OcToBER 8, 1897. ] 
The traditions of the Bella Coola are, to 
a great extent, totemic. Only members of 
the clan have the right to relate their 
traditions and to use the carvings based 
on their traditions. This has led to a 
system of endogamic marriage which was 
intended to prevent the acquisition of 
clan rights by other clans. This sys- 
tem is breaking down under the influ- 
ence of the Kwakiutl system of exogamic 
marriage. 
Investigations on the art of the Indians 
were mainly based on the consideration 
that the process of conventionalization will 
probably progress the farther the more diffi- 
cult the treatment of the surface to be 
decorated. It seemed that no surface offers 
greater difficulties than the human face, 
and for this reason a considerable number 
of facial paintings were collected. The 
results of this collection met the expecta- 
tions, since a number of highly conven- 
tionalized designs, some of purely geomet- 
rical character, were obtained. In addition 
to these a number of designs from house 
fronts and from edges of blankets were ob- 
tained. 
The studies on the languages of the 
Kwakiutl Indians cannot very well be 
summarized in a few words. Texts were 
obtained in two dialects, the Awikyenok 
and the Kwakiutl proper, which will prob- 
ably form a satisfactory basis for a full 
treatment of these dialects. 
On account of the difficulties encoun- 
tered in previous work on the physical 
characteristics of the tribes, it was deemed 
desirable to base the work on better ma- 
terial. Previous collections consisted of 
measurements and brief descriptive notes 
of types. These latter proved to be very 
unsatisfactory on account of the vagueness 
of the terms employed. Photographs ob- 
viate this difficulty to a certain extent, but 
not adequately, owing to the effects of per- 
spective forshortening. For this reason it 
SCIENCE. 
537 
was deemed desirable to try if the sub- 
ject can be treated more advantageously 
by means of a systematic collection of 
plaster casts, which will facilitate com- 
parison. This seemed particularly im- 
portant, since the study of the physical 
types of the coast of the North Pacific 
Ocean must form one of the mostimportant 
subjects of investigation of the Jesup Expe- 
dition. A series of one hundred casts have 
been obtained, representing four distinct 
types of British Columbia. The collection 
will be subjected to a critical examination 
in order to ascertain the usefulness of the 
method of investigation. The collection 
was made by all the members of the party. 
Each cast is accompanied by four photo- 
graphs of the subject on ascale of about 
1:5, front view, two profiles and one half 
profile. ‘These photographs were taken by 
Mr. Harlan I. Smith. ; 
Dr. Farrand, in his work among the 
Chilcotin, obtained considerable ethnolog- 
ical information, both as regards mythology 
and general customs. In both these fields 
striking evidence of the influence of contact 
with neighboring tribes was found ; thus in 
certain myths details of clearly coast 
origin, along with those bearing unmistak- 
able marks of the interior, were found 
grafted upon otherwise independent Chil- 
cotin stories. In social organization the 
Chilcotin, unlike the Tinneh tribes imme- 
diately to the north of them, show few 
signs of coast influence. No traces of clan 
organization were seen. Recognized rela- 
tionship was regarded as a bar to marriage, 
but this recognition was apparently not 
carried further than cousins of the first de- 
gree. The general condition and habits of 
the tribe have been greatly changed during 
the last thirty years, owing to the establish- 
ment of reservations upon which most of 
the people have been settled who thus aban- 
doned the wandering life to which they 
were formerly accustomed. <A few families 
