September 5, 1884. 



SCIENCE, 



219 



other and more civilized half of the globe, has carried 

 all before it, only showing, in isolated spots, and by 

 relics of custom, the former existence of matriarchal 

 society. Such a geographical view of the matriarchal 

 region makes intelligible, facts which, while not thus 

 seen together, were most puzzling. Though it is only 

 of late that this problem of ancient society has re- 

 ceived the attention it deserves, it is but fair to men- 

 tion that its scientific study began long ago, in the 

 part of the world where we are assembled. It is re- 

 markable to find Father Lafitau already pointing out, 

 in 1724, how the idea of the husband being an intruder 

 in his wife's house bears on the pretence of surrepti- 

 tiousness in marriage among the Spartans. He even 

 rationally interprets in this way a custom which to 

 us seems fantastic, but which is a most serious ob- 

 servance among rude tribes widely spread over the 

 world. A usual form of this custom is, that the hus- 

 band and his parents-in-law, especially his mother-in- 

 law, consider it shameful to speak to or look at one 

 another, hiding themselves, or getting out of the 

 way, at least in pretence, if they meet. The comic 

 absurdity of these scenes, such as Tanner describes 

 among the Assineboins, disappears if they are to be 

 understood as a legal ceremony, implying that the 

 husband has nothing to do with his wife's family. 



It is obvious that in this speculation, as in other 

 problems now presenting themselves in anthropology, 

 the question of the antiquity of man lies at the basis. 

 Of late, no great progress has been made toward fix- 

 ing a scale of calculation of the human period ; but 

 tho arguments as to time required for alterations in 

 valley-levels, changes of fauna, evolution of races, 

 languages, and culture, seem to converge more con- 

 clusively than ever toward a human period, short, 

 indeed, as a fraction of geological time, but long 

 as compared with historical or chronological time. 

 While, however, it is felt that length of time need 

 not debar the anthropologist from hypotheses of de- 

 velopment and migration, there is more caution as to 

 assumptions of millions of years where no arithmeti- 

 cal basis exists, and less tendency to treat every thing 

 prehistoric as necessarily of extreme antiquity; such 

 as, for instance, the Swiss lake-dwellings and the 

 Central- American temples. There are certain prob- 

 lems of American anthropology which are not the 

 less interesting for involving no considerations of 

 high antiquity : indeed, they have the advantage 

 of being within the check of history, though not 

 themselves belonging to it. 



A brief account may now be given of the present 

 state of information as to movements of civilization 

 within the double continent of America. Conspicu- 

 ous among these is what may be called the north- 

 ward drift of civilization, which comes well into view 

 in the evidence of botanists as to cultivated plants. 

 To see how closely the two continents are connected 

 in civilization, one need only look at the distribution 

 on both of maize, tobacco, and cocoa. It is admitted 

 as probable, that, from the Mexican and Central- 

 American region, agriculture travelled northward, 

 and became established among the native tribes. 

 This direction may be clearly traced in a sketch of 



th i r agriculture. The same staple cultivation passed 

 Oi. from place to place. Agriculture, among the In- 

 dians of the great lakes, is plainly seen to have been 

 an imported craft by the way in which it had spread 

 to some tribes, but not to others. The distribution 

 of the potter's art is similarly partial. With this 

 northward drift of civilization other facts harmonize. 

 Now that the idea of the mound-builders being a 

 separate race of high antiquity has died out, and 

 their earth-works, with the implements and orna- 

 ments found among them, are brought into com- 

 parison with those of other tribes of the country, 

 they have settled into representatives of one of the 

 most notable stages of the northward drift of culture 

 anions the indigenes of America. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



Iisr order to facilitate the work of the Electrical 

 conference to be held in Philadelphia, the chief signal- 

 officer has issued to the members of the conference 

 the following subjects, as suggested for discussion, 

 with a view to recommending proper observations 

 and reports: 1. What unpublished records exist in 

 the hands of electric-lighting, telegraph, and tele- 

 phone companies, relative to ground-currents and 

 atmospheric or auroral influences? 2. What is the 

 general experience on east-west, north-south, and 

 other lines? 3. What records can be kept by mana- 

 gers of all lines without interfering with daily busi- 

 ness ? 4. What special observations can be made? 

 5. What special lines can be, perhaps, wholly devoted 

 to the continuous record of the phenomena? 6. Do, 

 or can, the noises and currents, as observed on tele- 

 phone and telegraph lines, give information as to the 

 location and future movement of a thunder-storm, 

 aurora, rain, cold wave, etc. ? 7. Are observations 

 on buried lines, or those covered with metallic tubing, 

 or double aerial lines, specially desirable? 8. How 

 can we best secure a complete daily electric survey of 

 a given small portion of country, and a general sur- 

 vey of a larger region ? 9. What is practicable in the 

 way of securing a daily map of the distribution of 

 atmospheric and terrestrial electric potentials? 10. 

 Who will maintain self-recording electrometers? 



Fig. l. 



Fig. la. 





Fig. 2. 



— The ability of flies to walk on glass and other 

 polished surfaces receives a new explanation at the 

 hands of Dr. J. E. Rombouts in the Archives du 



