84 



THE ATLANTIC SLOPE NATURALIST. 



ANTHROLOPOGICAL NOTES. 



Prof. H. M. Saville, of the Ameri- 

 can Museum of Natural History of New 

 York City, has recently been in Mex- 

 ico, devoting time to the study of ruins 

 of Mitla, and obtaining photographs 

 of the same, for the report on the ex- 

 plorations of the Loubot expedition, 

 and making additional studies of Za- 

 potecan antiquities. 



Mr. John G. Withnell, of Roe- 

 bourne, Western Australia, has pub- 

 lished a monograph, entitled "The 

 Customs and Traditions of the Abor- 

 iginal Natives of Northwestern Aus- 

 tralia." The author has had over 

 twenty years' experience among the 

 people, and has recorded mucli per- 

 taining^to their old manners and cus- 

 toms which in recent years have 

 undergone much change owing to the 

 discovery of gold and consequently the 

 influx of a white population. 



Prof. C. V. Hatrman, of the Car- 

 negie Museum, is conducting ethnolog- 

 ical investigations in Costa Rica. 



It is announced that Mr. Warren 

 K. Moorehead is engaged in writing 

 what may be a very elaborate work 

 entitled ' ' The Stone Age : An Archaeo- 

 logical Encyclopedia of the Imple- 

 ments, Ornaments, Etc., of the Pre- 

 historic Tribes of the United States." 

 Data relative to this subject is solici- 

 ted. It is to be published by the Rob- 

 ert Clarke Company, of Cincinnati, 

 Ohio. 



Dr. Benjamin Ide Wheeler, presi- 

 dent of the Jniversity of California, 

 and Prof. F. W. Putnam announce 

 that the Ethnological and Anthropo- 

 logical Survey of California is sparing 

 no efforts for the preservation of data 

 and relics pertaining to the aborigines 

 of that State. Examination of the 

 gravel deposits and shell heaps has 

 been made most carefully with the in- 

 tention ot obtaining, if possible, the 

 date of occupancy of the region. The 

 languages of this region were probably 



more numerous than those of any 

 other region of equal geographical 

 area in the United States, and the liv- 

 ing Indians are being studied in this 

 particular. The religions, customs 

 and mythology are being recorded. 

 The collection of implements of vari- 

 ous kinds is being made, which later 

 will be on exhibition in the museum 

 at Berkeley. It is claimed that dur- 

 ing the past five years more work has 

 been accomplished than during all 

 previous time. 



It is announced that the ethnological 

 survey of the Philippine Islands of 

 which Dr. Albert Ernest Jenks, for- 

 merly of the Bureau of American Eth- 

 nology, is director, will shortly pub- 

 lish a preliminary report on some of 

 the tribes of these islands. It is an- 

 ticipated that an ethnological collec- 

 tion of the Philippines will be 

 brought to the St. Louis Exposition, 

 and accompanying it will be several 

 groups of the natives. 



A bill has been introduced into the 

 House of Representatives at Washing- 

 ton, for the preservation of the Cliff 

 Dwellings in the National Park. It 

 was introduced by Representative John 

 A. Shafroth, of Colorado, who, a 

 short time since received the commen- 

 dation of all honest men by voluntar- 

 ily resigning his seat in the House of 

 Representatives because he considered 

 that he had been fraudulently elected. 



The America}! Antiquarian for 

 January-February, 1904, mentions a 

 discovery of great interest which has 

 recently been made in Babylonia. It 

 consists of a fully equipped with tab- 

 lets, hymns in the Sumerian lan- 

 guages, meteriological tests, list of 

 words, nautical problems and con- 

 tracts; all of the texts were signed 

 with the name of Hammurabi. Pere 

 Schiel, of the French Archaeological 

 Institute, of Cairo, endorses the gen- 

 uineness of the discovery. 



W. E. R. 



