REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 41 



language at the Educational Home for Indian buys in Philadelphia. Special atten- 

 tion was given to the Wichita verb, which, like the verb of all the Caddoau lan- 

 guages, is highly complex in its inflections anil in the perm itability of its conso- 

 nants. From October 1 up to the end of April Mr. Gatschet was occupied in the 

 study of the Peoria, Shawnee (or Shawano), Arapaho, and Cheyenne languages in 

 Indian Territory. Eight weeks were devoted to the Peoria language, during which 

 period over three thousand terms and a corresponding number of phrases and sen- 

 tences were collected and revised. This study is deemed of exceptional interest, 

 since no texts of the Peoria language arc known to have appeared in print. 



The Shawnee was tin- language next taken up. Assisted in the field by good 

 interpreters, Dr. Gatschet obtained copies and reliable material in texts of the 

 phraseology and terms of the Shawnee language, a number of verbal and nominal 

 paradigms, and a choice selection of instances showing the multiplicity of duplication. 



Subsequently he took up the Arapaho and Cheyenne languages. Both are nasal- 

 izing ami are spoken in several dialects differing but little from each other. Ample 

 collections were made of lexical and phraseological material, with texts and some 

 poetic specimens. The ethnographic study of these genuine prairie Indians is highly 

 interesting, since they have had but a few years of intercourse with the white man 

 and his civilizing, as well as corrupting, influences. 



.Mr. Hewitt continued his work on the Iroquoian languages, with which he is 

 thoroughly familiar. He was able to ascertain and formulate the principles or canons 

 governing the number, kind, and position of notional stems in symphrases, or word- 

 sentences. Six rules are formulated which establish and govern the morphologic 

 ground plan of words and word-sentences. These are as follows: 



First. The simple or the compound stem of a notional word of a word-sentence 

 may not be emp.oyed as an element of discourse without a prefixed simple or com- 

 plex personal pronoun, or sign or flexion denotive of gender, the pretixion of the 

 latter taking place with nouns only. 



Second. Only two notional stems may be combined in the same word-sentence, 

 and they must belong respectively to different parts of speech. 



Third. An adjective-stem may not combine with a verb-stem, but it may unite 

 with the formative tha\ to make or cause, or with the inchoative c. 



Fourth. The stem of a verb or adjective may combine with the stem of a noun, 

 and such stem of a verb or adjed ive must be placed after and never before the noun- 

 stem. 



Fifth. A qualificative or other word or element must not be interposed between 

 the two combined stems of compound notional words, nor between the simple or 

 compound notional stem and its simple or complex pronominal prefix. 



Sixth. Derivative and formative change may be effected only by the pretixion or 

 suffixion of suitable flexions to tin- morphologies fixed by the foregoing rules or 

 canons. 



Mr. Hewitt also continued his general study of the Iroquoian languages de- 

 scribed in previous reports, and collected additional material relating to the man- 

 ners, customs, and history of the Iroquis Indians, chiefly by translation and abstrac- 

 tion from the Jesuit relations and accounts of the early French explorers. He also 

 continued work on the Tuskarora-English dictionary and grammar. 



MYTHOLOGY. 



The researches in mythology, by Mr. Frank Hamilton Cushing and Mrs. Matilda 

 Coxe Stevenson, were continued throughout the year. Mr. Gushing was occupied 

 .. chiefly in arranging and collating material previously collected, with a view to pub- 

 lication. An important result of his work is the demonstration of -the fact that the 

 mythic concepts, which form so large a part of the intellectual life of primitive 

 peoples are greatly modified by the bodily organs and functions exercised in their 

 expression. In some cases this relation between organ or function on the one hand 

 and concept on the other is so intimate as to justify the ascription of the modern con- 



