400 General Notes. [ June, 
ANTHROPOLOGY .! 
LANGUAGE Map or AMERICA.— In the Geographical Magazine for 
March, 1878, the statement is made that Mr. A. H. Keane is collect- 
ing materials for a language map of America. We cannot speak from 
personal experience concerning the difficulties of such an undertak- 
ing for South America; but we can assure any one who attempts 
the task for North America that the impediments are almost insur- 
mountable. The Smithsonian Institution has for twenty-five 
years zealously collected vocabularies and other linguistic mate- 
i ave all been placed in the hands of Major J. W. 
Powell, who has called to his aid most of the eminent philologists 
of our country in adding to and perfecting what has been already 
gathered. The first volume of “Contributions to American 
Ethnology,” already published, is the harbinger of a series which, 
when completed, will exhibit the linguistic geography of our 
aborigines. Dr. Berendt is doing similar work for Middle 
Ameri 
Tue Davenport TABLET.—With respect to the Davenport 
tablet, concerning which a mild caution was ventured in the 
May Narturauist, Mr. J. Duncan Putnam, corresponding se- 
cretary of the Davenport Academy, writes: “This tablet was 
found by Mr. Gass, and is believed to be just as genuine as 
those found a year ago, and they appear to be just as genuine as 
the copper axes, stone pipes, sea shells, etc., found along side of 
them. They may be all “ got up,” but if so the evidence is very 
strong that they were not done by any “wag” of the present 
generation. A full account of this last find will be printed in our 
next number of Proceedings, now in press.” 
ANTHROPOLOGICAL News.—The Rev. Stephen Bowers is lec- 
turing in the western cities upon Explorations in Southern Cali- 
fornia. The labors of Mr. Bowers were confined to that portion 
of the state bordering on the ocean, and to the Santa Barbara 
islands. His contributions to the National Museum equal in 
value and number those of any of its numerous friends. | 
Mr. J. D. McGuire, of Ellicott city, Maryland, in a letter to 
the Smithsonian Institution, speaks of a number of arrow-heads 
rom the pen of Dr. Habel concerning the discovery of sculp- 
tured slabs at Santa Lucia Cotzumalhuapa, near the city of Gua- 
1 Edited by Prof. Orts T. Mason, Columbian College, Washington, D. C. 
