ROCKY MOUNTAIN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 49 
at the extremes of North and South America, under 
^ very similar cHmatic conditions, have nearly the same 
habits, and are all in a deplorably low state of savage 
life. The fact is familiar to you that the tribes from 
Behring's Strait along the Frozen Sea, Alaska, and 
British America, as well as those of Patagonia, within 
the frozen zone of South America, are all living in a 
state of savagery, none of them having advanced in 
the arts beyond what is denominated the rough 
stone age. On the American continent between these 
extremes and within the tropics on either side of the 
equator, civilization founded empires and grew to 
power, building cities which rivaled in grandeur the 
finest contemporary architecture of Europe. I need 
hardly say that I allude to the civilization and archi- 
tecture of Central America, Yucatan, Mexico, and 
Peru. Whether the people who erected the cities of 
Mexico, Uxmal, Palenque, and Quito were the ances- 
tors or descendants of the Mound-Builders, or quite a 
distinct people, has not, and perhaps never may be, 
determined. It is very probable that they were in 
some way related. Each view has able advocates, 
though I shall not, on this occasion, attempt to present 
their arguments. 
It is known to you that the people of Central Amer- 
ica, Mexico, and Peru developed an elaborate archi- 
tecture and a system of government and religion pecu- 
liar to themselves, differing from those of any other 
race. They also produced a literature of their own ; 
most of the latter has, unfortunately, been lost. 
The Indians of the present period, if not the true 
aborigines of America, were the pre-Columbian oc- 
