hartt ancient pottery 1871

8/14/2019 Hartt Ancient Pottery 1871

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/hartt-ancient-pottery-1871 1/14

The Ancient Indian Pottery of Marajo, Brazil

Ch. Fred. Hartt

The American Naturalist , Vol. 5, No. 5. (Jul., 1871), pp. 259-271.

Stable URL:http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0147%28187107%295%3A5%3C259%3ATAIPOM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F

The American Naturalist is currently published by The University of Chicago Press.

By purchasing content from the publisher through the Service you agree to abide by the Terms & Conditions of Use, availableat http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html . These Terms & Conditions of Use provide, in part, that this Service is intended toenable your noncommercial use of the content. For other uses, please contact the publisher of the journal. Publisher contactinformation may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/ucpress.html .

Each copy of any part of the content transmitted through this Service must contain the same copyright notice that appears onthe screen or printed page of such transmission.

For more information regarding this Service, please contact [email protected].

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0147%28187107%295%3A5%3C259%3ATAIPOM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F

http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html

http://www.jstor.org/journals/ucpress.html

http://www.jstor.org/journals/ucpress.html

http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0147%28187107%295%3A5%3C259%3ATAIPOM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F



T H

A I I E R I C A N N A T U R A L I S T .

Vol. V.- JULY 1871.--No. 5

THE A N C I E N T I N D I A N POTTERY OF M A R A J ~ B R A Z I L

BY PROFESSOR CII. FRED. IIARTT

Fig. 62 (Face). Fig. 63 (Back of Headj.

Head of Idol, Rfnrajo.

THE existence of Indian burial ldaces at various localities, inthe Valley of the Amazonas, in whicll the dead were interredin earthen vases or pots, seenls to have long been known. on

II ar ti ns * nlentions the occurrence of these vases near &Ianhos,a t Fon te BOa ancl Serpa, 11 the Rio das Trombetas, and elsewhere.He besides incidentally refers? to the recent discovery of largecollections of them at a place on the Island of IIaraj6, or Johaaaes.

Zur Ethuograpl i ie Amerika 's zumal Brazilien, p. 410.t O p cit., p 178

Ent ered according to Act of Congress in the y ear 1871 by the PEABODP CADEXT OF

SCIENCE n the Office of t he Librarian of( Congress, a t ~ as ' hiu gt on.

AMER. NATUHALIBT, VOL. V 1 7 (259)



called 0 s Carnutins.* These las t he supposed to be of Tupiorigin. The same author says that the Tupis sometimes buriedtheir dead in vases which were rude and unornamented. TheOmaguas still use this mode of interment, but the vases are buriedin the huts. was informed a t Rio das Contas, in the southernpart of the Province of Bahia, that the Patachos bury their deadin earthen jars.

do not know that any systematic examination has ever been

made of any of the ancient Amazonian burial places. La st sum-mer, while a t Pa r& Senhgr Ferreira P enna , la te Provincial Sec-retary, and the author of a very excellent little book t on the west-ern par t of the Province, called my attention to the fact of theexistence of the Marajb pottery a t Lake Arary. Being unable tovisit the locality in person, sent one of my assistants, Nr. W.S Barnard, to examine it. Mr. Barnard reports that Indian burialstat ions are quite numerous in the centre of the island. The prin-cipal ones are, however, the Island of Camuti in the Rio Anajas,

near the Fazenda de Sgo Luiz, and probably the same called 0 sCamutins, by Von Martius another near the Fazenda da Forta-leza, consisting of a mound from eight to twelve feet high, builtup on the flat campos, forming an island during the annual over-flow, ancl full of vases another on the campo near Lake GuajarB,which Mr. Barnard thought might contain four or five acres butthe most interesting appears to be the lha da s Pacowas in LakeArary, which was visited by xny assistant.

