ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XVII 



fulh' ill his catalog; and, in addition, several processes were 



critically studied in actual use by basket makers. The functions 



or purposes of the baskets also received careful attention. In 



tins region thev form the common utensils of the householders, 



taking the place sometimes filled by fictile ware, and serving 



various other purposes. They are used as cups, canteens, and 



other wat.er vessels, as pots for boiling acorn meal and meais 



(by means of heated stones), as receptacles for stored foods and 



liquids, and especially as ceremonial and sacramental objects. 



The researches concerning the aboriginal basketry of California 



promise important results along different lines as the work 



proceeds. 



Work in Sociology 



The synthesis of activities 1)}' the director extended into the 

 domain of institutions during- the year, and the science was 

 characterized and formulated in a preliminary way; but, since 

 the institutioual activities are still more complex than the 

 industrial activities, and since the data available in the archives 

 of the Bureau are exceedingly voluminous, the formulation 

 was not completed at the end of the fiscal }'ear, thougli the 

 results will be read}' for incor^joration in another y«irt of this 

 report. 



In the course of his researches among the California Indians, 

 Mr McGree obtained certain data tending to explain the lin- 

 guistic diversity which so strongly distinguishes the Pacific 

 coast province from the major portion of the continent — a 

 diversity exjjressed by the fact that four-fifths of the area of 

 the continent are represented on linguistic maps by only about 

 one-fifth of the ling-uistic stocks, while the remaining four-fifths 

 of the stocks are concentrated in less than one-fifth of the area, 

 skirting the Pacific coast. In the first place, various indica- 

 tions were found that the human period in this region has been 

 relatively short, or at least relatively uniform and uneventful; 

 for, while most portions of the country reveal some evidences 

 of culture-succession, the Californian region reveals but a single 

 culture-tvpe in the relati^vely rare artifacts scattered over the 

 surface or still in use among the tribal renmants; so that, on 

 the whole, the region impresses the student as one of either 



20 KTH^US II 



