DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE 303
the trunk of an elephant and the long curved noses of the human faces which decorate the facades and corners of some Maya buildings. Surely the absence of tusks and the broad mouths garnished with teeth which the Maya sculptors placed under the curved nose offset the latter's "in- sinuating way of suggesting the trunk of an elephant." Prof. Holmes' statement that "The upturned jaw of the mythical serpent is equally reminiscent of the treatment of the cobra jaw in the far East" appears equally misleading as it ignores the marked differences that also exist.
While fascinating, such "suggestions" and "reminiscences" seem out of place in a handbook intended to convey established facts to stu- dents. The same must be said of the illustrations represented as that of an "Ancient Wheeled Toy from a Child's Grave, Mexico" although Prof. Holmes admits that it was found by Charnay in a cemetery which also yielded brass bells. In view of the indications that the grave dated from after the conquest and the significant facts that no similar wheeled toys have been found in pre-Columbian graves and that no other evidence has been forthcoming to prove the use of the wheel in ancient America, one wonders why so unmeaning an illustration should have been intro- duced into the handbook and why the toy should be designated as "ancient."
In a handbook in which the section dealing with Mexican archaeology is so painfully meagre and behindhand one deplores that the space accorded to this toy could not have been allotted, for instance, to a mention of the beautiful and well-preserved little pyramid temple of Tepoztlan in the State of Morelos or some other noteworthy monument or antiquity.
Another misleading illustration occurs on page 353 where figures 214, 215, and 216 represent "primitive methods of drilling" by means of pointed stones, in order to make perforations. Into this group, a drawing representing an ancient Mexican priest lighting the sacred fire by means of a stick (a fire-drill) is introduced and labelled "Primitive Method of Drilling," giving rise to the natural but wrong inference that, as in the other cases, the drill also had a stone point and was being used for the identical purpose of perforating a hard substance.
I regret to have to draw attention to defects in a work which contains so much that is excellent and deserving of praise.
ZELIA NUTTALL
COYOACAN,
MEXICO, D. F.
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