314 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
go this way). Etach song is accompanied by beating of time 
with batons, and by a drum. The beating is sometimes so 
lond that it almost drowns the song. The rhythm of the tune, 
as well as of the beating, is exceedingly complex; but the most 
striking characteristic is the fact that the beating is always 
syncopated. The arm is raised when the tone is nttered and 
falls qnickly afterwards. In all songs of the winter ceremon¬ 
ial the beating begins several bars before the singing. It is 
the reverse in profane siongs. The beating is an intrinsic part 
of the song and cannot be separated from it,” 1 The dances i 
the various societies differ in character, but they have certain 
features in common, 2 while the paraphernalia, costumes, masks 
and so oni, are prescribed by the myth. The painting of the 
face in the dances is prescribed in the same way and has a 
reference to the legend with which the ceremony is connected. 
As in the case of the Australian dances, the story is acted out 
with some skill and with remarkable realism. 3 Bio as gives 
many of these dramatic dances, with their legends. 4 
In the ghost dance, for example, in accordance with the 
legend, the dancer gives a mimic representation of a visit to 
the lower world. He wears the head ring and neck rings 
which are associated with this dance. 5 Elaborate preparations 
are made. A ditch is dug in the dancing house behind the 
fire, and speaking tubes of kelp are laid under the floor of the 
house so as to terminate in the fire. The ghost dancer ap¬ 
pears, led by one attendant. He goes around the fire four 
times, summoning the ghost. After he has made the fourth 
circuit he slowly disappears in the ditch near the fire. The 
people try to hold him by the rope, but apparently he sinks 
out of reach. Then many voices are heard coming from out 
of the fire-—actually the voices of people hidden in the bed¬ 
rooms who speak through the kelp tubes. It is announced 
i L. c., p. 432. 
2L. c., pp. 432-445. The Hamats’a dance is described on page 443. 
s See pp. 436-447, with the illustrations. 
4 The ghost dance, pp. 482-3, with its legend, p. 408; the Matem 
dance, p. 483, with its legends, p. 411. 
5 Illustrated on p. 497. 
