KEPOET OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1909. 61 



all the tribes of the earth, to which he constantly added data from 

 the published works of travelers and by conversation with explorers. 

 On July 1, 1884, he was appointed curator of ethnology in the reor- 

 ganized museum. He immediately improved his opportunities in 

 arranging the collections, taking up one class of objects at a time, 

 installing it in scientific order, preparing labels, and finally publish- 

 ing the results of his researches. He took a special interest in the 

 geographic distribution of ethnological artifacts. His first major 

 publications, Throwing-Sticks in the National Museum and Basket- 

 Work of the North American Aborigines, mark an epoch in the his- 

 tory of ethnology. The idea which Professor Mason had in mind 

 was that each invention takes on tribal modifications the sum of 

 which is the range of variation; and these, over and above the en- 

 vironmental causes of variation, may give clew to the origin of the 

 invention and will reconstruct an interesting chapter of human 

 thought. The order of arrangement for study was geocultural, and 

 the descriptions according to natural history methods ; the specimens 

 thus accurately worked up became types. These papers evidently 

 grew out of the plan adopted by Professor Mason in arranging the 

 material under his charge. His associates often heard his injunction 

 to ' put like with like, and tribes and localities will take care of 

 themselves.' 



" The monographs cited were the forerunners of a series appear- 

 ing at frequent intervals, the last, a Vocabulary of Malaysian Bas- 

 ketwork, based on the W. L. Abbott collections, issuing from the 

 press on the day of his funeral. They are of the greatest value to 

 students, and being based on accurate scientific description can never 

 be superseded. The immediate and wide recognition of these works 

 was due to the fact that they conveyed a message in an intelligible, 

 even a literary form. The ardent desire to say the last word on the 

 specimens under study led him to so thoroughly examine their struct- 

 ure and function that he was as familiar with them as were their 

 original makers, and this proficiency he exacted of himself before 

 he published his results. His skill in the dissection of aboriginal 

 handiwork, especially in the textile art, was marvelous, and the 

 master}^ of intricate detail seemed to have a fascination for him, 

 bringing out his unusual powers as a mathematician. 



" The work of Professor Mason attracted great attention and gave 

 to students of ethnology throughout the world an interest in the Na- 

 tional Museum. Articles from his productive pen appeared in 

 numerous scientific journals and the Progress of Anthropology 

 which appeared in the annual reports of the Smithsonian Institution 

 required an intimate knowledge of the bibliography and advance of 

 the science. These summaries of annual progi'ess alone form a text- 

 book on anthropology. The two books which Professor Mason pub-* 



