ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE WASHINGTON MEETING AND

PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN

ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

The American Anthropological Association held its twenty-third annual meeting at the United States National Museum, Washington, D. C., on January 1, 2, and 3, 1925, in conjunction with Section H, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Folk-Lore Society.

One meeting of the Council was held, with President Hough in the chair.

COUNCIL MEETING, JAN. 2, 2 P. M.

The following reports were read and accepted:

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY

The proceedings of the last annual meeting of the Association were published in the American Anthropologist for January-March, 1924. There has been no special meeting of the Association nor of the Council during the year.

The anthropological membership of the Division of Anthropology and Psychology in the National Research Council is now as follows: To serve until July 1, 1926: M. H. Saville, F. G. Speck, J. R. Swanton.

To serve until July 1, 1927: A. Hrdlicka, A. V. Kidder, R. J. Terry.

The Association has lost by death during the year eight members: Mr. Latham Child; Rev. George W. Cooke; Mrs. Mary V. Jones; Mr. M. C. Long, a founder; Mr. W. E. Myers; Dr. T. Mitchell Prudden, a founder; Dr. William A. Stone; and Dr. Dean C. Worcester.

Seven members have resigned, eight have died, four have been dropped, and thirty-seven new members have been added, making a net gain of twenty-six. The membership at present is as follows:

The accounts of the Treasurer, A. V. Kidder, have been examined and found correct.

A. M. TOZZER,

E. A. HOOTON,

Auditing Committee.

The statement presented above shows the Association to be in sound financial condition. This state of affairs has been brought about by extreme economy on the part of the former Editors, Drs. Goddard and Swanton, and the present Editor Dr. Lowie; by a large increase in sales of back numbers of the journal; and by the generosity of several of our members, who have personally financed the publication of Memoirs, and paid for the illustrations of articles in the Anthropologist. We accordingly enter the year 1925 with a net excess of resources over liabilities of $2,591.10.

According to our constitution (Art. 1x, sec. 5) any surplus of the general or working fund beyond current needs shall be added to the permanent fund. The phrase "Beyond current needs" permits, of course, various interpretations, and opens up questions which must be settled by the Council or by its Committee on Policy, but which may perhaps properly be raised by the Treasurer as the individual responsible for the handling of the present surplus.

First, the indebtedness of $1100.00 of the general fund to the permanent fund. This loan was made many years ago, and has borne no interest. We are now, for the first time, able to repay it without

dangerously reducing our working balance. The Treasurer recommends, therefore, that the above amount be transferred to the permanent fund.

Second, the handling of the remaining balance of $1491.10 (or of $2591.10 if the previous recommendation be not confirmed). Should this also be added to the permanent fund; should it be carried as an emergency balance without inclusion in the budget; or should it, wholly or in part, be included in the budget for the enlargement of the Anthropologist? Pending the solution of these questions by the Council, the Treasurer has prepared a tentative budget based on the normal annual income of the Association, a budget which permits no increase in the size of the Anthropologist.

Third, the disposal of the back stock. During the period when the Anthropologist was printed in Lancaster, Pa., the excess copies of each issue were stored free of charge by the New Era Co. When in 1921 a change was made to the George Banta Publishing Co. of Menasha, Wisconsin, the then Treasurer arranged to have the back stock transferred to their keeping. It was, however, not realized how large an amount of this material had accumulated, and when the shipment arrived at Menasha it was found too bulky to be housed by the Banta Co., and it accordingly became necessary to rent storage space at $10.00 per month. Up to the present year $280.00 has been paid for storage, and the Treasurer is most anxious to make some arrangement whereby this drain on the Association's finances may be stopped.

The Banta Co. have agreed to keep for us twenty-five copies of each issue or a total to date of 2,600 copies. This should be a sufficient quantity to fill such orders for back stock as we are likely to receive during the next two or three years. The stock on hand, however, amounts to some 13,000 copies. Did it consist of complete sets, there would be no question of the desirability of preserving the entire amount, but it is very unevenly distributed. Of some issues there are as many as 650 copies, others are practically exhausted. Hence our ability to provide complete sets is very limited, and it is by the sale of such sets that we are most easily able to dispose of back stock. By reprinting about ten issues we could fill out some fifty sets, but the expense of reprinting would probably amount to not less than $5,000.00 Unless, therefore, it could be arranged to guarantee this amount by advance subscriptions for sets, it would appear inadvisable to reprint until the demand is more insistent than it is at present.