IV. 



ON" THE METHODS AND KESULTS OF 



ETHNOLOGY. 



[1865.] 



Ethnology is the science which determines 

 the distinctive characters of the persistent modifica- 

 tions of mankind; which ascertains the distribution 

 of those modifications in present and past times, 

 and seeks to discover the causes, or conditions of 

 existence, both of the modifications and of their 

 distribution. I say " persistent " modifications, 

 because, unless incidentally, ethnology has nothing 

 to do with chance and transitory peculiarities of 

 human structure. And I speak of " persistent 

 modifications " or " stocks " rather than of " varie- 

 ties," or "races," or "species," because each of these 

 last well-known terms implies, on the part of its 

 employer, a preconceived opinion touching one of 

 those problems, the solution of which is the ulti- 

 mate object of the science; and in regard to which, 

 therefore, ethnologists are especially bound to 

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