Geographic Literature 



99 



for archeologic research. Considerable 

 collections were made of both prehistoric 

 and modern material; most of these 

 were sent to the American Museum of 

 Natural History. In the northern sierra 

 numerous habitations, both ancient and 

 modern, were found in natural or 

 slightly-worked niches in the stupendous 

 cliffs and barrancas; these are described 

 as cave-dwellings, an unfortunate desig- 

 nation (since it tends to perpetuate the 

 groundless notion that primordial human 

 homes were in caves) growing out of the 

 fact that our ordinary speech does not 

 distinguish subterranean caverns from 

 the open clefts or niches sometimes 

 called rock-houses — a term too awkward 

 for common use. In the Tarasco coun- 

 try imposing yacatas, or structures of 

 stone or earth sometimes containing or- 

 nate sculptures or fictile ware, were dis- 

 covered and some of them were ex- 

 plored, these ruins forming a connecting 

 link between the simpler antiquities of 

 southwestern United States and the elab- 

 orate monuments of southern Mexico, 

 Yucatan, and Peru. Still more produc- 

 tive were the researches in the interme- 

 diate region, since here certain of the 

 tribesmen were found to retain in excep- 

 tional degree their aboriginal arts and 

 industries, their native speech, their 

 primitive faiths, and many of the social 

 regulations of their ancestors; and Dr 

 Lumholtz succeeded in gaining the con- 

 fidence of the Tarahumare, Tepehuan, 

 and Huichol tribesmen so completely as 

 to permit him to record their primitive 

 characteristics with unexampled full- 

 ness. The ceremonial use of tobacco; 

 the symbolism of the primitive music 

 and dance and of the attendant costumes; 

 the esoteric purpose of feasting; the 

 devotional use of intoxicants; primitive 

 marital regulations and mortuary ob- 

 servances; the emblematic decoration of 

 fabrics and wares — these are but exam- 

 ples of the subjects apparently kept in 

 the mind of the author throughout, and 

 certainly elucidated with remarkable 



clearness in his chapters. And, so far 

 as practicable, the points are illustrated 

 and the observations established by pho- 

 tographs made on the ground or by ob- 

 jects collected and preserved in a great 

 museum. In a word, the two volumes 

 form a storehouse of facts invaluable to 

 the working anthropologist. Through- 

 out the record breathes a sympathy with 

 primitive men and a depth of apprecia- 

 tion of their sentiments and ideas seldom 

 seen in scientific treatises, so that it pre- 

 sents one of the clearest pictures of prim- 

 itive life thus far drawn. The work is 

 abundantly illustrated, largely by photo- 

 mechanical reproductions, partly by 

 engravings and lithographs bearing 

 inherent evidence of fidelity; and the 

 beauty of the book-making is no less 

 striking than the excellence of the con- 

 tents. 



W J M. 



Complete Geography. By Ralph S. 



Tarr and Frank M. McMurry. With 

 many maps and illustrations. Pp. 

 XI + 478 + X, 6^x8^ inches. New 

 York. The Macmillan Co. 1902. 

 The plan of this text book is excellent 

 and has been admirably carried out. 

 Only three chapters precede the inten- 

 sive treatment of the United States. 

 The first is a physiographic history of 

 the continent, showing how its principal 

 mountain ranges and valleys came into 

 existence ; how its coal beds were 

 formed ; what were the effects of the 

 great ice age ; and what have been the 

 more recent changes in the coast line, 

 with their results. The second chapter 

 describes the plants, animals and peoples 

 of North America, and the third ex- 

 plains latitude and longitude. Then 

 follow seven chapters on the United 

 States, each dealing with one group of 

 states. The rest of North America is 

 then described. By this arrangement 

 the more difficult subjects of General 

 Geography, seasons, winds and rain, 

 ocean movements and distribution of 



