The Annals of the Cakchiquels. The Original Text, with a Translation, Notes, and Introduction. By Daniel G. Brinton, M. D. Philadelphia. Pp. 234. Price, $3.
This is the sixth volume of Dr. Brinton's "Library of Aboriginal American Literature." In the editor's estimation, on account of both its historical and linguistic merits, the document which it presents is one of the most important in the class to which it belongs. "Written by a native who had grown to adult years before the whites penetrated to his ancestral home, himself a member of the ruling family of one of the most civilized nations of the continent and intimately acquainted with its traditions, the work displays the language in its pure original form, and also preserves the tribal history and a part of its mythology, as they were current before they were in the least affected by European influences." The translation is made directly from the orignial text. The Cakchiquels were a nation of somewhat advanced culture, who lived within the area of the present state of Guatemala, and spoke a language related to the Maya. They were agriculturists and skillful builders, and had a picture-writing. The present work takes up the history of the tribe during the latter part of the fourteenth century, and brings it down to about 1559. It was introduced to public notice by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, and Dr. Brinton's translation is made from his copy.
Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1881-'82. By J. W. Powell, Director. Washington: Government Printing-office. Pp. 606, with Plates.
The plan of the work of the Bureau of Ethnology, of which this volume covers one year, contemplates the direct employment of scholars and specialists to conduct investigations and prepare the results for publication; and the stimulation and guidance of research by collaborators who voluntarily contribute the results of their work for publication or other use. Papers were published during the year covered by the report in Volume V, of "Contributions to North American Ethnology," on cup-shaped and other lapidary sculptures, "Prehistoric Trepanning and Cranial Amulets," and the Maya (Yucatan) "Manuscript Troano." The field-work of the year embraced the researches of Mr. Gushing among the Zuñis, with the labors of other observers in that tribe and among the Pueblos; researches by Mr. Gatschet among the Katábas in South Carolina, Mrs. Erminnie A. Smith among the Iroquois, Dr. W. J. Hoffman among the Indians at Fort Berthold, Dakota; and "Mound Explorations." Subjects bearing upon linguistics and related branches have been studied and elaborated in the office of the Bureau. In the present volume are included as "accompanying papers," and constituting the greater part of its bulk, "Notes on Certain Maya and Mexican Manuscripts," by Cyrus Thomas; "Masks, Labrets, and Certain Aboriginal Customs," by William H. Dall; "Omaha Sociology," by J. Owen Dorsey; "Navajo Weavers," by Dr. Washington Matthews; "Prehistoric Textile Fabrics of the United States, derived from Impressions on Pottery," by W. H. Holmes; and catalogues of two collections—one from mounds and one from Arizona and New Mexico—made during 1881.
Modern Molding and Pattern-making. By Joseph P. Mullin, M. E. New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 257.
This is designed to be a practical treatise on pattern-shop and foundry work, and embraces the molding of pulleys, spur-gears, worm-gears, balance-wheels, stationary engines, and locomotive cylinders, globe-valves, tool-work, mining machinery, screw-propellers, pattern-shop machinery, and the latest improvements in English and American cupolas, together with rules and tables for everyday use. Everything is given, in all of its details, as the result of the author's own careful study and actual personal experience, and, he says, "I have simply narrated the work of my hands."
A Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Edited by George Grove, D. C. L. Parts XX and XXI. New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 256. Price, $1.
These numbers embrace the titles from "'Tis the Last Rose of Summer" to "The Water-Music." Among the longer articles are one on "Variations," "The Violin," "Violin-Playing," and ample biographical sketches, with accounts of their works, of Verdi, the Abbé Vogler, and Richard Wagner.
