Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 46.djvu/481

Rh and above on the hill are pineapples and other relics of his former presence.

On the savannas of the far interior we can also find a few traces of the red man of the past. Here there are no trees, but only a low, scrubby vegetation. Slight elevations here and there are still dotted by the circular dwellings of Macusis, Wapisianos, and Arecunas; but many a mound that was once the site of a village is now deserted, and not a trace of the dwellings remains. Yet, from a distance, dependent on light and shade, indistinct footpaths can be traced, while on the top the want of even a few scattered plants is an indication to the educated eye that a village once stood there. Then, again, there are little creeks near by, in which stepping-stones have been placed, and on one mound have been seen a number of stones arranged as an oval, which could only have been placed there by man.

Although these faint traces may be discovered when carefully looked for, the general result is a virtual obliteration of man's handiwork. No important buildings of stone have ever been erected in British Guiana, but two brick forts show what would happen if even great buildings were abandoned. One of these was deserted about the year 1740, and the other since 1812. Both have been long since hidden among the trees, and even their ruined walls are overgrown, so that it would only be possible to see them at a great expense of time and labor. Burying-grounds in different parts of the colony are in the same condition, and one in Georgetown, abandoned as late as 1840, and nominally cared for, is covered with vegetation, and its tombs almost hidden. When brought to light, as they are sometimes in the dry season by the withering of the tall grasses and weeds, what a picture of Nature's handiwork is there! Every tomb has been taken over by one or more wild figs, and their aërial roots have insinuated themselves between each brick and slab until the sides are cracked and bulged, and the tops lifted off, broken to pieces, and removed. Man's battle was continuous as long as he lived; after his death Nature triumphed.

a paper read to the Anthropological Section of the American Association, Dr. Brinton called attention to a number of peculiarities in the human skeleton which had attracted the notice of anatomists, and which had frequently been interpreted as signs of reversion to an apelike ancestry. Most of these, however, can be explained by mechanical function, or excess or deficiency of nutrition; and when they can be so explained, this is the only interpretation they should receive. They can no longer be offered as evidence of the theory of evolution, nor considered as criteria or marks of the human races. The doctor gave a long list of such peculiarities and showed the evidence that they are the results of functional working and pathological causes.