788 ' REPORT — 1897. 



The higher we ascend in the scale of humanity, the more perfect does this 

 control hecome, and the more do the instincts, emotions, passions and appetites 

 become subordinated to the self-conscious principle which regulates our judgments 

 and beliefs. It will therefore now be a matter for scientific inquiry to determine, 

 as far as the anatomical conditions will permit, the proportion which the associa- 

 tion centres bear to the other centres both in mammals and in man, the period of 

 development of the association fibres, in comparison with that of the motor and 

 sensory fibres in different animals, and, if possible, to obtain a comparison in these 

 respects between the brains of savages and those of men of a high order of 



intelligence. , i- ■ .1 



The capability of erecting the trunk ; the power of extending and faxing the 

 hip and knee joints when standing ; the stability of the foot ; the range and 

 variety of movement of the joints of the upper limb ; the balancing of the head 

 on the summit of the spine ; the mass and weight of the brain, and the perfection 

 of its internal mechanism, are distinctively human characters. They are the 

 factors concerned in adapting the body of man, under the guidance of reason, 

 intelligence, the sense of responsibility and power of self-control, for the discharge of 

 varied and important duties in relation to himself, his Maker, his fellows, the 

 animal world and the earth on which he lives. 



THURSDAY, AUGUST 19. 

 The following Paperd and Reports were read : — 



1. The Scalp -lock: a Study 0/ Omaha Bitual. 

 By Miss Alice C. Fletcher. 



[Published in Journ, Anthrop. Institute, No. 102, February 1898.] 



2. The Import of the Totem among the Omaha. 

 By Miss Alice C. Fletcher. 



[Published separately Salem, Mass., 1897.] 



3. Squaktktquaclt, or the Benign-faced Oannes of the Ntlakaimmuq, 

 British Columbia. By C. Hill-Tout. 



SquaMkfquaelt, or Benign-face, the mythological hero of the Ntlakapamuq, 

 B.C., is the youngest son of the red-headed woodpecker by his favourite wife, the 

 black bear woman. The grizzly woman, his other wife, became jealous of the 

 black bear, and killed both her and her husband by treachery, and would have 

 also killed the black bear's three sons, but they ran away. They were pursued by 

 the grizzly, who met her death in the pursuit. The three boys wandered about 

 the country, the youngest, Squaktktquaclt, becoming a powerful but kind-hearted 

 shaman, who used his power in alleviating the misery and misfortunes of the 

 people and in punishing by metamorphosis the evildoers. He also teaches the 

 people many useful arts, and otherwise instructs them. He is to the Ntlakapamuq 

 what Skilap is to the Shushwaps, and seems indeed to be the same personage. He 

 also recalls the ' Great Transformer ' of the Kwakiutl. 



4. The Blaclfoot Legend of Scar-face. By R. N. WiLSOX. 



The legend of Uk-ske, or Scar-face, is believed by the Algonquian Blackfeet to 

 explain the origin of their principal sacred ceremonies and beliefs. So much ritual 

 has reference to this myth, and so many observances are founded upon it, that the 



