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SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XII. No. 299 



tricts, leaving- minor points to be worked out by each country for 

 itself. A commission was therefore appointed with altered and 

 somewhat wider powers. Its functions will more fully shape them- 

 selves at the congress in Philadelphia. 



The report upon the map of Europe was presented to the con- 

 gress by Dr. W. Hauchecorne. This stated the progress which is 

 being made. Four or five sheets of Central Europe will be ready 

 for publication during the next two years ; and it has been decided 

 to publish the sheets as completed, each with its own title and in- 

 dex, instead of waiting for the completion of the whole of Europe, 

 as was at first intended. 



Very little time was given to the map in the public sessions of 

 the congress ; but the map commission had three long sittings, the 

 results of which will be printed in the official report. The most 

 important points arrived at were the adoption of the term 'pleis- 

 tocene' for the index of the map (the German term 'quarter' to 

 be bracketed with this) ; the separation of the modern deposits 

 from the pleistocene, and the mapping of the latter wherever prac- 

 ticable, the underlying formations (where known) to be distin- 

 guished by colored lines ; in modern eruptive rocks (those of vol- 

 canoes now active or only recently extinct) the stratified volcanic 

 tuffs are to be distinguished from the cinders and the scoria. 



M. Karpinski has been the representative of Russia on the map 

 commission. On this occasion he was not present, his place being 

 taken by MM. Nikitin and Tschernicheff. The latter submitted 

 an iiTiportant note on the crystalline schists of the Ural Mountains, 

 which would have enlivened the discussion upon this question in 

 the public meetings of the congress. He states that the crystalline 

 schists of the Urals contain limestones with a distinct Hercynian 

 fauna, and also that the schists pass horizontally into Devonian 

 strata. It is probable that in cases of this kind (and similar cases 

 elsewhere were referred to in the public discussion) the schists will 

 be represented by the color denoting their presumed age, while 

 their present lithological character will be denoted by colored lines. 

 M. Nikitin raised a point which is important in many parts of 

 Europe, but which is especially so in Russia ; that is, the necessity 

 of distinguishing transition-beds. He instanced the Volgian beds, 

 which link the Jurassic with the cretaceous ; the Tartarian, be- 

 tween the Permian and the trias ; and others, spoken of by M. 

 Nikitin as Permo-carboniferous, which link the Permian to the 

 carboniferous. These transition-beds occupy iminense areas in 

 Russia, and cannot well be fitted into the existing classification. 



The discussion on the crystalline schists occupied the whole of 

 the sitting on Wednesday, and part of that on Friday. The 

 material for this discussion had been provided by a collection of 

 papers printed in advance and distributed at the opening. A number 

 of these papers were contributed by five officers of the United States 

 Geological Survey, with an introduction by Major Powell; and by 

 Mr. Lawson, of the Geological Survey of Canada. 



In the foregoing notes we have not attempted to summarize the 

 discussions. We have preferred to devote the space at our dis- 

 posal to a general survey of the meeting, and to note some points 

 of importance which could not well be included in a formal report 

 of daily proceedings. The discussions may by some be held to 

 have led to no definite result, inasmuch as no vote was taken, and 

 therefore no formal decision of the congress can in future be ap- 

 pealed to. But the great value of such meetings lies in the oppor- 

 tunity afforded for personal discussion, and the interchange of 

 opinions, not only in the public sessions, but in the more easy and 

 informal conversations over the exhibits in the museum, in the cor- 

 ridors and reading-room, and at the friendly and social gatherings 

 which made so pleasant a feature of the London meeting. We 

 have no doubt that the general result of this meeting on geological 

 opinion and progress will be at least as good as that of any which 

 has gone before. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CULTURE OF NORTH- 

 WEST AMERICA. 



It is well known that the Indian tribes of the north-west coast 

 of America far excel their neighbors in their arts and industries. 

