The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-09-14
SOME NEW BOOkA.



Ono OF tho most distinguished OF french
Am&-icoinistes. Prof. ALBERT REvILLE was this
year invited to deliver tho Hilbert lectures. ana
Q Translation OF them 10 now published By the
eorlbners. II was tho primary purpose OF the
lecturer to describe The Ndtire Religions Of
Nessco s~d I|sr,. but he was naturally led to dis
cuss tho origin and histories OF the peoples
concerned. and to present a general picture OF
their civilizations OF which religion WINS out
opa though. indeed An excep tiopa oily conspicu-
Gus feature. 1t Ia some OF his conclusions on
controversial points and not Immediately con-
nsoted with the Indigenous religions. to which
American renders will turn with special curl
osity: for although Prof. R6vile Is not himself
nm archaeological explorer he In ono OF the mon
best qualified TO make deductions from mato-
rial Cleaned by other hands. students OF pre-
historic America are Interested In learning tue
Vows OF n scientist OF his authority respecting
the source Of the civilizations encountered by
Cortez and Pizarro. and touching tho further
question upon which some American writer's
have cast doubt, whether tho grade and quality
Of those civilizations were not grossly over
rated In the narratives Of the Spanish con-
Quorore.
Waving consideration Of tho mound build
srs OF the Mississippi valley. who constitute q
distinct problem, American arch,pologists have.
on the whole. evinced tendency to postulate
two independent ciyiliZing foci In North
America one In tho valley OF Anahu8c. and tho
other In or near the peninsula Of Yucatan. To
tho group OF tribes which successfully &C.
Quired ascendnncy In the Northern region-the
last three members OF the series are known TO
us AZ Toltscs. Chichimece and Aztecs--f has
been customary to give the generic name OF
Nahua. while the races that reared tho edifces
Of Uxma Copan. PalonIue. and Utatlan In
Central America and iucatan have usually
boon regarded as belonging to distinct Maya
stock. Tho author Of these lectures re-
iects tho theory OF twofoid source. anu
refers oil tho aboriginal civilization OF
North America to single founAinhoad.
1t was. he thinks. the nation or race
called Maya. whose proper centre lay In Yucca
tan. which should 10 exclusively credited with
the genesis Of all tho native CIVILIZATIONS that
hourished IN the tract now coVerou py tho re-
public OF Mexico. as VOL as IN tue terrtory OF
tho present Central American States. To Yu-
catan. tho birthplace OF the civilzlng Impulse,
tho cultivation OF maize was what tho growth
OF wheat was to Egypt and Mesopo,ama or
that OF rice to India and China. the material
condition. namely. OF precocious civilization.
for as no goes on to remark: The primitive
civilizations could not DO developed except
where an abundant cereal raised man above
rescued him from the all-engrossing fatigues
and tho dangerous uncertainties OF hunters
lile.
But how. on this hypothesis. shall we account
for the appearance OF civilization not only In
the valley OF Anahuac but as far north as
Arizona and the upper waters Of tho Rio
0rande? The lecturer would explain these
phenomena in the following way: The Maya
race. having adopted the agricultural and
sedentary lifo. multiplied so greatly a. to sond
out many swarms OF colonists toward tho
north. where the Nahuas. that Is to say. tho
skilled ones lfor so tho emigrants from tho
Maya land wero calsdl found men OF the same
race as themselves. to whom they impaired
their superior knowledge. They kept on push
Ing northward. established themselves on the
great plateau Of Anahuac. or lake country
where the city OF Mexico is situated, and ad-
vanced up to the somewhat indefinite limit op
posed to their progress BY tho redskins." II
We understand Prof. R6ville. he suppose this
northward movement to have started at a very
remote date, probably long before the begin
ming OF the Christian era. and to have contin
ued with more or less persistent energy. until
arenex emigration from the north sOt in not long
after tho partially Civilized Goths and Franks
had in II nearly analogous way invaded the Ro-
man empire. 1t is suggested TINT during its
long process OF expansion northward. the
Maya civilization may have experienced great
DEVELOPMENTS and undergone numerous modi-
fcatons. 80 that. without venturing to pro-
nounce categorically upon problem yet un-
solved should myself DO inclined to ascribe
70 population which either consisted Of bands
Of emigrant Mayas or was Affected by this
Nahua movement those mounds which still
throw their calling defiance at the modern
methods OF research"
This theory has tho merit OF extreme sim
plicity. and accommodates itself to facts not
otherwise easily explicnble. II Yucatan really
bore to North American civilization tho same
generative relation that Egypt and Mesopota-
mia occupied to the far younger civilizations
Of Asia Minor Greece. and Italy. We can under
stand why the ruins Of Uxmal and Palanaue
should indicate that vast amount Of time has
passed since the overthrow Of those cities and