REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 41 



of fully (iOO for the village and 8,000 to 5,000 for the valley. Altliongh the depopula- 

 tion began in the prehistoric'age^i^^througli wars still in progress at the time of discov- 

 ery, the historic period has witnessed a part of the change; for it can nf)t be doultted 

 that Cabeza de Vaca, Coronado, Alarcon, and their followers saw within th(^ zone 

 between western Texas and eastern California a population twice or thrice the 

 aggregate now subsisting within it, and this despite modern nmltijilication of indus- 

 tries coimected with mining, grazing, and transportation. The success of the abo- 

 riginal husbandman in this region was partly due to a system of irrigation so 

 satisfactory that modern farmers often jjrotit by the ])rehistoric ditches; yet his chief 

 advantagi'S grew out of a more economical adjustment between labor and produce, 

 including crops now neglected. Among the neglected crop plants are various cacti 

 (locally known as saguaro, pitahaya, nopal, saguesa, etc.), whose fruits sufficed to 

 support the entire native population for some two months of each year, though they 

 are never used by Anglo-Saxon settlers. These cacti are products of the desert ]>ar 

 excellence, adjusted to their habitat during geologic ages. and. in some way not yet 

 made out. deriving their vital energy chiefly from light: and they give promise that 

 (unless exterminated by vandalism) they will some <lay yield to intelligent I'ultiva- 

 tion and add an in\aluable resource to our arid districts. The researches concerning 

 aboriginal food sources have l)een coupled with other studies in native economics, 

 including those pertaining to textiles used fm- clothing, birch bark used for canoes 

 and habitations, the making of baskets, etc. In most cases the immediate aim was 

 to rcconl the primitive customs and crafts as a contribution to knowledge of a jiassing 

 race, but the investigations have reached the stage of yielding useful le.'^sons to the 

 superioi- lace. As announced in recent reports, productive studies of the beginning 

 of agricultuie and zooculture have been conducted. During the past fiscal year a 

 memoir on Wild Rice, by Dr. Jenks, has l)een {niblished, with a view of directing 

 attention to a natural resource giving ]iromise of value to modern agriculture; Dr. 

 Russell spent the greater part of the year in a critical study of a tyjncal tribe of the 

 arid region (the Pima Indians), and has prepared a memoir on their indu.'^tries for 

 early pul)lication; a systematic investigation of the birch-bark industries of the 

 aborigines was taken up l)y Dr. Jenks; and Dr. Fewkes devoted a part of the year to 

 a sjiecial study of the altoriginal economy of Porto Rico, with ])articular reference to 

 the artifacts and customs still extant, ami giving promise of future value to that 

 newly acquired territory. 



Except for the diversion of a portion of the energies of a few collaborators to the 

 applications of ethnology, the work has lieen continued along former lines; and, as 

 heretofore, most of the collaborators liave l)een emi^loyed ]iartly in the field and 

 partly in the office. 



The organization of the work, which is slightly modified by the applications herein 

 set forth, may 1)e defined as follows: (1) Physical characteristics (including the 

 demograjihy of the native tribes), or somatology; (2) mental characteristics, or 

 })sychology; ( r! ) arts (including games, sports, etc.), or esthetology; (4) industries 

 (including economics), or technology; (5) laws, or sociology; (H) languages, or 

 jihilology; and (7) myths (together with attendant ceremonies and other observ- 

 ances), or sophiology. Customary attention has bi'en gi\en also to general and 

 classific work, to the illustiation, editing, and publication of i'e])orts, to distribution 

 of the published inatciial, and to the ancillary oHii'c work. 



Field Rese.vkcu and 1v\i'i,oi;.\ti()X. 



The Director spent over three months in Maine, engaged (so far as impaired healtli 

 permitted) in researches among the northeastern Algonquian Indians and in revising 

 his classificatory writings designeil for the guidance of operations in tiie l'>ureau. 

 The linguistic and other material obtained from the Indians was utilized directly in 



