228 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VI., No. 136. 



bing biology of its histolog3\ To this the 

 histologists have strenuously objected : the 

 extreme of feeling was, perhaps, reached by 

 one of these gentlemen, who declined the 

 nomination to the presidenc}^ of the section 

 on the ground that the establishment of the 

 section was a disgrace to the association ! 

 However this may be exaggerated, it indicates 

 the general sentiment among histologists, that 

 their investigations are morphological or bio- 

 logical, and not ' microscopical.' 



VTe have pointed out on previous occasions 

 that microscopy does not constitute a natural 

 division of science, but is a compound of frag- 

 ments taken from many distinct sciences, and 

 patched together b}^ the arbitrary association 

 with a single instrument. In the American 

 association, the sections are distinguished ac- 

 cording to natural lines of division in the 

 domain of science, all except that of micro- 

 scropy, which existed b}^ encroachment on 

 ever}' one of its neighbors. Its trespasses 

 will, we trust, now find posthumous forgive- 

 ness. On the other hand, there are man}' 

 technical processes which are of interest to the 

 majorit}' of those who habitually use the micro- 

 scope, but not to others ; and these processes 

 are essential to many investigations : it is to 

 be hoped that Dr. Minot's suggestion, of form- 

 ing a microscopical club within the association, 

 will be carried out to insure the cultivation of 

 technique among the members interested. In 

 conclusion, we may mention another cause of 

 the failure of section G ; namely, the prosper- 

 ity of the American societ}^ of microscopists, 

 which has withdrawn many from the associa- 

 tion who might otherwise have made the sec- 

 tion successful. We fear that some of the 

 microscopists ma}" feel themselves to have been 

 slighted ; but surely such has not been the in- 

 tention, for it must not be forgotten that the 

 change was made at the request of the section 

 itself. 



The address of the president of the section was ad- 

 mirable. It was well received, and in itself the most 

 valuable communication presented to the section. 

 For tbe rest, the attendance was very small, and 

 there were only four papers presented. In fact, the 

 section exhibited too plainly its moribund condition. 



Mr. W. H. Walmsley read a paper which will be of 

 much value to photo-micrographers, as it gives exact 

 directions for lantern-shdes with gelatine plates. 

 Mr. Walmsley described the methods which his own 

 extended experience has led him to prefer, and added 

 accounts of several manipulations and ingenious de- 

 vices of his own. The utility of the paper is mainly 

 practical. We have understood that it will appear 

 in full in the proceedings. 



Prof. T. J. Burrill reports that Dr. H. J. Detmers 



has obtained good photographs of Amphipleura pel- 

 lucida by the use of a common coal-oil lamp. Still 

 better results than with balsam preparations may be 

 obtained with imbedding media of higher index. He 

 says, further, "At my suggestion, Mr. S. W. Stratton 

 designed and constructed a new heliostat of simple 

 mechanism, which answers the purpose required in 

 photo-micrography as well as the more elaborate and 

 more expensive instruments, and which is far more 

 readily managed. For those who need to have the 

 sun's rays constantly thrown in any given direction 

 for one day only without resetting, the apparatus is 

 all that may be desired." 



Mr. C. P. Hart described a clever manner of mak- 

 ing a microscope into a microtome by using the tube 

 to carry the imbedded object, and the movable stage 

 to carry the razor : the object to be cut is moved by 

 the fine adjustment. 



THE NATIVE TRIBES OF ALASKA.^ 



The first half of Capt. Dall's address was devoted 

 to the history of investigations into the anthropology 

 of Alaska, which he divided into three periods. The 

 first began with the expedition of Bering and Chiri- 

 koff, and continued during the remainder of the 

 eighteenth century. Tbe second began with the es- 

 tablishment of the Russian American company, and 

 tbe tliird with the expedition of Mr, Robert Kenni- 

 cott. The remainder of the address was taken up 

 with an account of the native tribes of the region 

 concerned, and closed with an attempt to classify the 

 various tribes of the far north-west. We give almost 

 without abbreviation that portion of the body of the 

 address which deals with the Innuit. 



Most of the Arctic Innuit are not separated into 

 tribes in the same sense that the Indians of the 

 United States, east of the Mississippi, were at the 

 time of their discovery, nor even to the same extent 

 as those Innuit south from Kotzebue Sound on the 

 north-west coast. Terms are used to indicate the 

 groups of Innuit geographically separated from each 

 other by a stretch of unoccupied coast ; and, for con- 

 venience, these terms are referred to as tribes. This 

 is practically their own fashion. The people are all 

 known as Innuit: those from a certain quarter have 

 a special name, and those from each village in that 

 district, or each river, have a still more special name. 

 But there are no chiefs, no tribal relations in the 

 strict sense; and the only distinction used among 

 the people referred to is based on their locality of ori- 

 gin: they freely migrate from village to village, or 

 district, and are not regarded as foreigners, though 

 the obligation of free hospitality is not felt to be 

 binding in regard to strangers from a distance long 

 domiciled in another than their native village. We 

 have no new information from the Kopagmut, nor 

 from the people of the Colville River, except a few 

 notes derived from the Point Barrow people by Prof. 



1 Abstract of an address delivered before the section of anthro- 

 pology of the American association for the advancement of 

 science, at Ann Arbor, Sept. 1, by Mr. W. H. Dall of Washing- 

 ton, vice-president of the section. 



