680 General Notes, [ September, 
The execution of the decrees of this council was left to elective 
officers, whose power was limited to military command, and 
whom the tribe might depose at pleasure. With the exception of 
some inferior positions, these officers had not the power of 
appointing others to office, not even their assistants of high rank. 
he dignity of chief, so commonly transformed into hereditary 
nobility, has been found to have been merely a reward of merit, 
and carried with it no other prerogative than personal considera- 
tions and occasional indulgence in finery. Taking all our investi- 
tions we conclude ¢hat the social organization and mode of govern- 
ment of the ancient Mexicans was a military democracy originally 
based upon communism in living.” 
THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN.—TLhe third number of Vol. II, 
contains the following papers, together with a large amount of 
interesting correspondence and editorial notes: The Mound 
Builders, by Stephen D. Peet; Brady’s Leap, and other facts of 
Indian History, by J. P. Woodruff; Exploration of a Rock-Shel- 
ter in Summit Co., Ohio, by M. C. Read; Was LaSalle the Dis- 
coverer of the Mississippi river; Letter from Pierre Margry; The 
numeral adjectives in the Klamath Language of Southern Oregon, 
by Albert S. Gatschet ; The Sign-Language of the Indians of the 
author giving the various designs represented on these belts. 
ARCHAOLOGY IN Wisconsin.—Volume vit of the Wisconsin — 
Historical Collections, for the years 1877, 1878 and 1879, 15 4 
very important contribution to archeology. Before praising 1t 
too highly, we beg leave to caution the editors to read the proof 
of the next volume a little more closely, and to exclude the repe- 
tition of more than “thrice told tales,” as on pages 148 and 149. 
The ancient copper-mines of Lake Superior are described by Mr. 
Jacob Houghton. On the south shore of Lake Superior the 
works of the ancient miners extend over a district of country 
comprising what is known as the Trap range, having a length of 
