June 17, 1887.] 



SCIEJSrCE. 



597 



ing among these multitudinous lowly organisms, 

 that what is recognized among higher animals as 

 specific differentiation, cannot exist, any more 

 than among the foraminifera. So, for the pur- 

 pose of marshalling, in some sort of order, the 

 chaos of individuals, perhaps nothing better could 

 have been chosen than the arrangement adopted. 



The richest source of the material described is 

 the radiolarian ooze of the Pacific Ocean, the 

 remarkable deep-sea mud consisting chiefly of 

 the skeletons of these animals. The tow-net also 

 yielded rich treasures. Professor Haeckel has also 

 included the fruit of his own numerous journeys 

 to the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic as 

 well as to the Indian Ocean. Capt. Heinricli 

 Rabbe of Bremen also contributed most important 

 material from the Indian seas ; and the collections 

 of Murray and others on various expeditions, such 

 as the Knight-errant and Triton voyages, added to 

 the total. The alimentary canal of various pelagic 

 organisms and even Jurassic coproiites have been 

 laid under contribution. Dr. R. Teuscher of Jena 

 has co-operated with the author in his work : 

 among other things he undertook the tedious mi- 

 crometric measurements, some eight thousand in 

 number, by which the constancy of the so-called 

 specific forms was endeavored to be tested. The 

 result showed their inconstancy, as might be ex- 

 pected. The conclusion of Professor Haeckel that 

 all other organisms exhibit a similar inconstancy, 

 is, we believe, not in accordance with the general 

 experience of naturalists. 



No description can do justice to the wonderful 

 variety and beauty of these minute creatures, and 

 for fuller realization the reader must turn to the 

 plates of what we may properly call this stupen- 

 dous undertaking. 



FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BU- 

 REAU OF ETHNOLOGY. 

 The present volume, which has just been issued, 

 contains the report of the director for 1882-83, 

 and some papers of eminent value. The latter 

 must be reviewed separately, and we shall con- 

 fine ourselves to some remarks on Major Powell's 

 report. The broad basis on which the researches 

 of the bureau are carried on is due to him, and 

 ethnologists must be thankful for his encourage- 

 ment of special lines of study — for instance, 

 Mallery's researches on sign-language and. pictog- 

 raphy — and of special researches on certain 

 groups of tribes, which cannot be made without 

 the assistance and support of a powerful institu- 

 tion. In this respect the work of the bureau is of 

 the greatest value, as it puts an end to the dilet- 

 tanteism which formerly obtained in American 

 ethnology. Major Powell's attempts to gain the 



co-operation of scientists not officially connected 

 with the bureau cannot but exert a wholesome 

 and encouraging infiuence on American eth- 

 nology. Numerous valuable researches which 

 are included in the reports of the bureau and in 

 the contributions to North American ethnology 

 are proof of this. 



Another important featvire of the work of the 

 bureau is the broad and systematic plan by which 

 Major Powell carries on the researches of the 

 bureau. He keeps three publications particularly 

 in view. His remarks on this subject are of great 

 interest. He contemplates the publication of, 

 "1°, a series of charts showing the habitat of all 

 tribes when first met by Europeans, and at subse- 

 quent eras ; 2°, a dictionary of tribal synonymy, 

 which should refer the multiplied and confusing 

 titles, as given in literature and in varying usage, 

 to a correct and systematic standard of nomen- 

 clature ; 3°, a classification, on a linguistic basis, 

 of all the known Indians of North America, re- 

 maining and extinct, into families or stocks. 



"The order of possible preparation of these 

 publications is the reverse of the above. The 

 charts cannot be drawn until the tribes, as vil- 

 lages, confederacies, and leagues, shall have been 

 resolved from multiplicity and confusion into 

 identification and simplicity. The linguistic classi- 

 fication precedes the whole of the work, and the 

 difiiculties attending it have at times suspended 

 its satisfactory progress until expeditions of re- 

 search had been sent forth to clear up the ob- 

 stacles of uncertainty and ignorance. Numerous 

 publications of ethnologic charts of partial syno- 

 nymes and of tentative classifications have ap- 

 peared from various sources, but all have been im- 

 perfect and more or less erroneous. The personal 

 attention of the director and of all the officers and 

 employees of the bureau has been steadily directed, 

 in addition to the several branches of work from 

 time to time undertaken, to presenting them in a 

 proper form. The labor and study required have 

 been beyond expression, but may be partially in- 

 dicated by the fact that, apart from the linguistic 

 and sociologic problems involved, the mere me- 

 chanical compilation has produced over twenty 

 thousand cards of synonymy. The present condi- 

 tion of this interconnected work is encouraging." 

 The publication of this material will be the first 

 sound basis of continued researches on American 

 ethnology. We do not enter into the details of 

 the field-work done by the bureau, as during the 

 subsequent years much additional work has been 

 done, and has become known in its outlines. In 

 this respect it must particularly be regretted that 

 these reports, like most other government publi- 

 cations, are not sooner issued. 



