EEPOKT OF THE SECRETARY. • 25 



The publications issued included the annual report for 1911, 

 numerous papers of the Proceedings, and several Bulletins, which 

 will be enumerated in detail in the usual volume devoted to the oper- 

 ations of the National Museum. 



BUREAU OF MIERICAN ETHNOLOGY. 



The operations of the Bureau of American Ethnology during the 

 last YQixv are stated in detail on another page by the ethnologist-in- 

 charge of that branch of the Institution's activities. The systematic 

 researches bearing on the history, languages, manners, and customs 

 of the American Indians cover a wide range, and the results of these 

 studies are published as soon as completed. Since the organization 

 of the bureau under the Smithsonian Institution in 1879, 27 annual 

 reports in 32 royal octavo volumes have been issued, and more than 

 50 bulletins, the collection comprising a most valuable ethnological 

 library. The demand for the " Handbook of American Indians," 

 which is printed in two volumes, has so far exceeded the authorized 

 edition that a measure has been introduced and is now pending in 

 Congress for reprinting it. 



The recent field work of the bureau includes : 



(1) A visit to El Morro, New Mexico, where impressions of some 

 Spanish inscriptions dating from the year 1606 and having an impor- 

 tant bearing on the early history of the Pueblo tribes, were made; (2) 

 excavations in the Jemez Valley in a ruined pueblo on a mesa 1,800 

 feet high, the ruins bearing evidence of occupancy at two different 

 periods, and containing some interesting pottery, traces of textiles, 

 and other objects; (3) field work to determine the western limit of 

 the ancient Pueblo culture in Arizona; and many other lines of inves- 

 tigation, discussed by Mr. Hodge in an appendix to this report. 



The construction of the Panama Canal has aroused so greatly 

 public interest in the aboriginal remains of the West Indies that the 

 bureau has arranged for more extended studies in West Indian 

 archeology. Researches thus far made indicate that the Tainan 

 culture of Porto Rico and the Dominican Republic was represented in 

 the Lesser Antilles by an agricultural people, probably Arasvak, who 

 were conquered and absorbed by the marauding Carib. Types of 

 pottery found in some of the Lesser Antilles indicate their occupancy 

 by people superior in culture to the Carib and to those found there 

 at the time of the discovery by Columbus. 



INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES. 



There has been an increase of more than 10 per cent in the number 

 of packages handled by the Exchange Service during the past year 

 as compared with the preceding 12 months, the total number being 

 315,492. These packages weighed over 284 tons. 



