174 REPORT— 1887. 



Government, while they have taken some encouraging steps, as by the in- 

 stallation of an anthropological collection in the museum at Ottawa, have 

 shown no disposition to make the study of the native populations a branch 

 of the public service. Anthropologists have thus two courses before them 

 in Canada — namely, to press this task upon the Government and to carry 

 it forward themselves. Now it is obvious that agitation for public endow- 

 ment will not of itself sufiBce, as involving delay during which the material 

 to be collected would be disappearing more rapidly than ever. If, how- 

 ever, a determined attempt were at once made by anthropologists, result- 

 ing in some measure of success, public opinion might probably move in 

 the same direction, and a larger scheme might, before long, receive not 

 only the support of Canadians interested in the science of man, but the 

 material help of the Dominion Government. 



On these and other considerations the General Committee of the 

 British Association appointed Dr. E. B. Tylor, Dr. G. M. Dawson, General 

 Sir J. H. Lefi-oy, Dr. Daniel Wilson, Mr. Horatio Hale, Mr. R. G. Hali- 

 burton, and Mr. George W. Bloxam (Secretary) to be a committee for 

 the purpose of investigating and publishing reports on the physical 

 characters, languages, industrial and social condition of the north-western 

 tribes of the Dominion of Canada, with a grant of -50?. This committee 

 the next year sent in a ' Preliminary Report on the Blackfoot Tribes,' 

 drawn up by Mr. Hale. Their action in other districts was, however, 

 much delayed by the difficulty of making plans by correspondence, and 

 the committee were reappointed at Birmingham in 1886, in the hope that 

 during the ensuing year Mr. Hale might be able personally to visit some 

 of the tribes. 



It has now been arranged to collect information, as far as possible, over 

 the vast region between Lake Huron and the Pacific, the materials thus 

 obtained being edited and presented in successive reports, as they shall 

 be from time to time received, by Mr. Hale, whose experience and skill 

 in such research are certified to by his volume embodying the ethno- 

 graphy of the Exploring Expedition under Captain Wilkes and by his 

 subsequent publications relating to Canada. As a means of obtaining 

 data, the present memorandum has been drawn up for circulation among 

 Government officers in contact with the native tribes, medical practi- 

 tioners, missionaries, colonists, and travellers likely to possess or obtain 

 trustworthy information. The results gained from the answers will be 

 incorporated with those of a personal survey to be made in some of the 

 most promising districts by the Rev. E. F. Wilson, who has been named 

 on the recommendation of Mr. Hale, and will act under his directions. 



Suggestions for Investigation. 



Physical Characters. — Tables of anthropological measurements &c. 

 from Canada being extremely deficient, schedules drawn up by medical 

 men and other qualified anatomists and naturalists will be highly accept- 

 able. The following headings comprise the chief points on which infor- 

 mation is needed in this department : stature, girth, pi-oportions of trunk 

 and limbs, cranial indices, facial angle, &c., brain capacity, peculiar bodily 

 forms and features, special attitudes and movements, muscular force, &c., 

 colour of skin, eyes, and hair according to Broca's colour-tables, form and 

 growth of hair, skin odour. Statistics are required as to age of maturity and 

 decline, periods of reproduction and lactation, longevity. Especial import. 



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