yo NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



value which is appreciated by certain specialists. Our collections 

 are visual illustrations of primitive technology and illustrate the 

 beginnings of industry. We are able to show how early man 

 responded to his environment and what he devised to overcome 

 its obstacles. There is a pointed lesson here that the student of the 

 simpler life appreciates, for we are able to teach by means of the 

 collections, how to employ the simplest things at hand for useful 

 purposes. Modern man is forgetting this and relying on complex 

 devices that he is unable easily to produce without machinery. By 

 means of our exhibits of primitive industries, primitive amuse- 

 ments, primitive agriculture and primitive ceremonials, we respond 

 to vital human interests. We believe that this is a correct museum 

 theory and that one of our highest functions is to meet human 

 needs, physical as well as intellectual. 



By this effort to interpret human cultural development we have 

 attracted students of history, artists, writers and advocates of out- 

 door life. Our exhibitions thus become a source of material of 

 no uncertain value to the public. 



Publications. During the year the Museum has published a 

 bulletin on the Constitution of the Five Nations, or the Great Bind- 

 ing Law of the Iroquois. This work has been widely sought by 

 ethnologists and by students of primitive civics and law. Copies 

 have been requested by persons in many parts of the civilized 

 w r orld. The edition has all but become exhausted. 



Another manuscript is in the course of preparation and deals 

 with the "Archeological History of New York." Additions to the 

 manuscript have constantly been made during the year and it is 

 hoped that it may go to press during 191 7. The range of topics 

 considered by this work is a discussion and description of the 

 various culture areas, a list of sites, a series of detailed maps and 

 a description of the earth w r orks, mounds and other evidences of 

 aboriginal work, together with descriptions of implements and 

 ornaments used by the aborigines of the State and the territory 

 adjacent to it. 



The New York State Archeological Association. During the 

 year a new statewide organization has been formed by collectors, 

 and students of New York anthropology. This is the New York 

 State Archeological Association. We have been developing the 

 plan for several years and during the month of March instituted 

 the first local branch in the city of Rochester, under the name of 

 Lewis H. Morgan chapter. The plan of organization contemplates 



