298 General Notes. | April, 
the Nahuas, old world analogies with ancient American civiliza- 
tion, chronology, language, and finally, the possible methods of 
peopling America from the old world. 
Since the author laid aside his authorities to abide with the 
printer, several very important contributions have appeared which 
would have thrown light upon his discussions, and which he, no 
doubt, would have been the first to utilize; notable among these 
are, ‘““Habel’s Sculptures of Santa Lucia,” “Raus. Palenque 
Tablet,” “ Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico,” the writings 
of Bandelier, Icazbalceta, Stephen Powers, A. S. Gatschet, Col. 
Mallery, and above all, the immense linguistic and ethnographic 
material now collecting at the Bureau of Ethnology in Washing- 
ton, under the direction of Major J. W. Powell. 
But investigation must cease somewhere, and the author has 
produced, from the material at hand, by far the best summary of 
ancient North America which has yet appeared. We have fol- 
lowed him with great trepidation from the beginning to the end 
of his perilous undertaking, along the dizzy heights, the narrow 
ledges, the yawning abysses and the tumultuous floods. He has, 
at times, been lost to our view, and again seemed falling into the 
devouring torrents. We could hear some of our brethren shout- 
ing, “Climb a little higher!” “Stoop a little lower!” “ Lean to the 
right!” ‘“ Lean to the left!” “Come my way!” But on the 
whole, Prof. Short has made a successful trip, though, doubtless, 
feeling much as Maj. Powell’s party did when they emerged from 
the cafions in 1869, or like Dr. Grove, who closes his Greek dic- 
tionary with the ejaculation, “ Glory to God.” 
The opinions most strenuously advocated are: 1. That the 
Mound-builders were not red Indians; 2. That they were related 
to the Nahuas of Mexico; 3. That man is not autochthonous in 
America, that the claims of excessive antiquity are not valid, in 
fine, that he has not been upon the continent over 3000 years; 4- 
That the multitudinous theories of European and Asiatic migra- 
tions, of which a very complete list is given, while valuable as 
traditions, lack confirmation ; 5. That the ancient Americans were 
not a single race, as held by Morton; 6. The very high degree of 
artistic and scientific knowledge possessed by the Mayas and 
Nahuas; 7. The value of Landa’s Syllabaries in the future 
decipherment of Maya hieroglyphics ; 9. The great merit of the 
Maya-Quiche literary remains. “ The poetry of the Quiche cos- 
mogony must some day find expression in verse of Miltonic 
grandeur. The fall of Xibalba will, no doubt, afford the materials 
for an heroic poem which will stand in the same re lation to 
America that the Iliad does to Greece. The doctrines of the 
benign and saintly Quetzalcoatl, or Cukulcan, must be classed 
among the great faiths of mankind, and their author, alone of all 
the great teachers of morals, except Christ himself, inculcating & : 
positive morality, must be granted a precedence of most of the = 
