o 
310 General Notes. (March, - 
the commonalty, we have proof at least of a very intimate rela- 
tion. One thing is apparent, viz., that the Mexican symbols 
could never have grown out of the Maya hieroglyphics. That 
the latter might have grown out of the former is not impossible.” 
Mr. Dall’s paper treats of masks, labrets and certain aboriginal 
customs, with an inquiry into the bearing of their geographical 
distribution. His classification of masks is as follows : 
1. The cme cS breathing oa peep holes. 
2. hae kette, without poy ons 
j A A ohjain resembling a mask, oa not to be worn. 
In an evolutionary series masks would be arranged thus: 
A. For defens 
fa sesepi ‘culminating i in the helm 
mae awe inspiring, pee ae in shaman masks. 
j: 
B. Symbolica 
a. ocx 
é. Ritual. 
The author, after a very elaborate treatment of the subject, 
illustrated by numerous figures, closes with some observations 
upon the origin of labretifery and mask-wearing in America, 
which apparently cles forth Major Powell’s essay on activital 
similarities. Rejecting Northern Asia and the Atlantis theory, 
holding as kaan improbable the theory of similar causes 
acting to produce similar effects, Mr. Dall concludes that the 
‘great congeries of islands, known as Polynesia and Melanesia, 
offer the most plausible solution of the pro 
oblem 
Dr. Matthews has a short paper beautifully illustrated and per- 
fect of its kind. That is to say, the author has described the 
Navajo weaver so accurately and minutely that any hand-loom 
weaver could read the description and produce a Navajo blanket 
‘or belt. It is so refreshing to read a description of aboriginal art 
by one who knows aught about it that, even at ne = of flattery, 
we cannot refrain from the foregoing just enco 
ere are three kinds of Navajo blankets in the ~ National Mu- 
seum. The first, or oldest, is aboriginal work, from the raw, dirty, 
native wool to the finished robe. This the author describes. 
second is partly native and partly of raveled strouding or traders’ 
ets. The third is a modern invention. Germantown woo!S, ~ 
“not. always well dyed, are furnished to the weaver, and he exe 
cutes patterns to order. These, though held at high price, are 
pio in every way; the colors fade, and run if wet in the 
east. 
Mr. Dorsey’s paper on Omaha sociology, the longest in the vol- 
ume, is also the most elaborate and the most iearned. The author 
_ discusses the social system of the Omaha tribe of the great Sioux 
stock in the following saath : 
ns The state, its classes and corpora! 
gentes minu! 
3 TS arate 
Gentile e including cabal cireles, sacred tents, sacred pipes, the several 
described. 
ip sya stem and a aeiiae laws, giving classes of. consangujnes, t? the laws x ae : 
amiage. 
l 
