350 



SCIEXCE, 



[Vol. VII. , No. 167 



Victor Mindeleff at the last meeting of the Wash- 

 ington anthropological society was 4 The snake- 

 dance of the Moqui Indians.' His paper was sup- 

 plemented by the remarks of Dr. H. C. Yarrow, 

 who visited New Mexico last summer for the pur- 

 pose of studying in detail this peculiar and some- 

 what remarkable ceremony. This dance of the 

 Moquis is, according to Dr. Yarrow, a prayer or 

 supplication to their deity for rain.- It is con- 

 ducted by a secret order known as the Antelope 

 and snake men. Snakes are employed under the 

 belief that they are the sacred guardians of the 

 clouds. The snakes used are largely venomous 

 species (mostly rattlesnakes), although three or 

 four harmless species were identified by Dr. Yar- 

 row. Strange as it may seem, the Indians are 

 seldom bitten, although they handle them with 

 the utmost impunity. Painted in the most hideous 

 and fantastic fashion, each participant catches a 

 snake about the middle of the body with his teeth, 

 and holds it in this position while he performs the 

 dance. For several days previous to the cere- 

 mony, the snakes are taken through a course of 

 treatment, which consists in stroking them re- 

 peatedly, and causing them to drink a decoction 

 of some plant which they claim to be an antidote 

 to the venom of the snake. This treatment renders 

 them somewhat stupid and sluggish, which, in all 

 probability, accounts for the few casualties which 

 occur, although Dr. Yarrow saw rattlesnakes 

 brought in fresh from the plains during the cere- 

 mony, and employed in the dance. Their 

 non-combativeness can then be explained, he 

 thinks, only upon the hypothesis of some hypnotic 

 influence exerted by the attendant. An elaborate 

 report on this subject by Dr. Yarrow will be pub- 

 lished by the bureau of ethnology. 



— Mr. Alvan Clark received April 9, from the 

 Russian minister in Washington, the gold medal 

 awarded to him a year ago by the emperor of 

 Russia on recommendation of Otto Struve, the 

 astronomer at Pulkova, who has charge of the 

 great telescope made by Mr. Clark for the Russian 

 government. The medal is of solid gold, 3-16 of 

 an inch thick, and 3 5-8 inches in diameter. On one 

 side a handsomely engraved wreath of oak-leaves 

 encircles the words ' Fraemia digno? and on the 

 other side is a profile likeness of the emperor, sur- 

 rounded by the inscription, ' Alexander III. To- 

 rtus Russiae imperator.' 



— The first annual report of the Montreal bo- 

 tanic garden gives a list of the known gardens of 

 the world, from which it appears that there are 

 one hundred and ninety-seven, the most of them, 

 it is believed, scientific in character. Germany 

 has the largest number, — thirty-four ; Italy, 



twenty-three ; France, twenty ; Great Britain and 

 Ireland, twelve ; West Indies, six ; and the United 

 States, five. More than half of all are supported 

 by the state, and only about five per cent by private 

 enterprise ; the remainder, by the city, and educa- 

 tional institutions. Nearly ninety per cent are free 

 to the public, and more than two-thirds are open 

 on Sundays. The one at Montreal will include 

 about seventy-five acres, although only about 

 eighteen will constitute the garden proper, within 

 which will be the various buildings, pond, and all 

 the beds of herbaceous plants. 



— Mr. Brayton Ives, formerly president of the 

 New York stock exchange, and well known as a 

 collector of books, has written a preface for the 

 American edition of Mr. George Rae's w^ork, ' The 

 country banker ; his clients, cares, and work,' 

 which Messrs. Scribner have just issued. As Mr. 

 Bagehot's ' Lombard Street ' pictured the life and 

 cares of the city banker, Mr. Rae's describes the 

 not less interesting life of the country banker. 



— Now that the time is approaching when sail- 

 boats, great and small, are to be put into commis- 

 sion, Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons' announce- 

 ment of a practical ' Boat-sailer's manual ' is very 

 timely. The author is Lieut. Edward F. Qual- 

 trough of the navy. He has made a complete 

 treatise on the management of sailing-boats of all 

 kinds, and under all conditions of weather ; con- 

 taining, also, concise descriptions of the various 

 rigs in general use at home and abroad, directions 

 for handling sailing-canoes, and the rudiments of 

 cutter and sloop sailing. 



— Mr. Andrew Carnegie's new book, ' Trium- 

 phant democracy,' will be published on April 17. 



— The Numismatic and antiquarian society of 

 Philadelphia has undertaken the preparation of an 

 archaeological map to embrace the valleys of the 

 Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, and desires 

 co-operation in this important work. The map is 

 intended to show the location of all the principal 

 remains attributed to the Indian tribes who 

 formerly occupied these regions. It will include 

 contiguous portions of the states of Pennsylvania, 

 New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. 

 Societies and individuals are earnestly requested 

 to furnish whatever information they may possess 

 concerning the following classes of antiquities : 

 gravel deposits (paleolithic) ; artificial shell- 

 heaps ; cave retreats ; encampments or village 

 sites ; earth-works ; old fields ; quarries ; work- 

 shops : surface deposits of implements, or caches ; 

 large rocks in place, used as mortars ; rock in- 

 scriptions (in situ) ; burial-places ; tumuli, or 

 mounds ; Indian trails. A full description and 

 accurate location of any of the above should be 



