656 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. No. 643 



4. Moral and Entertainment Tales. 



A comparison of the myths of these 

 groups with the published mythologies of 

 the Arapaho and Crow indicates a very 

 close relation between the mythologies of 

 the Arapaho and the Blackf oot. Of eight- 

 een mytlis in the Old Man Series, eleven 

 have direct parallels among the Arapaho 

 and five among the Crow. Of twenty- 

 seven moral and entertainment tales, ten 

 have direct parallels among the Arapaho 

 and two among the Crow. Of fourteen 

 culture hero tales, four have direct paral- 

 lels among the Arapaho. Thus, out of 

 fifty-nine tales, twenty-four were directly 

 parallel to Arapaho and seven to Crow 

 tales. All the ritualistic origin myths 

 seem to be peculiar to the Blackfoot, and 

 may be regarded as their own contribution 

 to their mythology. 



Mr. Edward Sapir's 'Notes on the 

 Takelma Indians of southwestern Oregon' 

 are to be published in the American An- 

 thropologist; while Mr. Frank G. Speck's 

 'Notes on Chickasaw Ethnology' are to ap- 

 pear in the Journal of Americcm Folk- 

 Lwe. Mr. Speck read a second paper, 

 entitled ' Outlines of Culture in the South- 

 eastern States.' 



In her 'Report on the Book on Mary- 

 land Polk-Lore,' Miss Anne Weston Whit- 

 ney gave extracts from the material that 

 is to foi*m a forthcoming volume of me- 

 moirs of the American Polk-Lore Society. 

 The compilation of the memoirs has been 

 assigned to various members of the Balti- 

 more Branch. Negro folk-lore predomi- 

 nates—witchcraft, death, hoodoo, conjur- 

 ing, spells, etc., and the beliefs connected 

 therewith, comparison being made between 

 negro folk-lore of Maryland and that of 

 negroes elsewhere, as Jamaica and Africa. 



Mr. Stansbury Hagar's paper on 'Chero- 

 kee Star Lore ' is to be printed in the Amer- 

 ican Anthropologist. 



'Philippine Marchen' was the topic 



chosen by Mr. W. W. Newell, who spoke 

 of an interesting collection of material that 

 came to him from various sources in the 

 Philippines. Though interesting, the der- 

 ivation is largely European, especially 

 Spanish. 



'Recent Activity in Folk-Lore in Mis- 

 souri' was one of the themes discussed by 

 Professor W J McGee. He said that a 

 branch of the American Folk-Lore Society 

 had just been organized in Missouri, largely 

 at the instance of Dr. A. L. Kroeber and 

 through the energy of Professor H. M. 

 Belden, of the University of Missouri. The 

 members and officers are drawn from dif- 

 ferent sections of the state, especially Co- 

 lumbia, St. Louis and Kansas City; the 

 headquarters will be in Columbia at the 

 state university. It is the purpose of the 

 organization to record existing traces of 

 aboriginal lore in conjunction with the 

 English, German, French and Spanish folk- 

 lore which are interestingly combined in 

 the remarkably composite population of 

 the state. 



In 'Notes on Puebloan House Construc- 

 tion, ' by Mr. Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, the 

 query was made as to how far house con- 

 struction alone could be depended on in 

 tribal or race classification. By itself the 

 house frequently gave small indication of 

 culture or race affiliation. The Icelander, 

 of purely European ancestry, exhibited in 

 his houses none of the architectural skill 

 of his race. Conditions were against it. 

 A turf or peat house was the easiest thing 

 for him to build. The Iroquois made a 

 flimsy bark house, yet ranked high in cul- 

 ture. Conditions favored bark construc- 

 tion. In the southwest conditions forced 

 other, more permanent forms, from all 

 peoples. There gypsiferous clays and stone 

 slabs were at hand everywhere; bark was 

 scarce. Different people, therefore, may 

 build in the same way, while similar people 



