OCTOBEK 23, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



613 



Tlie name, Ala'i, is applied to an extensive 

 intermontane plain, and to the range 

 enclosing it on the north. This plain and 

 the similar elevated intermontane plains of 

 the Pamir further south are spoken of as 

 ' plateaus,' without explicit indication of 

 structure, whether rock-floored or built of 

 waste from the adjoining mountains, but 

 the latter origin is implied. Lakes are said 

 to be numerous, but they are briefly men- 

 tioned without suflicient indication of their 

 associated features. 



In a word, this series of articles forms a 

 good example of the style of geographic de 

 scriptions in vogue to-day. It furnishes 

 much general information as to the condi- 

 tions of a region that has in recent years at- 

 tained more political importance than its 

 intrinsic value would give it; but the phys- 

 iographic basis of the information is most 

 elementary where it it is not vague or 

 wanting. 



KOTES. 



Those who attend the Geological Con- 

 gress at St. Petersburg next summer will 

 find an instructive summary of the move- 

 ments of the earth's crust in Russia by 

 Karpinsky (Ann. de Geogr., v., 1896, 179- 

 193). It is pointed out that the most tran- 

 quil area lies on the northwest, and that 

 troughs of depression elsewhere show a not- 

 able sympathy in direction either with the 

 Ural or the Caucasus mountains. 



The fertile subject of the physical sub- 

 divisions of the Alps is discussed anew by 

 Hang (Ibid., 167-178). He emphasizes the 

 importance of synclinal basins, such as that 

 of the Dolomites, as well as of anticlinal 

 central ynassifs. An instructive map accom- 

 panies the essay. 



Fairchild describes several kame areas 

 of pronounced form ^ in western New York 

 (Chicago Journ. Geol., iv., 1896, 129-159) 

 and a number of temporary glacial lakes 

 and their southward overflow channels in 



the region of the Genesee valley (Bull. 

 Geol. Soc. Amer., vii., 1896, 423-452). 



W. M. Davis. 



Haevaed Univeesity. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 

 EUINS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



An instructive article by Mr. R. M. W. 

 Swan, in the Journal of the Anthropologi- 

 cal Institute for August, gives further infor- 

 mation about the ruined cities in the Zam- 

 besi country. They exist in great numbers 

 throughout that territory, and are usually 

 of small dimensions. The principal edifice 

 is of rough stone, and is carefully oriented 

 to the quarters of the heavens. For this 

 reason it is probable that they served some 

 religious propose, and some of them were 

 ' symbols of reverence erected by solar and 

 phallic worshippers.' 



They can no longer be attributed to the 

 Phenicians. '' Both in their plans and 

 masonry, they are quite unlike anything 

 that we know of that is Phenician." All 

 the evidence indicates that their builders 

 came for gold, and many specimens of that 

 metal have been found in the ruins. A 

 number of the sites are, however, in regions 

 which are not auriferous. This Mr. Swan 

 explains by the supposition that the attrac- 

 tion was the search for gems, which are 

 found in moderate abundance. He does 

 not attempt to identify the builders, but in- 

 clines to the belief that they will be shown 

 to have come from southern Arabia. 



ANTIQUITIES OF COSTA RICA. 



The N'ational Museum of Costa Eica has 

 commenced the publication of a series of 

 articles descriptive of the antiquities of that 

 republic. The first number (pp. 37) is by 

 Seiior Anastasio Alfaro, the competent di- 

 rector. It is illustrated and divided into 

 three chapters, the first general, the second 

 on the gold work of the Guetares Indians, 

 the third on arms and ornaments in stone. 



