* 
goo : General Netes. [ December, 
description of the ancient walls on Monte Leon, Italy, by W. J. 
Stillman ; and archeological notes on Greek shores, by Joseph 
Thacher Clarke. The plans and scope of the Lorillard expedi- 
tion are clearly set forth in two articles in the North American 
Review for July and August, to wit, Ruined Cities of Central ` 
America, by the editor, Mr. Allen Thorndike Rice; and The 
Ruins of Central America, by M. Desiré Charnay, who has the 
exploration in charge. We mention these two works together 
because they seem to represent the two sides or the two schools 
of American interpretation with reference to the earthworks of 
the Mississippi valley, and the ruins of Mexico and Central 
America. In the introduction of the Archzological Institute Re- 
civilization, and that has left no trustworthy records of continu- 
ous history.” Again, we are informied that the committee are in 
accord with Mr. Morgan, and that they have taken steps to send 
an agent to Colorado and N. Mexico to observe the Pueblo life, 
as an introduction to the comprehensive study of Mexico and 
Yucatan. The fact that Mr. Bandelier is to be that agent is a 
sufficient guarantee not only of exhaustive work, but of the line 
of research to be prosecuted. In the Lorillard expedition we are 
to have “ adequate conceptions of the stately edifices of monument- 
al Mitla, or of Palenque, with its magnificent palace, its terraces 
and temples, its pyramids and sculptured ornaments.” It is not 
the province of the editor to treat with partiality either of these 
views, but to let the authors speak for themselves. Ce 
The Central American undertaking is despatched under the joint | 
auspices of the Government of the United States and of France. 
The expenses will be defrayed by Mr. Pierre Lorillard, of New 
York, the original promoter of the enterprise, and by the F rench 
Government. The expedition is under the direction of M. Desire 
Charnay, author of “ Cités et Ruines Américaines” (Paris, 1863). 
It is thoroughly equipped and is provided not only with the means 
of photographing bas-reliefs and inscriptions, but of making care- 
ful casts by the process of M. Lotin de Laval. . Copies of these 
casts will first be presented to the Smithsonian Institution and to 
the French Government. The collection in France will be named 
after Mr. Lorillard, and the French Minister has conceded to the 
orth American Review the privilege of publishing the earliest 
accounts from M. Charnay. Mr. Rice in speaking of Uxmal, 
writes: “It is as yet impossible to determine, with any approach 
to certainty, the ends which its ruined edifices were designed to 
serve, but is at least highly probable that they were originally © 
palaces, temples, council-halls and courts of justice; possibly — 
some of them may have been monasteries or community houses, 
in which the ascetics of a religion analagous to that of Budha 
lived in common.” Again, “ These bas-reliefs would of them- 
