Archeology and Anthropology. 943 
Mr. Wilson said that the National Museum possessed the lower 
half of a human skull from the same neighborhood which had been 
treated in the same way. It was found associated more or less 
intimately with fragments of fossilized bones and teeth of the 
mastodon. 
Prof. E. S. Morse, of Salem, Mass., read a paper, which he 
illustrated to the audience with a bow and arrow; showing a new 
system, the third in his series, of “ Arrow Release.” 
Rev. W. M. Beauchamp displayed some Indian relics from 
central New York. 
Prof. Joseph Jastrow, of the University of Wisconsin, read a most 
interesting paper on the “ Psychology of Deceptions.” He de- 
scribed deceptions practised upon the senses and said the founda- 
tion of legerdemain was to distract the attention by an unimportant 
operation from the critical moment wherein the vital change is 
made. He entered the domain of spiritualism but dealt with arà 
that portion which was an evident deception, and had been exposed. 
The first general principle in these deceptions is that the medium 
performs to spectators in doubt as to the interpretation to be placed 
upon the scene which they witness, and are more or less ready to 
ascribe it to the supernatural. This mental attitude of the specta- 
tors is worth more to the medium than any factor in the perform- 
ance. The difference between a spectator in this state of mind 
and one convinced of the fraudulent character of the manifestations 
and seeking to discover how the fraud is committed is very grea t.- 
When the medium recognizes this condition of mind in the spec- 
tator the sitting will always bea blank. If the investigator is once 
convinced that he has evidence of the supernatural he soon sees it 
in every accident and incident of the performance; not only does 
he overlook natural physical explanations but the supernatural idea 
soon leads him to create marvels with sincerity. Thus, the believer, 
seeing a carelessly arranged drapery by a dim light thinks he recog- 
nizes in it the spirit of a dear friend or a well-known acquaintance. 
he same object is frequently recognized by different members o 
the circle as entirely different and wholly dissimilar persons. Little 
by little, through the neglect of observation, caution is abandoned, 
credulity takes possession of the spectator, and he is able to see 
Impossibilities. Finally a fantastic explanation is considered more 
probable, the bounds of the normal are passed, and the believer 
having eyes sees not, and ears hears not, even the realities which 
happen before his face. If this seems impossible, turn back to the 
history of witchcraft. 
In the afternoon the section met to hear Prof. Otis T. Mason, of 
the National Museum, Washington, D. C., deliver his lecture on 
Women’s Share in Primitive Industry.” It was illustrated by 
Photographs projected upon the screen by the lantern, of woman in 
