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Show 204 VII, No. 3 (July, 1947), pp. 199-210. English summary: The creative power of the American Indian, amply recorded, if we recall his great material achievements (marvelous architecture and art which evoke a sense of splendor, in buildings, cities, public systems of irrigation and roads); his conquests along social lines (collective systems, just laws, etc.); his urge for the philosophic investigation of life (examination of the truth and the formation of great religious beliefs) and his attainments in the field of abstract science (like the mathematico-astronomical knowledge of the Mayas); etc., must be explained in part, according to Dr. Montano, as results of his peculiar biological characteristics, directly influenced by the location in which destiny had placed him. The author elucidates, as basis for this argument, a series of extremely important geo-biological reasons, referring particularly to the Andean Indian, whose physiology has peculiar characteristics which merit greater study on the part of doctors as well as anthropologists and legislators. Later on, he speaks of tribes, some of which live on the plains and others in the forest, like the Arazaira tribe, of whom, in passing, he makes a brief ethnographic description. The article, which is an ardent defense of the Indian, based on a book which the author has in preparation, ends referring to the material aid which the Indian of the United States has given Latin America, achieved only with the disinterested collaboration of his racial brother: the Indian. 1948 Metraux, Alfred (Estados Unidos), "Ensayos de Mitologia Comparada Sud-americana," America Indigena, VIII, No. 1 (January, 1948), Mexico, D.F., pp. 9-30. English summary: The first systematic attempt to compare South American mythological and folklore motifs was made by Paul Ehrenreich in 1905. Since that time, much material has been collected and it has become imperative to undertake new comparative studies. This article deals with certain myths of origin which play such an important part of South American lore. The origin of mankind is explained in two different ways; the first men were created by a God or a Culture Hero, or they came from some subterranean region or from the sky. The creation myths tell how the God or the Hero made the first man out of clay, bullrushes, wood or stone, often after several failures. The theme of the several imperfect mankinds which preceded our own race offers in South America startling parallels with the Centro-American successive ages anterior to our time. The first men are often described as the inhabitants of another world or of caves who emerged on the surface looking for game or |