304 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 166. 



meaning: they make themselves a people 

 with ; that is, with thunder they make 

 themselves or become a people. The We'- 

 zhiji-shte gens, the Elk people, were called 

 Oft-pa i'-ni-ka-shi-ki-dhe — OM-pa, elk ; with 

 the Elk they make themselves a people. 

 The word i'-ni-ka-shi-ki-dhe clearly in- 

 dicates the constructive character of the 

 totem in the gens. 



The set of names which belonged to each, 

 gens referred to the sign or totem of a family 

 group ; these names were called ni'-ki-e — 

 spoken by a chief, or originated by a chief. 

 The word ni'-ki-e points to the formative 

 period when means were being devised to 

 transform the family into a distinct political 

 group ; it argues a central authority, a man, 

 a chief; the individual names which he 

 bestowed allude solely to the power behind 

 the chief, the manifestation of his vision 

 represented by his totem, in the favor of 

 which he and his kindred had made them- 

 selves a people, i'-ni-ka-shi-ki-dhe. 



The Osage equivalent of the Omaha word 

 i'-ni-ka-shi-ki-dhe is zho'-i-ga-ra, meaning 

 associated with. The Otoe word used for 

 the same purpose is ki'-gra-jhe, they call 

 themselves. 



The word for tribe u-ki'-te, when used as 

 a verb, means to fight, to war against out- 

 side enemies, indicating that the need of 

 mutual help impelled the various Tow'-wom- 

 gdhoji (gentes) to band together for self- 

 preservation ; but the order of their group- 

 ing was, as we have seen, controlled by 

 their totems. 



Summary. — In the word for tribe, in the 

 formation of the gens within the tribe, and 

 in the rite which brought the individual 

 into what he believed to be direct communi- 

 cation with Wa-kon'-da, we trace the work- 

 ings of man's consciousness of insecu- 

 rity and dependence, and see his strug- 

 gles to comprehend his environment 

 and to bring himself into helpful relations 

 with the supernatural. And we find 



in this study of the Omaha totem 

 that, while the elements, the animals and 

 the fruits of the earth were all related to 

 man through a common life, this relation 

 ran along discrete lines, and that, his ap- 

 peal for help once granted, relief could only 

 be summoned by means of the Wa-/tu'-be, 

 the sacred object, the totem, which brought 

 along its special line the desired supernat- 

 ural aid. 



It is noteworthy that the totems of indi- 

 viduals, as far as known, and those of the 

 gentes, represented the same class of ob- 

 jects or phenomena, and as totems could be 

 obtained in but one way — through the rite 

 of the vision — the totem of a gens must 

 have come into existence in that manner, 

 and must have represented the manifesta- 

 tions of an ancestor's vision, that of a man 

 whose ability and opportunity served to 

 make him the founder of a family, of a 

 group of kindred who dwelt together, fought 

 together and learned the value of united 

 strength. 



Alice C. Fletchee. 

 Peabody Museum, Haevaed Univeesity. 



MUL TIPLE- CYLINDER STEA M- ENGINE. * 



The following is a very brief abstract of 

 the paper presented to the American Society 

 of Mechanical Engineers, by Messrs. Thurs- 

 ton and Brinsmade, at the last convention, 

 New York, Deceber 2, 1S97 : 



The paper was a statement of the results of 

 the experimental investigation of the rela- 

 tive efficiency of standard forms of com- 

 pound and triple-expansion engines and a 

 newly introduced type in which the high- 

 pressure cylinder is given about one-half 

 the size ordinarily assigned for a stated 

 power, as compared with the magnitude of 

 the low-pressure cylinder. Remarkably 



*PreserLted at the New York meeting (December, 

 1897) of the American Society of Mechanical Engi- 

 neers, forming part of Volume XIX. of the Trans- 

 actions. 



