948 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 129. 



port, are on man and his environment. 

 Major J. W. Powell addressed his audience 

 on the ' Relation of Primitive Peoples to En- 

 vironment, Illustrated by American Ex- 

 amples,' while Professor O. T. Mason chose 

 as his topic ' The Influence of Environment 

 upon Human Industries or Arts.' 



It is needless to say that both lectures are 

 learned and instructive. Major Powell ex- 

 plains the origin of the activities of culture 

 and their modification by the qualities and 

 properties of external existences. He refers 

 to those forms of environment which ap- 

 pear as institutions, opinions and languages, 

 and weighs their values. 



Professor Mason begins with man's cosmic 

 environment and its influence on his indus- 

 trial activities, and devotes his chief atten- 

 tion to the especially American environ- 

 ments and their association with aboriginal 

 industries. The table which he presents in 

 this connection is clear, full and suggestive. 



There is no question of the high value of 

 such thoughtful contributions as these to 

 the science of man. But sometimes there is 

 a danger that man himself may be lost to 

 sight in the contemplation of his surround- 

 ings. Forty years ago Draper and Buckle 

 saw nothing in man but a creature of en- 

 vironment ; whereas, to-day, the highest 

 note of anthropologic science is to chant the 

 victory of man over his environment by the 

 powers of his psychical nature. 



SLAVERY OF THE AMEEICAJST INDIANS. 



In the study of native American ethnog- 

 raphy the question of human slavery has 

 important bearings. Before the discovery, 

 it prevailed in Mexico and northern South 

 America, perhaps on the northwest coast. 

 The Spanish adventurers did not hesitate 

 a moment to enslave the Indians, but 

 neither the monarchs of Spain nor the 

 Catholic clergy authorized such proceed- 

 ings. The latter, indeed, notably Fathor 

 Montesinos and the famous Las Casas, 



protested against it in the strongest terms, 

 as has been again shown by Dr. Marc F. 

 Vallette, in his ' Studies in American His- 

 tory. ' 



An article on ' Canadian Indian Slavery 

 in the Eighteenth Century,' in the Proceed- 

 ings of the Canadian Institute, February, 

 1897, by Dr. James B. Hamilton, proves 

 that Indian slaves were quite numerous 

 there until within the present century, 

 and, according to the Abbe Tanguay, 

 were found also among the Catholic popu- 

 lation. They bore the name Panis, that 

 is. Pawnees ; as it seems that members of 

 this tribe were captured by the Algonkins 

 and sold to the early traders, whence all 

 enslaved Indians came to be so called. 



None of the northern tribes, however, 

 was successfully reduced to a state of 

 bondage, and this accounts largely for 

 their destruction as a race. 



D. Gr. Beinton. 



University of Pennsylvania. 



NOTES ON INOBGANIO CHEMISTRY. 

 At the conversazione of the Royal So- 

 ciety, May 19th, among interesting exhibits 

 was one by C. T. Heycock and F. H. Nev- 

 ille of a curious alloy of silver and zinc, 

 " which would have warmed the hearts of 

 the old-time alchemists." This alloy is of 

 the ordinary color of silver, but when 

 warmed up to 300° C. and then suddenly 

 cooled it becomes the color of copper. On 

 reheating and cooling slowly it resumes its 

 original color. The same effect is produced 

 by heating in air, in hydrogen or in a 

 vacuum. 



The Chemical News quotes from the Sani- 

 tary Chronicles of the parish of St. Maryle- 

 bone, for the month ending March 31, 1897, 

 the reports of work done by Dr. Winter 

 Blythe on the disinfecting properties of 

 formaldehyde, commonly known in solution 

 as formalin. One part in ten thousand suf- 



