Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 22.djvu/109

 ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTES

ERNEST VOLK, an archaeologist of note, died as the result of an auto- mobile accident, September 15, 1919. He was born in Waldkirch, Germany, August 25, 1845, but spent his adult life at Trenton, New Jersey. In 1899 he became associated with Frederick W. Putnam and continued to work under his direction for many years. He gave his whole attention to the question of man's antiquity as shown in the de- posits near Abbott's home at Trenton. In 1911 he published a full report of twenty-two years of research at Trenton, The Archaeology of the Delaware Valley (Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Arch- aeology and Ethnology). In this work he sought to establish three levels of culture: I, in the black soil; 2, the yellow drift; and 3, glacial gravel. These had been proposed by Abbott in 1883 but were not sup- ported by extensive excavations as in the case of Volk, who must be regarded as the real investigator of the problem.

Mr. Volk was a man of fine character, a naturalist of the old school who loved his work and took infinite pains with the smallest details. His long and patient search for traces of man in the glacial gravels at Trenton is one of the most human touches in the story of American archaeology, intensified by the tragic interruption of his great task. The extracts from his diary, found in the publication cited above, stand as a .unique contribution to the literature of American anthropology and will be read with delight by the experienced collectors of the future.

FROM Petermann's Mitteilungen, May-June 1919 issue, we learn that the following courses with anthropological bearing are to be offered at the new University of Hamburg, each lecturer having the status of a professor extra-ordinarius: Karl Florenz, Japanese language and culture; Otto Franke, Chinese language and culture; Sten Know, History and culture of India; Karl Meinhof, African languages; Georg Thilenius, Physical anthropology and ethnology; Siegfried Passarge Geography.

On December 29, 1919, Dr. Otto Stoll, professor emeritus of the University of Zurich, celebrated his seventieth birthday. He has been known to Americanists for his Central American researches and for his book on hypnotism among the ruder peoples of the globe.

A movement is on foot for the introduction of teaching on anthro- logical subjects into the curriculum of the University of New Zealand,

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