558 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



so as to take on something of the scientific 

 form. 



There has never been a lack of interest 

 in the subject, and its claims and rank were 

 neatly formulated by the poet, in his cele- 

 brated line 



" The proper study of mankind is man," 

 long before the proper method of the study 

 was discovered. Anthropological science 

 that is, the systematic and comprehensive 

 study of the human race by scientific meth- 

 ods belongs to the last half-century. A 

 great amount of valuable knowledge has 

 been accumulated upon the subject during 

 that time, and digested in many voluminous 

 treatises. But there was wanting a text- 

 book that should sum up the leading facts 

 and fundamental principles of the science 

 in an authoritative and trustworthy man- 

 ner, and in a form convenient and suitable 

 for general use. Such a work is the one 

 before us. 



It need hardly be said that this is no 

 field for the ordinary compiler. He may do 

 useful service in the old sciences, where the 

 subject-matter has been many times elabo- 

 rated, and the method of exposition long 

 settled ; but only a master who knows his 

 subject at first hand, broadly and thor- 

 oughly, can be trusted to present so vast 

 a subject, and so rich in new and varied 

 materials, in the due proportions of its 

 parts, and in a compact, well-organized, and 

 authentic form. Mr. Tylor, of all living 

 men, was best prepared to accomplish this 

 task. Uis elaborate works on " The Early 

 History of Mankind" and on "Primitive 

 Culture " have given him an eminent place 

 as a pioneer and constructive student in the 

 domain of anthropology. He has accord- 

 ingly been long solicited to prepare a text- 

 book upon this subject, for the use of stu- 

 dents in high - schools and colleges, as it 

 has been well understood that this science 

 must soon take a leading and permanent 

 place in the curriculum of a liberal educa- 

 tion. The pressure of original studies 

 prevented him from undertaking the work, 

 and has much delayed it, but he has not 

 allowed himself to be unduly hurried, well 

 knowing the difficulty of giving his expo- 

 sition a satisfactory form within the con- 

 venient limits of a handy-volume. But he 

 has fulfilled the utmost expectations, and 



made his "Anthropology" the one unri- 

 valed book upon that science for general 

 educational purposes. 



Of course, the scientific study of " Man 

 and Civilization " can now be pursued only 

 in the light of the doctrine of evolution. It 

 is this law, indeed, that brings the facts of 

 this subject into order, and gives organic 

 method to the science. Anthropology is by 

 no means a mere description of the different 

 races and varieties of men ; it deals also with 

 the deeper problems of their transformation 

 from lower to higher conditions, and with 

 the development of all those elements which 

 give rise to the civilized state. This is the 

 underlying conception of the science, and 

 how fundamental it is in the plan of Mr. 

 Tylor's work may be best illustrated by 

 briefly referring to the contents of his suc- 

 cessive chapters. 



In his first chapter, on " Man, Ancient 

 and Modern," he opens up the new point of 

 view from which man is to be studied. He 

 then proceeds to define and fix the place of 

 man in nature as related to other animals, 

 considering the succession and descent of 

 species, and the comparison of structure 

 and brain endowments with inferior creat- 

 ures. Chapter III is devoted to "The 

 Races of Mankind," and is descriptive of 

 their characteristics. The text is here illus- 

 trated by profuse and finely executed illus- 

 trations, of which we gave samples in the 

 July " Monthly." The constitution, tempera- 

 ments, types, permanence, mixture, and va- 

 riation of races are here discussed, and the 

 races of mankind are classified on the basis 

 of these traits. The summary of the sub- 

 ject is admirable. 



Chapters IV and V are devoted to " Lan- 

 guage," which is of course considered as 

 a problem of evolution. From the utter- 

 ances of animals and the natural language 

 of signs and gestures, and from emotional 

 and imitative sounds, he proceeds to the 

 origin of articulate language. The growth 

 of meanings in articulate speech, abstract 

 words, grammatical construction, and ana- 

 lytic and synthetic language, are then traced, 

 with other important steps and elements 

 of lingual development. Chapter VI, on 

 " Language and Race,"'gives an account of 

 the derivations and relationships of the Ian- 

 guagcs used by different races ; and Chap- 



