3U Rpn'OKT OF THE SECRETARY. 



which is very .small. Three plans are suggested for the extension of 

 the hours of opening. The tirst includes ever}' week-day evening and 

 Sunday's; the second, three evenings during each week and ever}^ Sun- 

 day: the third. Sundays only. The first plan most strongly commends 

 itself. 



The progress of the worlc of classifying and arranging the collec- 

 tions both for exhibition and for study has been greatly retarded, as 

 during man}^ years past, by lack of space and by reason of the insufii- 

 cient force provided. The difficulty in regard to space will cease with 

 the completion of the new building authorized by Congress in 1903, 

 but that completion is still years distant. I can not too stronglv urge 

 that when the building is ready an adequate staff of scientific men can 

 not be improvised, ])ut'that such an one must be largely gathered in 

 the time which now offers for preparation if one is to be provided 

 adequate to the demand. 



BUREAL; of AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY. 



The past year's work of the Bureau has continued mainly along the 

 usual lines, and in a number of directions is making rapid progress 

 toward final results. 



The research work among the aborigines has been carried forward 

 in four widely distributed regions — among the Haida tribes of the 

 Queen Charlotte Islands and southern Alaska; among the Pueblo 

 Indians of New Mexico; among a number of tribes of the great plains 

 in Oklahoma and Indian Territory, and in the West Indies where the 

 interesting and obscure problems of the ancient remains and tribal 

 remnants are receiving deserved attention. The studies in these sev- 

 eral fields are now gradually approaching completion, and monographs 

 embodying the results are in hand. 



In the field of linguistics much attention has l)een given to the col- 

 lection of data from the tribes and the preparation of a handbook of 

 the American languages, wliich is exjx^cted to mark a very decided 

 advance in the knowledge of primitive tongues. 



An important feature of the year's work was the })reparation and 

 installation of an exhibit intended to illustrate at the Louisiana 

 Purchase P^xposition t-ertain phases of the Bureau's work, and special 

 studies were pursued and collections made for this purpose. 



A measure for the preservation of our national antiquities was intro 

 duced in tlie Senate by Senator Cullom, and a similar measure was 

 offered in the House of Representatives by Mr. Hitt. Since other 

 legislation along the same lines has ])een |)roposed to C^ongress and the 

 subject is still under discussion, no final action having l)een taken, it 

 is not desired to say more here than that th(^ Institution, through the 

 Bureau of American Ethnology, is deeply interested in the proposed 