The Ilha das Pacovas lies close to the western side of the lake ,opposite the beginning of the Rio Arary, which forms the outletto the lagoa, and just to the south of the mouth of the Iga-rap& das Armas. I t is oblong in shape, about ninety paces inlength from north to south, and about forty paces in width. I nthe month of November, when the water was low, it was somewhatover ten feet in height above the level of the lake. I t is for themost par t covered with large forest trees. Situated a t the northernend of the island, and separated from it by a narrow channel, is a

little crescent-shaped islet apparently built on as an addition,

Camuti is the TupI word for pot . The Portuguese often write it Camutim. Treatedas a Portugu ese wor d, the plural mould, in this case, be Camutins.

t Entit led, Regi8.o Occidental da Prov incia do Para, and published by the gov-ernment.

Pacova, Portug nese form for Tupi pa cl a, a banana. The island takes its namefrom the banana trees growing upon it.



and not so high as the innin island. B ot h ryere ev ide ntly raisecl

artifi cially , nncl a re fu ll of bu ria l va se s aiicl po tte ry of all kincls.T he vases, ~v hich re about three feet in height, are, in sonle places,buried as nlany as three or four above o ne another, bu t they aremore or less sca ttered . Th e waves have worn nx ay the edges ofthe is1:tnd ~ n a li in g slol>ing shore ftill of bro ken bu ria l ja rs anclthiclily stren-n er with fragm ents of pottery.

Mr. I ~ a r i ~ a r d I I e , hen-ever, collectecl speci-acle no excavation s.mens , in a more or less hrolien sta te, of ~ v h a t -as at hancl. I I i scollection coilsists entirely of pottery. Eo ncs were very rar e, ailclvery much brokeil up. regret esceeclingly, that of these re-

Fig. 04 Fig. 65.

Indian .in1 Jars , JIarnjo.

mniizs, none e r e brought home, but rna r s ta te here , that an es -pedit ion is on foot to thoroughly esp lore this , ns ~ ve ll s some ofthe other localities.

Of jars o r vases used for burial pu rpos es yga cnz~ a, ygn~crzrcr-OCCLccmtt~ti,L ingoa gern l) the re a re t ~ v o n th e co llec tion , l a rgespecinlens which show quite well th e form, tog ethe r ~ v i t h numberof fragments. Th e two more perfect speciinens Figs.64 ancl 65),are of th e same gen eral shap e, bu t the y cliffer in th e style ofornam entation. Both consist substantinlly of two truncated conesunitecl by their bases, th e apicial ang le of the lower cone beingmuch inore obtuse than that of the upper, so that the greates t

Ygnqnua ignqnba of Tupi dictiouaries properly menus a large waterpot.



diameter of the vessel would be a t about one-tenth its height ,measuring from its base. The vase represented in fig. 64, juclgingfrom the curving outwards of the upper broken edge, as well asfrom the ornamentation, must have been litt le less than twentyinches in height. The diameter of the mouth cannot give thegreatest diameter, measuring inside, is fourteen and three-fourthsinches that of the base is about five inches inside. The sides ofthe upper par t of the jar slope regularly. Those of the lower part

are slightly concave. Though skilftilly made, i t is nowhere ex-actly round, ancl bears no marks of having been shaperl on a heel.All the fiIaraj6 pot tery was macie by hand. The material is arather fine clay with little or no sand. have not observed, in theancient iVIaraj6 pottery, any admixture of the ashes of the Caraipi.tree Licanea t ~ t i l f s which are extensively used, a t present, bothby Indians ancl whites. The vase under discussion has broken witha very irregular fracture. The thicliness at the base is about halfan inch, a t the top about a quarter. Tlle outside of the vase ap-pears to have been shaved down smooth, probably with a piece ofwood, and washecl with a fine whifish clay which has darkened inburning. The surface is very smooth, but quite irregular. Thebase and inside have not been polished. The ornamentation isunique and is well shown in the engraving. The lines are deeplyengraved. The broad shaclecl portions of the chair-like figurehave been roughly scrapecl, apparently by a stick with a broaclflat end. These portions, as well as the lines of the figure, have

received a wash of recl clay laid on very daubily. The broacl line,just above the base, is colored in the same way, but the doublelines, separating the figures, are uncolored. As will be seen fromthe engraving, there is considerable variety in the rendering of thedesign.

The other vase fig. 65 differs from that just describecl, in beinga little larger, and in having the sides of the basal portion moreconcave. The material and the surface finish are the same, bu t thewash of cream-colored clay is of a somewhat lighter color, andthe surface has a hard, glazed look. The pattern is quite as sin-gular as that of the vase just describecl. The designs ancl al l thedouble lines are washed with red clay daubed on as beforb. Thisvase is slighter than its companion.

