798 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 281. 



Logan, of Chicago. The chief object in view 

 was to study the physical types of the Indians 

 of southern Mexico. This study, begun two 

 years ago and carried on by Professor Starr in 

 his last two journeys, makes use of three 

 methods of investigation — measurement, pho- 

 tography and plaster work. In each tribe 

 visited, measui-ements are made upon one hund- 

 red men and twenty-five women — fourteen dif- 

 ferent measures being taken of each subject. 

 Photographs are made of good types, a front 

 and profile view being made of each. Views 

 are also made of scenery, towns, groups, houses, 

 occupations, etc. , etc. Five persons of each tribe 

 — notable types — are subjected to the operation 

 of bust-making ; plaster mixed with water is ap- 

 plied directly to the subject to form a waste-mold 

 in which the bust is afterwards run. Five tribes 

 were examined — the Chinantecos, Chochos, 

 Mazatecos, Tepehuas and Totonacos. These 

 tribes are conservative and clannish and all re- 

 tain their own languages, although Spanish is 

 understood to some extent in all their towns. 

 Of the Tepehuas, whose linguistic relationship 

 has been uncertain, a fair vocabulary was se- 

 cured. The survival of the ancient art of beat- 

 ing paper from the bark of trees, was investi- 

 gated among the Otomis in the mountains of 

 the states of Hidalgo and Pueblo. The sur- 

 vival of the pagan practices among the Tepe- 

 huas and Otomis of the same district was some- 

 what studied. Several days were spent among 

 the Tlaxcalan villages on the slopes of Mount 

 Malintzi and many curious data were secured 

 relative to life and customs. Other minor but 

 interesting studies were made. It is hoped 

 that the results of the expeditions may all be 

 printed within the next two years. The party, 

 consisted of four persons — the director, the pho- 

 tographer, Louis Grabic ; the modeler, Ramon 

 Godinez, and a helper, Manuel Gonzales. The 

 expedition involved five hundred miles of horse- 

 back riding in the most mountainous regions of 

 the states of Oaxaca, Hidalgo and Puebla. 

 Of the tribes visited the Chinantecos and Tepe- 

 huas were the most interesting and best known. 

 Professor Starr hopes to complete his work next 

 year by a study of the tribes of the Huaxteca, 

 Chiapas and Yucatan. 



At an extra meeting of the British Institution 



of Civil Engineers, held in April at its house in 

 Great George-street, the eighth ' James For- 

 rest ' lecture was delivered by Sir William 

 Preece, the subject being the ' Relations be- 

 tween Electricity and Engineering.' Accord- 

 ing to the London Times the lecture began with 

 a statement of four fundamental principles un- 

 derlying the practical applications of electricity 

 and illustrated them with some elementary ex- 

 periments. Sir William Preece pointed out that 

 electricity was purely mechanical in its effects. 

 It required matter to render it evident to the 

 senses. Its transference was characterized by 

 motion, chiefly undulatory as regards the ether, 

 but partaking of the most known forms as re- 

 gards conductors and insulators. It was, there- 

 fore, essentially a dynamical agent in the hands 

 of the engineer to carry out his duties. The 

 lecturer proceeded to discuss the applications 

 of electricity under a number of heads. Among 

 these were the purification of matter ; the an- 

 nihilation of space, as for instance in the tele- 

 graph, the telephone, and the use of electrical 

 energy to move railway signals and points ; the 

 transmission of power. Including the employ- 

 ment of electric motors to drive the machines 

 in manufacturies ; traction, including electric 

 railways and automobile cars, the lecturer be- 

 lieving that the motor-car of the future will be 

 electrical; electricity in war; and sanitation. 

 In conclusion he said there was now a distinct 

 line of demarcation separating the physicist 

 from the engineer. The former dived into the 

 unknown to discover new truths ; the latter 

 applied the known to the service of man. Re- 

 search was the function of the one, utility that 

 of the other. In the past the engineer had to 

 rely upon himself for his facts, but the advance 

 of modern science, the growth of technical edu- 

 cation, the formation of laboratories, and the 

 endowment of chairs, had changed all that. 

 We could scarcely hope for new sources of 

 energy to be discovered but there were some 

 known ones as yet untouched. When the evil 

 day arrived for our coal supplies to give out 

 we might perhaps be able to utilize the heat of 

 the sun and the tides of the ocean. There was, 

 however, a vast illimitable store of energy not 

 only in the rotation of the earth upon its axis, 

 but in the eternal heat of this globe itself. As 



