38 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1907. 



KESKAKi IIKS. 



Ill the division of physical iiiithroiK)logy Doctor Hrdlicka, assist- 

 ant curator, conipk'tcd coiiiparativc studios on oran<j skulls from 

 Western liorneo, on tlic cranial fossa* in man nnd the liinhci- primates, 

 and on the osteological specimens in the collection iiavin«>: relation to 

 (he anti(iuity of man in America. He also continued lii-. investi<2:a- 

 (ions on the racial variations of the humerus, the brain \vei»>:ht in 

 animals, and tlie action of preser\at ives on the l)rain. Studies on the 

 oran<>' skeleton and on the cranial capacity of Indians wt're taken uj). 

 In the course of and foi' the heneHt cd' hi- researches. Doctor Hrd- 

 licka visited tiie College of riiysiciaiis and Surgeons, New York; 

 La\al Tnixersity, Quebec: Anastasia Island, on the east coast of 

 Florida, and the States of Nebraska and Iowa. 



Professor Mason, head curator, and Doctor Hough, assistant cu- 

 rator of ethnology, were mainly occupied in studying the aborigi- 

 nal culture of the Malays and otlier peoples of the East Indies, as 

 exemplified in the large collections made and presented b}' Dr. W. L. 

 Abbott. Doctor Hough continued his work on the history of heating 

 and illumination and on the Pueblo collections, and completed two 

 papers, one on the agave as a cuhiiic plant, tiie otiu-r cm the palm and 

 agave as nuture ])lants. An account of the Museum-Gates expedition 

 of 1905 has been begun. A large series of Kskimo ivory needlecases 

 was lent to Dr. Frank Boas, of Columbia Universitv, tor use in a 

 special investigation on the development of ornament and in his gen- 

 ei-al work on the Jesup North Pacific Expedition. 



Mr. Holmes, curator of i)rehistoi-ic ai'clieologv. made extensive use 

 of the collections of that division in tiie prei)ai'ation of numerous 

 descriptive articles for the Handbook of American Indians, the first 

 volume of whicli was issued by the liureau of American Ethnology 

 about the close of the fiscalyear. In the course of this work he also 

 made more detailed studies for embodiment in a monographic j^aper 

 on stone implements. 



The assistant curator of historic religions. Doctor Casanowicz, has 

 in course of preparation a description of the exhibition collection of 

 ■Jewish religious rites and ceremonials, which is probably the finest 

 in the country. 



Many persons visited the Museum for the ]:)urpose of examining 

 specimens in ethnolog}' and archeology, and a lew hits of specimens 

 were also lent to assist in the conduct of investigations elsewhere. 



Some of the more important biological researches completed dur- 

 ing the year are best indicated by the titles of the resulting publica- 

 tions, such as the fourth part of the work on the Birds of North and 



