A N THROPOLOGIC LITER A TURE 5 6 S
den Verhandlungen des Deutschen Wissenschaftlichen Vereins in Santiago, Band iv.) Valparaiso : 1898. 8°, 53 pp.
In these critical publications, the well-known philologist of Santiago de Chile undertakes to rectify what he conceives to be serious errors, both in methods and results, on the part of an equally well-known student of Amerindian languages at secondhand. Dr Lenz has the immeasurable advantage of personal acquaintance with the native tribes whose activities have interested him so deeply, and whose tongues he has so industriously and faithfully recorded ; and his expressions are ac- cordingly entitled to serious and respectful attention. His " Conclu- siones " translated freely from the first-named critique are as follows : (1) The introduction relating to the Araucanos abounds in incongru- ities. (2) The grammar comprised in the book is a mediocre trans- lation into French of the most incomplete of the ancient grammars, viz : that of Padre Luis de Valdivia, 1606. (3) The extracts from the vocabularies of Valdivia and FebreVLarsen are uncritical, and contain many hundreds of mistranslations and manifest errors. (4) The Araucanian texts from Valdivia are badly reprinted and worse analyzed ; those taken from the " Estudios Araucanos " [of the author] are so dis- figured by misinterpretations of phonetic signs and of words as to be rendered useless. (5) In consequence, the whole book is entirely with- out utility or the slightest value ; it adds nothing to our knowledge of the language, and is quite inferior to the works of the missionaries of past centuries. (6) By reason of the thousands of errors and imperfec- tions, /"/ is utterly impossible to use the work either for scientific or practical Purposes. In his final conclusion, Dr Lenz questions M. de la Gras- serie's scientific knowledge and even his scientific and literary integrity, and ends by expressing the hope that the publication of such works on the American languages may be discontinued.
W J McGee.
Chess and Playing- Cards. By Stewart Culin. (Annual Report of
the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution . . .
Report of the U. S. National Museum, 1896.) Washington, 1898. 8°, pp. 665-942, pis. 1-50.
During recent years anthropologists have given much attention to games, especially those of primitive peoples. Various publica- tions have resulted. The eminent Briton, Tylor, has described and dis- cussed the games of the Amerinds ; Cushing has brought out the exceeding significance of the arrow in primitive games ; Director Culin has issued a luminous monograph on the games of Korea, China, and
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