268 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1901. 



this scries and forming part of it are special exhibits, as those repre- 

 senting public personages. In the section illustrating the Revolution- 

 ary period, for example, there is a minor exhibit relating to Wash- 

 ington, and consisting of various articles, arranged with a view 

 to artistic effect or according to relative importance of the relics. 

 This national exhibit is not a true geo-ethnic unit, since it represents 

 only three or four centuries of the ethnic history of the area included, 

 and, although arranged chronologically, it is not illustrative of the his- 

 tory of culture in the broadest sense. 



A collection of paintings is susceptible of varied special treatment. 

 It may be arranged (1) chronologically, (2) by countries, (3) by 

 schools, or (4) by painters. An exhibit of bookbindings might repre- 

 sent the work of (1) an individual, (2) a firm, (3) a school, (-1) a period, 

 and so on. 



Special comparative exhibits may be of much interest and value. 

 They may be synoptic or cyclopedic. An exhibit of bows and arrows, 

 for example, may be synoptic, containing only typical examples from 

 the various regions and peoples, or cyclopedic, containing all available 

 specimens from all sources. 



The culture exhibits for a museum of anthropology may thus be best 

 assembled in at least three distinct divisions, each illustrating a dif- 

 ferent kind of unit of culture and serving to convey distinct classes of 

 information, or the same kind of information in different ways. So 

 the museum space allotted to culture is separated into three parts, 

 accommodating the geo-ethnic groups, the culture-history series, and 

 the special exhibits. 



Example of geo-ethnic exhibit. — The significance of the geo-ethnic 

 exhibits, already described, will be readily understood by refering to 

 fig. 5, a map of North America, on which are outlined in the most 

 general way some of the principal geo-ethnic or geographical culture 

 districts — the characterization areas of the continent. These areas are 

 not always well defined, and there is a good deal of overlapping and 

 ethnic intermingling. In some cases it is difficult to sa} T of a particu- 

 lar area which tribe should be taken as a type, and the materials at 

 hand must decide this, since only those tribes can be systematically 

 shown from which collections are ample. In the main, however, the 

 delimitations are sufficiently definite for all practical purposes. The 

 areas suggesting themselves are as follows: 



I. Eastern Arctic area (Eastern and middle Eskimo). 

 II. Western Arctic area (Western Eskimo), 

 ill. McKenzie- Yukon area (Tinneh). 

 IV. Northwest coast area (Tlinkit, Salish). 



V. Columbia River area (Nez Perce, Chinook). 

 VI. California area (Klamath, Tulare). 

 VII. Great Basin area (Bannock, Ute). 

 VI 11. Colorado-Rio Grande arid area (Pueblo, Apache). 



