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will be continued by Doctor Paton, who will investigate also the correlative structural changes in the central nervous system that accompany these functional developments, and will endeavor to determine the elements which conduct the nervous impulses.

I am glad to state that the advisory committee continues the same, and to record my appreciation of the helpful action of the members in recommendations as to appointments to the Smithsonian seat.

EXPLORATIONS.

ARCHEOLOGY OF GULF STATES OF MEXICO.

Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, a member of the Bureau of American Ethnology, has carried on an extended archeological reconnoissance for the Smithsonian Institution in the Gulf States of Mexico. His trip was successful, adding information to what is known of the prehistoric inhabitants of this rich but only partially explored region. While the main object of this visit was the increase of our knowledge of Mexican archeology, attention was incidentally given to the striking likeness of many prehistoric objects observed to those from the United States and its bearing on the question of culture migrations. An area was shown in each of the States of Vera Cruz and Tamaulipas, as typical of the prehistoric culture of this region, one of these extending from Xalapa, capital of Vera Cruz, to the Gulf coast, the other being near the city of Tampico, on the banks of the Panuco and Tamese rivers.

The numerous ruins or mounds that occur in these areas, rarely visited by archaeologists, are supposed to be typical of the former culture of two great allied peoples, the Totonacs and Huaxtecs, who in prehistoric times inhabited the greater part of Vera Cruz and what is now southern Tamaulipas.

On account of its historical as well as archeological importance, & visit was made to the little-known ruin of Cempoalan, a Totonac metropolis visited by Cortés, the conqueror of Mexico. Archeological literature pertaining to this city is very scanty; there is not a single description in English of the still well-preserved temples of this remarkable capital. On his visit to the site of Cempoalan Doctor Fewkes obtained many fine photographs of the four stately pyramids and gathered much data regarding their construction. He also studied and took photographs of the many small objects found in the neighborhood of the mounds that will later be published. An attempt to determine the site of another flourishing Totonac city revealed, near the ancient Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, an important cluster of earth mounds of considerable size. These were also photographed and their relics studied.

Doctor Fewkes visited several large ruins in the neighborhood of Xalapa, one of which, near Xicochimalco, he has identified as the remains of the pueblo of Sochimatl, mentioned by Bernal Diaz del Castillo, historian of the conquest. By this identification new light is shed on the hitherto obscurely known route of the conquerors from Cempoalan over the mountains to the plateau of Mexico.

The extensive group of large earth mounds, some of which are remains of pyramidal temples, situated at Texolo, near Xico, were also visited, and important material was gathered from them bearing on their prehistoric inhabitants. The numerous ruins in the vicinity of Tampico were found to be extensive, and objects from them revealed evidences of a high development of culture. Of the large Huaxtec pueblo called Chila, subdued by Cortés, nothing now remains but a group of mounds in an almost impenetrable forest a few miles from Tamos. Many sites of prehistoric pueblos were found on the banks of the Panuco; some of these were once temples, others mortuary hillocks containing pottery offerings and bones of the dead. Numerous shell heaps occur in this region, some of which were visited and examined. About a mile from Tampico, Doctor Fewkes reports, he found a cluster of large earth mounds of considerable extent, up to within a few years concealed by a dense jungle. The most notable ruins in this region lie on the banks of the Champayan lagoon, at the Rancho de San Francisco and Cebadella. In the Sierra de Palma there is a pyramid having a cut-stone facing and stairways similar to those in the Totonac region.

THE SMITHSONIAN ALASKAN EXPEDITION.

An expedition to Alaska and adjacent territory was made during the summer of 1904 by Mr. A. G. Maddren, under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution, for an examination of the Pleistocene deposits of northern Alaska, in which most of the mammoth and other vertebrate remains occur. His report treats of these formations and the criteria by which they are to be distinguished from the more recent ice and alluvial deposits which have been variously noticed and discussed by travelers and writers. He says:

The problems of geographic distribution of the animal and vegetable life of North America in Pleistocene time with the disturbance of faunas and floras caused by the widespread glaciation during that period and their b sequent readjustment over the glaciated area all combine to form a complex arrangement, to solve which will require large collections of specimens from the Pleistocene deposits of the unglaciated area of Alaska and the adjacent Canadian territory. At present our knowledge of this fauna and flora is very limited. As far as we know, only one species of elephant (Elephas primigenius), the mammoth, inhabited Alaska and Siberia during Pleistocene time.

