SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XI. No. 273 



The Orbits of Aerolites. 



Professor H. A. Newton, in discussing the orbits of aerolites, pre- 

 sented the results of the observation and study of a great number 

 of meteors. Without following his line of argument, which was a 

 very able one, his principal conclusion may be given, which is that 

 the aerolites are moving in direct and not in retrograde orbits ; 

 that is, they move in the same general direction as the earth, and 

 not in an opposite direction. The fact that the earth does not 

 meet as many as it overtakes is one of his reasons for this conclu- 

 sion. At the same time he admitted that there may be two rea- 

 sons why fewer meteors met by the earth should be observed, be- 

 sides their actual comparative number : first, they may move with 

 such velocity that few reach the earth ; and, second, they may fall 

 when men are asleep or not abroad, that is, in the morning hours. 

 The first of these points he did not discuss ; but of the second he 

 said, that of ninety-four observed aerolites that reached the earth, 

 and whose zenith is known only at the instant they fall, more ap- 

 peared in the afternoon than in the forenoon, seven-eighths of them 

 in the daylight. Of the meteorites which we have in our cabinets, 

 he said, and which have been seen to fall, by far the greater part 

 have come from stones that were following the earth, and not 

 moving in the opposite direction. 



Spectrum Photography and the Spectrum of Carbon. 



Professor H. A. Rowland of Johns Hopkins University presented 

 two brief but very important papers on the spectrum. With new 

 and greatly improved instruments invented and constructed at the 

 university, he has succeeded in making a much more perfect map 

 of the solar spectrum than his former one. The definition of the 

 lines is far better than before, and in some cases single lines have 

 been divided up. He also projected upon a screen, pictures of a 

 number of the groups of lines in the spectrum of carbon, and an- 

 nounced his discovery of the wider distribution of carbon in the sun 

 than has previously been demonstrated. 



Vertebrate Fauna of the Puerco Series. 



In his paper on the above subject. Professor E. D. Cope gave the 

 position of this formation as below the lowest eocene beds, and 

 above the upper cretaceous, and so of doubtful reference to one or 

 the other of these great systems. The beds of Puerco occur in 

 New Mexico ; and Professor Cope said that he had described one 

 hundred and six species from them, of which twelve are reptiles, one 

 a bird, and ninety-three are mammalia. Besides a species of snap- 

 ping-tortoise (Chelydra crassa, Cope), the reptiles presented noth- 

 ing remarkable excepting three species of aquatic saurians of the 

 genus Champsosaitrtis, Cope, which have their nearest relations in 

 the period next older (Laramie). The greatest interest attaches to 

 the mammalia. The species all belong to extinct families and sub- 

 orders, except four possible lemurs ; and the predominant orders 

 of the first immediately following in time are absent. Eleven of 

 the species are probably monotromes, or of the same order as the 

 Australian duck-bill ; forty-nine are flesh-eaters ; and twenty-six are 

 hoofed types. All the forms show themselves to be the ancestors 

 of the later and modern mammals by indubitable characters of their 

 structure. 



AN ETHNOGRAPHICAL COLLECTION FROM ALASKA. 



The American Museum of Natural History in New York has 

 received a magnificent ethnographical collection from Alaska, col- 

 lected by Lieutenant Emmon, which forms a valuable supplement 

 to the Powell collection from British Columbia, in the same mu- 

 seum. While the latter includes principally specimens of Haida 

 and Tsimpshian origin, the new accession has been collected among 

 the Tlingit, in whose territory Lieutenant Emmon spent more than 

 five years. The new collection is now on exhibition in the museum, 

 occupying about a fourth of the ethnological hall. 



It is arranged in several groups, the first comprising a collection 

 of fishing implements and weapons. The implements resemble in 

 style those of the Haida and other tribes of the North-west coast. 

 Of particular interest is a throwing-stick from Sitka, carved in the 

 style peculiar to the Tlingit and Haida. The implement itself, 

 however, is undoubtedly an imitation of the Eskimo throwing-board. 



The next group comprises a collection of weapons and armatures. 

