REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 69 



unity of the peoples among whom they were found; but since they have 

 been observed among highly diverse peoples in different stages of culture 

 and on remote continents this interpretation has been modified or aban- 

 doned in large measure, and students have set themselves to the task of 

 tracing the development of the symbols in particular cases. The recent 

 researches have shown that the symbols of quatern character, like the 

 swastika, express or reflect, modes of thought especially characteristic of 

 lower (but not lowest) culture, yet extend well into civilization and enlight- 

 enment. At the same time the researches bring to light such diversities in 

 the nature and applications of the concepts expressed by the symbols as to 

 indicate, if not demonstrate, independent development. Thus, quatern 

 symbols abound among the Papago Indians of Arizona and Sonora, as well 

 as among several neighboring tribes, yet the Papago concept is distinct, as 

 shown by its extension to time as well as space, this extension carrying 

 such archaic features of ritual and ceremony as to indicate increasing inde- 

 pendence of the concept in the generations traced backward. The neigh- 

 boring Zufii Indians have a more highly differentiated concept, e. g., in 

 that their "cult of the quarters" involves six directions (zenith and nadir 

 in addition to the cardinal points), yet the symbol retains the original 

 quatern form, with two added elements so placed as to destroy the sym- 

 metry of the figure. These instances of diversity in symbol, and still 

 greater diversity in meaning of the symbol (or in the primary concept), 

 might be multiplied almost indefinitely; they merely give some indication 

 of the development of simple Lbf=F quatern symbols and of the complex 

 and protean magma of thought out of which they have been developed by 

 simple processes and in easy steps. Incidentally the examples marshaled 

 by Mr. McGee corroborate and extend the law of activital coincidences for- 

 mulated in an early report of the Bureau; but the applications of the recent 

 study are numerous and useful, especially in their bearing on symbolism 

 in general and on the development of systems of counting. The results of 

 the study are incorporated in the Nineteenth Report in the form of a brief 

 paper entitled "Primitive numbers." 



During the earlier portion of the year Dr. Fewkes arranged for publication 

 a series of graphic representations of the personages composing the Hopi 

 pantheon, together with full descriptions of the pictures and a discussion of 

 characteristic paraphernalia of the personages represented. The representa- 

 tions are in outline and color and well illustrate the early stage in the devel- 

 opment of graphic art reached by the more advanced among the aboriginal 

 tribes; hence they throw strong light on the codices and other pictorial 

 essays of the more southerly tribes, especially those of Mexico, Central 

 America, and Peru. The pictures were executed by a native artist, who 

 was also a priest in the hieratic or sacred organization through which the 

 tribal mythology is maintained, and each picture is a faithful reproduc- 

 tion of ancient representations handed down through many generations. 

 The material has been assigned for publication in the twentieth annual 

 report; the original drawings will be used as copy and will be reproduced 

 in slightly reduced facsimile. The work is deemed an important contri- 

 bution to knowledge of the aborigines in several respects. It illustrates 

 the motives and conventions of aboriginal art in both form and color; it 



