Hferarnii Librar r. 



NEW YORK. 

 T II E 



POPULAR SCIENCE 

 MONTHLY. 



JULY, 1892. 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL WORK IN AMERICA. 



By Prof. FREDERICK STARR. 



THE object of this article is not to present a history of anthro- 

 pology in America, but to sketch briefly some of the work 

 at present done, so as to show the aims and methods of our work- 

 ers in the science. 



That anthropology is yearly attracting greater attention among 

 us is shown by the way in which institutions of learning are 

 recognizing its importance. Not many years ago a scientific jour- 

 nal made the statement that but one institution of learning in the 

 United States, the University of Rochester, had the science upon 

 its curriculum. The way in which it was introduced there is 

 somewhat interesting. At that time the scientific work offered 

 to students at Rochester was admittedly insufficient in quantity, 

 but the way seemed hardly clear to the employment of any addi- 

 tional teaching force to do extra work. At this stage of affairs 

 Prof. Joseph Gilmore, in charge of the Department of Rhetoric 

 and English Literature, offered, in some degree at least, to meet the 

 need, to announce an optional course in anthropology. The work 

 was very elementary, extending over but a single term, and cov- 

 ering the field considered in De Quatrefages's little volume, The 

 Natural History of Man. From the beginning the course was a 

 favorite one, and many students elected it, The effect was good 

 and the example has been followed. Since that time instruction in 

 anthropology has entered into the work of a considerable number 

 of American colleges and universities. It is suggestive to inquire 

 how and why it has been introduced. At Yale, Prof. Sumner has 

 for several years given such courses, because he felt that students 

 unacquainted with the science could not profitably undertake 



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