Both of these vases were probably furnished with projectingknobs or ears nambi) around the mouth. These are often in the



THE ANCIlCST I N D I A S POTTERY O F I IARAJO BRAZIL. 6 3

form of heads of animal s 2nd men. They are readily broken off,

and large numbers of them r e r e piclied up on the shore amongstthe broken pottery . I n the collection is a fragment of anotherburial nrn, whose g reat est diameter must h ar e been about tn-o feet.I t appears to have been made on th e saine pattern with fig. 64

The design was substantially the same, but the chair-shaped figureTTRS 1norc clran-n out and disposccl llorizontally. Th e surface ofth e vase has the same creamy 11-ash, ancl the engrarecl design ispaintctl red. The bounding lines are treble or quadruple, and notcolored.

Another fragment is of quite a sinall vase abont eight or te ninches in diameter. The upper pa rt , for npparently solnewhat lessthan one-third the length, is smollcn ont, and ornainentecl ~ ~ i t hscroll-sl~al~ed Theosses, curious knobs, and engraved figures.pa rt iinmediately below th is raisccl portion is cylindrical, andornanlentccl TI-it11 igures thrown in to relief by tlccp, irle, engravedlines. The upper bulging portion r c c e i ~ el a was11 of creamy~vhit e lay, ancl the lower pa rt a similar coat of reel clay. The

11-ho1c surface was ereilly smoothed, nntl the line-figarcs werecu t in , or scmped out . One of the tools, nsccl in cntting, had n

nnrron- chisel-like edge, and T T ~ S probably t l ~ c ooth of somerodent. TT here large surfaces have been cut c l o ~ ~ n , he parallelinarlis of the tool arc cry distinct. The month of this Tasc wassliglltly f ~~il ncl-s haped , ncl the lip probably bore owalllcnts.

I n addition to the above vases there arc two other fragments ofless interest. One indicates a ra se , the hotly of which innst havebeen abont eight inches in diameter, anrl oTer a foot high. I t i srudely smoothed inside, but the outsitlc is rough and \ ~ i t h o n t rna-ment. The other v a s , in tllc body, a t leas t, cylinclrical, and abontfire inches in diameter. The outside was \~ ns hc tl with red clay.A sort of geometrical pattern is cut through this into a lighterinaterial below.

I t is just possible t ha t some of tllc siuallcr ~ a s c s , bol-c clc-

scr ibed, nlay not have l-)cell intencled for bnrial pnrposcs. Thelargest are too small to accommoclnte a sliclcton, even if dis-

art iculated. A11 the boiles founcl in the urns were fragmentaq-.Th e probabilities arc th at the hoclies were bnrncd, and th at only

the ashes ancl cllarred boiles v7crc placer1 in the urns. A11 analysisof a sillall amount of blacli ash-lilic ea rth, foui1cl adhering t o olleof the jars, was inaclc for ine by one of my stucleuts, and foundto contain a very large percentage of phosphate of liinc.



There are two or three disk-shaped objects in the collectionwhich were probably used as covers to the jars. One of thesehas on one side curious engraved figures which do not appear to

be mere ornaments but to be of a hieroglyphic character. Thisam unable to figure here but shall describe i t in another paper.

Of images or idols there are several in the collection the most

being in a more or less fragmentary condition. The larges t of thespecimens is represented in fig. 67. The body is nearly cylinclri-

cal with two projecting knobs at the base for feet. A constrictionrepresents the neck. The head was made quite round a t first batthe after application of a high wide and angular ridge of clayrunning completely over i t from sicle to side gives it a flat look.This ridge ends abruptly on each side a t the neck and i s there pro-

I ~ G ig 07. duced sliglltly outward. The

brows and nose are representedby a T-shaped ridge of clay ap-plied in the same way as thecrest the eyes and mouth aresimply round prominences. Thebrow ancl nose and the right eyehave scaled off from this figure.The material is red clay with amash of white. The surface isvery rough and the whole is re ry

ndian I ~ O I S Mara~o rudely made. The figure from

its weight is evidently hollow as mere .most of the others. Theheight is five and a half inches.

