The Angmagsalik Eskimo. 387 



of Fig. 351, the three amulets there shown being all — as any ordinary- 

 visitor to the Museum might see from the labels attached — brought 

 home by Pastor С Rüttel, together with those marked c, d, e and f 

 in Fig. 350. 



Two pieces in the last-named figure, however, viz. a. and b. are 

 from Holm's collection. As regards a, we are informed in a note 1 : "The 

 same object is seen in the illustration on p. 45". There is no illustration 

 of this — or of anything else — on p. 45; we do find, however, in Fig. 45 

 on p. 117, a far better reproduction than the second edition on p. 632. 

 Fig. 350b was found by Holm in a grave at Ungudlik in the Juliane- 

 haab district, and is thus outside the sphere of the work in question. 



This action of the Author in calmly attributing to the Holm col- 

 lection some hundred and fifty objects cannot be passed over by the 

 Museum without comment, more particularly since the objects in question 

 are taken from the collections of others. The men who have entrusted 

 the results of their work to the care of the Museum would have good 

 grounds for complaint on seeing their best items reproduced in a publi- 

 cation as belonging to another 2 . The Museum authorities, it need hardly 

 be said, regard it as their duty towards research to afford anyone seeking 

 material for scientific work the fullest liberty to make requisite search 

 and selection of material ; it is nevertheless an equally obvious duty to 

 watch over the interests of the collectors in such cases as the present. 



Apart from this, however, energetic protest must also be made on 

 behalf of the science of ethnography itself, which forms part of the Mu- 

 seum's sphere of work. 



The name of G. Holm is permanently connected with the discovery 

 of Angmagsalik, and future research will very justifiably take the repro- 

 ductions of his collection as representative of the culture of Angmagsalik 

 in 1884, when the natives were first brought into direct contact with 



1 Thalb. II, p. 633. 



2 It is unfortunately hardly probable that even this correction will entirely 

 suffice to obviate the consequence of the inaccuracy. A characteristic in- 

 stance for the difficulty experienced in repairing an error once published is 

 furnished by the case of E. W. Nelson's "The Eskimo about Bering Strait". 

 In the course of printing, the texts beneath two of the plates were un- 

 fortunately transposed. The author did what he could to prevent the 

 threatened confusion by inserting a slip in the work, with the necessary 

 correction, to be pasted under the figures in question. Nevertheless we find 

 that W. Thalbitzer, in a work of popular character published in Sweden, 

 entitled "Grønlandske Sagn om Eskimoernes Fortid" (p. 66) reproduces one 

 of these plates with the erroneous text: "Eskimo from Alaska throwing a 

 bird dart" the man in the picture having a seal spear in his hand. Such 

 an error is naturally not likely to be further propagated by writers having 

 any knowledge of the difference between these two common weapons; 

 works are, however, frequently published by men having no very intimate 

 acquaintance with the subjects of which they treat, whereby mistakes are 

 circulated abroad. 



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