Milford chronicle., 1893-05-26


THE RUINS OF YUcATAN.
strapped tightly across their craniums.
But It is noticeable that this and similar
customs have existed among savage peo.
pies in many parts Of the world.
For months doctors and medical stu
dents have been going through the public
schools of the large American cities meas.
uring the heads and bodies Of boys and
girls. Probably many who read this letter
have had their heads measured, and as yet
do not clearly understand the why and
wherefore. All these measurements-and
many thousands Of them were taken-ap-
pear here in most interesting form.
There are diagrams and charts showing
tho shapes of heads Of American boys and
girls who have had the advantages Of good
homes and educational development, and
these are compared with charts Of the
heads of children of less favored peoples.
Very interesting are the diagrams Of the
heads in Japan, and the charts which
show the influence mental training has
had upon the brains of the boys and girls
in American Indian schools.
The mumrlies carry us back a good
ways along the vista Of time. There are
two or three hundred of them in all, and
they come from the tombs Of the Incas Of
Peru, from the caves Of the cliff-dwellers
in Utah and New Mexico, from the burial
places Of the ancient Egyptians and from
the graves of the prehistoric people who
inhabited the region now known as Brit
ish Columbia. Except in two or three Of
the great government museums Of Eu-
rope no such collection of mummies as this
exists anywhere. The specimens from
South America, which are more numerous
than the other types, were collected by
Professor Dorsey Of Harvard university,
who was employed for sixteen months in
tho work. He and his assistants opened
127 graves and tOmbs and obtained ls5
mummies. Some of the specimens were
obtained by excavation Of great heaps Of
sand, and these are the finest in the lot be
cause they were intact, with all their cary.
ipS. -and paraphernalia. Nearly all the
ll..~11s, Ntombs in Peru have been rayaged
BY the mCderns who eagerly sought thu
valuable trinkets Of gold, silver and pre-
cious stones which were buried with the
bodies of the rich.
They are not pretty things, these mum
mics. They are ugly, almost, as death
itself They show the remnants Of theil
teeth, the black strings Of matted OF
braided hair, thu shriveled limbs Otter
without feet or hands, their eyeless eye
sockets in a manner & -.Elated to make
the blood run cold. TIL - - mar Foe2s q q
the collection, already u oI, was OBJ.
yiously q man Of considd De importance
when he walked the cart something like
a thousand or twelve huIfdred years ago.
Professor Dorsey told 5he how "He, y as
the mummy is generally called by the
men who work about the building, was
found;
"iHe' had evidently seen better days"
said the professor, f'for he was not pitched
headlong into a J ple and covered over with
sand, as most his companions in the
burial place q Ancon plains had been.
It was in a N i'd way that we came
upon him. rods to penetrate the
coil. and When Unusual resistance 70 its
progress was encountered we generally
dug down and found a mummy. On this
occasion the native who was manipulating
the rod for me found himself unable to
push the instrument farther within the
sand. As this was an every day occurrence
1 thought nothing Of it and would have
passed on had not tho native called me
back and insisted there was something eX-
traordinary buried underneath. We re-
moved the surface sand and came upon o
bed of hard clay; then we knew we had
found something worth our attentions for
there Is no clay within 200 miles Of the
Ancon. Under the bed Of clay we found a
roof that had been made of bamboo splints
lashed together with willow withes. Upr
der this was the grave proper, It was .
CIRCULAR hole ten feet deep and IN the cen-
ter of it, sitting on his launches, was He. :
From two stakes, one on his right and the
other on his left, hung two gonfalonss the
one at his right being red flag and hay
ing embroidered upon it a perfect Greek
sigma.
'.All around, - continued Professor Dor.
sey, s'were scattered articles Of the finest
pottery Examine them carefully and you
will see that they arc Of superior design
and workmanship. AS we found thep
they contained grain and vegetables, some
what shrivelled, of course, but IN q re-
markable state Of preservation. 1t was
easy to determine the contents Of the Jars
to be corn, beans, potatoes, dried she'll
fish and other articles Of food. One jar
had evidently contained a huid, put there
TO ouench the thirst of the mummy It
seemed almost a pity to disturb such an
august parsonage after a thousand years
Of rest, but we wanted him at the World 2
fair and here he is.
even Ia. mention the interesting exhibits
In this building which reach out into the
dark past and throw light upon the con.
dition and the development Of mankind
through the ages. In fact, one may trace
the growth Of his race from the rudest
savagery to its present high state Of ciyili-
zation. It is wonderful object lesson in
the history Of mankind. Here the eye Of
the visitor is carried back to the days OF
the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Romans
the Egyptians. Their tombs, their ruins
have been ransaeked that we may have
the object lessons Of what they were and
Of how they lived, their religion, their
sports, their battles, their agriculture,
1 their domestic establishments, their arts
and their industries It would be difficult
to imagine anything more interesting, and
/ predict that this buildings small beside
its mammoth neighbors but mighty in
the ages Of time and periods Of human
change and progress which it covers, will
soon be crowded from early morning till
/ late at night.
The outdoor exhibit is quite as fascinat
/ ing as that within tile building 1t IS q
sort OF supplement to the interior display
/ Here are not only the tents, boats
weapons clothing and utensils Of primi
I tive peoples, but the people themselves
\ On the 81 ores Of the pond near the Anthro
biological building are grouped representa-
I tives Of various tribes Of Indians from
North America. They live IN their priml
Guaranteed Cure.