July 8, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



61 



some fragments of wheel-made pottery on the 

 surface of the older tumulus, as well as in the 

 neighboring irrigation column, seems to repre- 

 sent a transition from the older to the newer. 

 This suggests the possibility that the gap was 

 filled by the strata which has disappeared 

 through wind and water erosion, and which 

 must, in any event, have been of considerable 

 thickness. 



Through all the cultures except the last — ■ 

 that of the iron stage — there ran a remarkable 

 and characteristic burial custom. The chil- 

 dren — at least certain children — and seemingly 

 only children, were buried in the houses, under 

 the floor, in a layer of fire-hardened earth. I 

 was struck last year by the fact that all the 

 human bones I sent from here to Professor 

 Zittel were those of children. The skeletons lie 

 on the side with the knees drawn up in the 

 ' liegende hocker ' position. With them have 

 been found beads of turquoise, lapis lazuli, 

 carnelian and other minerals. Eighteen of 

 such burials have been studied. 



THE GOLDEN TROUT OF MT. WBITNEY. 



The most beautiful and in many respects 

 the most interesting of all the trouts is the 

 famous golden trout of Mount Whitney. It 

 is known only from a few small mountain 

 streams high up in the Sierras on the western 

 slopes of Whitney, the highest mountain in the 

 United States. It was formerly abundant in 

 Volcano Creek, tributary to the South Fork 

 of Kern Eiver, and has been introduced into 

 Cottonwood Creek and perhaps other streams 

 on the east slope of the Sierras, tributary to 

 Owens Lake. Its original home seems to have 

 been Volcano Creek and in that stream only 

 above the falls. 



During the last few years many camping 

 parties have gone into the region and reports 

 have reached the Bureau of Fisheries that the 

 species is in danger of extermination. Re- 

 cently Stewart Edward White, the author of 

 ' The Blazed Trail,' called attention to the 

 danger, and President Eoosevelt, the true 

 naturalist that he is and always alive to more 

 matters of interest than any one else, addressed 

 a letter to the Commissioner of Fish and 

 Fisheries, asking that an investigation be 



made to determine what steps should be taken 

 for its preservation. 



In compliance with the President's request, 

 Commissioner Bowers is sending a party to 

 the Mount Whitney region to find out all they 

 can about the golden trout. It is intended 

 to determine its present distribution, in what 

 streams it is now found, into what it has been 

 transplanted, into what additional streams it 

 might be introduced, and whether the species 

 can be propagated artificially. It is believed 

 there will be no difficulty with cultivating the 

 species if a few individuals for breeding stock 

 can be gotten to one of the government fish 

 hatcheries. This will not be an easy task, 

 as the fish will have to be carried on pack- 

 horses for 24 to 48 hours down the east slope 

 of the Sierras through a semi-desert region to 

 Lone Pine, or 3 or 4 days to Visalia. 



The expedition that will conduct these in- 

 vestigations will be under the immediate direc- 

 tion of Dr. Barton W. Evermann, assistant in 

 charge Scientific Inquiry in the Bureau of 

 Fisheries. The other members of the party 

 will be Dr. Oliver P. Jenkins and Professor 

 Rufus L. Green, of Stanford University, Pro- 

 fessor Chancey Juday, of the University of 

 Colorado, and Captain Charles B. Hudson, the 

 artist, who will paint the golden trout in life 

 colors. Professor Juday will make a special 

 study of the food and feeding habits of the 

 trout. Professor Green will study the physical 

 characters of the streams to be examined, 

 while Drs. Evermann and Jenkins will give 

 their attention to the biological and fish- 

 cultural problems involved and to the geo- 

 graphic distribution of the species. The 

 party will outfit early in July at Visalia, 

 California, with pack outfit and enter the 

 High Sierra by way of Three Rivers and Min- 

 eral King. About a month's time will be 

 devoted to the investigations and it is believed 

 that the results will be of great interest to 

 anglers and fish-culturists. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 Harvaed University has conferred the de- 

 gree of doctor of laws on Dr. William Osier, 

 professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins 

 University. 



