758 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



conditions resulting from civilization they 

 gradually disappear from the streams, and 

 even if they did not are often greedy, car- 

 nivorous savages, who effectually bar a great 

 increase of numbers, especially in small wa- 

 ters They must be replaced by species 

 that take more kindly to cultivation that 

 may be domesticated. The trout seems 

 well adapted to pond-culture, and its merits 

 are well known. Prof Bairdalso ranks the 

 European carp very highly in this connec- 

 tion, and believes that for propagation in 

 ponds and sluggish waters, both North and 

 South, it will excel all others. Its good 

 qualities are : fecundity and adaptability 

 to the processes of artificial propagation ; 

 hardiness, rapid growth, and ability to popu- 

 late waters to their greatest extent ; harm- 

 lessness in relation to other fishes, living 

 largely on a vegetable diet ; and good table 

 qualities. 



The volume is largely occupied by sup- 

 plementary papers of unequal value : ac- 

 counts of the fish-industries of other ages 

 and countries; reports of the special ef- 

 forts to transport fish, lobsters, etc., to and 

 from California, and to Europe; and an ap- 

 pendix devoted to the natural history of the 

 subject. A systematic list of food-fishes, 

 with descriptions and some account of their 

 range, seasons, etc., would be a valuable 

 and much-needed contribution to common 

 knowledge. We hope it will be possible for 

 Prof. Baird to carry out his partial promise 

 to issue such a work in such a way that it 

 will be obtainable by the general public. 



Ancient Society : or, Researches in the 

 Lines of Human Progress from Sav- 

 agery through Barbarism to Civili- 

 zation. By Lewis H. Morgan, LL. D. 

 New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1877. 

 Pp. 500. Price, $4. 



Many of the obscure problems of eth- 

 nology are here analyzed and discussed with 

 a wealth of learning which renders the work 

 a valuable one for both the student and 

 general reader. In the opening paragraph 

 the author affirms the great antiquity of 

 mankind upon the earth, and proceeds to 

 illustrate the extreme rudeness of their 

 early condition and the gradual evolution of 

 their mental and moral powers through the 

 slow accumulations of experience. The 

 facts presented throughout the work show 



that the progress of mankind has been from 

 the bottom of the scale, and that " the 

 theory of human degradation, to explain 

 the existence of savages and barbarians, is 

 no longer tenable." It is shown that human 

 progress has been essentially continuous, 

 and that there is a common principle of in- 

 telligence in the savage, the barbarian, and 

 the civilized man. As a consequence of 

 this, the same results have appeared at all 

 times and in all areas under the same eth- 

 nical conditions. " The roots of modern in- 

 stitutions," the author observes, *' are 

 planted in the period of barbarism, into 

 wliich their germs were transmitted from 

 the previous period of savagery. They have 

 had a lineal descent through the ages with 

 the streams of the blood, as well as a logi- 

 cal development." 



The subject is considered by the author 

 under these four heads : 1. Growth of In- 

 telligence through Inventions and Discov- 

 eries ; 2. Growth of the Idea of Govern- 

 ment ; 3. Growth of the Idea of the Family ; 

 4. Growth of the Idea of Property. 



In the discussion of each of these the 

 reader is made familiar with the successive 

 phases of culture which society has passed 

 through in the course of its development. 

 These phases are, as defined by the author, 

 savagery, barbarism, and civilization, con- 

 stituting three grand ethnical periods in the 

 progress of mankind. Savagery, the term 

 applied to the lowest status, extends from 

 the period in which mankind were without 

 arts or definite social organizations to that 

 in which they had attained something of 

 both. With the close of the period of 

 savagery that of barbarism begins. At this 

 period the art of making pottery had been 

 developed ; the bow and arrow, and imple- 

 ments of flint and stone, were in use. The 

 ethnical period of barbarism is subdivided, 

 as is that of savagery, into three stages, 

 representing characteristic phases of cult- 

 ure. It began with the simple arts re- 

 ferred to, and ends with the invention of a 

 phonetic alphabet and the use of writing 

 in literary composition. In this stage of 

 culture are placed the Grecian tribes of the 

 time of Homer, and the Germanic tiibes of 

 the time of Ca;sar. Civilization begins with 

 the close of barbarism. It will not be in- 

 ferred that the transition from one status 



