DEMOTIC CHARACTERS
The Seri, like all other peoples, are characterized by various collective attributes which vastly transcend in interest and importance the somatic attributes exhibited by the individuals. These superorganic attributes are essentially activital—i. e., they represent what the people do rather than what they merely are; and in both collective and activital aspects they serve to distinguish the human realm from the organic realm, and to afford a basis for the classification of mankind—i. e., they combine to form demotic characters.
The demotic characters of the Seri, like those of other peoples, may be classed as (1) esthetic, (2) industrial, (3) institutional, (4) linguistic, and (5) sophic; and in this order the essentially human attributes of the tribe (except the last named) may be described. It is a matter of deep regret that the data concerning the demotic characters of the tribe are too meager to afford more than a mere outline of their activities, and that their suggestive mythology must be passed over for the present.