XXXIV ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 



rigines, is well known to be a ping, stud, or variously-shaped 

 button, made from diverse materials, which is inserted at or 

 about the age of puberty through a hole or holes pierced in 

 the thinner portions of the face about the mouth. Usually after 

 the first operation has been performed, and the original slender 

 pin inserted, the latter is replaced from time to time by a 

 larger one, and the perforation is thus mechanically stretched, 

 and in course of time permanently enlarged. 



Numerous variants of the object and of its mode of attach- 

 ment are however observed. The practice or "fashion" is 

 traced by Mr. Dall along nearly the whole of the western line 

 of the Americas with some easterly overflows, especially in 

 the middle and South American regions, and its remarkable 

 westerly restriction farther north is noted. It seems to be not 

 sporadic in America, but existing in lines of contact, Its dis- 

 tribution so far as ascertained in other parts of the world is 

 also examined. A suggestion of its origin is made in the early 

 custom of submitting a boy at puberty to a trial of his reso- 

 lution and endurance before being admitted to the privileges 

 of a member of the community and as a sign of his admitted 

 membership. In this relation it is connected with tattooing 

 and circumcision, the latter practice being known in the Pacific 

 island region as an incident of puberty, suggesting that the 

 rite of infant circumcision, familiar elsewhere, was a later and 

 idealized version with the same general intent. 



Mr. Dall's work of research exhibits his own industry and 

 ingenuity supplemented by copious illustrations and quota- 

 tions, and presents much valuable and novel collateral matter 

 relating to customs and superstitions. From the evidence of 

 the objects and practices discussed he deduces a theory, before 

 entertained by other authors from different considerations, of 

 accessions to the western shores of America from the islands 

 of the Pacific Ocean. 



NAVAJO WEAVERS, BY DR. WASHINGTON MATTHEWS, 



TJ. S. A. 



Dr. Matthews, assistant surgeon in the United States Army, 

 has continued to utilize his tour of official duty at Fort Win- 

 gate, New Mexico, by researches in anthropology through 



