Maech 39, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



457 



have heretofore remained unexplored, and 

 will be continued as long as important gaps 

 in our knowledge of the ethnology of the 

 ■coast remain to be filled. 



The regions in which investigations are 

 to be carried on offer many peculiar diffi- 

 culties, as well on account of the severity of 

 the climate in the northern portions of the 

 district as on account of the multitude of 

 tribes that inhabit these regions. "While 

 almost the whole of Siberia is inhabited by 

 tribes akin in language and similar in type, 

 the eastern coast is occupied by a variety 

 of races. The same is true in America, 

 where in the interior we find a vast sweep 

 of country inhabited by one people, while 

 the diversity of languages and races on 

 the coast is almost incredible. A thorough 

 study of all the innumerable dialects, of the 

 customs of all the tribes and of the physical 

 characteristics, will be required to bring 

 order into this chaos. 



The difficulties of this problem will be 

 better appreciated when it is stated that 

 between Columbia River and Behring Strait 

 ten languages are found that are funda- 

 mentally distinct, and that these languages 

 have 37 dialects which are mutually unin- . 

 telligible. On the Asiatic side there are 

 seven distinct languages spoken in at least 

 ten dialects which are mutually unintel- 

 ligible, but there may be more since our 

 knowledge of the whole area is very meagre. 



The problem of the relationship of the 

 racial types is a very attractive one. The 

 relations of the races of southern Alaska 

 and British Columbia to the other North 

 American Indians, although not quite clear, 

 are certainly very intimate, since a gradual 

 transition of the northwest-coast types to 

 those of eastern North America can be es- 

 tablished. On the other hand, their features 

 show a decided resemblance with the Asiatic 

 types, but the races which we find in north- 

 ern Alaska are much more remote from 

 Asiatic types than those further south. It 



is, therefore, likely that extensive migra- 

 tions have taken place in this whole area. 



We know that great changes in the seats 

 of population have occurred in the central 

 parts of northern Siberia. The weaker 

 peoples of southern regions were pushed 

 northward and finally came to occupy the 

 inhospitable shore of the Arctic Ocean. It 

 will require long and patient study of the 

 inhabitants and of the prehistoric remains 

 of the whole region to unravel its ancient 

 history. 



Even after the time of the early migra- 

 tions of races in this region there has al- 

 ways been opportunity for intercourse and 

 for exchange of inventions and of other 

 ideas. The forms of certain utensils are 

 much alike on both coasts, thus favoring 

 the theory that they has spread over the 

 whole area from one center, but archfeolog- 

 ical investigation must show how long these 

 forms have been in use and if they were 

 preceded by other forms of culture. The 

 mythologies must be scanned with great 

 care. There is no doubt that among the 

 people of Siberia a constant interchange of 

 tales and myths has taken place. There 

 are indications that the current flowed 

 across to our continent, and it will be the 

 task of the proposed investigation to dis- 

 cover to what extent American and Asiatic 

 ideas influenced each other. 



The whole field of research is a vast one, 

 and it is to be expected that the enterprise 

 inaugurated by Mr. Jesup will lead to re- 

 sults which will clear up many of the ob- 

 scure points regarding the early history of 

 the American race. 



THE NEW YORK STATE SCIENCE TEACHERS' 

 ASSOCIATION. 

 This Association, which was organized 

 last July in connection with the Bufi'alo 

 meeting of the National Educational Asso- 

 ciation, held its first annual meeting in 

 Syracuse, December 29th-31st, following the 



