September 11, 1885.] 



SCIENCE 



233 



In a paper on the burial customs of our aborigines, 

 Mr. Henry Gillman exhibited two skulls, which had 

 been perforated on top in one case by a single hole, 

 and in the other by two. The holes were a little less 

 than half an inch in diameter. The author regarded 

 them as made soon after death, and perhaps as part 

 of the burial ceremonies. Cremation prevailed over 

 Michigan. Food was left for the dead. Sometimes 

 the totem of the deceased was cut on a cedar board 

 and placed at the head of the grave. In some cases 

 the wigwam was consumed with the body. Mr. La 

 riesche said, remarking upon this paper, that among 

 some tribes, if people died far from home, the body 

 could not be transported ; but the flesh and soft parts 

 were removed, and then the bones could be carried 

 back to the home for burial. Mr. F. W. Putnam 

 spoke of the discovery of perforated skulls in Ohio. 

 In one mound, there was a circle of sixteen skulls 

 around two skeletons; and eight of these skulls were 

 perforated, and all showed marks of scrapers used to 

 clean them. On some of these were as many as ten 

 holes. 



' Ancient pictographs in Illinois and Missouri ' was 

 the subject of the next paper, by Mr. W. McAdams. 

 Diagrams of figures carved on the walls of a cave in 

 Missouri were exhibited ; and also other figures found 

 in a locality in Illinois, where there were painted fig- 

 ures of animals. Another diagram represented a 

 composite monster, which was painted on a cliff near 

 Alton, and remained intact until a few years ago. 



Mr. W. L. CoflQnberry exhibited some very fine 

 specimens of stone, bone, and pottery collected in 

 Michigan, after which Rev. J. W. Sanborn read a 

 paper on the customs, language, and legends of the 

 Senecas. He believed that the league of the Iroquois 

 was much more ancient than some of those who had 

 spoken before the section regarded it, and much more 

 complex and wonderful. The Seneca language is com- 

 plex: it contains no labials, nor do r, q, and z appear 

 except in words introduced from the English; h is 

 found either smooth or aspirate, and with very dif- 

 ferent meanings. There are five genders, three num- 

 bers, etc. The paper closed with a very remarkable 

 myth, or legend, which one of the tribe had told the 

 author. In the discussion which followed, evidence 

 was given to show that the league could not have 

 been formed so long ago as Mr. Sanborn thought; 

 that probably there were no Iroquois in what is now 

 Xew York before A.D. 1500, and probably not before 

 1550. 



On Monday the first paper read was a long and 

 elaborate discussion of music in speech, by Mr. M. L. 

 Eouse. The paper was a comparative study of several 

 prominent modern languages from the stand-point of 

 the elocutionist and musician. 



The next paper was on the stone axe in the Cham- 

 plain valley, by Prof. G. H. Perkins. The author 

 spoke of the different sorts of stone axe found in the 

 region named; the relative abundance and elegance 

 of the different forms; the variety found, both as to 

 form, material, and finish; and exhibited some of the 

 varieties mentioned. He called attention to the fact, 

 that, while New-England stone implements have not 



usually been regarded as especially elegant or beauti- 

 ful, yet some of the celts and other forms of the axe 

 found near the shores of Lake Champlain are exceed- 

 ingly fine; and in beauty of material, regularity of 

 form, and smoothness of finish, some of them may 

 be favorably compared with the best American or 

 European specimens. 



Rev. Mr. Dorsey read a very interesting account of 

 Indian personal names, giving numerous examples, 

 and in many cases showing how a name came to be 

 chosen. He also gave some of the customs followed 

 in giving names and in changing them. This change 

 of name is not uncommon in the case of men, or even 

 boys; but the women do not change their names. 



A most delightful account of ' An average day in 

 camp among the Sioux' was then given by Miss 

 Fletcher. She described the taking-down of the tent 

 preparatory to a journey, the leader's tent being first 

 removed early in the day; then the catching the 

 ponies for the saddle or wagon, packing the house- 

 hold goods, and setting out upon the march over 

 prairies, through rivers, and on until about three in 

 the afternoon, a suitable place being found by water 

 and in a grove, the camp was set up again. In a 

 most racy and vivid manner the common incidents of 

 such a day were given, and with the zest which came 

 from actual experience. 



Several disks cut from human skulls, and worked 

 into ornaments, were shown by Mr. F. W. Putnam. 

 These were found in one of the Ohio mounds. They 

 are several inches in diameter, and ornamented with 

 incised figures. Marks of the scraper were visible 

 upon them ; showing that they were not cut from old 

 skulls, but that they were taken from fresh subjects, 

 and the flesh scraped from them. 



A very carefully written paper upon the number- 

 habit was read by Dr. C. S. Minot. The author re- 

 ferred to numerous experiments made under the 

 auspices of the American society for psychical re- 

 search, to determine, if possible, whether the so-called 

 mind-reading had any basis in fact. In course of 

 these experiments, numbers were used, one person 

 thinking of a number, and another trying to guess 

 what it was. On the doctrine of chances, the per- 

 centage of numbers rightly guessed should have been 

 ten ; but actually it was eighteen. The difference was 

 explained by the author, by the fact that many per- 

 sons formed what he called a number-habit; i.e., they 

 were much more likely to think of some numbers 

 than of others; and two persons having the same 

 habit, would guess more frequently the numbers 

 thought of than chance alone would account for. So 

 far as the experiments of the American society went, 

 they did not supply any reason for a belief in mind- 

 reading; but the English society had obtained results 

 that seemed to sliow that it was possible, so that judg- 

 ment should for the present be reserved. Another 

 paper by Dr. Minot was, " Are contemporary phan- 

 tasms of the dead to be explained partly as folk 

 lore?" This paper was a thoughtful and candid 

 review of the ghost question, with the conclusion that 

 popular beliefs and ideas, aided by imagination, were 

 the basis of most, if not all, phantasms of the dead. 



