REPORT ON THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 

 FOR THE YEAR 1898-99. 



By William H. Holmks, 

 Head Curator. 



During the year a number of important changes have been made in 

 the manner of transacting the business of the Department of Anthro- 

 polog3^ Some of the changes relate to the abbreviation of the routine, 

 but the most important ones result from the introduction of the card- 

 catalogue system into the work of the Department stati', and the keep- 

 ing of all the catalogue books by a recording clerk in the office of the 

 head curator. Formerly, separate books were assigned to the several 

 divisions and independent sections. This work is now conducted l)y a 

 single expert assistant, and the curators and other keepers of the col- 

 lections make card catalogues for their own use. 



FIELD WORK. 



No systematic field work is provided for by the Museum, but limited 

 funds are available for use when especially important results are 

 promised. The work for the year has been as follows: 



The head curator spent September and part of October in California 

 visiting various Indian tribes and giving particular attention to the 

 question of man's antiquity in the Sierra region. Interesting ethno- 

 logical collections were made representing the Digger, the Pomo, and 

 the Tulare tribes, and much archreological material was secured in the 

 auriferous-gravel region, in the San Joaquin Valley, in the vicinity 

 of Los Angeles, and on the island of Santa Catalina. A visit to the 

 Indian tribes of New Mexico and Arizona was planned, but was aban- 

 doned because of the epidemic of smallpox which was discovered to 

 be raging among many of the pueblos. 



On the breaking otit of the war with Spain it was recognized that 

 an important epoch in our national history had been initiated, and 

 measures were taken to secure for the Museum such relics and memen- 

 tos of the campaign as would be of interest to the people. The War 

 Department and the Navy Department were appealed to, and Mr. Paul 

 Beckwith, assistant in the Section of American History, was sent to 

 €uba and Porto Rico to act as agent for the Institution. Mr. Beck- 

 with's visit to Cuba was cut short by the breaking out of yellow fever, 

 but in Porto Rico between four and five months were spent, chiefly at 

 Ponce, and many valuable additions were made to the historical series, 

 and, besides, a number of archaeological objects were secured. Unfor- 

 tunately, a considerable portion of the collections, delivered to trans- 

 portation agents at San Juan, never reached the Museum. 



NAT MUS 99 2 ^' 



