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BOOK REVIEWS.

Bulletin du Music, Royal D' Historie Naturelle De Belgique, Touce II, No. 3-4, Tonee III, 1-2-3-4, have been received. A very valuable publication devoted to Natural Science in general. It occasionally contains articles on prehistoric archæology.

Bulletino della Commissione, Archæologica Comunale di Roma. Anno 12, second series. This is one of the most valuable journals published in Europe. It is always rich in the description of recent finds and contains many photographic plates illustrating the statuary and inscriptions which have come to light. As works of art these plates are very valuable.

Bulletin de la Societe D' Anthropologie de Paris, No. 1. 2, 3, 4, Fasicule Jan'y-Dec., 1884. This journal is devoted to Anthropology in the technical sense of anatomy but embraces other subjects, such as the language, customs, ethnography of the different races. It is a thoroughly scientific work. We are glad to have it upon our exchange list and recommend it to our readers.

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Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, May, 1885, Vol. XIV, No. 4. An interesting article on systems of relationship among the Australians, by Sir John Lubbock, M.P., F.R.S., D.C.L, L.L.D. The author advances the ider that **communal marriage,' as he proposes to call it, was original and founded on natural instincts Three distinct bonds of union. 1st, the tribe; 2d, the gens; 3d, the connection between Father and Son. Marriage was exogamous. 1, women were stolen; 2, captured; 3, taken from alien tribes. They became part of a tribe by communal marriage. The same number contains notes on the tribes of New South Wales, by A. L. P. Cameron Esq., and one on initiation ceremonies of the Kurnai tribe, by A. W. Hewitt, Esq., F. G. S. The President's address, by Prof. W. T. H. Flower L. L. D., V. P. R. S., P. Z. S., &c., contains much interesting matter upon the types of human races. 1st the negro or Ethiopian type; 2d the Mongolian type; 3d the Caucassian or white division. The subject of race division is undergoing much study and doubtless there will ultimately be discovered satisfactory basis or standard for dividing the races.

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The New England Historical and Geneological Register, Vol. XXXIX, No. 154, April, 1885, contains the address by Marshall Wilder, descriptive the progress of Archæology and American History, during the year 1884. Mr. Wilder is a very intelligent and broad scholar and always makes an interesting address.

The American Journal of Philology. Vol. VI, No. 21,, contains a photograph and a descriptive article on the Ephebro inscription in the possession of Columbia College, by A. C. Merriam.

The Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Vol. XXII, Part III, July, 1-85, is at hand; just received.

A Picturesque History of Ohio is being prepared by Henry A. Shepard. The following are titles to the introductory chapter; 1, Ancient Remains -Defensive Enclosures; 2, Ancient Remains-Sacred Enclosures; 3, Ancient Remains-Mounds; 4, Contents of the Mounds; 5, Anomalous Ancient Re

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The Antiquary for June is at hand. No magazine is more welcome to our sanctum than this. It is always full of new and old matter and shows a scholarly and discriminating taste. It is splendidly printed and is one of the best journals published. We are always glad to quote from its pages.

We quote the following from this number about the Belfast Natural Field Club. A. W. Lett read an interesting discovery on the antlers of red deer, found during excavations at Mr. Waddle's lime quarries. Half a cart load of deer horns was found at a depth of six or seven feet from the surface. The exact spot is close to the prehistoric cemetery where many funeral urns have been found and near a large fort that was leveled within the present century. The find was of such a nature that it led to the opinion that the deer horns

had not been shed in the ordinary way, but the deer had been killed by primeval man for food, though no teeth or other bones were found. A similar discovery has been made by Mr. William Grey near Balley Rudder, the locality where the mammoth tooth in the possession of Cannon Grainger was found.

The Museum. Our former contributor, Mr. E. A. Barber has started a little magazine to be published at Philadelphia, entitled The Museum. It is devoted to mineralogy, archæology and other topics, but is especially adapted to relics. It is tastefully printed and is well edited. We hope that it may be successful. Mr. Barber has had considerable experience in collecting and is a gentleman of refinement and culture.

The Iowa Historical Record. Vol. I, No. 1, Jan. 1885.

This is a quarterly, published by the State IIistorical Society at Iowa City. The society was instituted by the legislature in 1857. The record is the resumption of the "Annals of Iowa," which was published for 12 years, but was suspended in 1874. J. L. Pickard is the President. The first number contains an article on the name Iowa, by C. W. Irish. The author states that the emigration of the Dakota tribes was from south west to north-east. This makes the third view: Mr. Morgan says from north-west to south-east ; Rev. Mr. Williamson says from north-east to the south-west, and then north-west ; Mr. Irish says south-west to north-east. The Iowa's were a branch of the Dakotas. They have been, as long as tradition has any account of them, in the vicinity of the state which bears their name, sometimes in Illinois, sometimes in Missouri, sometimes in Texas. Hennepin, in 1682, located them in north-west Iowa, as did De Lisle in his map of 1718. The word Iowa, the author thinks, may mean either the sleepy ones or the dusty heads; the first because they were afraid to venture far in the chase, and the second because their heads were sprinkled with a yellow dust or sand from the plains.

