ther of the warrior Chaacmol, whose
statue we exhumed from 8 meters below the soil in Chichen Itza, during the
year 1876; which statue was afterward robbed from us by the Mexican
government, and is now in the museum at Mexico city. The stone out of
which the beautiful head is cut is not polished, but wrought so finely as
to almost imitate the texture of the skin. It is decidedly a good looking
face. The nostrils are most delicately chiseled, and the cartilage
pierced; the eyes are open, and clearly marked. On the right cheek is his
totem, a fish traced in exceedingly small cross bars. The forehead is well
formed, not retreating, and incircled by a diadem composed of small disks,
from the front of which projects a perfect fish's head. The hair is short
in front, and hangs like a fringe on the upper part of the forehead, but
is longer at the sides, hanging in straight locks.
On the wall against which this monument is built, feathers are
sculptured, forming a canopy. Such a superb _chef d'oeuvre_ proves beyond
doubt that the Maya artists were in no way inferior to those of Assyria
and Egypt.
Having been so unjustly deprived of Chaacmol without any remuneration for
our time, labor, and expenditure, we decided to save the Cay monument from
destruction at any cost, for should any ignorant persons attempt to move
it, they would break it in so doing; so, after making a mould of it, we
guarded it most securely, as we considered best, afterward inclosing it
with planks, then built it up and left it as we had found it.
Sr. Don Romero Ancona, then Governor of Yucatan, was very much provoked
because we would not reveal the whereabouts of our find, but gained
nothing by it, and the beautiful monument is still safe.
ALICE D. LE PLONGEON.
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Rolled gold is made by casting an ingot of brass, and while this is still
hot pouring upon it a thin layer of gold alloy. The ingot when cold is
forced between steel rollers until a long, thin ribbon is produced, of
which the proportion of gold and brass is the same as of the ingot. The
percentage of gold is reduced as low as two and three per cent. This
rolled gold is used in making cheap bracelets and watch chains. It wears
from one to ten years.
A CATALOGUE, containing brief notices of many important scientific papers
heretofore published in the SUPPLEMENT, may be had gratis at this office.
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