154 Canadian Record of Science. 
these, and encourage the publication by them of matter of 
immediate and local interest, whilst its own transactions 
would form arepository for finished memoirs of as com- 
plete a character as the state of knowledge will permit, and 
adequately illustrated, for permanent use, and not merely 
designed to furnish information on their special subjects, 
but also to form foundations and guides for further research. 
Hitherto, information in regard to any question in Canadian 
history, literature or science, had to be looked for through 
the scattered papers in periodicals, and proceedings of 
societies published in many countries and in different lan- 
guages. Our transactions are now a storehouse for every- 
thing that may be judged of permanent value in relation to 
science and literature in Canada. We may hope that year 
by year the publication will increase in volume and in 
cumulative value, and that the student seeking for the 
latest information on any subject may be able to turn to it 
with some confidence that his needs will be supplied.” 
The contributions to literature and science presented to 
the Society during the present meeting were numerous, 
and not inferior in character to those of other meetings. 
Among the interesting papers in the literary sections 
were those on the Indian tribes of British Columbia and 
their languages. The Rev. A. J. Hall submitted a grammar 
of the Kwakiool people of Vancouver Island, whilst Dr. Franz 
Boas presented two papers—one on the Indian tribes of Brit- 
ish Columbia and the other on the Nanaimo Indians. The 
higher civilization of many of these west coast Indians, and 
the very mountainous character of much of British Colum- 
bia, preventing the rapid inroads of the white man, may 
possibly even lead to an increase in the numbers of the 
tribes there. Thus these investigations may have more 
than an ethnological value. The whole subject of the 
North-Western tribes has engaged the attention of a com- 
mittee of the British Association for the Advancement of 
Science, and recently a circular of inquiry has been issued 
