688 General Notes. . (June, 
Dr. Brinton thus summarily dismisses the Toltecs: “Who 
were these Toltecs? They have hovered about the dawn of Ameri- 
can history long enough. It is time they were assigned to their 
proper place, and that is among the purely fabulous creations of 
the imagination. Toltec, Toltecatl, signifies an inhabitant of Tol- 
lan, the city of the Sun, in other words, a child of light. Without 
a metaphor, it meant at first one of the far-darting, bright-shining 
rays of the sun.” 
One of the most delightful of the many pleasing things in the 
volume, is the allusion to the ball-play of the stars, and to the 
stars as the spots on the great tiger skin of the sky, on p. 119. 
To have an exalted appreciation of one’s subject is requisite to 
its presentation with such vivacity as to awaken the earnest atten- 
tion of the reader. The only danger is, that the writer will be 
carried off his feet by his own enthusiasm, and will think the thin 
air of speculation to be the solid ground of truth. For instance, 
Dr. Brinton strenuously insists that in all the hero myths t 
idea of a supreme creator and god of light, superior even to the 
sun itself, prevails. It may be so. Some will flatly deny. Others 
will say: “ The facts are not so indisputably known as to justify 
a dogmatic assertion.” It is apparent that the author has wal 
in pleasant converse with Sir George W. Cox and C. P. Tiele. 
to the unseen, and has its special ethical code; morality, a 
ith reference to our 
fellow-men, and has its special ethical code. Each, however, = 
pends upon the other, and rules of conduct towards spiri 
beings find their rationale in our duty to our fellow-men, 
as the contrary. é a 
It gives free pleasure to say in answer to what pros . 
on p. Ix, that without doubt the Rev. J. Owen oa ae 
an Episcopal missionary among the Dacotas, has pare es 
myths from the tribe with which he has associated th Myths 
known from all Indian tribes when Dr. Brinton wrote his ‘ 
of the New World. 
ATHROPOMETRY.—The following tables on h 
ments are given in Hovelacque’s “ Les Races Hu 
uman measure — 
el ” 
5 eight. 
Height. Heig 
» m 
-atagonians...,.1.78™ 5ft. 10 in. Roumanians, «++ mh 
Polynesians... .. 1.76 Magyars 1.03 
dirogot 5.66"... E3 Sicilians ... e... r 
žuineans 1.72 Fins, iecit I. 
Cales. . ois. 1.71 
Scandinavians.. .1,71 Laps.» «9.950% 
Scotch LI Papuans oe ae : a 
Danes. .....+--1.68 Veddahs s.. «t ae 50 
1 
! : 
Bushmen ..--++ 1,40 
