Without pretending to furnish an exhaustive treatment of the subject proposed for this chapter, we desire to make observations on some phases of the development of American civilization in the Pre-Historic period. One of the most natural fruits of the study of the arts and customs of any people, is a disposition on the part of the investigator to institute a comparison with corresponding features of civilization in all parts of the world. Unfortunately this disposition has led many writers on America into wild and fanciful speculations, which tend only to deceive the reader and add nothing to true investigation. In a few instances pronounced old world analogies have been proven to exist in ancient American institutions and arts, but their number bears a small ratio to the multitude of fancied analogies which never existed, except in the imaginations of their discoverers. To discuss the subject in hand without transcending the limits of the period which is treated in previous chapters, namely, the Primitive period—that which antedates the era of the annals of those ancient peoples, is a somewhat difficult task, since the question of dates is a very uncertain one in the absence of any sufficient key to the hieroglyphic and picture records. The customs and political organization, together with the Aztec civilization, have been often treated, and by none better than our own Prescott and Bancroft. The repetition of their labors here would be highly superfluous. We shall, however, ask the attention of the reader to some considerations upon the following divisions of the subject: 1. ARCHITECTURE. 2. SCULPTURE and HIEROGLYPHICS. 3. CHRONOLOGICAL and ASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE. 4. RELIGIOUS ANALOGIES.