374 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



the word for " river " embodies the same sound heard in this corruption of Acha. 

 That Russian word is transcribed in EngUsh as reka, raga or rega — the r merely 

 an abbreviated expression of the Sanscrit Ri. 



Names that are typical'' of countless others in the Indian language are writ- 

 ten in our geographies Cocheco, Oswego, Topeka, Canecuh, Mexico, etc. The 

 latter name was once written Mexique. The fact is, this is the present French 

 writing of the word. Megico or Mejico is the Spanish orthography. 



Our wise men have speculated long and unwisely over the origin and signifi- 

 cance of the word Mexico. Let us but remember that it comes to us first through 

 the Spanish. That Spanish word, as we have seen, was Mejico (or Mejaquo). 

 The " Mej " in this word is but an expression of the syllabic sound heard in the 

 Spanish or Latin pronunciation of the word medius—)w?>X. as we often hear the 

 syllabic sound in "Ind-ian" rendered Jnj-un, or Injun, in English pronuncia- 

 tion. 



This gives us a key to the long-sought mystery. Other science comes to our 

 aid again. We consider the physical facts pertaining to Mexico. This strip of 

 country is between the two great seas — it lies in the midst of the water, or in plain 

 Latin, media aqua or med-aqua; and hence Mej-aqua, or Mexico. — Magazine of 

 American History. 



MODELS OF THE PREHISTORIC PUEBLOS OF NEW MEXICO 



AND ARIZONA. 



Col. Stephenson, who has for several years devoted his time to a systematic 

 research into the mode of construction of the Pueblos of New Mexico and Ari- 

 zona, started for the scene of his labors again last night. He will continue the 

 work of last summer and will make a general ethnological collection illustrative 

 of the customs and condition of the arts among the present Pueblo Indians. One 

 of the most interesting features will be a collection of pottery, of which these 

 people make a great variety, skillfully decorated and of elaborate and tasteful 

 designs. Much of the material will be sent by the bureau to the New Orleans 

 Exposition. 



The National Museum in which the offices and workshops of the bureau are 

 situated, is being rapidly fitted up for the purpose for which it was designed, but 

 there are still odd corners fenced off from the public gaze. In one of these divi- 

 sions a number of workmen are engaged under the supervision of Mr. Victor 

 Mindeleflf, constructing a series of models of seven pueblos of the Province of 

 Tusayan. These towns are Te-wa, Se-chom-a-vi, Wol-pi, Ma-shong-ni-vi, She- 

 pan-el-e-vi, Shi-mo-pa-vi and 0-rai-be, which were visited by the Spaniards about 

 the year 1540, and are still inhabited by descendants of the Indians whom Coro- 

 nado then saw. These models are being made from the most accurate measure- 



7 Onega is a typical Russian name. Tanganika contains a typical African expression^ 

 Stanley says that the word Tanganika means in the African dialects "great lake." 



