Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/291

 ptkt« are mora suitable thau hroiuidn for obtaining &□ Mmospherlc corona, just na Ur. Hii^lna has claimed that they are more suitable for taking a solar one; hence I think one must not rely loo much on the ultra- triolet region sensitiveness of the chloride plate for & separation of the two; lastly, though myexperi- ■nentt fall lo corroborate Mr. Huggins's results, they do not, of course, show that his corona may not be sotor, but merely Indicate that under very favorable circumstancea t could obtain no trace of it.

1 have before roe a print made from a negative by Dr. O. Lobse In October, 1878, showing effects very similar to those obtained by myself, except that his ¥lew was not taken during an eclipse. He considers that the halo is wholly atmospheric, and not coronal.

W. H. PlCKEHINO. Fbologniphle Ubonloryi Mu', Inat. technology.

The voice of aerpents. C. H. Hitchcock on this subject, in N^o. 104. and the additional eicperiinents made by Mr. H. H. Nlchnl- soa upon a specimen of Pltuophis Sayi. and recorded fn No. 100, open a very iiitercsiliig fipld for reaearcli.
 * 'The interesting observations presented by Prof.

��The Indians are the mouad-bnllderB.

In No. 103 of Science there is a review of ' Prehis- toric America,' — a work by the Marquis de Nadail- lac, — and at the end of the review an editorial note which has challenged my attention. Tou say that tbe review " seems to maintain the identity of all peo- ples that ever inhabited the American continent up to the advent of Europeans," and base this upon the opinions of the reviewer, that the mound-builders wore no other than the Indian tribes found in the country in post-Columbian time, and their ancestors. In this respect I most heartily agree with the opin- ions of your reviewer. There has never been pre- sented one item of evidence that the mound-builders were a people nf culture superior to that of the tribes that inhabited the valley of the Ulssissippi a hun- dred years ago. The evidence is complete that these tribes hare built mounds within the historic period; and no mounds or earthworks have been discovered superior in structure or contents to those known to have been built In historic times. The theory that the country was Inhabited by a people highly organ- ized as nations, and having arts of a higher grade than those belonging to tribal society, ts wild and

����If it has not already met your correspondents' cyea, it may uot come amiss for roe to Invite their atten- tion to B very int«resting and important article relat- ing to this subject, contributed by Dr. C. A. White lo the January number of the .American naturalist for 18S.3. Dr. IVhite here very concisely describes the peculiar structure of the vocal organs of Pituo-

Ehis, which, so far as I am aware, he is the flrat to ave noticed.

The character of the voice of the bull-snake Is well known: and Dr. White clearly shows in his article how the peculUr form of the epiglottis coatribuces to Ua productiun-

ll may not be out of place to reproduce the draw- tiuB here, that I was permitted to make for Dr. White, illustrating this structure of the epiglottis in Pltilophia. They may be of interest to those who have the opportunities of seeing the pa^es of Science, where the Aaivraliit nuy not he available.

Id again calling attention to this structure and Its situation, it may Induce others to make further In- vestigations into a very Invltlna subject.

R, W. Skdfbi.dt, t:.S.A.

��baseless; and the fruit of that theory is nothing but exaggeration and false statement.

Ail this being granted, yourown conclusiou, which is not found in the statements of the reviewer, is al- together inadmissible. ''The identity of all peoples that ever inhabited the American continent, up to the advent of Europeans," Is'not and con not be held by any intelligent anthropologist, except in some very broad sense; as, for example, that tbey belonged to the human race, or that they occupied one continent. In respect to mythologies, languages, and institu- tions, there are, and have been, many distinct peo- ples; and in respect to arts there is much diversity, though arts travel from people to people with the greatest ease. At the presetit time we cannot have fewer than seventy distinct peoples among the tribes of Xnrth America, and in antiquity the number may have been greater. The mound-building peoples did not constitute a dlatluot race. Many peoples have built mounds on this continent, and some continue to build mounds to the present clay. The writer has seen a tribe of Indians erect a mound.

J, W. POWKI.1..

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