246 General Notes. [ April, 
the disturbed condition of many skeletons that the burials were not all 
made at the same time. Most of these cemeteries are in the Kjokken- 
méddings themselves, because the soil of these heaps is the only place 
which is not too hard for the aboriginal wooden spade, and is yet suffi- 
ciently firm to allow the digging of a pit. In connection with these dig- 
ging sticks, Mr. Schumacher makes a very ingenious observation con- 
cerning the great quantities of stone rings, or “ doughnuts,” which are 
found here. From the testimony of an old vaquero he was led to be- 
lieve them to have been designed to give weight to the spading stick. 
Among the many interesting objects of industry found, the mortars and 
pestles hold the first place. The fishing tackle comes next. Mr. Schu- 
macher was so fortunate as to secure a full set of shell fish-hooks, and 
tools for making them, so as to illustrate the whole process. The shell 
ornaments and other burial deposits form a collection which must be seen 
in order to be appreciated. 
Mr. Moses Strong, Assistant State Geologist of Wisconsin, has made 
a very extensive survey of the prehistoric mounds of Grant County in 
that State. These mounds are similar in all respects to those reported 
by Mr. I. A. Lapham in the seventh volume of the Smithsonian Con- 
tributions. i 
Quite a lively discussion has sprung up in the Academy for September 
23d, et seq., around the assertion of Professor Mahaffy that cats were 
domestic animals among the Greeks, basing his belief upon the occur- 
rence of the word yaAj in Aristophanes and other Greek writers. The 
question of the existence of domestic cats in Greece is discussed by Sir G. 
Cornwall Lewis (Notes and Queries, 1859, page 261). The subject is 
also treated by Professor Rolleston in a paper entitled, On the Domestic 
Cats, Felis domesticus and Mustela Foina, of Ancient and Modern 
Times, in the Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, November, 1867. 
The yaAéy, or yaA7n, then, was one of the Mustelide, or martens, and the 
domestic cat was not known outside of Egypt before the Christian era. 
Mr. Mahaffy gracefully acknowledges the correction. : 
In the Geographical Magazine for October, Mr. E. G. Ravenstemm 
publishes a series of maps of the part of Eastern Europe occupied by 
the Turks, showing (1) Political Divisions; (2) Density of the hd 
lation ; (3) Mohammedans; (4) Nationalities. The author also reviews 
the history of that part of Europe overrun by the Turks. t 
Mr. A. H. Sayce reviews very favorably, with some slight criticisms, 
in Academy for October 14th, four very important works on qie 
Archæology : An Archaic Dictionary, W. R. Cooper (London : Bay . 
and Sons, 1876) ; Cory’s Ancient Fragments. New and enlarged edition, 
E. R. Hodges (London: Reeves and Turner, 1876); Dates and veges 
relating to Religious Anthropology and Biblical Archeology rene : 
Triibner & Co., 1876); and Histoire ancienne des Peuples ape 
2nde Edition. Par G. Maspero (Paris: Hachette et Cie., 1876). 
