Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-12-20
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
IN Laboratory, Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henri.

By Thomas r. Henry.
A fantastic gotterdammerung in the
Yucatan jungle, q twilight Of the mind
haunted by satyrlike fantasies hewn
into the forms Of grotesque stone giants
who wore human heads as pendants
around their necks, is the wierd sugges-
ton OF mysterious shattered affairs and
monuments just brought to light by
Carnegie Institution Psychologists.
They are interpreted as symbols Of
some dyonisian cult which probably arose
in the latter days Of the great Magyar
civilization.
When the Spaniards came in the latter
18th century the Maya mind was fading.
The white man came In time to deal q
death blow to an already decrepit cul-
ture The ogrelke figures now re-
ported are grotesque cariatures which,
says DR.. e. WHY'S Andrews, Carnegie
archeologist. cannot be connected with
anything definitely Magyar.
The main group, as described by Mr..
Andrews constitutes an elevated plaza,
about IS yards square. It's front and
sides are f1anked by long, low platform
mounds while at the back are three small
pyramids. In front Of these pyramids
and facing the plaza, Mr. Andrews
found two monuments carved from stone.
Both had fallen face forward and were
badly smashed. Dampness of centuries
had reduced some of the stone almost
to powder. Previous visitors, who had
made no reports of their finds, had
helped the destructive process by trying
to turn over heavy fragments OF the
broken figures.
One Of the monuments is a massive
structure. nearly II feet high and II feet
wide. The head Of the central figure is
missing and Mr.. Andrews sought for 1t
in vain when he returned to Merida,
largest city of Yucatan, where 1t might
have found It's way into some curio shop
The other and smaller figure also is
very crude with Short stunted legs a
small, plain body and simple face. 1t
also wears a human head pendant sus-
pended from its neck.
Just south of this monument, and also
facing the plaza, was found a figure
even more crude and massive. 1t con-
sisted of fragments buried in thick
bushes. The central fragment was so
heavy that it took five men with a rail-
road jack an entire day to turn it over
Originally, Mr.. Andrews believes, it must
have been about IL feet high and feet
wide. The general design Is much the
same as that Of the first monument, but
the carving Is simpler and cruder. 1t Is
one of the most massive monuments In
the entire Maya area.
About . mile away from this ruin Mr.
Andrews found q smaller shrine. The
fragment recovered Is that Of a monu-
ment which originally consisted Of .
central and five subsidiary figures. It
Is complete from the waist Of the central
figure up. This central figure has q
snake wound around its neck and holds
the head extended on one side and the
tail on the other. The smaller figures
have bullying foreheads, fiat noses and
thick lips which are grotesquely negroid
IN appearance.
On none Of the monuments. Mr. An
orews reports, were there any hero
glyphic inscriptions, such as were Gus
tomary with the Maya and would give
some clues to their dates and meaning.
There Is no evidence, MIR. Andrews
says. Of any foreign invaders in the terri
tory at the time these monuments must
have been carved. The portrayals, he
points out. represent the perfect antith-
esls OF the Magyar concepts Of beauty.
In one OF the late Magyar records, how
ever. there Is reference to naked in
vaders seeking men to eat"-from which
mas been postulated an invasion of the
Yucatan peninsula by Caribs from the
West Indies or Northern South America
But 1t seems highly improbable, he SAYS,
that such an invasion could have pene-
trated as far As Central Yucatan. and
even II 1t did the effect on local culture
would have been negligible.
The problem of the identity Of the two
mystery elements Of creation seems close
to solution.
This Is revealed by Prof. c. G. James,
noted British astronomer. in the annual
report OF the Smithsonian Institution.
The elements" are nebulium and
coronium. All creation supposedly is
composed Of 90 basic elements. All but
two or three Of these now have been
Isolated on earth. The light from any
one OF them when it is rendered luminous
can be split into its constituent wave
length lines with spectroscope. anc
physicists know that light line of any
element never is duplicated by one of
another element. Thus spectrum line
is an infallible Identification of the
substance emitting the light.
Early in the history Of spectroscopic
research it was found that a few lines
In the light Of the great nebulae did not
match those of any Of the known ele-
ments. These were chiefly lines of green
| light. The assumption was made that
they came from some element which
existed only IN outer space.
I'm many cases." says DR.. James,
Speculation overrode sound scientific
method and it was suggested by good
authorities that these celestial radiance
might be due to primeval world stuff
the cosmic protoplasmic fluid from which
the world had been manufactured in the
beginning. As new elements were discov-
cred their spectra lines were matched
with those of nebulium, but to no pur-
pose. None were found to coincide. 1t
gradually came to be accepted that the
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