The general outlines of the development of architecture, wherein the ancient builders were stimulated to the best use of the exceptional materials about them both by the difficult conditions of their semidesert environment and by constant necessity for protection against their neighbors, can be traced in its various stages of growth from the primitive conical lodge to its culmination in the large communal village of many-storied terraced buildings which were in use at the time of the Spanish discovery, and which still survive in Zuñi. Yet the various steps have resulted from a simple and direct use of the material immediately at hand, while methods gradually improved as frequent experiments taught the builders to utilize more fully the local facilities. In all cases the material was derived from the nearest available source, and often variations in the quality of the finished work are due to variations in the quality of the stone near by. The results accomplished attest the patient and persistent industry of the ancient builders, but the work does not display great skill in the construction or the preparation of material. The same desert environment that furnished an abundance of material for the ancient builders, from its inhospitable character and the constant variations in the water supply, also compelled the frequent use of this material in the change of house and village sites. This was an important factor in bringing about the degree of advancement attained in the art of building. The distinguishing characteristics of Pueblo architecture may therefore be regarded as the product of a defensive motive and of an arid environment that furnished an abundance of suitable building material, and at the same time the climatic conditions that compelled its frequent employment. The cultural distinctions once drawn by writers between the Pueblo Indians and neighboring tribes gradually become less clearly defined as they have been intelligently studied. An understanding of their social and religious system establishes the essential identity in their grade of culture with that of other tribes. In many of the arts, too, such as weaving and ceramics, these people in no degree surpass many tribes who build ruder dwellings. Though they have progressed far beyond their neighbors in architecture, many of the devices employed attest the essentially primitive character of their art, and demonstrate that the apparent distinction in grade of culture is mainly due to the exceptional condition of their environment. This important and timely paper furnishes new evidence taken from one of the strongholds of sentimental phantasy to show that there is no need for the hypothesis of an extinct race with dense population and high civilization to account for the conditions actually existing in North America before the European discovery. CEREMONIAL OF HASJELTI DAILJIS AND MYTHICAL SAND PAINTING OF THE NAVAJO INDIANS, BY JAMES STEVENSON.