358 REPOET OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 



to the oceau over large areas. While at Valparaiso, the sea for miles to the south- 

 ward appeared as if tinged with blood, owing to the myriads of these minute 

 Crustacea. Some species are so transparent that, under the microscope, all the proc- 

 esses of vital action, the motion of every shell in the complex organization of animal 

 life is open to view, exhiliitiug many novel facts, curious and important to the 

 physiologist. 



The arrangement of the expedition specimens mav he com])leted in the space that 

 we now occupy, but the addition of such American and foreign specimens as will 

 gradually collect around this nucleus will tinally extend the collection over double 

 the present area. 



Very respettfully, 



.Tamrs D. Dana. 



novkmheh, 1842. 



DEPARTMENT OF PHILOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHV. 



One of the sciences which have of late years attracted an increasing attention, and 

 one which from its subject would seem to claim a peculiar regard, is what may be 

 termed the natural history of the human race, or as some have named it, anthropology. 

 It divides itself naturally into various branches, possessing distinct names of in- 

 terest, and requiring different methods of study. One of them, and that perhaps 

 to which the Institute will be able to contribute most largely, treats of the manners 

 and customs of the various nations and tribes of mankind, as indicating the charac- 

 ter and the grade of civilization which is to be ascribed to them. Travelers in 

 Egypt inform us that, from the representations of objects and views pictured on the 

 monuments of that country, one may obtain a clear and probably accurate idea of 

 the mode of life of the ancient inhabitants and can there form a better conception 

 of their national characteristics than from all the works of historians. The natives 

 of most countries, jiarticularly those less advanced in civilization, possess no monu- 

 ments of this kind, which may be copied or transported into our midst, like those 

 of Egypt. But one may have the very implements and manufactures which those 

 pictures would represent, the canoe and net of the fisherman, the bow and javelin 

 of the hunter, the spear and club, the helmet and buckler Avith which the warrior 

 went out to meet his enemy; we may have the clothing, the domestic utensils, the 

 ornaments for the dance — in short, enough to show the state of the arts, the daily 

 habits, and the ideas of comfort and prosperity among particular people. Among 

 the collections of the exploring expedition deposited with the Institute will be 

 found nearly all the articles of native manufacture in use among two tribes of dis- 

 tinct races, the New Hollanders and the Fijians; those of the former number about 

 a dozen, while the latter yield several hundreds. A single glance at the two col- 

 lections will give a clearer idea of the wide difference existing between these tribes 

 than any description. 



In tracing the migrations of a people and the connections of distant branches, the 

 comparison of arts and social habits may, if pursued with caution, be an important 

 guide. A person knowing nothing of our language or history, who should visit the 

 United States, after having traveled in Europe, would have little doubt from which 

 country of the latter our ancestors proceeded. The islands of the Pacific are peo- 

 pled by two distinct races, the one having a yellowish brown complexion, with 

 flowing hair; the other one a dusky skin, frizzled or wooly hair, and features ap- 

 proaching the African type. There is not in the climate or nature of the islands 

 Avhich they respectively inhabit any reason why their habits and mental character- 

 istics should differ. Yet we find that the art of pottery and the use of the bow are 

 common to all the islanders of the latter or dark-skinned race, without exception, 

 while they are entirely unknown to the former, except where they have been ac- 

 quired in late times from the other. We must, therefore, presume that these arts were 

 bi'ought by the dusky tribes who possess them from the original seat whence they 



