ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT NECROLOGY LIX James Constantine Pilling, who died July 26, 1895, was a native of the national capital, where he was born November 16, 1846. He was educated in the public schools and Gonzaga College, and subsequently strengthened his predilection toward books by taking a position in a leading bookstore of the city; at the same time he studied the then novel art of stenography, in which he became remarkably proficient. At the age of twenty he was appointed a court stenographer. His services soon came into demand among the Congressional committees and in different commissions employed in the settlement of war claims. In every instance his notable speed and accuracy were joined with even more notable discretion and straightforwardness that gained for him the esteem of all with whom he came in contact. His career as stenographer was in every respect exemplary, and his example served to hasten the general introduction, and at the same time to elevate the standard, of stenographic art as an aid in the transaction of the public business. In 1875 Mr Pilling was employed by the Director, then in charge of the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, to aid in collecting native vocabularies and traditions, a task for which he was eminently fitted by reason of his phonetic and manual skill. In this service as in his earlier work he displayed not only high ability but signal strength of character. His connection with the Survey was continued until that organization was brought to an end in 1879 by the institution of the United States Geological Survey to carry forward the geologic work, and the Bureau of American Ethnology to continue the ethnologic researches; he was then transferred to the latter Bureau, where his work on the Indian languages was continued. During this period of connection with ethnologic work his studious habits were strengthened, and he developed great interest in the literature relating to the Indians; so that he readily adopted the suggestion of the Director to begin the preparation of a list of books and papers containing Indian linguistics. In this study the industry and accuracy which characterized his stenographic work were constantly displayed, and ever-increasing confidence was reposed in his trustworthiness. In connection with his stenographic and bibliographic work, he was intrusted with the supervision of the editorial work of the reports of the Rocky Mountain survey and the newly instituted Bureau, and in addition considerable clerical work fell to him; yet every duty was performed with alacrity, fidelity, and wisdom. Despite the multiplication of duties, his literary and bibliographic methods remained excellent, and even improved with time; and his conscientious care was so invariably manifested in his bibliographic work that his rapidly growing list came to be recognized as a standard from which it were bootless to appeal. It was during these years, from 1875 to 1880, that the foundation for Pilling's character as bibliographer was laid and securely established. In 1881 the Director of the Ethnologic Bureau was made Director also of the United States Geological Survey; Mr Pilling was then appointed chief clerk of the Survey, and the customary administrative duties were devolved on him. These duties were ever performed energetically yet judiciously, and withal so courteously and impartially as to gain for him the confidence of every collaborator in that rapidly growing Bureau. In this position he continued until June 30, 1892. During this period he served also as chief clerk of the Ethnologic Bureau in an eminently acceptable manner; and although his administrative work as the second officer in the two Bureaus might well have been regarded as sufficient to occupy all the energies of one man, he never forgot his bibliography, and so ordered his duties that few days passed without some addition to his list of books on Indian linguistics. Meantime his search for rare and little-known works brought him into correspondence with dealers, bibliophiles, missionaries on the outposts of civilization, travelers in Indian lands, and many others, and he frequently found it necessary to purchase books in order that their contents might be examined and their titles noted; and in this way he gradually accumulated a unique library-one of the richest collections of rare books relating to Indian tongues now in existence. In 1885 there was issued for the 1 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT LXI use of collaborators and correspondents of the Bureau, in a small edition, a quarto volume of nearly twelve hundred pages, entitled "Proof-sheets of a Bibliography of the Languages of the North American Indians, by James Constantine Pilling." This volume represented the results of Mr Pilling's bibliographic work up to that date, and served as a basis for the classification on the part of the Director of the North American tribes by linguistic characters. The printing of this volume served to deepen the interest of the bibliographer in his task, and within a year or two the issue of a series of bibliographies relating to various Indian stocks or families was begun. As time passed Mr Pilling developed an ailment that culminated in his death, and his duties were varied, so far as the legal conditions controlling governmental bureaus permitted, in the hope of bringing relief; but despite every effort the malady increased. In 1892 he was relieved of his duties as chief clerk of the Geological Survey and the Bureau of American Ethnology, and was transferred to the latter Bureau and employed solely in continuing the bibliographic work. For a time he benefited by the transfer, and his duty was performed with great energy and continued skill and success, so that by the end of 1894 his bibliographies of the Eskimo, Siouan, Iroquoian, Muskhogean, Algonquian, Athapascan, Chinookan, Salishan, and Wakashan languages were completed and printed. He was then engaged in the bibliographies of the Shahaptian language and the Indian languages of Mexico, and this work was carried forward during the early months of 1895, even after its author had become practically helpless through the insidious and uncontrollable advance of a hopeless disease. The work was not finished. The series of bibliographies prepared by Mr Pilling are a monument to his memory and a model for students. In thoroughness and accuracy of work they afford a bright example of American scholarship. In personal character Mr Pilling was above reproach. No man was more steadfast to his moral and intellectual convictions, which were held with that charity for others which is possible only to those who have strong and well-founded convictions of their own. The influence of his example and his character will long remain in the institutions with which he was connected. FINANCIAL STATEMENT Appropriation by Congress for the fiscal year ending June 30, Salaries or compensation for services... Traveling and field expenses.. Drawings and illustrations... Office rental Ethnic material (specimens, etc.) $40,000.00 $29, 773.65 $5, 166. 22 290.50 999.96 Office furniture Publications for library Stationery Freight Temporary services Supplies Miscellaneous 21.48 393.77 218.48 474.59 31.40 440.00 617.81 128.01 8,782.22 38,555.87 1, 444. 13 Balance, July 1, 1896, to meet outstanding liabilities CHARACTERIZATION OF ACCOMPANYING PAPERS DISTRIBUTION OF SUBJECTS The four accompanying papers, illustrating the methods and results of work conducted by the Bureau, find their subjects in the western portion of the continent. The first paper deals with a little-known portion of northwestern Mexico and a local tribe which retains aboriginal characteristics to an unusual and perhaps unequaled degree. The field work involved the survey of considerable areas hitherto untrodden by white men and the first scientific observation of the tribesmen and their customs in their own habitat. The second paper relates to a typical tribe of the plains, hitherto little known to scientific students; and while the tribesmen are now confined to a reservation, they formerly ranged from the snowy plains of Canada to the sun-parched bolsons of Mexico, while the tribe as a whole slowly migrated from the Saskatchewan to the Arkansas, so that the area covered by the study is coincident with that of the Great Plains from the Mississippi to the Rocky mountains. The two remaining papers deal with the arid plateau region of the southwest. The third treats of a tribe prominent in the history of American exploration and settlement, revealing a new and highly significant aspect of their everyday life and their adjustment to a distinctive environment. The researches summarized in the fourth paper shed light on the life and habits of other tribes, under the same peculiarly effective environmental conditions, during prehistoric time. The historical range of the papers covers several centuries. The objects described by Dr Fewkes represent, for the most part, a period considerably antedating the Columbian discovery; but the method of research has been to compare the prehistoric works with those of living people in the same region, in such manner as, in some measure, to penetrate the mists of |