ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT 



arrangement, before his death, in Jnly, 1899, to transfer 

 the mamiseript to the Bureau ; and after his decease the 

 arrangement was carried out by his legatees and execu- 

 tors, including the University of Pennsylvania, to which 

 institution his valuable library was bequeathed. Both 

 the original vocabulary and L)r Berendt's supi)lement are 

 in Maya-Spanish and Spanish -Maya; and, as a necessary 

 preliminary to puldication ])y the Bureau, a transcription 

 was begun by Miss Jessie E. Thomas, assistant librarian, 

 and a student of the Maya language. Toward the close of 

 the fiscal year Senor Audomaro Molina, of Merida, Yuca- 

 tan, an eminent student of the Maya language, visited this 

 country, and, learning of the proposal to ])ublish the 

 Diccionario de Motul, came to Washington to proffer his 

 services in any further revision of the material that might 

 seem desirable. His offer was gladly accepted, and pro- 

 vision was made for supplying him with copies of the 

 transcript of the vocabulary. 



During the year Dr Franz Boas made additional con- 

 tributions of importance to the linguistic collections of 

 the Bureau. He also completed a second volume of Chi- 

 nook texts, which would have been sent to press before 

 the close of the fiscal year except for his prospective 

 absence in field work and the consequent delay in proof 

 revision. The matter will be incorporated in an earlj- 

 report or bulletin. 



Work m Sophiology 



In pursuing his investigation of the time -concept of 

 Papago Indians, as noted in the last i-eport, Mr McGee 

 was led to a study of the relations existing between this 

 notably altruistic tribe and their hard physical environ- 

 ment; and clear indications were found that with the 

 degree of cultural development possessed by the Papago, 

 the tendency of a severe environment is to develoj:* altru- 

 ism. At the same time it was noted that the neighboring 

 Seri tribe, surrounded by an environment of similar 

 characteristics in many respects, are notably egoistic and 



