ion between them being first found in the middle name. They
were little creatures, scarcely larger than well grown girls of eleven
or twelve among ourselves. Some old women, with grey hair and wrinkled
faces who piously kissed our hands when they met us, were among the
smallest. Now and then some young woman or girl was attractive, but
usually their faces were suspicious, sad, and old before their time. The
skin was a rich brown; the eyebrows heavily haired, often meeting above
the nose; the hair grew low upon the forehead, and in young women the
forehead itself was covered with a fine downy black growth. The nose
was flat, broad, and depressed at the roots, while its tip was flat and
wide. The eyes were dark brown and the hair was black and coarse. If we
were to judge the population by the women only, we might call the
Otomis true pygmies. The average stature of 28 subjects was 1,435
millimeters--while Sir William Flower's limit for pygmy peoples is 1,500
millimeters.

[Illustration: OTOMI INDIAN GIRLS; HUIXQUILUCAN]

[Illustration: THE MOON-STONE, AT DOS RIOS STATION]

Many of the women whom we measured and photographed carried babies; the
disposition of the children while the mothers were being examined was
something of a problem. When given to another woman they usually cried
lustily, and so conducted themselves as to distract the attention of
their mothers and interfere seriously with our work. In the crowd of
lookers-on there chanced to be a little girl, surely not more than ten
years old, who seemed to be a born caretaker. Upon her back, supported
by her _ayate_, she carried her own baby brother. We quickly found that
really refractory babies were best committed to her charge. No matter
how loudly they might have been crying beforehand, when transferred to
the arms of this little creature they became instantly quiet. The poor
little thing was kept busily employed the greater part of the afternoon
with the two babies, one upon her back, the other in her arms.

Almost all the women wear the ancient costume, which consists of the
_huipil, enagua, faja_, and _ayate_. The _huipil_ is a cotton blanket,
with a slit through which the head passes. On each side of the slit are
bands of patterns embroidered in bright colors. Much of the remaining
surface of the garment may be similarly decorated; sometimes it becomes
one mass of designs. The patterns are usually geometrical figures, but
may be representations of animals,