40 KEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



visit New Mexico for the purpose of mapping certain ancient ruins situated in the 

 valley of the Rio liermoso, Socorro County. A month was spent in the work, and 

 the map produced and a brief report descriptive of the exploration have been placed 

 in the Bureau archives. 



Dr. Albert E. Jenks, ethnologist, on furlough from the Bureau and connected with 

 the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes in the Philippine Islands, has communicated 

 some details of a successful expedition conducted by himself among the Bontoc 

 Igorrotes of northern Luzon. About the close of the year he became acting chief of 

 the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes, Doctor Barrows, the chief, having been 

 appointed commissioner. of education for the islands. 



Under the immediate direction of Dr. Franz Boas, honorary ethnologist, impor- 

 tant linguistic studies were made by Mr. H. H. St. Clair, 2nd, among the Ute, 

 Shoshoni, and Comanche tribes. Numerous texts, grammatical notes, and vocabu- 

 laries were collected, and in parts of this work the phonograph was used with suc- 

 cess. The instrument was employed for recording the dictation of old men, and 

 then the record was repeated slowly by interpreters. During the winter months 

 Mr, St. Clair assisted Doctor Boas in the office, carrying forward various linguistic 

 studies. In addition, Mr. St. Clair continued work on a Chinook dictionary, on which 

 considerable progress had previously been made, and in June, 1903, he began work 

 among certain tribal remnants in Oregon, more particularly the Alsea, Coosa, and 

 Takilma. 



Under Doctor Boas' s supervision Mr. William Jones continued his linguistic work 

 among the Sauks and Foxes. He has made a large collection of text.*^, all of which 

 have been copied, and has also elaborated a detailed grannnar of the language of 

 these tribes. He has succeeded in carrying out the analysis of the Algonquian 

 language in a much more satisfactory manner than did any of the older authors, such 

 as Baraga, Howse, Cuoq, and Lacombe. It is expected that the manuscript of his 

 grammatical studies will be completed by the end of the present calendar year. In 

 the spring of 1903 Mr. Jones made investigations of the language of the Kickapoos, 

 obtaining a considerable amount of linguistic material from among that tribe. 



Besides directing the work of these assistants. Doctor Boas has continued his 

 investigation of the grammar of the Tsimshian and Chinook languages. 



The ripening of linguistic studies in America initiates a new era in this branch of 

 research. Powell gave great imjietus to the work, and numerous other students 

 have devoted their energies assiduously to the important task of recording and clas- 

 sifying the American languages and applying the results to the elucidation of the 

 history of languages and j^eoples. The ultimate object of the work conducted under 

 the direction of Doctor Boas is a morphological classification of the languages of 

 America. The enumeration of linguistic stocks published l)y Major Powell in the 

 seventh annual report of the Bureau, is based entirely on vocabularies, many of which 

 are veryl)rief. By means of the study of the morphology of languages more remote 

 relationships can be traced and the results of the lexicographer's comparisons can be 

 checked. The grammatical studies that are carried on at present will therefore serve 

 to elucidate many of the obscure parts of the earlier history of our country and the 

 significance of the multitude of languages of California and the lower Mississippi 

 region. The work is being done in systematic cooperation with investigators not 

 connected with the Bureau. Among these are Dr. A. L. Kroeber, of the University 

 of California, Dr. Roland B. Dixon, of Harvard University, and'a few other students 

 who are collecting material in California, partly for the University of California, 

 partly for the American Museum of Natural History. Up to the present time the 

 Bureau has taken up, in connection with this work, morphological studies of the 

 languages of the northwest coast and of the Siouan, Shoshonean, and Algonquian 

 stocks, three of the largest on our continent. The work has so far advanced that it is 