The longest mammoth tusk so far reported from Alaska is one 12 feet 10 inches long, measured on the outside of the curve. Remains of the rhinoceros

have not been reported with those of the mammoth in Alaska, as in Siberia, and it also appears that the remains of the mammoth in Alaska are not in as fresh a state of preservation as those found in Siberia, which points to the surmise that the mammoth became extinct in Alaska before the last of the species succumbed in Siberia. Associated with the mammoth were herds of large bison and horses. This species of horse may have been the last native to North America, the rear guard of the last migration of these animals across the region of Bering Straits to Asia before the land connection disappeared. There was a species of musk-ox, together with sheep and bear. Descendants of these last three forms have by adaptive changes survived in these northern regions down to the present time. The relation that the fauna and flora north of the area occupied by glaciers bore to that region in the United States before, during, and after separation by the snow and ice fields; also the relation of forms in Alaska to those of Siberia, with the time and duration of the land connection across Bering Straits and their subsequent separation, form a complex problem, the solution of which will require the accumulation of much material.

Mr. Maddren summarizes his conclusions as follows:

I. That while remnants of the large Pleistocene mammal herds may have survived down to the Recent period and in some cases their direct descendants, as the musk-ox, to the present, most of them became extinct in Alaska with the close of Pleistocene.

II. The most rational way of explaining this extinction of animal life is by a gradual changing of the climate from more temperate conditions, permitting of a forest vegetation much farther north than now, to the more severe climate of to-day, which, subduing the vegetation and thus reducing the food supply, besides directly discomforting the animals themselves, has left only those forms capable of adapting themselves to the Recent conditions surviving in these regions to the present.

III. There are no facts to support the contention that the climate of the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions ever has been colder than it is at present. There are no phenomena presented in those regions that require a more severe climate than that now existing to account for them. There are no ice deposits in Alaska, except those of large glaciers, that may be considered of Pleistocene age. There are no ice beds interstratified with the Pleistocene deposits of Alaska.

IV. That the various forms of land ice, together with the deposits of peat, now existing through the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Alaska belong to the Recent period, and these deposits may be most conveniently and logically classified by their position with reference to the Pleistocene and Recent formations and the ice deposits, can not be differentiated satisfactorily into deposits of snow or of water origin by their physical structure and character alone.

THE SMITHSONIAN GLACIER EXPEDITION.

The expedition dispatched by the Smithsonian Institution to the Canadian Rockies and Selkirks, under the immediate direction of Prof. William H. Sherzer, of the Michigan State Normal School, had a successful season's work on the glaciers along the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. A selection was made of those five glaciers which are at the present time most readily accessible to the tourist or the student of glacial geology, and these were found to exhibit, more or less strikingly, the characteristics of glaciers throughout

the world. It may be a matter of surprise to many to learn that four or five days of comfortable railway travel places one in the midst of snow fields rivaling in size and grandeur those of Switzerland, that the ice bodies descending from these fields may be studied from modern hotels as a base, and that of those to be reported upon one may safely ride a horse to the very nose of each. For trips on the ice to the passes and neighboring peaks experienced Swiss guides are available during the summer months. So far as is known, there is here the most magnificent development of glaciers of the Alpine type on the American continent, and the purpose of the survey was to gather as much information concerning them as the time and facilities rendered possible. Many photographs with which to illustrate the details of glacial structure were obtained, a number of which accompany a preliminary report of the expedition printed in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. Professor Sherzer reviews his work as follows:

Field work began July 1, 1904, with two assistants, and continued until the middle of September, camps being made at Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, and in Yoho, Asulkan, and Illecillewaet valleys, in each case as close as practicable to the glaciers under study. Quite in contrast with the two preceding summers, that of 1904 proved exceptionally propitious for field studies. The unusual number of bright days and the reduced precipitation, however, reacted unfavorably in that they permitted forest fires to spread in several of the valleys, and during much of the summer the atmosphere was more or less charged with smoke, rendering distant photography unsatisfactory or quite impossible.

