XLIV BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 
cultured peoples. The preparation of a special paper on the 
subject was commenced toward the end of the year. Another 
line of work by Mr Hewitt, originating in the collection of 
mythologic texts, was a comparative study’ of the creation 
myths of different Iroquoian and Algonquian tribes. The pre- 
liminary results of this study are especially significant in their 
bearing on conclusions derived from the study of language. 
On comparing half a dozen versions of the Indian cosmogony 
he was able to detect unmistakable indications of interchange 
of such sort as to prove that originally independent myths 
have undergone considerable coalescence and blending, so that 
the myth, like the speech in which it is crystallized, is a com- 
posite of many elements. Coupled with the features indicating 
coalescence there are indeed certain features indicating differ- 
entiation, chiefly in the direction required to adjust the mythic 
personages to the local fauna; but the indications of differen- 
tiation are far subordinate to the evidence of coalescence or 
integration. A number of typical myths representing the 
aborigines of the northeastern United States have been brought 
together with a view to publication so soon as the general 
discussion is completed. 
Work IN SOPHIOLOGY 
The scope and extent of the researches in sophiology dur- 
ing the fiscal year are in some measure set forth in the 
foregoing paragraphs; for the various demotic activities are 
interdependent, and neither arts, industries, institutions, nor 
languages can be developed without the concomitant develop- 
ment of opinions, whether mythic or rational. Important 
additions to the material representing the symbolism and cere- 
monies of the Indians have been made through the labors of 
Mr Cushing in Florida, Dr Fewkes and Mrs Stevenson in Ari- 
zona and New Mexico, Dr Gatschet in Maine, and Mr Hewitt 
in New York and Ontario, as already noted. Mr James 
Mooney continued his researches relating to the Kiowa Indi- 
ans, giving special attention to their heraldic and calendric 
systems, and to the use of peyote in their ceremonies. It is 
well known that dreams and visions, commonly induced by 
fasting, play an important role in connection with the beliefs 
