96  Field  Columbian  Museum — Reports,  Vol.  i. 
Eskimo.     Students  of  the  ancient  peoples  and  arts  of  America  will 
look  with  particular  interest  on  certain  acquisitions  from  Yucatan,  and 
some  examples  of  sculpture  from  the  Valley  of  Mexico  give  an  excel- 
lent idea  of  the  achievements  of  the  native  races  in  this  line.  South 
America  has  yielded  but  little  directly,  although  collections  returned 
to  the  Museum  from  the  Peabody  Museum  of  Cambridge  add  greatly 
to  the  wealth  of  material  from  Peru  and  other  Pacific  Coast  countries. 
The  culture  of  the  ancient  Romans,  already  so  well  represented  both 
by  reproductions  and  original  works,  is  further  illustrated  by  a  group 
of  bronze  objects  of  surpassing  interest,  recently  obtained  from  a 
villa  near  Pompeii.     The  most  remarkable  of  these  objects  are  two 
bronze  bath-tubs  and  a  bronze  table  with  circular  top  supported  by 
legs  imitating  those  of  the  lion.    Among  the  most  notable  additions 
to  the  Egyptian  collections  is  the  magnificent  series  of  stoneware, 
ranging  in  date  from  3,000  years  before  Christ  to  a  late  period. 
The  bronze  sistrum  presented  by  Dr.  Keeley  is  a  large  and  perfect 
specimen,  and  its  inscriptions  are  of  the  greatest  interest,  showing  it 
to  have  been  used  in  the  Temple  of  Ammon  at  Thebes.  Among 
numerous  other  bronzes,  a  large  statue  of  Osiris  is  worthy  of  special 
mention.     A  series  of  grave  tablets   and  tombstones  includes  two 
large  fragments  of  tomb  tablet  reliefs  of  exquisite  workmanship, 
similar  to  pieces  recently  acquired  and  published  by  the  Berlin 
Museum.     A  fine  series  of  faience  or  blue  glaze  mortuary  figurines  is 
of    interest,  but    is    exceeded    in    importance    by  the    coiled  ser- 
pents in  the  same  material,  one  of  which  is  remarkable  for  size 
and  color.     Among  the  stone  statues  is  a  noticeable  figure  of  Apet, 
executed  in  black  basalt.     From  Asia  the  Department  has  secured 
three  valuable    marble  images  representing  Buddhistic  divinities. 
Many  specimens  from  the  mounds  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  the 
ancient  copper  mining  district  of  upper  Michigan  collected  by  the 
Curator   of    the    Department    have    been     added    to    the  arche- 
ological  division.    The  Division  of  Physical  Anthropology  especially 
has    been  enriched    by  materials    selected    from    collections  now 
brought    together    for    the    first    time,    although    in  possession 
of  the  Museum  before  the  current  year.     One  collection  made  by 
D.  Scott  Moncrieff  for  the  Columbian  Exposition,  consisted  of  four 
skeletons,  several  crania  and  an  original  burial  package,  containing 
three  adult  women  and  one  girl,  all  in  desiccated  condition.    As  to 
this  package,  although'  the  funeral  garments  are  of  European  origin, 
the  date  of  burial  is  probably  about  1845,  as  with  the  bodies  were  a 
large  quantity  of  the  "Log-cabin"  medals  of  the  "Tippecanoe  and 
Tyler  too"  campaign  of  1840.     The  bodies,  otherwise,  were  note- 
