Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/636

 28S Journal of American Folk-Lore.

use of his time and opportunities everywhere. The essays are accom- panied by a comparative vocabulary of 71 words in 9 languages (Tri- qui, Mixe, Juave, Chontal, Chinantec, Mazatec, Chocho, Tepehua, Totonac) and 72 figures of various ethnological objects. — Aztec. Pages 33-37 of Professor Starr's essay treat of Aztec dress, weaving, musical instruments as seen at Cuauhtlantzinco, Cholula, Lake Patz- cuaro, etc. The decorations on the camisa are one of the things that have remained for a large part characteristically Indian. The drum called liuehiietl is " still used on festival occasions at many Tlaxcalan and Pueblan towns." At pages 79-81 the Aztecs scat- tered in Hidalgo and Puebla are discussed. The mingled population of these regions is remarkable in many ways. Here witchcraft still flourishes. — Tlaxcalan (pp. 14, 15). Houses (and their construc- tion), dress, the mountain of Malintzi, natural phenomena, witches, "blood-suckers," "rain and hail bringers," naguals, birth, marriage, death, proverbs, numeration, etc., are discussed. The population of the State of Tlaxcala is almost purely Indian, the speech is Aztec, and the governor is a pure-blood Aztec. Upon Mt. Malintzi (usu- ally connected with Malina, Marina, the favorite of Cortez) a beau- tiful woman, who controls the atmospheric phenomena, has her home in a cave. Witchcraft is in full flourish in Tlaxcala, and folk-medi- cine goes everywhere. The " blood-suckers " are female beings who suck the blood of infants ; the " bringers of rain and hail " are pub- lic personages who have to do with Malintzi. Among the favor- ite wedding-songs are the Malintzi and the Tlaxcaltecatl (text and music are given). The moon has a great influence over pregnant women in popular belief ; unmarried persons are looked upon as vagabonds ; and the Feast of the Dead is very elaborate. The Tlax- calans, who preserve much of the metaphor and poetry of old Aztec, have also " a sense for dry humor," as their proverbs, etc., prove. The present Aztec and Tlaxcalan method of counting seems to be a curious "mixture of Aztec words and Spanish ideas." One of the popular superstitions is that " unusual howling of coyotes presages national disaster." — Huichol The Huichols of the State of Xalisco speak a language related to Nahuatl (Aztec), according to Dr. C. Lumholtz, whose " Symbolism of the Huichol Indians " (Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. iii. Anthropol. ii. i. N. Y. May, 1900, pp. 228. Maps ; plates i.-iv., 298 figs.) is one of the most important of recent contributions to the study of the mind and art of primitive man. Among subjects discussed, in great detail, are : The Gods and their paraphernalia, ceremonial arrows and crosses, votive bowls, shamans' plumes and objects connected with feast-making, facial paintings, etc. Dr. Lumholtz's study of these Indians and the development of their symbolism suggests comparison with Dr. Fewkes's Tusayan

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