176 



SCIENCE. 



of the timber taken transversely exhibit most nearly ver- 

 tical lines of grain. 



The modulus of rupture by transverse stress varies, for 



yellow pine, from A'=} 



in 



:io,ooo to 17,000, the highest 



values being usually obtained from well-seasoned wood. 



An average value may be taken as A'=i3,ooo for irood 



• , , id* 



timber, which in the formula IV= C . gives T=S66 



bd°- 

 pounds or, practically, IV—qooo — j- for good yellow pine. 



The modulus of rupture varies as irregularly and with 

 as little regard to size or density of the material as does die 

 co-efficient for elasticity. 



In the use of such materials, the only safe course for 

 the designing and constructing engineer is evidently to 

 adopt a moderate value of the modulus in proportioning 

 his work, and by careful inspection and test to secure the 

 rejection of all material which is not of good quality. 



A- has been seen, careful inspection may sometimes 

 lead to the selection of material twenty-five pei cent, supe- 

 rior to the average of good timber, and fifty per cent, more 

 valuable than the lower grades such as are often sold in 

 our markets. 



The Paper was illustrated by a series of tabulated state- 

 ments, being the result of experiments made to arrive at the 

 conclusions prescribed in this abstract. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Mortuary Customs Among the North American 



Indians.* 



The primitive manners and customs of the North 

 American Indians are rapidly passing away under influ- 

 ences of civilization and other disturbing elements. In 

 view of this fact, it becomes the duty of all interested in 

 preserving a record of these customs, to labor assiduously, 

 while there is still time, to collect such data as may be 

 obtainable. This seems the more important now. as 

 within the last ten years an almost universal interest has 

 be'ii awakened in ethnologic research, and the desire foi 

 more knowledge in this regard is constantly increasing. 

 A wise and liberal government, recognizing the need, 

 has ably seconded the efforts of those engaged in such 

 stud es by liberal grants from the public tunds ; nor is 

 encouragement wanted from the hundreds of scientific 

 societies throughout the civilized globe. Tl e public 



press, as the mouth-piece o1 the peopli n tin 



alert to scatter broa ma ol ethnologic in- 



formation as its (dips oi well-trained reporters can secure. 

 To induce further laudable inquiry, and to assist all those 

 who 11. ay be willing to engage in the gcod work, is the 



object 01 this preliminary work on the Mortuary cu 

 of the North Ai Indians, and it is hoped thai 



in my more laborers may, through it, be added to the ex- 

 tensive and honorable list of those who hi\e air. ad, 



tribul 



It would .ippe ir thai the subji < t < hoten should au 



lince the 1 



dillepnt nations, and ibe gnat impoit dto 



burial < • remon • med an aln 



all w 4 to the diii' n nl peopl i ol out globe ; in 



fact n of c thnolog has 



< I timed m >n. 



In view of thi 1 work of 



■ 1 the 

 tuthor, m writing ol our In 

 tribe mention ol burl il ob . bm 



Powtl 



this special literature, and many of the accounts, unless 

 supported by corroborative evidence, may be considered 

 as entirely unreliable. To bring together and harmonize 

 conflicting statements, and arrange collectively what is 

 known ot the subject, has been the writer's task. This 

 volume forms the third of a series, the first of which, 

 entitled " Introduction to the Study of Indian Languages," 

 was written by Major J. W. Towel, the director of the 

 Bureau of Ethnology, Washington ; the second being by 

 Col. Garrick Mallery, and entitled, " Introduction to the 

 Study of Sign-Language among the North American 

 Indians." 



The following provisional arrangement of burials has 

 been adopted in arranging the facts presented in this 

 work. 



1. BY INHUMATION in pits, graves, holes in the ground, 

 mounds, cists, and caves. 



2. By CREMATION, generally on the surface of the 

 earth, occasionally beneath. 



3. BY EMBALMMENT, or a process: of mummifying, the 

 remains beirg afterwards placed in the earth, caves, 

 mounds or charnel house. 



4. By Aerial Sepulture, the bodies being deposited 

 on scaffolds, or trees, in boxes or canoes. 



5. B\ AQUATIC Burial, beneath the water or in 

 canoes, which were turned adrift. 



Major J. W. Powel gives the assurance that to those 

 who are willing to take part in this work by earnest and 

 faithful research, Dr. Yarrow will give full credit (or 

 their work in his final publication, and we would suggest 

 that those able and willing to assist should put them- 

 selves in communication with the Bureau of Ethnology, 

 Smithsonian Institution, Washington, and request in- 

 structions as to the best methods of recording their work. 



We have received the second chapter of a serial arti- 

 cle, published in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Dis- 

 eas s, and entitled the " Architecture and Mechanism ol 

 the Human Brain." Its author, Dr. Spitzka of this cityf 

 one of our own contributors, intends in this article to, 

 build up the brain before the leader's eye, as it were, be- 

 ginning u ith the simplest foundations and gradually erect- 

 ing thereon the higher- superstructures which are the 

 basis of the intellectual operations. Throughout the 

 chapters thus far issued the writer has interlarded hun- 

 dreds ol interesting and suggestive observations drawn 



Iron) the fields ol Comparative Cei cbral An itonn and Em- 

 bryology. The style is not the least creditable feature of 



the work, and especially its preliminary chapter, which is 



is easy reading as a novel, and the complex featun 

 the structure ol the most complete organ in the body 

 becomes the propertj ol the reader almost without 



1 ffoi t on his part. 



The rei < nt number ol llie American Journal of Mino- 



contains, among otbei articles, the following: /'<•- 

 lomyxa, Palustris, and othei Rbizopoda, by \V. (J. 1 

 li.un An improved ulass foi the collection and 1 tan 

 tion oi Deposit! (with drawings) Highest Magnifying 

 Powers, by Allen Y. Moore: Several letters ol mi' 

 reports ol societies, and useful notes. 



\\ > were phased ; ',7/,, 111 a leeenl nunihei, 



i handsome recognition oi Die merits o! tins journal 

 which we con si lentiously indi 



nean Monthly M ' Journal foi \ 



■ He- \ 1 1 \ useful articles on the preparation and 



mounting oi objects, li gives rrn ol Injecting 



Apparatus, b\ Mr. fustin Spaulding \ 1 ful Culture- 



1 Stei libera 1 I listologj ol ihe 1 ,, tal 



Lung. There are also two articles oi •> 'lies now pub- 



tins journal, which will prove valuable to 



micro ation o! the Prol lata, i>\ 1 1 



iated), and a description ol lh< "Familj Volvoclna." 



