3 2 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XVII.] 



development of new designs. And lastly, just as we find, in the 

 case of mythology, that myths may be borrowed and trans 

 mitted from tribe to tribe, so designs may be copied, and 

 disseminated from one tribe to another, perhaps for con 

 siderable distances. Just as, in the case of myths, we can be 

 sure of such dissemination only when we have to deal with a 

 moderately complex tale whose component parts must recur 

 in the same form and order, so can we be sure of dissemination 

 of designs, only when we have a design which is not too simple. 

 Should we find instances, as I believe we may, where in 

 different regions the same moderately complex design occurs, 

 then we should be justified in regarding the coincidence of 

 design as due to transmission : on the other hand, where the 

 design is of a simple character, there seems good reason to 

 believe it possible that it has originated independently. 

 Although, from the data at present available, we can only 

 surmise development and migration of designs in a few cases, 

 it seems probable, that, with increased material from all the 

 tribes in the Pacific coast region, we may be able to show, 

 that, in a number of instances, designs extending over a con 

 siderable area, or even quite widely separated, have in reality 

 a common origin. 



