OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY. XXXV 



their antiquity, these etching s form a highly important addi 

 tion to the collections before made, especially as they are in a 

 region from which no representation of that nature had been 

 reported. A petroglyph of interest near Machias, Maine, not 

 before known, was also copied. A valuable collection was for 

 the rirst time obtained of birch-bark pictographs which for 

 merly were in general use and still are made by the Passama- 

 (juoddy and Penobscot tribes of the Abnaki in Maine, showing 

 a similarity in the use of picture-writing between the members 

 of the extensive Algonquian stock in the regions adjacent to 

 and west of the Great Lakes and those in the northeast part of 

 America and on the Atlantic, coast. The correlation of the 

 pictographic practice in manner and extent , as before infer- 

 entially asserted, but no satisfactory evidence of it had been 

 presented until the researches of this year brought into direct 

 comparison the pictography of the Ojibwa with that of the 

 Micmacs and Abnaki. Col. Mallery returned to Washington 

 in October. 



OFFICE WORK. 



THE DIRECTOR was frequently engaged during the year in 

 examining undetermined problems pertaining to his work upon 

 the classification of the Indian linguistic stocks, the scope of 

 which has been explained in his former reports. It was found 

 necessary to defer decision respecting some of the stocks until 

 after obtaining the result of additional field-work planned for 

 the ensuing year. 



COL. MALLERY, after his field-work before mentioned, was 

 engaged in study of important and novel points developed 

 thereby, and in continued research and correspondence on sign 

 language and pictography. 



MR. HOFFMAN, while assisting in the work last mentioned, 

 prepared a topographic; chart showing all the petroglyphs within 

 the limits of the United States so far recorded by the Bureau, 

 with the particulars of their workmanship, coloration, position, 

 and other characteristics. 



Mr. HENSHAW was chiefly employed in a solution of prob 

 lems relating to the geographic distribution of the linguistic 



