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SCIENCE. 



[N. S Vol. XVI. No. 404. 



hibits, and they may be as numerous and 

 varied as we choose. Some of them may 

 cover limited portions of the culture field, 

 while others are general, comprehending a 

 wide range. They may be classified and 

 arranged in various ways, according to the 

 nature of the concept to be developed; 

 some may be chronologic, some compara- 

 tive, others cyclopedic, and so on. A na- 

 tional exhibit, that is to say one intended 

 to illustrate the history of a nation may 

 be arranged chronologically, as in the his- 

 torical exhibit of our National Museum. 

 Here the successive periods, marked by im- 

 portant episodes, are as follows : 



(1) Discovery, (2) Colonization, (3) 

 Revolution, (4) War of 1812, (5) Mexican 

 war, (6) Civil Avar, (7) War with Spain, 

 etc. Within this series and forming part 

 of it are special exhibits, as those repre- 

 senting public personages. In the section 

 illustrating the revolutionary period, for 

 example, there is a minor exhibit relating 

 to Washington, and consisting of various 

 articles, personal and otherwise, arranged 

 for effect or according to relative impor- 

 tance of the relics. This national exhibit 

 is not a true geo-ethnic unit since it covers 

 only three of four centuries of the ethnic 

 history of the area included, and although 

 arranged chronologically, it is not illus- 

 trative of culture in the broadest sense. 



A collection of paintings is susceptible of 

 varied special treatment. It may be ar- 

 ranged (1) chronologically, (2) by coun- 

 tries, (3) by schools or (4) by painters. 

 An exhibit of book-bindings might repre- 

 sent the work of (1) an individual, (2) a 

 firm, (3) a school, (4) a period, and so on. 



Special comparative exhibits may be of 

 much interest and value. They may be 

 synoptical or cyclopedic. An exhibit of 

 bows and arrows, for example, may be 

 synoptic, containing only typical examples 

 from the various regions and peoples, or 



cyclopedic, containing all available speci- 

 mens from all sources. 



The culture exhibits for a museum of 

 anthropology may thus best be assembled 

 in at least three distinct divisions, each 

 illustrating a different kind of unit of cul- 

 ture and seiwing to convey distinct classes 

 of information, or the same kind of infor- 

 mation in different ways. So the museum 

 space allotted to culture is separated into 

 three parts, accommodating the geo-ethnic 

 groups, the culture-history series, and the 

 special exhibits. 



GEO-ETHNIC GROUPING ILLUSTRATED. 



The significance of the geo-ethnic exliibits 

 already described will be readily under- 

 stood by referring to Fig. 5, a map of North 

 America, on which are outlined in the most 

 general way some of the principal geo- 

 ethnic or geographical culture districts — 

 the characterization-areas of the continent. 

 These areas are not always well defined 

 and there is a good deal of overlapping 

 and ethnic intermingling. In some cases it 

 is dilficult to say of a particular area which 

 tribe should be taken as a type, and the 

 materials at hand must decide this, since 

 only those tribes can be systematically 

 shown from which collections are ample. 

 In the main, however, the delimitations are 

 sufficiently definite for all practical pur- 

 poses. The areas suggesting themselves are 

 as follows: 



1. Eastern Arctic area (Eastern Eski- 

 mo). 



2. Western Arctic area (Western Eski- 

 mo). 



3. McKenzie-Tukon area (Tinneh). 



4. Northwest coast area (Tlinkit, Salish). 



5. Columbia River area (Nez Perce, 

 Chinook). 



6. California area (Klamath, Tulare). 



7. Great Basin area (Bannock, Ute). 



8. Colorado-Rio Grande arid area 

 (Pueblo, Apache). 



