XXVIII ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 



points whence mails are unfrequent, and the whole material 

 shall be collated, an attempt will be made to ascertain the laws 

 governing the direct visible expression of ideas between men. 



The study of pictographs and ideographs has a close con- 

 nection with the study of sign language, as in them appears 

 the direct visible expression of ideas in a permanent form. 

 This has been continued by Colonel Malleiy, and a considerable 

 amount of material lias been collected from North America. 

 It appeared, however, that so small an amount was accessible 

 from other parts of the world in such shape as to be useful for 

 study and interpretation, that it was deemed necessary to issue 

 for wide circulation a preliminary essay as an Introduction to 

 the Study of Pictographs before attempting any comprehensive 

 treatise on the subject for publication. Such an introduction 

 has been prepared. 



Colonel Mallery was also engaged during the year in execu- 

 tive duty connected with the preparation and filling up of the 

 schedule for the census of Indians in the United States and in 

 the study of the statistics of population thereby obtained. 



Mr. H. W. Henshaw was engaged in the preparation of a 

 paper on animal carvings from the mounds of the Mississippi 

 Valley, which was published in the Second Annual Report of this 

 Bureau and also in that of a paper on Indian Industries, as illus- 

 trated both by recently gathered statistics and by historical rec- 

 ords. This study, not yet completed, embraces the advance of 

 the tribes toward civilized industry, together with an exhaustive 

 account of their pristine industries and means of subsistence. 

 He was also closely occupied in executive work connected with 

 the Indian census. 



Mr. William H. Holmes, in addition to other and varied du- 

 ties, studied the shells and the objects made from them as found 

 chiefly in the mounds of North America, the result of his re- 

 searches appearing in the paper "Art in Shell of the Ancient 

 Americans" published in the Second Annual Report. 



Mrs. Erminnie A. Smith, in addition to her field work, else- 

 where mentioned, continued the preparation of a Dictionary 

 of the Tuscarora Language. 