The figure representecl in outline in fig. 66 is solid. I t is ex-ceedingly rudely made of coarse clay full of sandgrains. Thefeatures are very indistinct. The brows ancl nose are representedby a T-shaped ridge. SligPt projections from the shoulders hintat arms and a t the base are two irregular prominences as i n fig.67. The extreme flatness of the head is remarkable. I n frontis a hole but whether accidental or purposely made cannotdetermine. The height of the figure is abont three and a halfinches.

The same type of head and features recurs in the larger andmore artistically finished head of which fig. 68 is a represen-tation. This las t is also flattened and shows the same trans-verse crest which just opposite the eyes is bent forward on eachside. The united brows and nose form a wide prominent T-



sha1~ed iclge a s in the o ther figures, t he a l ~ f the nose being,however, well formecl, though unsymmet~rical. Tlle eyes a re rouncland very prominent, the l ~ n l ~ i l Fig. 8e-in g represented. The mouth is alo~ l ,otullcied elevation. The facereceived a ~vash of white clay.Around th e bron-s ancl nose runs avicle, sha1lo~~- roove painted recla similar groove surroui~cls the

eyes. The broad bbacls on eachsicle of tlie mouth are also paintedred. The ot,her lines representeclin the cut are engravecl rvith a sha rp poiat. The pat ter n enclosecl Wend of Idol, J l n ~ a j o .

in the rncle circles occnrs on other pieces of pottery from the snrnclocality, s v e shall see farther on. The back of th e heacl isslnooth and nnor~~amcatecl . The figure ~ v a s hollom, the body

prohnbly resembling th at of fig. 67. I t TI-as built from the baseuprrard, the top of thc head being th e las t pa rt formecl. Layer sof cl:y- were laid on one above the other, 0.i-erlapping ii~sii le.2nd tbP n pressed into shape by the fingers, which were introdncedthrong11 a hole in tlie top of the head. The i~npr in ts f the fingerspreserve sharply the impressions of the s t r i ~ f the skin, slloving

the direction from rrhich the fingerslg F f.

mere applied. Finally, a cap of claywas ap ~l ie cl bove, closing th e open-

ing, and the figure was worliecl intoshape from the outside. The heightof the heail is tliree inches breadth,four in c h e ~ . Another hencl, also sep-arate from the body a ~l tl epresentedin figs. 62 , 6 3 ancl 69, is larger thallthe others aiid in some respects moreelaborately esecutecl. I t resemblesthem, however, ia it s being flattened,in i t s being f~~ rn is he d ith the trxns-

S I ~ P v i w of th ilead of idol repre- verse crest, which, in thi s case, is lowse ll le d 111 P ~ g s . 3 alld 6 3

aaci roundecl, and in the T-shapedcomliaed broms and nose. I t , ho~vev er, liffers from the imagesjust rlescribecl in the grotesque ornamentation of the eyes, cheek



and forehead, and in the figures on the back of the head. Allthese are so well shown in the engravings as to need no descrip-tion. The form of he mouth is peculiar. This figure was madein the same way as the last described, being built up from be-lornr, the top of the head being the last pa rt formed. Instead ofheavy, irregular layers of clay seen in the inside of fig. 68, theinside of this head shows fashioning by the aid of a narrow, flat-poipted instrument of wood or bone, which was introclnced fromabove and before the head was finished, and turned round andround leaving shallow, irregularly concentric furrows, which ex-tend nearly to the top. The outside was moulded so as to givethe transverse crest, the brows, nose, eyes and mouth prominence.

The surface then received a redig 70

mash. After this the ornamentswere left in relief by the cuttingdown of the surface. The prin-c,ipal tool used had a narrow,

chisel-like edge, slightly hollowed,which left a little elevation run-ning along the mitldle of thegroove cut by it . This instru-ment, believe to have been thetooth of some rodent. The marksit made are very distinct, but ithas been difficult to representthem satisfactorily in the engrav-ings. I t is hardly necessary to

Head of Idol, Marajo. Front view.adcl, that all the features and theornaments in relief are red, while

the background is the color of the light, unpainted clay. A frag-ment of the body below the neck is preserved, showing past of ared fignre in relief, so that, without doubt, the whole idol was or-namented in the same general style as the head. The height ofthis specimen is four and a half, and the breadth four inches.

