Woman in Science / With an Introductory Chapter on Woman's Long Struggle for Things of the Mind

by J. A. Zahm

That American women have not been behind their sisters in Europe in their enthusiasm for archæological investigation is evinced by the researches and writings of Miss Alice C. Fletcher and Mrs. Zelia Nuttall, both of whom enjoy an international reputation in the learned world.

Miss Fletcher's chosen field of labor has been in ethnology and anthropology. Her studies of the folk lore and the manners and customs of various tribes of North American Indians have a distinct and permanent value, while those of her contributions which have been published by the Smithsonian Institution and the Bureau of Ethnology—contributions based on personal knowledge of a long residence among the tribes she writes about—show that she has exceptional talent for the branches of archæology to which she has devoted many years of earnest and successful study.

Mrs. Nuttall is the daughter of an American mother and an English father. Thanks to the care that was bestowed on her education by her parents and to her long residence in the different countries of Europe, she is proficient in seven languages. This knowledge of tongues has been of inestimable advantage to her in her researches in European libraries and in those historical and archæological investigations which have rendered her famous. She has devoted special attention to the early history, languages, religions and calendar systems of the primitive inhabitants of Mexico and Central America, in all of which she is a recognized authority.

When, some years ago, the mysterious ruins of Mexico began to attract the special attention of archæologists, Mrs. Nuttall was selected by the University of California as the field director of the commission which it sent to pursue archæological researches in this Egypt of the New World. A more competent or a more enthusiastic director could not have been chosen. Her finds in the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon at Teotihuacan and elsewhere in our sister republic were especially important. In recognition of her achievements President Porfirio Diaz nominated Mrs. Nuttall honorary professor in the Mexican National Museum. She was also offered the position of curator of the archæological Museum of Mexico; but this office she declined. She holds membership in a large number of learned societies in America and Europe and is a frequent contributor to numerous magazines on historical and archæological subjects. She has had the good fortune to discover a number of important manuscripts illustrating the early history of Mexico. Chief among these are a Hispano-American manuscript which she dug out of one of the libraries of Madrid and another which was found in a private collection in England and reproduced in facsimile in this country. In honor of its fair discoverer it is now known as the Codex Nuttall, and is regarded by experts as one of the most precious records of ancient Mexico.

What is probably Mrs. Nuttall's most valuable contribution to archæological science is her erudite work entitled The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World Civilizations. It is a comparative research based on a study of the ancient Mexican, religious, sociological and calendar systems, and represents thirteen years of assiduous labor. It is a worthy monument to the scientific ability of this gifted Americanist, and one which brilliantly illumines some of the most controverted points of comparative archæology.

The Nestor of women archæologists is Donna Ersilia Caetani-Bovatelli—the daughter of the famous Dante scholar, the late Duke Don Michel Angelo Caetani-Sermonetta. Since the days of Boniface VIII, whom Dante scornfully denounced as lo principe de' Pharisei, the family of the Caetani has been one of the most illustrious of the Roman nobility, and is to-day ranked with those of the Colonna and Orsini.

Besides his thorough knowledge of Dante, whose Divina Commedia he regarded as the great artistic production of the human mind—a work which he knew by heart—the Duke of Sermonetta was deeply versed in philology and archæology. No one was more familiar with the history and antiquities of Rome than he was, nor a greater friend and patron of scholars of every nationality. The Palazzo Caetani was the resort of not only the savants of Rome, but also and especially of those who gathered from all quarters of the world to study the rich collections of antiquities for which the Eternal City is so famous. Here the ablest authorities in history and archæology discussed the latest discoveries among the ruins of Greece and Asia Minor, and the most recent finds in the Forum or amidst the crumbling ruins of the palaces of the Cæsars.

Having such a father and brought up in such an environment it is not surprising that Donna Ersilia acquired at an early age that taste for archæology which was, as events proved, to constitute the chief occupation of her long and busy life. Having enjoyed and studied literature and the languages under the best masters in Rome, she was thoroughly prepared for the work of deciphering Greek and Latin inscriptions and for an intelligent study of the ancient monuments of Italy and Hellas.

Her learned countryman, A. de Gubernatis, assures us that she has such a thorough knowledge of Latin and Greek that she writes both with ease and elegance, and that she is endowed with an admirable memory for philology and archæology. Besides being a mistress of several modern languages, she is also familiar with Sanscrit.

Since the death of her husband, in 1879, she has devoted all her time, outside of that given to the care and education of her children, to the pursuit of classical archæology, in which she has long been regarded as an authority of the first order. Her salon, unlike those of the frivolous leaders of high life, has for many years been the favorite rendezvous in Rome of learned men and women from every clime. Here were seen the noted historians Gregorovius, Theodore Mommsen, and Giovanni Battista de Rossi, the illustrious founder of Christian archæology. Here the representatives of the French, German and American schools of archæology meet to exchange views on their favorite science and to find inspiration in the knowledge and enthusiasm of their gifted hostess, who always takes an active part in their recondite discussions, and never fails to contribute her share to these meetings, which have contributed so much toward the advancement of science and the history of antiquity. Whether the discussion turn on the deciphering of an ancient text, the inscription of a monument or a recently excavated sarcophagus, Donna Ersilia's opinion is eagerly sought, and her judgment is generally unerring.