abstracts: anthropology 201 



catch against their surfaces caterpillars driven by winds. The larvae 

 possess hairs, called aerostatic hairs, Avith a small globular swelling near 

 the base, which are supposed to aid in bouyancy. J. C. Crawford. 



ENTOMOLOGY.— ne Argentine ant. Wilmon Newell and T. C. 

 Barber. Bureau of Entomology Bulletin 122: 1-98, pis. 1-13. 

 June 26, 1913. 

 A detailed account of the life-history and habits of Iridomyrnex 

 humilis. This introduced species, found thus far in Louisiana, Mis- 

 sissippi, Alabama, and California, is extremely destructive to foods in 

 houses and stores and also to crops, owing to its habit of protecting 

 injurious insects which feed upon the sugar cane and corn. Its presence 

 in orange groves is followed by rapid increase of destructive scale-in- 

 sects on the trees, causing severe injury. In cotton fields where the 

 boll weevil is present it is indirectlj^ the cause of damage by annihilat- 

 ing native ants which destroy many of the immature stages of the boll 

 weevil. It may also be found presently to be an important agent in the 

 spread of disease, since individuals congregate in great numbers around 

 garbage pails, etc., and are frequently hard to keep out of sick rooms. 

 Methods *of natural control and of repression, including the use of re- 

 pellents and insecticides, are discussed. J. C. Crawford, 



ANTHROPOLOGY.^ — Preliminary report on the linguistic classifica- 

 tion of Algonquian tribes. T. Michelson. 28th Ann. Rept. Bur, 

 Amer. Ethnology, pp. 221-290b. 1912 [pub. 1913]. 

 Algonquian tribes linguistically fall into four major divisions— 

 Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Eastern-Central. The Eastern- 

 Central major division is divisible into two subtypes. Central and 

 Eastern. The Central subtype has, furthermore, groupings within 

 itself: Cree-Montagnais, Menominee, Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo, and Shaw- 

 nee; Ojibwa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Algonkin, and Peoria, together with 

 Miami, etc.; Delaware and Munsee; and Natick. The Eastern sub- 

 type may be divided into two groups — Micmac, on the one hand, and the 

 other extant dialects (Abnaki, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Malecite), 

 which collectively may be designated Abnaki, on the other. The inti- 

 mate connection of Eastern Algonquian with Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo, as 

 well as with Shawnee, should be emphasized. The above classifica- 

 tion is based on a study of the consonantic clusters of the various dia- 

 lects, the pronouns of the present independent and subjunctive modes, 

 together with certain phonetic and other considerations. The map 

 shoAving the distriljution and interrelation of the Algonquian dialects 

 was prepared "wnth the collaboration of Dr. John R. Swanton. T. M 