The ornamentation of the head just described might be re-garded as capricious, were it not for the occurrence in the collec-tion of the head of another idol (Figs. 70 and 71 , which resem-bles it very closely. This las t has not only the same shape ofhead, but the same patte rn of ornamentation, though the latter isexpressed in a more simple manner. There are , besides the same



broad raised lines bordering the crest, brows and nose. The

mouth is not represented. The ornanlent about the eye is sub-stantinlly the same in both, but in the smaller head it has only twosalient pnrts, or rnys. I t is interesting to observe, th at the littleeye-like figure of which in the larg er heacl there ar e four nbouteach eye is not wholly forgotten in the smaller head, but it makesits appenrance in the lover outer corner of the right cheek, as anirregular hollow square. The central boss on th e bncli of thesmaller lleacl (Fig. 71), and the TIr-sllapecl figurc in which i t s tands,form manifestly the snine design as th at seen on the back of thelarg er heacl. The two upper eye-shaped ornaments on the backof the larger heacl appear on th e smaller as hollow squares. Th etwo l o m r in the smaller heacl correspond to ornaments, ~ ~ h i c h , nthe larger are attnchecl to the border. More of the body of this

seconcl iinage is preserved th an of the other. Fig. 71

The specimen (Fig. 7 0 is nbout threein cl ~c s n length. Tlie ori~amentntioil con-sis ts of raised lines forining hollov, angnlar

@igures mlsymmctricnlly disposed both in

front and behind. Pa r t of the crest isbrolien nvny. The ornan~e utation was nil-sliilfully executed nit11 a very coarse tool.Since these two heads were found lying K soose, nnd at a clistance from one anotller,

there is little probalsility of tlieir having Rdck of lepre-

been made by the same hand. Th e points Seilte ' 70.

of reseiillslance between then1 indica te the exis tence of a recog-nized ancl common design, ~ ~ h i c h annot lsut have a significance.TVhich is the elder of th e two, ant1 nhicli corresponcls inore nearlyto the original patt ern, i t is impossilsle to say. Thes e images ap-pear to have been of a sacred character, hut whether they mereused as idols claring the life time of the inclividusll, ancl lsuriedwith his ashes, or mere sacred figures nsetl only in burial, isnot clear. am unable to describe the mode of association ofthese images with the burial urns, as the fornler r pickecl up

loose.I n connection wit11 the vases and images, pottery of ~ a r i o u s

liincls occurs. There are flask-like ~vater-bottles, uite like thosein use in Brazil to-day, cups, flat dishes ancl pots of various kinds,soine very coarse, others higlily ornamented nit11 painted and en-



graved lines, and with ears representing animals' heads or humanfigures.

I n Fig. 72, n is represented a fragment of what may have beena ladle. Th e fragment is slightly concavo-convex and three andone-half inches long. Goth sides were scraped down to a verysmooth surface, which received a very th in coat of cream-coloredclay, giving i t a glazed look. The convex or outer side is tracedwith a rather elegant line-pattern in darli red, not engraved, which

appears exceedingly well in contrast with the light backgrouncl.Near the pointed extremity is a hole, showing wear, doubtless in-tended for n string. A shallow clish, of which I have a fragment,is painted insicle very much in the same way as t ha t just de-scribed, while another has a coarse figure drawn in dark umlser ona light gronnd. I may remind the reader, that the variegatedclays of the Amazonian cleposits furnish very vivid tints, as reds,purples, browns, lslues and yellows. With these colors, the In-dian women of Monte Alegre and elsewhere paint elegant designs

on drinking cups of gourd (cuias), upon a backgrouncl of Czcnzatk( Apocynen vel Asclepidea folliculnris ? Mart.). I have observedno trace of the use of the resin of the 17tltahy-S~CCL Hynzenct?~sp.) extensively used to-day on the Amazonas, for glazing vesselsintended for use over the fire.

