully explain the 

 prevalence of this type in Palestine, un- 

 less we allow a larger intermingling there 

 of foreign blood than has been customary 

 with historians. 



ON WAMPUM RECORDS. 



The last scientific contribution prepared 

 by our late eminent colleague, Mr. Horatio 

 Hale, is printed in the Journal of the An- 

 thropological Institute for February, 1897. 

 It is entitled ' Four Huron Wampum 

 Records ; a study of Aboriginal American 

 History and Mnemonic Symbols.' His 

 usual patient research and careful deduction 

 are well exemplified in it. The manu- 

 facture of wampum, its earliest use as a 

 form of record, and the origin and meaning 

 of the symbols woven into the belts, are 

 fully discussed. Much collateral informa- 

 tion on the history of the Hurons and 

 Iroquois and on the formation of the famous 

 ' League ' is added. 



A note is appended by Professor E. B. 

 Tylor, which reviews Mr. Hale's con- 

 clusions and suggests further lines of re- 

 search relating to the subject. He argues 

 that the wampum belt had its origin among 

 the Iroquois. 



The studies on this question are yet far 

 from completeness, as wampum was merely 

 a method of ai-ranging beads for mnemonic 

 symbols, a custom widely prevalent in 

 savagery and branching in many directions. 



THE OTOMIS. 



According to the traditions of the Aztecs, 

 their predecessors in Central Mexico were 

 the Otomis, an undersized dark people, 

 described as stupid and barbarous and 

 speaking a tongue most cacophonous and 

 difficult. Many thousands of them still 

 survive on the Mexican plateau, but our 

 actual knowledge of them is very scant. 



A few years ago Judge Eustaquio Buelna 

 published a grammar and dictionary of 

 their language, composed by a Jesuit mis- 



