BULL. 30] 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



173 



that these languages are grouped in more 

 than 50 Hnguistic families. It was found, 

 further, that in connection with tiie dif- 

 ferences in language there are many other 

 distinctions requiring attention. Tribes 

 allied in language are often allied also in 

 capacity, habits, tastes, social organiza- 

 tion, religion, arts, and industries, and it 

 was plain that a satisfactory investigation 

 of the tribes reijuired a systematic study 

 of all of these conditions. It was not 

 attempted, however, to cover the whole 

 Held in detail. When sufficient })rogress 

 had been made in the classification of the 

 tribes, certain groups were selected as 

 types, and investigations among them 

 were so pursued as to yield results appli- 

 cable in large measure to all. Up to the 

 present time much progress has been 

 made anil a deeper insighthas been gained 

 into the inner life and character of the 

 native people, and thus, in a large sense, 

 of primitive peoples generally, than had 

 been reached before in the world's his- 

 tory. Many of the results of these re- 

 searches have already been published 

 and are in the hands of all civilized 

 nations. 



Some of the more directly practical re- 

 sults accomplished may be briefly men- 

 tioned: (1) A study of the relations, 

 location, and numbers of the tribes, and 

 their classification into groups or families, 

 based on affinity in language — a necessary 

 basis for dealing with the tribes practi- 

 cally or scientifically; (2) a study of the 

 nu;nerous sociologic, religious, and in- 

 dustrial problems involved, an acquaint- 

 ance with which is essential to the 

 intelligent management of the tribes in 

 adjusting them to the requirements of 

 civilization; (3) a history of the relations 

 of the Indian and white races embodied 

 in a volume on land cessions; (-t) investi- 

 gations into the physiology, medical 

 practices, and sanitation of a people who 

 suffer keenly from imperfect adaptation 

 to the new conditions imposed on them; 



(5) the preparation of bibliographies em- 

 bodying all works relating to the tribes; 



(6) a study of their industrial and eco- 

 nomic resources; (7) a study of the an- 

 tiquities of the country with a view to 

 their record and preservation; and (8) a 

 handbook of the tribes, end^odying, in 

 condensed form, the accunuilated infor- 

 mation of many years. 



The more strictly scientific results re- 

 late to every department of anthropologic 

 research — physical, psychological, lin- 

 guistic, sociologic, religious, technic, and 

 esthetic — and are emlaodied in numerous 

 papers published in the reports, contribu- 

 tions, and bulletins; and the general re- 

 sults in each of these departments, com- 



piled and collated by the highest available 

 authorities, have now begun to appear in 

 the form of handb()oks. 



Maj. Powell, director, died Sept. 23, 

 1902, and on Oct. 11 W. H. Holmes was 

 appointed to succeed him, with the title 

 of chief. In addition to the chief the 

 scientific staff of the Bureau comprises 

 (1906) 7 ethnologists, an illustrator, an 

 editor, a librarian, and 7 other employees. 

 Besides the regular scientific members 

 of the Bureau there are numerous asso- 

 ciates or collaborators, including many 

 of the best-known ethnologists of the 

 country, who contribute papers or who 

 engage at intervals in research work 

 under the Bureau's auspicCvS. The li- 

 brary contains about 12,000 volumes 

 and 7,000 pamjjhlets, accumulated largely 

 through exchange of publications. There 

 are al)out 1,600 linguistic manuscripts, 

 and 15,000 photographic negatives illus- 

 trating the aborigines and their activities. 



The publications consist of Contribu- 

 tions to North American Ethnology, An- 

 nual Reports, Bulletins, Introductions, 

 and Miscellaneous Publications. The 

 series of contributions was begun by the 

 Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region 

 before the organization of the Bureau, 3 

 volumes having been completed, and 

 was discontinued after 8 volumes had 

 been issued. Twenty-three annual re- 

 ports, comprising 28 volumes, 30 bulle- 

 tins (including the present Handbook), 4 

 introductions, and 6 miscellaneous pub- 

 lications have appeared. The present 

 edition of the annual reports and bulle- 

 tins is 9,850 copies, of which the Senate 

 receives 1,500, the House of Re]jresenta- 

 tives 3,000, and the Bureau 3,500 copies. 

 Of the Bureau edition 500 are distriljuted 

 Ijy the Smithsonian Institution. From 

 the remaining 1,850 copies are drawn the 

 personal copies of members of Congress, 

 and 500 for distribution to (xovernment 

 libraries and other lil)raries throughout 

 the country, as designated by Congress; 

 the remainder are sold by the Superin- 

 tendent of Documents, Government Print- 

 ing Office. With the exception of the few 

 disposed of by the Superintendent of 

 Documents, the publications are distrib- 

 uted free of charge; the pojiular demand 

 for them is so great, however, that the 

 editions are soon exhausted. The quota 

 allowed the Bureau is distributed to 

 libraries, to institutions of learning, and 

 to collaborators and others engaged in 

 anthropologic research or in teaching. 

 The publications are as follows: 



C0NTRIBUT10N.S TO North American Eth- 

 nology. — Published in part under the auspices 

 of the Department of the Interior, U. S. Geo- 

 graphical and Geological Survey of the Rocky 

 Mountain Region, J. W. Powell iii charge. Vols, 

 i-vii and IX. 