History of Indian Missions on the Pacific Coast. By REV. MYRON EELLS, Philadelphia. American Sunday School Union, 10 Bible House, New York. Rev. M. Eells has been a missionary among the Indian tribes of Washington Territory for many years. He has had his education in that region, as his father, Rev. Cushing Eells, was a missionary before him. The readers of THE ANTIQUARIAN have known something of the proficiency which he has acquired in the Indian languages and in archeological studies. The book which he has written is a history of missions, prepared entirely from the historical and missionary stand-point. If more of ethnological and archæological material could have been put into it, this would have increased its value, but as a history it is thorough and comprehensive. We hope that Mr. Eells will prepare a volume on the traditions, locations, customs and languages of the Indiar tribes of this Territory, for no one is better qualified.

Indian Sign Language, with explanatory notes. By W. P. CLARK, U. S. A. Philadelphia: L. R. Hamersley & Co.

This is a valuable book, more valuable than at first sight it appears to be. It is made up of a series of short essays, which look like definitions, It is arranged in an alphabetical order. It also bears the title "sign language," as if it were a technical treatise on that subject. It is, however, not a dictionary, but treats of many subjects and is very miscellaneous in its character. The author was a captain in the regular army and had great opportunities for learning the customs, traditions and sign language of the different tribes. He seems to have been very diligent in this his self imposed task, and has really given to the public much information which could have been gained in no other way. Such diligence is to be commended. There are many persons who have long been residents among the natives, who have had the same op portunities, but who have remained ignorant of all matters which concerned the real life of the people. There are many sources from which information can be gained. Among them, the traditions of the Indians themselves, which an interpreter might hear and treasure up if he would, are not the least valuable. This seems to be the main source with Mr. Clark.

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Uxmal is supposed to have been partially occupied on the arrival of the Spaniards, though portions were in ruins. It would appear that 140 years after Menda's foundation-the present capital of Yucatan-the Indians resorted secretly to these sacred buildings to celebrate the religious ceremonies of their fathers which the Roman church detested and forbade. Principal amongst its ruins stands the Casa del Gobernador, or house of the Governor, a long narrow edifice comprising a simple series of chambers and surmounting three imposing terraces. See Figures 1 and 2. The lowest of these terraces is 3 ft. high, 15 ft. wide, 575 ft. long; the next is 20 ft. high, 275 ft. wide, 545 ft. long; the third is 19 ft. high, 30 ft. wide, 360 ft. long. Eleven doors admit you in front to its interior, and one upon each end. The lintels of these doors were of wood and were found by Stephens in place and well preserved. "This building was constructed entirely of stone. Up to the cornice which runs around it the whole length and on all four of its sides, the facade presents a smooth surface; but above, is one solid mass of rich, complicated, and elaborately sculptured ornaments, forming a sort of arabesque." Ornaments upon this building present novel and beautiful features. Figures decorated with lavish head-dresses occur over the doorways, and above these a singular scroll-like ornament which recurs with different variations throughout the building, and indeed, universally in the ruins. The intricate character of the facade above the cornice seems produced by a mosaic of symbolic blocks. The rear of the Casa del Gobernador is a solid wall 9 ft. thick, with less magnificent sculpture. The roof is flat and covered with grass and bushes. The principal apartments are 60 ft. long, the floors are of cement, the ceilings form triangular arches as at Palenque.

Along the stuccoed wall on the interior of this building are the imprints of a living hand, its creases and wrinkles still preserved, painted red and stamped upon the yielding plaster with a life-like expression. This mysterious sign is encountered throughout the ruins of the country. It seems to have been a common symbol with the Indians of North America and expresses supplication with the accompanying associations of the strength and supernatural assistance which devotion secures. It is constantly found in their pictorial records and forms a very usual mark on

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their painted bodies, an occult charm invoking the benediction of the spirits.

On the flat form of the second terrace at its North West corner is a second important structure called the Casa de los Tortugas or the House of the Turtles, from the series of turtles extending around its cornice. The building is 94 ft. in front, 34 ft. deep, is of much simpler design and ornamentation than the Casa del Gobernador, and stands alone having no visible means of communication with the latter edifice to which it offers a peculiar contrast and seems to occupy a subordinate and complementary position.

The next structure to be noticed is the Casa de los Monjos north of the Casa del Gobernador. It is composed of four walls enclosing a large court yard and stands upon the top of three

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terraces. See Fig. 3. Beginning at the south and going to the right, the sides are respectively 279 ft., 158 ft., 173 ft., 264 ft. long. The range on the south is a stone structure, plain up to the cornice, but from that point ornamented to the roof. A gateway 10 ft. 8 in. wide, pierces this building in the center. Leading to the great central court yard and on either side are four apartments having no communication with each other and reached through doorways from the outside. The buildings which flank the sides of the capacious court yard offer some of the most striking and elegant decorations in the ruins. They are elaborate and wonderfully varied, by turns chaste and regular, and then grotesque, symbolic and violent. On the west for 173 ft. the most richly embellished facade presents a bewildering agglomeration of minute and careful ornament, through whose intricate arrangement two colossal snakes perpetually entwine themselves. The snakes themselves appear to be rattlesnakes from their engraved tails though their bodies in some parts are covered with feathers. The facade on the north side is 264 ft. long, reached by a staircase 95 ft. wide. It has 13 doorways, and over these, lofty tablets of masonry rise 17 ft. above the cornice, and 42 ft. from the ground. The sculpture is less admirable here, more strange, crude and luxuriant. This building is erected over

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