58 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. V., No. 102. 



of these offices is a clock which is corrected daily, at 

 noon of standard time, by means of an automatic 

 attachment (the invention of Mr. W. F. Gardner, the 

 instrument-maker of the observatory), actuated by 

 the current which makes the signal for dropping the 

 time-ball at the observatory, and on the Western 

 union telegraph company's building in New York. 



In the publication of its annual volumes, the ob- 

 servatory has been much embarrassed, owing to the 

 limited amount of the printing-fund of the depart- 

 ment. The volume for 1880, which it was expected 

 would be ready by the 1st of January, was not re- 

 ceived until October; and the computations, even 

 with the small working force available, have been 

 carried much beyond the printing. 



In regard to the proposed new observatory, the 

 superintendent says, — 



"I cannot too earnestly urge upon the bureau the necessity of 

 commencing the buildings for the new observatory. The ground 

 having been purchased, and the plans made and approved, 

 there seems to be no good reason why the construction should 

 not begin. The present site is notoriously unhealthy, and the 

 buildings are dilapidated and much in want of repair; and it 

 would not be in the interest of economy to make any extensive 

 repairs while the erection of new buildings is in contemplation. 

 The delay is very prejudicial to this establishment in particular, 

 and to the cause of science in general. I respectfully request, 

 that, if all the money cannot be appropriated for the purpose 

 aforesaid at the coming session of congress, a portion of it, at 

 least, may be asked for', in order that this work, now so long 

 delayed, may be begun." 



An estimate of $586,138 is submitted for erecting 

 the necessary buildings. 



An appendix contains a report by Professor William 

 Harkness, showing the progress made in the reduc- 

 tion of the transit of Venus observations. The 

 photographic negatives (over fifteen hundred) have 

 all been measured, and very considerable progress 

 has been made in the computations necessary for 

 the reduction of these measurements. An extended 

 investigation is now being made of the focal lengths 

 of the photographic objectives, and the radii of cur- 

 vature of the heliostat mirrors. 



BANDELIER' S ARCHEOLOGICAL 

 IN MEXICO. 



TOUR 



The author of the report before us is well known in 

 New-England archeological circles, having won for 

 himself a fair name through the publication of three 

 essays, — on the art of war and mode of warfare, the 

 distribution and tenure of land, and the social organ- 

 ization and mode of government, in ancient Mexico. 

 In consequence of these scholarly discussions, the 

 archeological institute, in 1880, commissioned Mr. 

 Bandelier to investigate the condition of the seden- 

 tary Indians of New Mexico, and in 1881 a second 

 time commissioned him to carry out an archeologic 

 exploring-tour through Mexico proper. The report 

 under consideration, profusely illustrated, and num- 



Report on an archeological tour in Mexico, 1881. By 

 Adolph F. Bandelier. Boston, 1884. Published in Papers 

 of the Archaeological institute of America. Series II. 



bering three hundred and twenty-six pages, gives a 

 full account of the results of Mr. Bandelier' s studi- 

 ous researches on his second expedition. 



The account, it seems to us, has assumed rather the 

 form of a scientific narrative than that of an official 

 report made to a committee. The author was able to 

 draw upon an immense stock of preparatory studies; 

 and, accustomed to look at ancient Mexico through 

 the spectacles of the chroniclers, the objects that 

 strike his eye at each step on the classic soil remind 

 him of some passage read, the true meaning of which 

 he now strives to detect, with the help of ocular 

 inspection and learned reasoning. Thus, also, the 

 grandeur of the surrounding scenery invites him to 

 give us data of hypsometry and meteorology, of vege- 

 tation and interesting culture-plants. He compares 

 statistics of old with those of the present time, and 

 cautiously avoids entering into controversy with the 

 theories urged by other scholars or non-scholars to 

 solve the origin of the mysterious temple and palace 

 builders of Mexico. To be brief, by a very adroit in- 

 terspersion into his text of nicely presented scientific 

 causeries, Mr. Bandelier, it appears to us, may have 

 secured for himself a larger number of readers than 

 if he had chosen to offer a compact and matter-of- 

 fact report. 



The text is divided into four chapters. In the first 

 chapter the author, reposing on a steamer's deck, calls 

 us to his side, and, pointing toward the vast main, 

 allows us to partake of the rich stock of his reminis- 

 cences. He tells us of the legends hovering around 

 the ancient province of Huasteca, its forest-buried 

 cities, the colossal structures of Papantla and Mi- 

 santla, and deplores the fact that a thorough explora- 

 tion of these hitherto but vaguely described ruins is 

 beyond the limits of his mission. On his road from 

 Vera Cruz to the capital, he engages in discussions on 

 the etapes once taken by Mexico's first conqueror, the 

 natural and artificial obstructions that Cortez met 

 with, and the allies he was so fortunate as to secure 

 in the Indians of Tlascala. After Mr. Bandelier's ar- 

 rival in the capital, he very judiciously sets forth to 

 acquaint himself with the best authorities in Mexican 

 archeology. He takes their advice and suggestions, 

 carefully examines the objects of antiquity preserved 

 in the museum, and collects valuable data on the 

 former expanse and limits of the renowned lagoons, 

 and the modern efforts made for their regulation and 

 draining (pp. 49-78). In the third chapter, Mr. Bande- 

 lier's independent and main work is given. It bears 

 testimony to the most thorough exploration ever made 

 of the often-described pyramid of Cholula, its struc- 

 ture, appendages, and surroundings. No hewn stone, 

 no sculpture, no masonry or mound, remains unexam- 

 ined; and no hint picked up from ancient reports, if 

 serving his purposes of reconstruction, is slighted, 

 but dexterously employed to give fuller shape and 

 brighter color to the picture we are wont to form of 

 the once stately and now decaying fabric. He suc- 

 ceeds, finally, in showing that in former times the 

 giant pyramid did not stand isolated, but east and 

 west of it were two companions, considerably small- 

 er, however, and of the well-known teocalli-shape, 



