xX ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 
the spring of 1889 he began the collection of material for a 
monograph on the aborigines of the Middle Atlantic slope, with 
special reference to the Powhatan tribes of Virginia. Asa 
preliminary, about one thousand circulars, requesting informa- 
tion in regard to local names, antiquities, and surviving 
Indians, were distributed throughout Maryland, Delaware, 
Virginia, and northeastern Carolina. Sufficient information 
was obtained in responses to afford an excellent basis for future 
work in this direction. 
Mr. Joun N. B. Hewrrt, from July 1 to August 1, was en- 
gaged in arranging alphabetically the recorded words of the 
Tuscarora-English dictionary mentioned in former reports, and 
in the study of adjective word forms to determine the variety 
and kind of the Tuscarora moods and tenses. After his return 
from the field Mr. Hewitt classified and tabulated all the forms 
of the personal pronouns employed in the Tuscarora language. 
Studies were also prosecuted to develop the predicative func- 
tion in the Tuscarora speech. All the terms of consanguinity 
and affinity as now used among: the Tuscarora were recorded 
and tabulated. Literal translations of many myths collected 
in the field were made, and free translations added to four of 
them. In all appropriate instances linguistic notes were added 
relating to etymology, phonesis, and verbal change. 
Mr. James C. Printing gave much time to bibliographies of 
North American languages. The bibliography of the Iro- 
quoian languages was completed early in the fiseal year, and 
the edition was issued in February. In the meantime a bibli- 
ography of the Muskhogean languages was compiled, the 
manuseript of which was sent to the Public Printer in Janu- 
ary, 1889, though the edition was not delivered during the 
fiscal year. Early in March, 1889, Mr. Pilling went to Phila- 
delphia to inspect the manuscripts belonging to the American 
Philosophical Society, the authorities of which gave him every 
facility, and much new material was secured. In June he 
visited the Astor, Lenox, and Historical Society libraries in 
New York; the libraries of the Boston Athenzeum, Massachu- 
setts Historical Society, American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions, and the Boston Public Library, in Boston; 
