June 9, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



827 



besides language. Their only connections with 

 their linguistic relatives to the south, the Sarsi, 

 seems to have been only recent. 



The Growth of the Tsimshian Phratries: C. M. 



Barbeatj. 



In nine unfederated tribes of the Tsimshian 

 proper the phratries were unevenly represented. 

 Evidence shows that the structure and distribu- 

 tion of the four phratries have undergone consid- 

 erable change in recent times. The phratries, as 

 they now stand, consist of clans either grown out 

 of each other, or introduced from outside and in- 

 corporated mostly on account of political circum- 

 stances. 



The Huron-Wyandot Clans: C. M. Baebeau. 



The esogamic and totemio elans of the Huron- 

 Wyandots are at the basis of their social struc- 

 ture. At least two out of eleven clans are mod- 

 ern and confined to one section of the tribe. The 

 remaining nine clans seem once to have been 

 grouped into two opposite phratries with one odd 

 elan, but the evidence to this effect is slender. 

 The grouping of elans within such phratries must 

 have been largely accidental and of comparatively 

 short duration, since there is barely any record 

 bearing on their existence, and practically no sur- 

 •vivaL 



Serb Medicine Practises of the Northeastern Al- 

 gorikins: Frank G. Speck. 



This paper presents lists of plants used in the 

 medicine practises of several eastern Algonkin 

 • tribes — the Montagnais, Penobscot and Mohegan. 

 Practically devoid of ceremonial associations in 

 "this area, the pseudo-scientific use of herbs by the 

 northeastern tribes is taken as another indication 

 of the primitive character of their culture. As- 

 suming that a simple herbalism unmodified by 

 ritual is more elementary than where subordinated 

 to ceremonial practises, the author brings forth 

 another reason for regarding the northeast as a 

 region where a fundamentally characteristic type 

 of Algonkian culture has survived unmodified by 

 contact with outside and more advanced types. 

 The associations of color, taste, name and the like, 

 are shown to underlie the remedies and their func- 

 tions in most cases, as appears in the botanical 

 identifications and the analyses of native names. 



The Social Significance of the CreeTc Confederacy : 



John E. Swanton. 



The Creek confederacy was a result of those 

 social linkings from which, in all parts of the 

 world, nationalities and governments have arisen. 



Although it originated among peoples related by 

 language and bound together by similar customs 

 and a similar economic life, the constituent parts 

 had themselves been subjected to still earlier imi- 

 fying tendencies, as is evidenced by their elan sys- 

 tems, and to some extent by their known history. 

 Their gradual consolidation was in accordance 

 with a certain plan having both social and relig- 

 ious aspects, a plan itself probably evolved pro- 

 gressively with the organization. It had a relig- 

 ious seal in the shape of a myth in which a super- 

 natural origin and character were attributed to it. 

 As with similar complexes elsewhere, some of 

 which have been brought about more rapidly, the 

 Creek organization resulted from a progressive sur- 

 rendering of cultural, religious and governmental 

 independence by the several parts and approxima- 

 tion toward a typical mean. The relation of the 

 various incorporated tribes, towns and clans to each 

 other and to the entire body, the dual division of 

 towns and of clans, and the method of sharing out 

 the functions of the collective body all bear wit- 

 ness to this evolution and furnish material for 

 comparison with the development of social bodies 

 in other parts of the world. 



Notes on the Sign Language of the Plains In- 

 dians : Hugh L. Scott. 



After referring briefly to the development and 

 communication of the languages in general and of 

 the American languages in particular, the author 

 treats of the language of signs employed by divers 

 indigenous tribes which inhabit the region extend- 

 ing from the Mississippi Eiver to the Eocky Moun- 

 tains and from the Saskatchewan Eiver in British 

 Columbia to the frontiers of Mexico. He also 

 refers briefly to the principal dialects of the 

 American Indians and to the fact that these dia- 

 lects served as an international vehicle of com- 

 munication. 



"With respect to the language of signs, the au- 

 thor demonstrates that it is one of the natural 

 modes of communication and that it obeys the 

 general law of linguistics, with exception of those 

 concerned with phonetics. He traces the history 

 of sign language which in his opinion appeared in 

 the year 1535 of the Christian era and perhaps at 

 a more remote epoch. The author then refers to 

 the opinions and data which the first chroniclers 

 and historians of Spain secured with respect to 

 this language. These Spanish chroniclers and 

 historians make it clear that this language existed 

 in Mexico and was replaced by the spoken lan- 

 guage of the Aztecs. The author compares the 



