ADMINISTRATIVE EEPOET. XXVII 



Society of the Ojibwa. He had before spent two seasons 

 with this tribe, and had been initiated into the mysteries of the 

 four degrees of the society, by which he was enabled to record 

 its ceremonials, and this was desired by the Indians so that a 

 complete exposition of the traditions of the Ojibwa cosmogony 

 and of the Mide' Society could be preserved for the informa- 

 tion of their descendants. Through intimate acquaintance 

 with, and recognition by the Mide' priests. Dr. Hoffman obtained 

 all the impf)rtant texts employed in the ceremony, nuich of 

 the matter in archaic language, as well as the musical notation 

 of songs sung to him for that purpose; also the birch-bark 

 records of the society and the mnemonic songs on birch bark 

 employed by the Mide' priests, together with those of the 

 Jessakkid and Wabeno', two other grades of shamans. 



Dr. Hoffman also secured, as having connection with the 

 general subject, a list of plants and other substances constitu- 

 ting the materia medica of the region, the method of their prep- 

 aration and administration, and their reputed action, the whole 

 beinsf connected with incantation and exorcism. 



WORK OF MR. VICTOR MINDELEFF. 



Mr. Victor Mindelefif, between December 7 and Janiiary 20, 

 examined the ruin of Casa Grande in Arizona, visiting also the 

 localities at which Mr. F. H. Gushing worked while in charge 

 of the Hemenway expedition. Plans and photographs were 

 made during this exploration, and fragments of typical potterj- 

 were collected from the i)rincipal ruin visited. Casa Grande was 

 ascertained to be almost identical in character with the many 

 ruins scattered o^•er the valleys of the Gila and the Salado. 



WORK OF MR. JAMES MOONEY. 



On July 3, Mr. James Mooney proceeded on a third jour- 

 ney to the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina, returning 

 November 17. During this time he devoted attention chiefly 

 to the translation and stud}- of the sacred formulas used by 

 the shamans, which had been obtained by him during a pre- 

 vious visit. In this work he employed the most prominent 

 medicine men, among whom were the writers of some of the 

 original formulas, and obtained detailed explanations of the 



