722 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XX. No. 517. 



located, and the territory worthy of explora- 

 tion is quite large. F. W. Woll, 



Secretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



STOJIAOH STONES. 



Those who have been interested in two re- 

 cent papers concerning pebbles found with the 

 remains of ancient reptiles, may like to read 

 the following: About fifty years ago, some 

 dozen or more hogs were enclosed in a pen 

 which extended into a mill race. The hogs 

 were fed entirely with ground feed in variety 

 — meal, bran, corn and oats or sweepings — but 

 no clover, grass or vegetables, so-called. When 

 slaughtered, there were found in the stomachs 

 of several of the animals, pebbles enough in 

 each to fill the two hands of a man, as well 

 as smaller quantities in some instances. In 

 these cases, this habit was attributed largely 

 to the peculiar diet of the pigs. 



W. J. Beal, 



To THE Editor of Science: A number of 

 instances are claimed of the retention at the 

 present time of habits acquired in former 

 geologic epochs in adaptation to conditions 

 then existent but now changed, rendering the 

 archaic habits to-day useless or even injuri- 

 ous. Such, for example, is the habit of cer- 

 tain migTatory birds, in crossing the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea, of following a line of ' extinct 

 islands ' ; also the habit of the lemmings of 

 Scandinavia of periodically seeking the 'lost 

 island of Atlantis.' 



Is it not perfectly evident that in the habit 

 shown by seals and sea-lions of ingesting 

 pebbles we have a retention of an ancient 

 custom dating from the days when seals had 

 gizzards? Maynard M. Metcalp. 



THE METRIC SYSTEM. 



To THE Editor op Science : In the issue of 

 Science of October 21, page 539, is a table of 

 the height of African pygmies. This table 

 is in British measures, and at the close of the 

 article in which the table occurs is this state- 

 ment: "In the writer's first description of 

 these people in 1897 there occurs a mistake 



made in the conversion of the metric system 

 to English measure." 



Now I am not strictly an anthropologist, 

 but I am interested in some features of the 

 study, and when I take up the more substan- 

 tial books on the subject, I find the measures 

 given are nietric. As physical culture is one 

 of the points that interest me, it would be a 

 great advantage to me if Mr. Verner had 

 published his figures in metric terms. There 

 would then have been no mistakes, and com- 

 parisons would have been much easier for 

 those who approach the subject from the cos- 

 mopolitan standpoint. 



Is it not about time that a paper like 

 Science, which professes to represent the sci- 

 ence of this country, should show a prefer- 

 ence for the measures employed by almost all 

 scientific workers — to the extent, at least, of 

 printing all quantities in both systems as the 

 medical papers often do? The matter is 

 becoming more and more important every day. 

 See, for example, the embarrassment caused 

 by the two systems of measure in preparing 

 a map of the world. National Geographic 

 Magazine, October, page 407. 



Wm. H. Seaman. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES. 



government supervision of historic and PRE- 

 HISTORIC RUINS. 



The trafiic in prehistoric wares from the 

 southwest that has arisen during the past few 

 years, with the attendant destruction of pre- 

 historic remains, has become a matter of great 

 concern to areheologists, who appreciate the 

 gravity of this loss to anthropological science. 

 Even though much of this material gathered 

 by parties who are only commercially inter- 

 ested in it, eventually finds its way into public 

 museums, its value to science is greatly re- 

 duced because of the absence of authentic 

 records. Fortunately, a growing popular and 

 educational interest in historic and prehis- 

 toric landmarks has' arisen to assist in the 

 preservation of these objects. 



As a citizen of New Mexico who has 

 watched with deep concern the loss of many 

 of the incomparable archeological treasures of 

 the southwest, I have recently taken up in a 