Covered with a veneering of rock débris over its lower third, the Victoria glacier, at Lake Louise, is not the most interesting of the series to the casual observer, who is liable to carry home the idea that it is simply a stone heap, and a rather uninteresting pile at that. Geologically, however, this glacier is the most active and varied of any of those that can be conveniently reached in the entire region, and nearly six weeks were devoted to the study of it and its tributary, the Lefroy. In spite of the many visits which a camp alongside the glacier for this length of time permitted, as well as numerous visits during two previous seasons, not one failed to reveal some new feature or to shed important light on one previously observed. This longer stay at the Victoria permitted measurements of the forward flow of ice under variable conditions of temperature, the construction of an accurate cross section, the determination of the amount of surface melting, and the varying amounts of drainage and sediment discharged-work which was not feasible on the other glaciers, to each of which but seven or ten days could be devoted. A detailed survey was made of each of the five glaciers, from the nose around each way to the nevé field, by means of plane table or compass and steel tape, and full data for a map of the ice and moraines and for a general description were procured. Especial attention was given to the structure of the ice itself, with the hope of shedding more light on some of the points still under discussion.

Only the most general statements concerning those results of the field studies in which the scientific public may be interested will now be noted. The glaciers generally were found to be still in retreat, the Wapta, at the head of Yoho Valley, having exceeded its average of the last three years by a few feet, while the Illecillewaet, at Glacier House, receded but one-third of the average which it

has maintaind during the last seventeen years. The Asulkan, in an adjoining valley, which had been advancing for about two years, has remained practically stationary during the last year. The Victoria presents an oblique front of nearly half a mile, and its lower 800 feet, completely veneered with rock as above stated, has pushed out into the forest at a comparatively recent date. This part has remained quiet apparently for a number of years, but accurate measurements to stones embedded in the face show that a very gradual wastage occurred during the summer, with a small stream of clear, ice-cold water as confirmatory evidence.

Farther up, for a distance of about 1,600 feet, there is a steep ice front which is so nearly parallel with the main axis of the glacier that there is a question as to whether it is not its side. Here the front of the ice is receding, the amount for the last year being about the same as the average maintained for the last five or six years, and this in spite of an actual forward flowing movement of the ice of 2 to 3 inches daily in summer and perhaps half this amount in winter. The Wenckchemna glacier, in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, proved of exceptional interest because of its almost unique character, only one other of the type-the Malaspina in Alaska-having been described. The Wenckchemna consists of a sluggish Ice mass, relatively short, but broad, formed by the lateral coalescence of about a dozen short ice streams, each of which retains its identity more or less perfectly entirely across the glacier, and maintains its own nose and motion independently of its neighbors. Accurate measurements to stones embedded in the frontal slope showed that some of these ice streams are stationary, some receding, and others advancing, the most rapid advance being near the center, where freshly cut trees were observed. To those who do not fully appreciate all the factors of the problem it is frequently a matter of surprise that a glacier in one valley may be in retreat while that in an adjacent valley may be advancing, as has just been the case in the Asulkan and Illecillewaet valleys; but in the case of the Wenckchemna there is still more varied behavior in streams that are actually side by side almost throughout their length.

PUBLICATIONS.

It is largely through its publications that the Institution carries out that vital principle of its foundation, "the diffusion of knowledge among men." Each year adds something of importance to the long series of published works comprised in the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, and its Annual Reports. All these are published by the parent Institution, but the series is augmented by the Proceedings and Bulletins of the National Museum, the Reports and Bulletins of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and the Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory, which bring before the public specialized matter no less important.

The details of the work of the past year are given in the Editor's report, the subjects treated in that time including practically every branch of human knowledge.

To the series of Contributions there has been added a third memoir by Dr. Carl Barus, entitled "A Continuous Record of Atmospheric Nucleation," in which the author further discusses his researches on

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