The Indians of the Amazonas use an earthen utensil for broil-ing or smoking various articles of food. I t is like a large, deep,heavy basin somewhat wider a t the mouth th an a t the base hut

with no bottom. Tliisi s

inverted over a slow fire, the food to becooked being laid on green stems of taboca (Banzbusa), placedacross the opening. This utensil the Brazilians call a mupuenclor. tA broken one ornamentecl with human features in high relief, wasfound a t the llk da s Pclcovas.

There is little cup in the collection about an inch and a halfin height, ornamented with the design, e, fig. 72. I n the engrav-ing i t i s placecl horizontally, bu t on the cup it is upright. The cup

*T he yellow clay is called Taud, the white, tnud tinga or white taud. The Po rtu -guese form is Tabntiuga.?T he verb is muqueizv. Thi s 1s one of the few Por tug uese verbs derived from the

Tupi. The same process is carrie d out by making a framework of green sticks sup-ported on upright forked stakes . On this, fish, tortle's eggs, etc. , are smoked and halfcooked. The ancient Tupis cooked human flesh in this way. n the Amazonas theap pa ra tu s is called muquem. Levy, Stade and the old wri ters give the word bucan.Many words now pronounced with an ihitial m o r b had originally an initial mb. Th uson th e Amazonas one finds to-day mbota, moia and boia (boa constrictor .



is mashecl white, 110th inside and ou t, ancl the lines are engraved,

together vit li tlie S-shaped clesign, which corresponds wit11 thechair-sliapecl figare on the bnrial vase represented in fig. 65. Thispattern, ~ ~ i t h ts various modificatiolls, resenlbles so closely thedesign occurring on the face of the image, fig. 68, ancl else~vhere,th at all seein to be bu t different expressions of the same pri-mary idea, ~vliicll, n the heginniilg, a t leas t, probably hacl some sig-nificance. Tlic S-shaped design like t ha t on the head , fig. 68, issometiules forineel by regular curves, hut these are occasionally an-gular, in ~vhic h ase, the figure resenlbles th e Greek fret. Tlie op-posing curves are a l ~ ~ a y s with a clouble line, hut tlielra~vi~ curres

Fig. 7 2 .

a a n of a flat dish ; e Ori lame~rtJrnamellts on frngn~cnt f pottel.1-; b 6', F r a g ~ x ~ c n t o n

a l i t t~d tip: and q 0r ii ;u ~~ ci it sli Sr:wniei~ts of pottery; l i , Read of pot te ry; ngravedobject; i n silrglc desigu fro111 r a s e , Fig. 6 3 ; 1 2 F~ag111e 1itf ladle .

are either not uliited at all i11 tlie micldle of the figure, or if ~u lited,i t is by a single line. I n a and a/ , fig. i P, from the same piece ofpottery, ancl .f sanle figure, T T ~iare three ii~odifications f the cle-sign, nit11 cur res united. I n b nilcl b l fig. i 2 , sliowing both sidesof a fragment of a flat pla te, they are not unitecl. I n some cases,as in f b, ancl b , fig. 72, the figure is ornainenteil by coarse shacl-i n g b e t ~ ~ e e a he clouble lines or by perpendicular loops or lines.

On b is a cross of the orcliilary Cliristian typ e, bu t i t is well kn ov ntha t this enlblein is one of the siillplest of o r~ ~ a in en t s 11 use, notoiily anioilg pagan nations long before tlie Cliristian era, 11ut to-day.

*T he longest diameter of this specimen is four alld a quarter inches.



If the maker of the pottery had attached the Christian significanceto the figure he was drawing he would not have represented i t onthe opposite side of the same vessel without the transverse bar andif the Ind ians who made the Maraj6 mounds had been christian-ized they would not have buried the ir dead in jars. t seems tome th at the Indian arti st finding he had a large space to fill upon one side clrew a transverse line across the perpendicular oneto make the figure larger. The cross also appears on a fig. 72.

The question of the primary significance of the S-shaped designmust leave to the s tudent of the philosophy of ar t together with

the question of the independent origin of ornament which alsoarises in the study of this pottery. The observant reader willdetect the same pattern t ha t have just been clescribing in use incarpets ornamental borders and a hundred other places to-day.

