XXIV ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 



the shape of suggestions or of extended communications, will 

 be gratefully acknowledged, and, if published either in the 

 series of reports or in monographs or bulletins, as the liberality 

 of Congress may in future allow, will always receive proper 

 credit. 



The items now reported upon are presented in three princi- 

 pal divisions. The first relates to the publication made ; the 

 second, to the work prosecuted in the field ; and the third, to 

 the office work, which largely consists of the preparation for 

 publication of the results of field work, with the corrections 

 and additions obtained from the literature of the subjects and 

 by correspondence. 



PUBLICATION. 



The only publication actually issued during the year waa 

 entitled Proof-Sheets of a Bibliography of the Languages of 

 the North American Indians, by James Constantino Pilling. 

 The volume, a quarto of 1,175 pages, consists of an author 

 catalogue of books, manuscripts, magazine and newspaper 

 articles, publications of learned societies, and other documents 

 relating in any way to the Indian languages of North America. 

 Only one hundred copies were printed, which were distributed 

 to collaborators. 



This work was commenced by Mr. Pilling in 1879 and has 

 been prosecuted with diligence and skill, notwithstanding the 

 engrossing nature of his other duties. It began as an author 

 cai'd catalogue, designed merely for office use. In time it 

 became apparent that such a systematic catalogue of the liter- 

 ature of Indian languages, if printed and distributed, would 

 be of important service to all the numerous workers on the 

 general subject, besides those directly connected with the 

 Bui'eau, to whom alone it was accessible in manuscript form. 

 By this course the accumulated results of several years' labor 

 would be immediately available for the use of students gen- 

 erally, and the distribution of proof-sheets would in turn in- 

 crease interest in the work, elicit comment and ci'iticism, and 

 secure additional contributions, through all of which the final 

 volume contemplated would become more satisfactory and 



