42 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. YI., No. 128. 



mal in others, and the name is an unhappy 

 misnomer. 



Finallj^ the rule stated in the latest Eng- 

 lish text-book of geology, that faults give rise 

 to little or no topographic feature, so that their 

 existence would commonly not be suspected, 

 is conspicuously Adolated in the northern part 

 of the Great Basin, over an area about as 

 large as England. In this region, as well as in 

 others of similar structure fartlier south, the 

 faults break through all formations, including 

 the recent ; and the heaved masses stand up, 

 bordered b}" abrupt cliffs that have not retreated 

 perceptibl}^ from the line of fracture. The 

 depressions among the tilted blocks are occu- 

 pied by numerous lakes, which are thus, in re- 

 spect to origin, as novel as the distinct forms 

 of tlie faults themselves ; for, among the thou- 

 sands of lakes in other parts of the world, it 

 is difficult to name half a dozen examples 

 whose origin is so directly due to this kind 

 of displacement. 



Visitors to Sw^itzerland in the last twent}^ 

 years have seen one characteristic part of that 

 charming country at a disadvantage. The 

 glaciers that the guides or their fathers remem- 

 ber seeing well advanced into the valleys have 

 been found greatly reduced in size, shrinking 

 back a thousand feet or more from their fresh- 

 looking moraines, and uncovering broad sur- 

 faces of bare rock and gray rubbish, not 

 attractive to the general visitor, however inter- 

 esting the}' ma}' be for the glacialist. The 

 little huts built a few 3'ears ago at the foot of 

 the ice, for the reception of tourists, have been 

 left quite out of place, as the ice melted 

 awa}' uphill behind them. Now the good news 

 nrrives that a good number of glaciers have 

 come to a halt in their retreat, and that for 

 two or three years an advance has been ob- 

 served. This is well for our children, who 

 may now see the glaciers in good size again in 

 ten or twenty years, if the advance is as per- 

 sistent as the retreat that preceded it. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 The sculptures of Cozumalhuapa. 



The suggestion in Science (vol. v. p. 524) that the 

 shell-carvings figured by Mr. Holmes in the last 

 report of the bureau of ethnology may indicate a 

 common origin with those of Cozumalhuapa, will 

 naturally lead to the inquiry, What branch of the 

 American race executed the latter ? 



Unfortunately this is not easily answered. Per- 

 haps we may proceed most safely by the method of 

 exclusion. When Cozumal was discovered, three 

 entirely dissimilar stocks occupied the immediate 

 vicinity. The locality itself was held by the Cakchi- 

 quels. According to their annals, as preserved by 

 the native chronicler, Francisco Ernantez Arana 

 Xahila, they had occupied that territory but shortly 

 before the Spanish conquest, driving out either the 

 Xincas or the Pipiles, both of whom continued to 

 live at no great distance. The Pipiles were a Nahuatl- 

 speaking colony, of the same blood and language as 

 the Aztecs, and were skilled in the same arts. The 

 Xincas, on the contrary, were a savage people, whose 

 culture-words were borrowed from either the Pipil 

 or tlie Cakchiquel tongues. They may therefore 

 be excluded. 



The Cakchiquels were one of four tribes closely 

 allied in language, culture, government, and geo- 

 graphical position ; the others being the Quiches, 

 the Tzutuhils, and the Akahals. They were familiar 

 with picture-writing, stone-cutting, the metallurgy 

 of gold, silver, and copper; erected massive buildings 

 of stone and mortar; and were adepts in carving 

 designs and weaving cloth. They certainly had the 

 technical ability to execute such work as that on the 

 slabs of Cozumal; but what is lacking, is evidence 

 that it is in the style of their art. It differs very 

 widely fr(im that of Palenque and Copan. 



The deficiency here pointed out is one most desir- 

 able to have filled. The vicinity of Iximche and 

 Gumarcaah, the ancient capitals of the Cakchiquel 

 and Quiche nations, might still yield a harvest to the 

 persevering archeologist, in spite of the reports of 

 Mr. Stephens. The Archbishop Garcia Pelaez, writ- 

 ing in 1850, stated that the government of Guatemala 

 had 'recently' caused a careful survey, with maps 

 and drawings, to be made of these remains {Memorias 

 para la Hlstoria de Guatemala, tom. i. p. 15); but I 

 cannot learn that these were ever published, nor have 

 my correspondents in Guatemala been able to ascer- 

 tain the whereabouts of the originals. I may also 

 add, that I have endeavored in vain to find out what 

 became of the manuscripts left by Dr. Habel, the dis- 

 coverer of the remains at Cozumal. Many of his 

 notes had not been published, and it is quite possible 

 that they would throw further light on this interest- 

 ing question. D. G. Brintox. 



Media, Penn., July 2. 



The geology of natural gas. 



Prof. I. C. White's article on the geology of nat- 

 ural gas [Science, June 26) must necessarily attract 

 no little attention from those who have never been in 

 the oil and gas regions of south-western New York, 

 western Pennsylvania, and eastern Ohio, where these 

 wonderful and natural products are obtained ; and 

 also from those who are familiar with its commercial 

 value and usefulness, but who have never made a 

 study of the geological phenomena connected with 

 its occurrence. In fact, the geology of this interest- 

 ing region is so imperfectly understood by some of our 

 leading professional geologists, who have never bad 



