March 29, 1889.] 



SCIENCE 



24: 



perpetuate a distinction of sex in science ; and were we all profes- 

 sional scientists, or possessed of education fitting us to enter the 

 race for intellectual attainment without handicap, we doubt whether 

 a second society would ever have been formed. Under existing 

 ■conditions, however, we are satisfied to work out our own prob- 

 lems in anticipation of the time when science shall regard only the 

 work, not the worker. 



The society has managed its business, held its regular meetings, 

 and listened to the papers of its members, for nearly four years, 

 and, in spite of prophecies to the contrary, has slowly but steadily 

 grown, — all without a single unfriendly disagreement or any pre- 

 sage of dissolution. 



Much of the credit for this success and harmony is due to Mrs. 

 Stevenson, the founder, and for three years and a half the presi- 

 dent, of the society. Her principal supporter at first was Miss 

 Sarah A. Scull, then teacher of ancient history and mythology in 

 Mrs. Somers's school for girls, and the society's corresponding sec- 

 retary. The other officers selected at the preliminary June meet- 

 ing were Mrs. Emma Louise Hitchcock for recording secretary, 

 and Mrs. Mary Parke Foster for treasurer. A constitution was 

 draughted and adopted at the same meeting, and the society then 

 adjourned until Nov. 28, 1885. By-laws were proposed on Dec. 

 12 of the same year. At the first annual meeting, held Jan. 30, 

 18B6, the constitution and by-laws were amended, and additions 

 were made to the board of trustees in accordance with the code. 

 These were the two vice-presidents, Mrs. Mary E. James and Mrs. 

 Lida Nordhof^, and six trustees, — Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Mrs. 

 Jean M. Lander, Mrs. Emma Hammond Ward, Mrs. Mary Olm- 

 sted Clarke, Dr. Clara Bliss Hinds, and Mrs. Cornelia E. McDon- 

 ald. 



Other names which appear later on the board are Mrs. Sybil 

 Augusta Carter and Mrs. Eliza Blair, as vice-presidents ; Mrs. 

 Blair, having previously filled the office of corresponding sec- 

 retary, succeeding Miss Scull when the latter departed this 

 •country for Greece, in May, 1886. At the same time the recording 

 secretary, Mrs. Hitchcock, temporarily left the young society, and 

 journeyed toward Japan, where she observed the ever-interesting 

 Orient for our future benefit. An able and worthy successor to 

 the secretaryship was found, however, in the person of Mrs. Mary 

 Olmsted Clarke. Mrs. Melissa A. Bryan, Mrs. Miranda TuUock, 

 and Miss Florence P. Spofford have more recently served as trus- 

 tees of the society. At the close of 1886 it was found necessary to 

 subject the original and temporary constitution and by-laws to a 

 thorough revision, and this task was accomplished so well that no 

 alterations have since been made. 



The members of the Women's Anthropological Society of 

 America are grouped in three classes, — honorary, corresponding, 

 and active. The last includes a sub-class of absent members, who 

 are temporarily inactive. As originally organized, the society con- 

 tained one honorary member, — Miss Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, — 

 and twenty-one active members, of whom five were not residents 

 of Washington. The policy of the society has always been to 

 maintain a high standard of membership, one result of which is a 

 practical limitation in numbers. The formalities surrounding the 

 admission of new members are such that about a month elapses 

 before a proposed name can be finally enrolled. At the same time, 

 any thinking, intelligent woman likely to take practical interest in 

 the work is gladly welcomed to the society. 



The membership to-day includes three honorary, eleven corre- 

 sponding, and forty-six active members. Seven among the last are 

 upon the absent roll. 



Regular meetings are held on Saturday afternoons of each alter- 

 nate week from November until May inclusive. The fiftieth of 

 these will be held on Saturday of this week. The average attend- 

 ance has varied in different years from eleven to fifteen. For over 

 two years the society has been greatly indebted to the president 

 and trustees of Columbian university for the use of the reception- 

 rooms of the university building for our bi-weekly meetings. The 

 regular meetings are devoted primarily to the presentation and dis- 

 cussion of original scientific communications ; and all business, ex- 

 cept elections, is transacted in detail at meetings of the board or in 

 committee before being submitted to the general society. 



