PREFATORY NOTE 



The accompanying paper by Dr. Ales Hrdlicka presents a detailed 

 account of the investigations made by him under the j oint auspices of 

 the Office of Indian Affairs and the Smithsonian Institution, into the 

 condition with regard to tuberculosis of five selected Indian tribes of 

 the United States. An exhibit and a preliminary account of this 

 work were submitted by Doctor Hrdlicka to the Sixth International 

 Congress on Tuberculosis at its session held at Washington in Sep- 

 tember and October, 1908. In the investigation above referred to, 

 which took place in the summer of 1908, Doctor Hrdlicka was 

 assisted by Dr. P. B. Johnson, bacteriologist. 



"Wliile the gravity of the conditions dealt with in this paper, from 

 the standpoint of the physical well-being of both the Indians and the 

 wliites, is generally understood and appreciated by intelligent stu- 

 dents of the subject, the serious and often insurmountable difficulties 

 encountered by the Office of Indian Affairs in its task of devising and 

 applying corrective measures are not always so readily recognized. 

 In some cases the difficulty is the lack of necessary legislation; in 

 some, the impracticability of exercising sufficiently close supervision 

 over even those Indians disposed to accept the wliite man's counsel; 

 in still other cases the compulsory measures wliich would be neces- 

 sary^ to bring about the desired result do not have the sanction of 

 Congress or of public opinion. 



These are, briefly, a few of the obstacles which stand in the way of 

 those who are seeking to lead the Indians in the paths of civilization 

 and to promote their sanitary condition. Under these circumstances, 

 it is gratifying to know that, at no previous time in its history, has 

 the Office of Indian Aft'airs been more awake to the true state of 

 aft'airs, and that, through its agency, as stated by Doctor Hrdlicka, 

 "improvement of existing conditions is being brought about as 

 speedily as is practicable." Indeed, since the accompanying paper 

 was written, changes in the service looking to the betterment of the 

 Indian have been made, and there is every reason to expect a con- 

 tinuation of progress toward more sanitary living among the Indians 

 with a consequent diminution of the ravages of tuberculosis and 

 other diseases. 



W. H. Holmes, 



Chief. 



