ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT 105 
In the same way the field of Central America and Mexico 
now awaits the investigator, although in that particular 
area the bureau has made some very important contributions. 
There remain special problems of secondary nature through- 
out the continent that are as yet unanswered which would 
be within the scope of the bureau’s work. All ethnological 
work on the South American Indians should have very great 
influence in uniting more firmly the republics of Spanish 
origin and the United States. 
Of the many problems awaiting investigation, one of the 
more important is the plotting of the trails by which commu- 
nication was carried on between Indian tribes. These trails 
historically followed by roads and railroads now serve the 
growing habit of the automobile and the desire of Americans 
to see their own country. A study of the foods used by the 
Indians has a practical value which can not be overestimated. 
The number of plants used by the Indians far outnumbers 
those on our own table, and the bureau might well give 
attention to the discovery of new food resources. 
It is desirable to increase the archeological work of the 
bureau which thus far has attracted a great deal of attention 
and which is one of the foremost departments of anthro- 
pological study. This study should be extended to Florida 
and the coast States with a view to determining the relation- 
ship of the antiquities of North and Central America. The 
investigation of the southwestern portion of Texas and the 
adjoining State of New Mexico should be exploited, es- 
pecially the contents of the new national monument near 
Carlsbad which contains important archeological material. 
One important problem is to follow the extension northward 
of the Huaxtec culture along the shores of Tamaulipas and 
Texas to our southern mound builders. 
During the fiscal year Dr. John R. Swanton, ethnologist, 
completed the translations of stories from his Koasati, 
Alabama, Hitchiti, Natchez, and Creek texts, and added to 
them the stories obtained only in English and those in the 
Tuggle collection; he provided these stories with footnotes 
referring to similar tales among other tribes, and prepared 
