The Rock Island Argus., 1882-02-09
+. The Ruins of Yucatar,,

DR.. Augustus Plongeon, now ex-
amining the ruins of Yucatan, writes as
follows to Marshall P. Wilder, of the
New England Historical and Geneolo-
gical Society; "I have discovered
among the ruins of Mayapan the
gromon used by the astronomers of that
city, also complete masonic temple,
with symbols and hieroglyphics. ]
have found the portraits of the foun-
defs of cities, and interpreted the mean
ing of certain ornaments that have been
misunderstood by other travellers. /
have ascertained that the key to the
ancient Maya alphabet is the true one,
and by its means Mrs. DR.. Plongeon
and myself have been able to read the
names of the founders and those of the
cities. have found that this alphabet
contains letters and characters belong
ing to the Egyptian, Etruscan, and
Chaldean alphabets, and also that the
Maya language is akin to all the an
Gent languages spoken by men in ages
long gone by. My studies have caused
me to believe that the founders of the
first Chaldean monarchy were Maya
and probably the people who colonized
Egypt and brought civilization to that
country. You must remember that the
Egyptian priests always pointed to the
west when asked concerning the birth
place of their ancestry"
A Dog Story.
4 curious and interesting expert
ment has been tried to ascertain the
faculty by which animals find their way
back to familiar places after being re-
moved to long distances. In order to
prevent any knowledge that might be
IL Il ~
ditions, a dog was placed under the in
huence of chloroform, put in charge of
q conductor on night freight train, and
sent from Cincinnati to Somerset, Ky,
distance of 1870 miles. The conductor
reports that on the way the dog slept
soundly, except an occasional groan
like Christian in whisky fit" In
the early twilight of the morning after
the start, while the train was taking on
wood at side track eighteen miles
from Somerset, he escaped from the ca
boose and started off in a ''dazed sort of
way but when pursued gathered
himself up and disappeared across
meadow. Thirty-eight hours after
wards he made his appearance in Gin
cinnati, having passed over the distance
of 142 miles. Some time afterward the
same dog was put under the influence
of ether and his nose bandaged to pre-
vent the use of his scent faculty. He
was then placed in a wicker basket,
and putting him upon an elevated train
he was taken southwest to Danville
Junction, east to Grab Orchard, then
northeast to hunting rendezvous near
Berea. Here he was. kept i'll a wood
shed and closely confined over night.
The next morning he was taken out on
the farm and turned loose. He i'm
mediately started for home-not by the
way he had come but in bee-line for
Cincinnati He had no appearance of
being lost, but with head erect pushed
forward as if he knew the way perfect
ly. He crossed two broad rivers and
three steep mountain ranges, and had
to pass by or through five towns, the
centers of u bewildering net work of
roads and by roads. He had never
been in the east part of the country be-
fore, nor within sixty miles Of Berea.
The wind was not from the direction of
Cincinnati when he took his course, and
yet four days afterwards he came to his
master on the streets of Cincinnati, wa
and full of burs. Now, the
question is. what induced the dog to
walk due north? 1t could not have
been memory, for there was nothing to
and it does not seem possi-
BILE that it could have been scent.-1he
PoLng5S.