Among other relics from the Arary mound is a large bead ofclay roughly represented in fig. 72 h I t is very irregular in shaperudely made and the ornamentation is badly executed. I t ismuch broken. I t s leng th is two and a qudrter inches.

Fig. 72 k represents the end of an object cylindrical in the mid-dle and sudclenly swelling out at both ends one of which is bro-ken The design is deeply engraved and the object was perhapsused as a stamp but it is so irregular th at it would have servedvery indifferently for that purpose. The width across the face isabout an inch and three-quarters. A somewhat similar figure toth at on the end is engraved on the side. The perforation extends

nearly through from one end to the other. I t might be taken foran unfinished bead were it not th at two other partially perforatedobjects of a somewhat similar character are found in the collection.One of these is a lens-shaped piece of pottery an inch and three-quarters across the flat face which appears to have been groundinto its present form. A hole is borecl through it in a directionperpendicnlar to the ceiltre of the flat face. The other is a pear-shaped object about the size of a large marble peiforated in likemanner from the smaller end. I t s use cannot divine.

We have no historical record of the tribe th at built the Marajbmounds. Senhor Penna has had the kindness to esamine care-fully into the subject for me and it would appear tha t thdmounds anteda te the discovery of America. We have no recordof the existence of any tribe in the lower Amazonas within his-toric times that buried i ts dead in jars. do no t feel like coin-



FERTII.IZATION O F FLOWERS BY INSECTS 2 7 1

cicliilg with Von Martius in the supposition that the lfarajajbmounds mere made by Ind ian s of Tup i descent. There areillally reseinblai1ces betn-eea the pott ery of Marajh and tha t of

Peru and Rortl l America that will be ~ ~ o r t h I hope thattudy.f ~ ~ t u r explorations mill enable me to clear u p some of the doubtsexpresseil in this pallel-, alld cast mncli rleeclecl light on the ancielltraces of th e Amazonian valley.

APPLlC,lTIOS O F 'I'HE I i l R \ T T I N I A N T H E O R Y TOF L O W E R S A S D THE I N S E C T S JVHICII

V I S I T TI-IERI.*

TI-IE irst i~ ~ ll ~ re ss io i l flov-ers inake upon us with the 1,eaaty~liic11of their rnclinte ancl synlmetrical forms, thei r lnsnrinllt clisplay of

colors nnd tllc ~ a r i e t v nd s~ve etile ss f their otlors, easily begetsin us the idea that they were created for delighting ailil gr:eti<ying0111 senses.

This, ho~vever, s a pleasing fancy which the Dmwinian doctrinespeedily annihilates . Thi s cloctrine teaches us th at all the speciesof allinlals and plailts now in csisteilce are only the result of thcsame l a m whicll, st art ing fkom th e beginning of' organic life 11

the earth and coining d o ~ ~ n o our day, have gover~lei l nd contiaueto govern all allinlatecl tllings and tliese are the laws of hereditarytrxllsiilissioll ailcl var iation, of th e struggle for existence aacl theconsequent necessity th at only those forins survive ~rll ich bestrespond t o extern al circumstances.

According to the Da r ~ ~ i n i a n octrine all the characteristics andproperties of aninials and plmlts appearecl a t first only as simple,i zd iu ic l t~a l~cct.ic~tions,. h i c hwere a necessary colisequeiice of deter-ininate physical anti clieizlicnl actions, j slilil which, if they have

*Dis cours e clelirered by Dr. ERX. NULLER of Lipp stad t at the 26th General Assem-bly of the Naturhistorisclien Verein fiir Rheinland uud We~t pha len, 860 Tra~lslntedinto Italian fro m the German with Annotations by Prof. F REDERIC DELPINO. Tmns-lated for the XATURALIST rom the Italian by R. L. PAcrinau.

t The lively sense of h t e r n a l friendship mliich unites me &ith the able aut.horof thisdiscourse callnot dissuade nie from expressing m y own views nrlienerer they differfrom his. I also an1 profoundly convinced tha t all variations w ere a t first merely phe-nomena of inilividnal varlntions subsequentl y fixed by the laws of hereditary d es re ~l t,

hartt ancient pottery 1871

Documents