PROCEEDINGS FOR 1902 XV 
possible, work of the same nature carried on in Canada since the 
Montreal meeting in 1884 by the Committee for the Northwest 
Tribes of Canada under the chairmanship of Dr. George M. Dawson, 
The Committee as appointed comprised three members of the Com- 
mittee on an Ethnological Survey of Great Britain, and fourteen 
resident Canadian members. In the five years which have now 
elapsed, the Canadian representation has undergone marked changes 
through death and the consequent addition of new members, and the 
most serious loss thus sustained, has been through the death of Dr. 
George M. Dawson, to whose especial interest and ability in ethno- 
logical work we have been chiefly indebted for the progress made up 
to the time of his death. 
At the Toronto meeting of the British Association, a special 
grant was made in aid of the work of the Committee, and with the 
means thus placed at its disposal it became possible to procure neces- 
sary instruments for physical measurements, to distribute printed 
instructions for the guidance of observers, and to give practical 
assistance to certain observers where most needed. Each year since 
then there has been a continuation of the grant, but in diminishing 
amount, and it is a question if the British Association can be expected 
to much longer continue to extend financial aid to the committee 
which receives no similar support from the communities which are 
directly interested in a continuation of such an important line of 
work. In addition to such assistance, the British Association has 
also published annually, the scientific results obtained by various 
members of the Committee. This has been accomplished at consider- 
able expense, and that it has been done in the face of great difficulties, 
is most gratifying evidence of the appreciation of the work so far 
accomplished: 
The lines laid down by the Committee at the Toronto meeting, 
along which the work of the Committee might profitably proceed, were 
as follows: — 
1. Physical types of the inhabitants. 
2. Current traditions and beliefs. 
3. Peculiarities of dialect. 
4. Monuments and other remains of ancient culture. 
5. Historical evidence of continuity of race. 
As applied to Canada, inquiry along any one of these lines was 
to have special reference to 
a. The white races. 
b. The aborigines or Indians. 
The work so far accomplished has included important contribu- 
tions to our knowledge of the early French settlers in Canada, by Mr. 
