ANUAKY 16, 1885.] 



SCIENCE. 



59 



truncated, and with staircases, like the pyramid it- 

 self. As to the material of which the latter was con- 

 structed, Mr. Bandelier arrives at the conclusions of 

 A. v. Humboldt and his successors; i.e., that it was 

 built of large sun-dried adobes. Burnt lime for coat- 

 ing or for mortar, Mr. Bandelier discovers, was never 

 employed by the Indians ; pulverized limestone being 

 prepared for the purpose. No shaft has as yet been 

 sunk in order to ascertain whether the interior of 

 the pyramid is of the same material as the exterior, 

 or whether the structure was made around a natural 

 mound, or whether it is hollow, and possibly contains 

 some sepulchral vault of historic importance. Ac- 

 cording to tradition, the platform was crowned with a 



of the positive opinion, that if in plan, as well as in 

 execution, he had met in Mexico's architecture any 

 traces pointing either to an intimate or only to a re- 

 mote historic connection with the window-houses of 

 the Indians of the north, he would have exulted over 

 such discovery, and have expounded its adaptation to 

 a certain theory that was advanced by the late Lewis 

 H. Morgan, whom Mr. Bandelier looks up to as to a 

 beloved teacher and friend. Not to have yielded to 

 the temptations of a pre-occupied mind is a merit 

 which deserves full and fair acknowledgment. It 

 shows the faithfulness of Mr. Bandelier's observation 

 and the conscientiousness which he brought to bear 

 on the fulfilment of his scientific task. 





THE GREAT MOUND AT CHOLULA. 1 



temple, in which Quetzalcohuatl, the god of air, was 

 worshipped. The current opinions about this mys- 

 terious being are learnedly discussed. 



From Cholula the traveller directs his steps south- 

 ward, and visits the valleys of Oaxaca, the famous 

 ruins of Monte Alban, Xaga, Mitla, and others. 

 Vivid description is given of all of them, copious 

 and careful measurements secured, and sketches as 

 well as illustrations presented, of hitherto unobserved 

 details. 



Did Mr. Bandelier, as we presume, set forth on his 

 exploring tour inspired by the hope of detecting in 

 the architectural remains of Mexico proper such ele- 

 ments as would tend to prove these remains to repre- 

 sent some final stage of tectonic development, of 

 which the initial stage must be sought in what he 

 calls the ' tenement houses ' of the sedentary Indians 

 in New Mexico, he must have felt somewhat disap- 

 pointed with the result of his investigation. We are 



; Reproduced by permission of the Archaeological institute. 



THE ARGENTINE ZONE CATALOGUE. 



The work for which Dr. Gould went to South 

 America fourteen years ago, as astronomer to the Ar- 

 gentine Republic, is at last completed, and both the 

 zone-lists and the star-catalogue compiled from them 

 are published. It is not for us in a non-technical 

 journal to discuss the purely astronomical value and 

 accuracy of such a work, but rather, in announcing 

 it, to recall to the contemporaries of this eminent 

 astronomer, and bring to the attention of the younger 

 men, — who have, even during the long progress of the 

 work, attained an age at which they may appreciate it, 

 — this monument of patient determination, executed 

 under trials that might well be . termed privation, 

 exile, and affliction. During the disheartening delays 

 in constructing the observatory and mounting the 

 instruments, the ' Uranometria argentina,' a worthy 



Zone catalogue. Mean positions for 1875.0 of the stars ob- 

 served in the zones at the Argentine National observatory. By 

 Benjamin Apthorp Gould. Cordoba, 18S-1. 2 v. 4°. 