 We find among these, jackets made of heavy elk and sea-lion skins, 

 which were impenetrable to the stone and copper weapons of an- 

 cient times. The Russian buttons on one of these show that it 

 was used comparatively recently. Besides these, there is a series of 

 remarkable armatures made of round sticks tied firmly together, and 

 of thin pieces of wood arranged in a similar way. While the body 

 was thus protected, heavy masks and hats, carved so as to present 

 the crest of the warrior, fairly covered the head. They consisted 

 of two or three parts made of heavy wood ; and we can easily im- 

 agine how fierce a Tlingit warrior, incased in this armature, must 

 have looked. The stone battle-axes, of which the collection con- 

 tains quite a number, could hardly hurt men protected by this hat 

 and coat. 



In the same case in which these armatures are on exhibition, we 

 see a collection of whistles used in dances. These do not properly 

 belong to the Tlingit, who do not use whistles at their festivals, but 

 are imported from the Queen Charlotte Islands, the country of the 

 Haida, who have a great variety of these instruments. There is 

 one flageolet in the collection, and several others are known which 

 were collected among the Haida ; but it is doubtful whether they 

 are an original invention of these tribes, or an imitation of Euro- 

 pean instruments. It is very remarkable that the Tlingit should 

 hardly use any whistles during their dances, vv'hile all tribes of 

 British Columbia use them to a great extent. This is one of the 

 few facts that are known, tendin"g to prove that the culture of 

 North-west America has been derived from various sources. It is 

 to be regretted that the Powell collection does not contain whistles 

 from the Kwakiutl, which would serve as a valuable object of com- 

 parisen with those of the Haida, of which the museum possesses a 

 great number. 



Lieutenant Emmon has collected very valuable implements made 

 of mountain-goat horn ; but, what is more interesting, he shows us 

 how these beautiful spoons and ladles are manufactured. The ele- 

 gant curvature of the handle is produced by means of a strong piece of 

 wood with two oblique perforations, a larger and a smaller one. 

 The lower portion of the horn is pushed through the wider perfora- 

 tion, and the point turned back so that it can be pushed into the 

 smaller hole. Thus it gets the curved shape required for the han- 

 dle. The spoon itself is pressed between two pieces of wood, sim- 

 ilar to a lemon-squeezer. By the side of the mountain-goat horn 

 implements we observe beautifully carved paint-brushes, paint-pots 

 made of stone, paints, baskets, and other household goods. 



The most interesting part of the collection, however, is the large 

 number of masks and dancing-implements, the greater part of 

 which have been taken from graves. There are also very valuable 

 and interesting rattles. It is remarkable that the collection con- 

 tains only a few rattles in the shape of ravens, and these not elab- 

 orately carved, while the Powell collection contains many beautiful 

 specimens of this class. This fact shows that they were probably 

 not originally a Tlingit, but a Haida or Tsimpshian design. Be- 

 sides this. Lieutenant Emmon states that they are only used in 

 dances and festivals that have no religious character. In all sha- 

 manistic ceremonies other styles of rattles are used. Among the 

 Tsimpshian, on the other hand, the raven rattle is the exclusive 

 property of the Raven gens. Among the rattles of the Tlingit we 

 observe many a beautiful carving, and it is worthy of remark that 

 most of them represent certain myths or mythical beings. We ob- 

 serve the fabulous grandmother of men, of whom the Haida also- 

 tell, the Yek (the genii of man), and the shaman tearing out the 

 tongues of various animals in order to obtain the power of witch- 

 craft. 



Above these rattles, neck-rings made of red-cedar bark are ex- 

 hibited. It appears, from a study of the Emmon and Powell collec- 

 tions, that these rings are not by 'any means so extensively used by 

 the Haida and Tlingit as by the Kwakiutl, among whom they are 

 closely connected with. their religious ceremonies and dances. In- 

 deed, it seems almost impossible to properly classify the neck-rings 

 of the Haida and Tlingit, which seem to be used almost exclu- 

 sively as ornaments. Among the Kwakiutl, the spirits of the dead,- 

 the cannibal, and other mythical figures, are each represented by a 

 peculiar kind of ring, which is highly prized by its owner. Wher> 

 these rings are worn, the faces of the dancers are painted in a cer- 



