610 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



By Prof. FREDERICK STARR. 



EVERY great international exposition is, in a certain sense, 

 a practical study in anthropology. Recent world's fairs 

 have, however, shown more and more a tendency to make an 

 especial exhibit in anthropology and kindred sciences. This was 

 very noticeable in 1889 at Paris, and in our own World's Colum- 

 bian Exposition there is an especial department — Department M 

 — of Anthropology, under the' directorship of Prof. Frederick W. 

 Putnam. A building has been erected for its purposes, and the 

 larger part of it is occupied in illustrating "man and his works." 

 Naturally, to this building the student in anthropology will first 

 turn in looking up the matter of anthropology at the fair. 



In this building he will find collections in ethnography, in 

 archaeology, and in physical anthropology. As one passes through 

 the main entrance he sees reproductions of Assyrian sculptures ; 

 to the right are collections in North American ethnography ; to 

 the left series illustrating North American prehistoric archaeology. 

 Among the notable private collections illustrating the ethnog- 

 raphy of our American Indians are those of D. B. Dyer and Ed- 

 ward E. Ayer. Mr. Dyer's collection is mainly representative of 

 plains tribes, and is rich in cradles or papoose-boards and in im- 

 plements for gambling. Mr. Ayer's collection is from a larger 

 range of peoples and represents quite fully the dress, imple- 

 ments, and arts not - only of the plains tribes, but also of the peo- 

 ples of the Northwest coast and of the Southwest. His collection 

 of modern Pueblo pottery, the straw dresses of the California In- 

 dians, the carved work from the Northwest coast, are of special 

 interest. Near these collections is the large series from the North- 

 west coast gathered by Dr. Franz Boas and his helpers, particu- 

 larly rich in dancing paraphernalia, masks, bark necklets, and 

 the like. On a raised platform, extending for many feet, near 

 this, Dr. Boas has set up a reconstruction of the village of Skid- 

 gate, one of the most important villages of the Haidah Indians. 

 The models of houses and totem posts which make up this recon- 

 struction are of native workmanship. 



Among the archaeological collections are some of unusual inter- 

 est. Prof. George Frederick Wright, of Oberlin, illustrates the ma- 

 terial and structure of the terminal moraine of the United States 

 by specimens of bowlders, striated surfaces, photographs, and dia- 

 grams. The exhibit is made with reference to the question of 

 palaeolithic man in America, and in the collection are pictures rep- 

 resenting localities where claimed " palaeoliths " have been found. 

 The largest collection of implements from glacial gravels in this 



