October 3, 1884.] 



SCIENCE 



345 



were made without great labor, were certainly dan- 

 gerous counterfeits, such as might readily be passed 

 off as genuine. Mr. Putnam remarked, after Dr. Hoy 

 had finished, that many counterfeits were now manu- 

 factured, and that they might be found in almost 

 every large collection, and he had knowledge of one 

 shipment of two thousand of these frauds to England. 



Following this was a paper by Major Powell, on the 

 mythology of the Wintuns, a people living in the 

 Sacramento valley. Many curious myths collected 

 among this people by the author were given, but an 

 abstract of such a paper is hardly possible. A few 

 of the beliefs of this tribe may, however, be given. 

 They believe in three worlds, and that each has its 

 peculiar class of inhabitants. The sky is smoke. 

 (Other — and the majority of — Indians believe that 

 it is ice, as snow and hail show, and rain is the same 

 melted ; while a few think it quartz crystal. ) Moun- 

 tains were made by the burrowing of the mole-god. 

 Light and darkness are maiden goddesses. Rocks 

 and other inanimate things were once living, and 

 some rocks now live and speak; and this is the Win- 

 tun explanation of echoes. Whirlwinds are little 

 spirits seeking water to drink. Diseases are caused 

 by mythical animals. The 'tar baby' of the negroes 

 of the south appears in some form in the mythology 

 of not less than fifty tribes of Indians; and other 

 bits of negro folk-lore are also found among the 

 Indians, from whom the slaves must have obtained 

 them. Dr. W. H. Dall then read a paper on the use 

 of labrets, its title being 'The geographical distribu- 

 tion of labretifery.' He described labrets of differ- 

 ent sorts, and the mode in which they were worn. 

 The extent of the custom over the continent was also 

 noticed, and the fact that it is less prevalent now 

 than formerly. The great size of some of the lab- 

 rets worn was mentioned. 



Tuesday morning marked an epoch in the history 

 of the section, because of the very thrilling and vivid 

 account and exhibition of the sacred pipes of friend- 

 ship used by the Omahas. The pipes themselves 

 are held in such reverence by the Indians, that they 

 are never allowed to leave the tribe, and those 

 shown the audience were the first ever taken away; 

 and the ceremonies described and illustrated had 

 never before been presented to an audience of white 

 men. Moreover, it was extremely interesting to 

 hear a full-blooded Indian explaining in clear, well- 

 chosen sentences, some of the most sacred mys- 

 teries of his tribe to an audience of anthropologists. 

 Mr. La Fleche first described the pipes, and how they 

 were made, — the stem of ash, seven spans long, dec- 

 orated with certain feathers of the owl, woodpecker, 

 eagle, and duck, and with hair from the breast of the 

 rabbit, and streamers of horse-hair dyed red. The 

 stem was painted green, and grooved by narrow 

 straight grooves; and, when the two pipes are in 

 place, they rest upon a wildcat-skin at one end, 

 while the other is supported by a crotched stick, and 

 under them are two gouid rattles which are shaken 

 in accompaniment to the song, or chant, sung when 

 the pipes are taken up and waved to and fro as they 

 are during the ceremony. After Mr. La Fleche had 



given his paper, Miss Fletcher continued the ac- 

 count, showing how strong the tie of friendship 

 formed in the presence of the pipes is, — stronger 

 even than ties of blood ; and that in their presence 

 no anger or ill-will could have place, but all must be 

 peace and harmony. She spoke of the miraculous 

 power attributed to the pipes by the Indians. The 

 stem was of ash, because that and the cedar were the 

 two sacred trees; the ash being associated with that 

 which is good, and the cedar with that which is bad. 

 With deep pathos she described the ceremony which 

 took place when the pipes were given to her to bring 

 away, and explained that it was only because of their 

 profound gratitude to her for securing their lands to 

 them from the government, that this mark of their 

 great confidence and esteem was bestowed upon her 

 by the Omahas. No account can justly describe the 

 character of this joint paper. It was constantly illus- 

 trated by reference to the sacred objects exhibited, 

 and afforded those who heard it a most vivid and 

 intensely interesting insight into the hidden mys- 

 teries of Indian life and character. 



Following this was a very instructive paper by 

 Prof. E. S. Morse, giving some of the results of ex- 

 tended interviews with a Korean. Many interesting 

 facts respecting this little-known people were given. 

 The author spoke of the great filial obedience and 

 devotion of the sons, the secluded position of women, 

 the system of serfs; the law forbidding all except 

 the king from decorating the exterior of their houses, 

 or having any other than rectangular openings for 

 doors or windows. The bride and groom never see 

 each other before marriage. There is a general tend- 

 ency to indolence. Strangely, a horse-shoe is a sign 

 of good luck. Their games are numerous, and some of 

 them intricate. Many of the superstitions of the 

 Koreans were given. 



After this, Dr. Tylor spoke upon North-American 

 races and civilization. He alluded to the wonderful 

 resemblance of our North- American tribes to Mon- 

 golian peoples, — a resemblance suggesting at once. 

 not an indigenous origin for the Indian tribes, but 

 a migration from Asia across Bering Strait. The 

 greatest objection to this view is found in the very 

 great diversity in the languages of the American 

 nations. This leads to an examination of the evi- 

 dences of the antiquity of man upon this continent; 

 for, unless we can prove an antiquity sufficiently 

 remote to allow time for the strange diversity of 

 tongues to have occurred, our perplexity is great. 

 While there is this diversity of language, there is 

 great similarity in the social condition. The matri- 

 archal system (descent, etc., through the mother, not 

 the father) is universally prevalent. 



A most thoughtful and able paper was then- read 

 by Major Powell, on three culture periods. — sav- 

 agery, barbarism, and civilization. The evolution of 

 man was dwelt upon very earnestly by the speaker. 

 He very emphatically, and almost indignantly, ex- 

 pressed his belief that man's evolution never is nor 

 can be a struggle for existence. Man does not change 

 with change of environment; he changes, and adapts 

 his environment to himself. The struggle has been 



