42 
ANTHROPOLOGY: A. L. KROEBER 
Moreover Matthews,^ 1902, states that protoplasm consists essen- 
tially of a colloidal solution, and stimulation is accompanied by the 
passing of this solution to or toward a gel; and with these statements I 
am in accord. Matthews, however, believed the anions to be the stimu- 
lating ions, and he also thought the colloidal particles carried a positive 
charge. Later studies by many observers have made it apparent that 
the cations are the active agents in most physiological processes, and 
that living protoplasm is normally alkaline and thus its colloids probably 
carry negative charges. Moreover the phenomena of adsorption were 
not well understood in 1902 and Matthews makes no mention of it in 
respect to nerve conduction. 
No one indeed had reason to support the view that adsorption plays 
a part in nerve conduction until the determination of the change in rate 
of nerve conduction of Cassiopea in successive dilutions of sea-water sug- 
gested this as a possibility. 
My results lend no support to the theory of Sutherland^ that the 
velocity of propagation of nerve impulse is that of a shear in the substance 
of the nerve. If this were the case its rate would vary with the viscosity 
of the surrounding fluid, but the decline in rate is practically the same 
whether the sea-water be diluted with distilled water, 0.9 molecular 
dextrose, or 0.4 molecular magnesium chloride. 
1 Hardy, W. B., /. Physiol., Cambridge, 24, 296 (1899). 
^Bayliss, W. M., Biochem. J., 1, 177 (1906), finds that electrolytes when adsorbed are 
non-ionized and no longer take part in the electrical conductivity of the solution. See also: 
Principles of General Physiology, p. 54-71 (1915). 
3 Loeb, J., 1899, Festschrift fur Pick, and Amer. J. Physiol., 3, 327-338 (1900). 
4 Matthews, A. P., Science, 15, 496 (1902). 
Sutherland, W., Amer. J. Physiol, 14, 112 (1905), and Ihid., 23, 115 (1908). 
ZUNI CULTURE SEQUENCES 
By A. L. Kroeber 
MUSEUM OF THE AFFILIATED COLLEGES. SAN FRANCISCO 
Received by the Academy, December 8, 1915 
The vicinity of the famous Indian pueblo of Zuni in New Mexico has 
long been known to be rich in ruins. Many of these have been reported 
and described, some surveyed, and material from various sites has 
found its way into collections. A large body of specimens was secured 
through excavations by the Hemenway expedition, but this material 
and its data remain unpublished. 
The region furnishes an unusual opportunity for an attack on the 
chronology, or at least the sequences of culture, in the prehistory of the 
