The fact that this work shows a large proportion of pictographs from the Siouan linguistic family, and especially from the Dakota division of that family, may be explained partly by the greater familiarity of the present writer with it than with most other Indian divisions. Yet probably more distinctive examples of evolution in ideography and in other details of picture-writing are found still extant among the Dakota than among any other North American tribe. The degree of advance made by the Dakota was well expressed by the Rev. S. D. Hinman, who was born, lived, married, and died in their midst, and, though unfortunately he committed to writing but little of his knowledge, was more thoroughly informed about that people than any other man of European descent. To express his views clearly he gave to this writer in a manuscript communication his own classification of pictography (which is not in all respects approved) as follows: _I. Picturing._--[This is the method called by Prof. Brinton (_b_) iconographic writing.] This shows a simple representation of a thing or event in picture, as of a bear, a man’s hand, a battle. _II. Ideography._--This arbitrarily, though significantly, recalls an idea or abstract quality, as love or goodness. _III. Picture-writing._--This will, in picture and character, arbitrarily or otherwise, recite a connected story, there being a picture or character for every word, even for conjunctions and prepositions. _IV. Phonetic writing._--This gives phonetic value to every picture and spells out the words by sound, almost as in later alphabets, as if a lion should stand for the “l” sound, a bear for the “b” sound, etc., and from this last by modification came alphabets. [This is the familiar theory, which is accurate so far as it is applicable, of the initial sound, but other elements are disregarded, such as the “rebus,” for which special class Prof. Brinton, loc. cit., has invented the title of the Iconomatic method.] Accepting this chronologic if not evolutionary arrangement, Mr. Hinman decided that the Dakota picture-writing had passed through stage I and was already entering upon stage II when it was first observed by the European explorers. Of III and IV he found no examples in Dakota pictography, though in sign language the Dakota had progressed further and had entered upon III. As a summary of the topic it seems that pictographs other than petroglyphs which presumably are more modern than most of the latter, can be studied, not by geographic distribution, but by their ascertainable intent and use. Unless the classification of the remaining part of this work under its various headings has been defective, further discussion in this chapter is unnecessary. CHAPTER VII. SUBSTANCES ON WHICH PICTOGRAPHS ARE MADE. Substances on which pictographs are made may be divided into-- I. The human body. II. Natural objects other than the human body. III. Artificial objects. SECTION 1.