248 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. V., No. 112. 



Equatorial Ocean must be affected through this strait, 

 as the narrow and shallow Bering Strait cannot have 

 any influence on this system of currents. No warm 

 current forms there a ' thermometrical gateway ' to 

 the pole. The surplus of water annually added to 

 the arctic sea must take its way through the strait be- 

 tween America and Europe. In its eastern portion, 

 between Iceland and Norway, the warm current 

 reaches to the comparatively shallow bottom of the sea 

 (see Mohn's researches in Petermanrt s mittheilung- 

 en). North of the submarine elevation connecting 

 Iceland and Norway, which nowhere exceeds four 

 hundred fathoms in depth, the cold water of the 

 arctic sea is dammed up: so the northern current has 

 to pass the narrow Denmark Strait between Iceland 

 and Greenland. Here we observe the immense ice- 

 laden current following the coast of East Greenland. 

 Through this strait the deep-sea motion towards the 

 equator must take its way, as not a drop of cold water 

 passes east of Iceland. The cold water rising at the 

 equator can pass only this way. But, from the present 

 state of our knowledge, we do not yet know whether 

 the greater part is carried along by the deep-sea mo- 

 tion, or by the superficial current. The fact is, that the 

 polar ocean is an immense Mediterranean Sea, with 

 one outlet, through which the surplus of water has 

 to find its exit: therefore the whole area near the 

 outlet must be moved by strong currents; while the 

 remote parts, the sea between the Parry archipelago 

 and North Siberia, will only be affected by the prevail- 

 ing winds. If there were no other reason, this would 

 be sufficient to prove the impossibility of symmetrical 

 currents around the poles. 



As for Mr. Melville's meteorology, I confess that I 

 cannot undertake to refute his theory at this place, 

 as I should have to fall back on the elements of this 

 science and those of physics. " And as they [the air- 

 currents] do follow the earth's surface, they take their 

 direction toward the pole, following the spherical 

 surface of the earth until they reach the shoulders of 

 the ellipsoid, where the flattening of the earth com- 

 mences (!); then, having received their course and 

 direction for a distance of nearly five thousand miles, 

 they follow their projected direction, and continue on 

 above the earth's surface just as much as the flatten- 

 ing of the earth at the poles amounts to." (!) I 

 should be glad to learn the place where the earth 

 begins to flatten! Mr. Melville's assertion that a 

 low atmospheric pressure exists in high latitudes is 

 not correct. The centres of low pressure are the 

 Bering Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean around 

 Iceland. Besides, regions of a low barometer are not 

 those of calms, but of winds. 



In short, Mr. Melville's theory cannot uphold itself, 

 and a plan founded upon it cannot prove successful. 

 We wish Mr. Melville might confine himself to the 

 principle that every plan of advance towards the 

 pole should be made according to former experiences, 

 not vague theories. We hope he will succeed in 

 reaching Franz Josef Land, and there, no doubt, 

 he will find most interesting results ; but we oppose 

 the hazardous undertaking of leaving the land in 

 order to reach the pole. From the experience he will 

 gain in the far north, he may propound a new plan 

 founded upon his own observations there. 



We think the enthusiasm of Mr. Melville for arctic 

 researches is highly to be praised. If any thing can 

 encourage the public, it is the struggle of the arctic 

 heroes for their noble task, the perseverance with 

 which they brave the dangers of climate and ice, as 

 well as the narrow-minded opponents who scorn their 

 ideals. We hope Mr. Melville does not class us among 

 these. We have the most hearty interest in polar 



exploration, and only wish Mr. Melville might save 

 his life and his experience for an expedition not so 

 hazardous and not so adventurous as the proposed 

 one. Dr. Franz Boas. 



Did Cortez visit Palenque? 



This interesting question, propounded by Profes- 

 sor Cyrus Thomas in Science, v. p. 172, should attract 

 the attention of archeologists. 



As there are some inaccuracies in his statements, 

 and as, from a study of the documents in the case, I 

 reach different conclusions, I beg to submit them to 

 your readers. 



The locality ' Titacat ' was not reached after the 

 execution of Cuauhtemoctsin (as Professor Thomas 

 says), but was the station next previous to the one 

 at which that event occurred ; to wit, at Izancanac, 

 the capital city of the province of Acalan. 



As to this name 'Izancanac,' it is evidently in 

 the Maya language, and means 'the residence of the 

 chief of the Itzas,' who were a well-known Maya 

 tribe. The province of Acalan is placed, on old maps, 

 on the southern and eastern shores of the Bahia de 

 Terminos ; and, according to Cortez, its chief city was 

 on or near the shores of this bay. 



When at Zagoatespan, between which and Izanca- 

 nac the only stations were Teutiaca and Tizatepelt, 

 Cortez sent a messenger by sea to Acalan: hence 

 both these places were on the seacoast, or near it. 

 At Zagoatespan he was informed that there were two 

 roads to Acalan, — one up the country; the other, 

 shorter, near the seashore. He followed the latter, 

 having to pass through extensive marshes, and to 

 cross an arm of the sea (Estero, 6 Ancon) over five 

 hundred yards wide, and from four to six fathoms 

 in depth. A day and a half's journey from this 

 was Tizatepelt, the first town in the province of Aca- 

 lan; and five leagues from it was Teutiaca, from 

 which Izancanac was less than a day's journey. 



This plain statement shows, beyond all question, 

 that Cortez' route lay nowhere near Palenque, and 

 that those who place it there cannot have traced it 

 out according to his own notes in his celebrated 

 ' fifth letter.' It was close to the seacoast, and quite 

 far from those celebrated ruins. 



As for his description of the temples of Teutiaca, 

 he represents Izancanac as a much larger city, with 

 more temples, and altogether a greater place (muy 

 grande y de muchas mezquitus). 



D. G. Brinton, M.D. 



Mammalia in interglacial deposits. 



May I be permitted to ask aid from some American 

 contributor to Science who follows the lore of glacial 

 geology? I learn that some American glacialists are 

 satisfied that there have been two periods of glacia- 

 tion, and I would inquire whether the interglacial 

 deposits contain, like those of Switzerland, remains 

 of mammalia, and, if so, what they are. Any refer- 

 ence to American evidence on these points would 

 oblige W. S. Symonds. 



The Camp, Sunningdale, Eng., Feb 27. 



Colored stars. 



The planet Jupiter and the starRegulus (a Leonis) 

 just now are so situated as to give us a fine example 

 of a naked-eye colored double star, and strikingly 

 illustrate the optical effect produced by two neigh- 

 boring stars of very different magnitudes. The com- 

 ponent colors, as they appear to the writer this even- 



