ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XIX 



OFFICE RESEARCH 

 Work in Esthetologv 



Mr Frank Hamilton Cusliing has continued the study iiiid 

 arrangement of his collections of aboriginal handiwork from 

 western Florida, and has made progress in the prjparatioii of 

 a report on the prehistoric key-dwellers of the eastern shore 

 of Gulf of Mexico. During the greater part of the year the 

 collections were kept in the Museum of Archaeology of the 

 University of Pennsylvania, where they were shipped on 

 account of the inadequate space then afforded by the National 

 Museum for unpacking and assembling; toward the end of 

 the fiscal year, as the capacity of the Museum was increased 

 by the introduction of galleries, the greater part of the col- 

 lection was brought to Washington and arranged in cases and 

 on tables for purposes of comparison and study. In the course 

 of his work Mr Cashing has made extensive comparisons 

 between his specimens and those obtained by other archaeolo- 

 gists from different portions of the United States, and the 

 comparative studies are highly significant. The Florida col- 

 lections are rendered excejjtionally valuable by reason of the 

 large number of specimens made from and decorated with 

 animal and vegetal substances, which are ordinarily perish- 

 able, though preserved in high perfection in the muck beds 

 associated with the Florida Keys. According!}-, the material 

 serves better than any other collection thus far made to con- 

 nect the records of the early explorers with the observations 

 of later times; at the same time it serves to round out knowl- 

 edge concerning the pre-Coluiiihian handiwork of the Indians 

 in all of the softer, more flexible, and nioi'e easily destructible 

 substances, and, accordingly, permits comparison of designs 

 wroug'ht in a wide rano'e of materials. 



Dr J. Walter Fewkes has continued the preparation of 

 reports on his archseologic researches in Arizona and New 

 Mexico. These researches were undertaken primarily for the 

 jiurpose of enriching the collections of aboriginal art products 

 in the National ^luseum. The large collections embrace a re- 

 markably complete series of primitive designs and motives in 