 This phenomenon is of great interest, and well-deserving a thor- 

 ough study. What was the origin of this culture .' Which 



among the numerous tribes of this region proved of an intellect so 

 superior to that of all their neighbors ? Is it possible to trace the 

 unwritten history of this culture .'' All these questions are of 

 interest to the historian, as well as to the ethnologist who tries to 

 solve the psychologic laws of human development. 



The north-v/est coast of /i.merica is inhabited by tribes belonging 

 to a great number of linguistic stocks, — the Tlingit and Haida, 

 the Tsimshian, the Kwakiutl, the Nutka, and the Salish. The 

 physique of the northern tribes reminds us of the Japanese. The 

 Kwakiutl are characterized by a comparatively long skull ; the 

 Salish, by an exceedingly short one. Our knowledge of the phy- 

 sique of these tribes is too imperfect to trace their genealogy. We 

 may, however, trace their history by studying their customs and 

 languages. It seems that the languages enumerated above repre- 

 sent as many different linguistic stocks, so far as our limited knowl- 

 edge tends to show. Regarding the logical basis of grammar, we 

 may distinguish three groups: the first comprising the Salish, 

 Kwakiutl, and Nutka ; the second, the Tsimshian ; the third, the 

 Tlingit and Haida. The formation of words and the grammatical 

 inflection in the first group are effected by means of affixes and 

 reduplication. The languages distinguish between sexes and be- 

 tween present and absent objects. What we call the adverb is 

 the inflected part in their sentences. The second group is char- 

 acterized b) its entirely verbal character, nouns and verbs — if we 

 may use these terms — being treated in the same way. There is 

 no grammatic gender; but the past, present, and future tenses, as 

 well as presence and absence, are distinguished. The plural has 

 the same peculiarity as that found by Major Powell in several Sho- 

 shone dialects, different stems being used for singular and plural. 

 The third group, the Tlingit and Haida, is characterized by the 

 lack of inflected forms, juxtaposition of stems being the principle 

 of grammatic structure and of the formation of words. These 

 languages might alinost be considered as belonging to the class of 

 isolating languages. 



These are the principal facts which we have to bear in mind in 

 studying the culture of these tribes. 



The best basis for ethnological comparisons are collections of 

 specimens and collections of myths. The latter are the best clew 

 to the religious ideas of a people, and reveal many remarkable cus- 

 toins which would escape the notice of the casual observer. A full 

 account of the customs of these tribes is not yet available, as no 

 scientific traveller has devoted sufficient time to their study. 



The legends of these tribes are of a comparatively uniform char- 

 acter all over the north-west coast of America. This fact is not 

 surprising, as the customs of all the tribes are very much alike. A 

 careful analysis, however, shows important points of difference. It 

 is true that the same elements occur over and over again, in vary- 

 ing combinations; but this phenomenon will not mislead the stu- 

 dent, as it is one of the characteristics of myths, that in course of 

 time they are developed by the addition of well-known elements. 

 When we try to separate these elements from the legends, a series 

 of myths remain which we are unable to trace to a common 

 source. 



As regards the elements common to all these traditions, their 

 gradual distribution may be traced in studying, for instance, the 

 legend of the ' Visit to Heaven,' which is known all over North- 

 west America. The legend is one of the most important in the 

 mythology of all Salish tribes, the tale being that men and animals 

 made a chain of arrows reaching from heaven to earth, climbed 

 it, and killed the sun. We find this same idea of the ascent to 

 heaven incidentally used among the Tsimshian, only for the pur- 

 pose of embellishing one of their legends. On the other hand, the 

 tales of the adventures of the raven, which form the basis of the 

 Tlingit mythology, are known on Puget Sound, where they form 

 incidents in certain other myths. 



Historical legends prove the correctness of our view that well- 

 known elements of traditions are added to tales, and that their 

 development is exclusively in this line. The Sitka Indians, for 

 instance, have numerous legends referring to the administration of 

 Baranoff. All of them have the same style that may be observed in 

 their myths. Therefore, in studying the mythologies of these 

 tribes, we must assume that each was in the possession of a certain 

 stock of legends, which they carried to the coast. Whether these 



