APPENDIX : ELEPHANT PIPES AND INSCRIBED TABLETS. 325 



and the manner in which it has been received by archiiiologists assures 

 us of the wisdom of our decision. Throughout the extensive corre- 

 spondence now before me. our "Vindication" is strongly commended 

 as exceedingly temperate and satisfactory. It was certainly "judicial," 

 in that it gave both parties in this archaeological war a fair hearing ; and 

 in this connection, my dear sir, you must permit me to say that to char- 

 acterize as "controversial" an exposure of error and falsehood was 

 scarcely judicious on your ])art. 



We notice with curious interest your use of the terms "friendship" 

 and "enmity" as applied to the Bureau of Ethnology. Was not this an 

 inadvertence? The present manai^^ement may entertain these merely 

 human feelings, but the Bureau itself, as the embodiment of pure sci- 

 ence, should be above such weaknesses. "In scientific work," you 

 know, "the (f,^f should be forgotten!" While you warn us of the dan- 

 ger of incurring the enmity of the Bureau, you also admit that in the 

 volume under discussion it made "mistakes;" and we feel that, inas- 

 much as we have truth on our side, the Bureau cannot fail, in the end, 

 to do us justice. 



Moreover, it may be added, in conclusion, if the Henshaw paper is 

 a product of i\\e friendship of the Bureau, the Davenport Academy has 

 little to dread from its enmity. A more insidious and malignant attack 

 could not have been made by its worst enemy. 



We are much gratified at the interest your friends are taking in our 

 "Vindication," and I have handed your letter to Mr. Pratt with the re- 

 quest that he should forward the copies you desire. Thanking you for 

 the friendly interest you have taken in our affairs, I remain 



Very sincerely yours. 

 Prof. W. J. McGee. Charles E. Putnam. 



Department of the Interior. 



United States Geological Survey, 

 Washington, D. C, April 14, 1885. 

 My Dear Sir: Your valued favor of the nth instant is this moment 

 at hand. I learn from it with regret that the tone of my letter of the 

 8th instant cannot have fairly represented my feelings. As I intimated 

 in that letter, if I had taken jiart in the counsels of the Academy, I 

 should have advocated the pubhcation of a briefer and more imper- 

 sonal vindication ; but, as my remarks during my last delightful visit to 

 Davenport expressed, and as I intended that the tone of my letter 

 should imply, I regarded, and still regard, some vindication as urgently 

 demanded. From my acquaintance with those who have taken part in 

 the vindication, I am convinced that your action was "well considered;" 

 and I do not doubt that, had I been present during the discussions in 

 relation to the subject, I should have acquiesced in the general judg- 

 ment and freely borne my share of the onus of the defense. Indeed, I 

 have orally defended the Academy in this matter, as well as your vin- 

 dication, in much stronger terms than my last letter may have indi- 



[I'i:or. D. A. N. S., Voi.. TV. | Hi I ^>h. 'l", 1SS^] 