In addition to the regular meetings, the by-laws provide for spe- 



cial meetings, and an annual meeting in January for the election of 

 officers and trustees and the reading of reports. An annual recep- 

 tion may also be given, at which the retiring president is expected 

 to deliver an address. In 1887 this reception was omitted, owing 

 to the illness of the president. This is the only occasion on which 

 refreshments are permitted by the code. 



The year 1889 has seen many changes in the board of trustees. 

 As constituted at present, it is as follows : president, Mrs. Sybil 

 Augusta Carter ; vice-presidents, Mrs. Mary Parke Foster and 

 Miss Alice C. Fletcher ; recording secretary, Mrs. Anita Newcomb 

 McGee ; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Emma Hammond Ward ; 

 treasurer. Miss Florence P. Spofford ; members at large, Mrs. Mary 

 Olmsted Clarke, Mrs. Jean M. Lander, Mrs. Marianna P. Seaman, 

 Miss Lydia M. Dame, and Mrs. Hannah L. Bartlett, with a vacancy 

 to be filled at the next meeting. 



One of the first movements of the new board has been toward 

 the formation of a library. A number of important works have 

 been presented to the society, and through the courtesy of Major 

 J. W. Powell these are about to be placed in the library of the Bu- 

 reau of Ethnology. Donations of anthropologic works will be 

 gratefully received by the librarian, Mrs. Marianna P. Seaman. 



Were we dependent upon what the society had published, our 

 library could be easily read. With the caution and forethought 

 characteristic of our founder and her associates, the youthful body 

 .has refrained from much printing. Four small pamphlets have, 

 however, appeared. " The Organization and the Constitution of 

 the Women's Anthropological Society" (1885) was superseded in 

 1887 by the revised " Constitution, By-Laws, and List of Mem- 

 bers." The two other pamphlets were designed to direct the 

 members in their work. " Child-Growth," by Dr. Clara Bliss 

 Hinds (1886), wasa plea for.and directions concerning, anthropome- 

 try. "What is Anthropology?" by Professor Otis T. Mason 

 (1888), was printed by the society as the best available classifica- 

 tion of anthropologic science, and at the same time as a guide to 

 the branches of the subject requiring investigation. 



It is now hoped that a volume of proceedings may be published 

 at^o distant day, though the material for it is considerably dimin- 

 ished by the publication elsewhere of several valuable contribu- 

 tions. As a general rule, a single paper, nominally thirty minutes 

 in length, is read and discussed at each meeting. Forty-three 

 communications have thus far been contributed by members, a 

 number of which were presented orally, and two presidential ad- 

 dresses have been delivered. In addition, two lectures were deliv- 

 ered at special meetings in 1887, — the first on Feb. 12, by Mr. A. 

 R. Wallace, on " The Great Problems of Anthropology;" and the 

 second on April 23, by Mr. J. H. Smyth, on " The African in his 

 Home and in America." 



In reviewing the work of the society, it is noticeable that the 

 majority of the papers represent the results of personal observation 

 on the part of their authors. They are real contributions to knowl- 

 edge, generally much condensed from abundant material collected 

 on some given subject. 



It results from this custom that no discussion has ever been 

 given to the origin, antiquity, or primitive condition of man, and no 

 studies have been made in race-classification or in philology. 



A large number of papers are ethnographic in character, as were 

 the two presidential addresses of Mrs. Stevenson, — " The Reli- 

 gious Life of the Zuni Child," delivered in 1886, and published in the 

 " Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology ; " and " The 

 Thirteen Medicine Orders of the Zufii," delivered in 188S, and 

 printed in abstract in Science. Four other papers presented by 

 Mrs. Stevenson either have appeared or are to appear among the 

 pubUcations of the Bureau of Ethnology. Their subjects are, ist, 

 "The Moki Indian Snake-Dance;" 2d, "Mission Indians," in 

 which are described the cosmogony, the ceremony of purification 

 upon arriving at puberty, and the baptismal ceremony of the San 

 Luisano Indians of southern California ; 3d, " The Sand- Paintings 

 of the Navajos ; " and, 4th, " Zuiii and the Zufiians." Some of 

 these papers were illustrated by original drawings. Of similar 

 character are the four papers from Miss Alice C. Fletcher, an origi- 

 nal member of the society, who needs no introduction to the stu- 

 dents of anthropology here or abroad. The first of these, " Omaha 

 Child-Life," appeared in part in the Journal of American Folk- 



