XXXVI BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



linguistic record and the best obtainable version of the 

 ancient traditions. Now, it is noteworthy that most of 

 the similarities found thus among the several Iroquoian 

 myths are rather external than internal, rather superficial 

 than essential, and, concordantly, that the more im- 

 portant differences are primarily internal, that is, more 

 directly connected with concept and motive than with 

 ritual and emblem. The voluminous material was prac- 

 tically ready for the press at the close of the fiscal year 

 and was assigned to the Twenty -fii'st Annual Report. 



During the closing months of the year Dr Fewkes was 

 employed in summarizing his own observations and those 

 of others in the pueblo region, with the object of present- 

 ing an outline of Pueblo mythology. As noted in earlier 

 reports, the pueblo region is arid, and hence infertile and 

 harsh as an environment for human inhabitants, and the 

 harshness of environments is curiously reflected in highly 

 differentiated beliefs and ceremonies, so that the pueblo 

 region as a whole may, perhaps, be regarded as a sophic 

 province, that is, a province defined by a distinctively 

 typical series of myths and faiths. Good progress was 

 made in the work, which was not, however, completed at 

 the close of the fiscal year. 



In addition to the inquiries connected with the classi- 

 fication of the languages of Mexico and Central America, 

 Dr Cyrus Thomas gave continued attention to the hiero- 

 glyphic records of the inscriptions and sculptures of 

 Yucatan and interior Mexico, materially supplementing 

 and extending his paper on calendric systems published 

 as a part of the Nineteenth Annual Report. He made 

 some progress also in the preparation of a final memoir 

 on the codices. 



Although seriously handicapped by ill health, Mrs 

 Matilda Coxe Stevenson continued the preparation of her 

 memoir on the ceremonies and myths of the Zufii Indians. 

 A portion of the manuscript was submitted for editorial 

 revision in May, and the remaining chapters were reported 

 as Hearing completion at the end of the fiscal year. 



