# Journal of American Folk-Lore/Volume 12/Issue 44/Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society

TENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.
In making arrangements for this meeting, the Society associated itself with the Naturalists and other Affiliated Societies.
The Society met in rooms of Columbia University, New York, N. Y., on Wednesday and Thursday, December 28 and 29, 1898, the President, Dr. Henry Wood, presiding.
The meeting was called to order at 2 p. m. The Permanent Secretary read the Annual Report of the Council, which was adopted.
REPORT OF THE COUNCIL.
During the year 1898, the publication of the Society, the Journal of American Folk-Lore, has been continued in the usual manner.
The Society has published the sixth volume of its Memoirs, namely, "Traditions of the Thompson River Indians of British Columbia," by Dr. James Teit, with Introduction by Dr. Franz Boas.
As the seventh volume of the Memoirs, the Council has given authority for the printing of a second part of "Current Superstitions," collected and edited by Fanny D. Bergen. This second volume, containing superstitions connected with animal and plant lore, will complete the work, of which the first part is formed by the fourth volume of the Memoirs, issued in 1896.
The appearance of this series of Memoirs is rendered possible by special contributions to the Publication Fund, under a provision that its maintenance may be provided for by special optional payments of seven dollars annually, in addition to the required fee of three dollars, making a payment of ten dollars for the year. A list of such contributors is annually printed in the Journal of American Folk-Lore, and also in each volume of the Memoirs. During the year 1898, the amount of contributions to the Publication Fund, made under this arrrangement, was $350.
The receipts of the Society from annual fees, and from the sale of publications, are barely adequate to defray necessary expenses. If the work of the Society is to be put on a solid basis, a large accession of membership is essential.
If the responsibilities of the American people are to be increased by the control of numerous islands in the Pacific Ocean, including some of which the populations are still in a primitive condition, such extension will require attention to the ethnography of the region, and will enlarge the work of the Society. Under such circumstances, it ought not to be difficult to procure the necessary support. ​Members are requested to do what they can to increase the membership roll, and advised to promote local organizations for such purpose.
The following is the substance of the Treasurer's Report:—
| RECEIPTS. |
| Balance on hand December 28, 1897 | $1268.35 |
| Sales of publications through Houghton, Mifflin & Co. | 438.04 |
| Subscriptions to the Publication Fund | 350.0 |
| Annual dues received | 1137 |
| Sales through Secretary | 3.00 |
| | $3196.39 |
| DISBURSEMENTS. |
| Houghton, Mifflin & Co., for manufacturing Journal of American Folk-Lore, four numbers | $118.75 |
| Houghton, Mifflin & Co., for manufacturing Memoirs (less certain credits) | 261.45 |
| Houghton, Mifflin & Co., mailing expenses to February, 1898 | 110.17 |
| Paid to Charles L. Edwards, for stock and copyright in vol. iii. of the Memoirs | 175.00 |
| Salary of Clerk for the Permanent Secretary | 150.00 |
| Typewriting for vol. vi. of Memoirs | 20.00 |
| Rebates to local branches | 55.50 |
| Expenses of Secretary, stamps, printing, etc. | 73.79 |
| Envelopes printed for Treasurer | 24.00 |
| | $1988.65 |
| Balance to new account, December 28, 1898 | 1207.75 |
| | $3196.39 |
Notes. The expense of manufacturing vol. vi. of Memoirs was $376.25. The publishers, in making a charge for such manufacturing, deducted the amount of sales of Memoirs from February 1 to August 1, amounting to $114.80, which amount ought therefore to be added to the sales of publications as above given, in order to obtain the amount of the yearly sales.
According to a vote of the Council, an annual concession of fifty cents for each member is allowed to local societies having over twenty-five paying members.
The sum above mentioned, as paid to Charles L. Edwards, is a repayment of a like sum advanced by him, in order to secure the publication of vol. iii. of the Memoirs.
In the course of the meeting, the Permanent Secretary announcing that he had received no nominations, as provided for by the Rules, nominations of the Council were announced.—
President, Prof. Charles L. Edwards, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, O.
​First Vice-President, Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Fellow of Harvard University, Washington, D. C.
Second Vice-President, Mr. C. F. Lummis, Los Angeles, Cal.
Councillors (for three years), Dr. Franz Boas, American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.; Mr. J. D. Buck, Cincinnati, O.; Miss Anne Weston Whitney, Baltimore, Md.
The Permanent Secretary and Treasurer hold over.
The Permanent Secretary was instructed to cast a ballot for the officers as nominated. The Council announced the appointment of a Committee on the Collection and Study of Folk-Song and Folk-Music charged with the duty of proposing plans and making provisions for the gathering and publication of such material: Dr. Franz Boas, Prof. C. L. Edwards, Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Mr. H. E. Krehbiel.
The Permanent Secretary was given authority to arrange the time and place of the next Annual Meeting, to be fixed about December 28, 1899; in making such arrangement, he was instructed to follow the course adopted in 1898 of uniting with the Naturalists and other Affiliated Societies.
The business being concluded, the Society listened to the Address of the President, Professor Henry Wood, concerning "Folk-Lore and Metaphor in Literary Style."
Other papers were presented, as follows:—
Ojibwa, Cree, and Eskimo Legends from Canada, Dr. Robert Bell, F. R. S., Ottawa, Canada.
Some Animal Medicine, Mrs. Fanny D. Bergen, Cambridge, Mass.
American Indian Names of White Men, Dr. A. F. Chamberlain, Worcester, Mass.
Bibliography of Folk-Lore relating to Women, Mrs. Isabel C. Chamberlain, Worcester, Mass.
Bahama Customs and Superstitions, Prof. C. L. Edwards, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mythology of the Chilcotin, Dr. Livingston Farrand, New York, N. Y.
The Origin of a Tradition, Miss Cornelia Horsford, Cambridge, Mass.
Animal Tales of the Eskimo, Mr. A. Kroeber, New York, N. Y.
The Study of Ethics among the Lower Races, Dr. Washington Matthews, Washington, D. C.
Modern Theories of the Origin of Folk-Tales, Mr. W. W. Newell, Cambridge, Mass.
Who was Mother Goose? Prof. Thomas Wilson, Washington, D. C.
​Demonstration was made of Phonographic Records of Indian Song, contributed by Dr. Franz Boas, Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Dr. Carl Lumholtz, and Dr. Washington Matthews.
On Wednesday evening, the members of the Affiliated Societies were invited to visit the American Museum of Natural History, where addresses were made by Mr. Morris K. Jesup and Professor Henry F. Osborn. After the visit to the Museum, a reception was held at the house of Professor Osborn, 850 Madison Avenue.
On Thursday evening, the Annual Dinner of the Naturalists and Affiliated Societies was held at the Hotel Savoy. Prof. H. P. Bowditch delivered a President's Address.