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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ology is the first account of the com- 

 plex conceptions of these Indians which 

 can lay any claim to completeness. The 

 Bella Coola conception of the universe is 

 interesting. They believe in five worlds, 

 one above the other, of which the mid- 

 dle one is the earth. Above this are 

 spanned two heavens and beneath, two 

 underworlds. In the upper heaven re- 

 sides the supreme deity, who interferes 

 little with the affairs of men; in the 

 lower heaven dwell the Sun and all the 

 other deities who are more intimately 

 connected with mankind. The first un- 

 derworld is inhabited by ghosts who 

 may rise to the first heaven and be sent 

 again to earth, and in the second under- 

 world dwell the ghosts of those who 

 have died a second death; from this 

 there is no return. Other memoirs in 

 the series are 'The Archaeology of Lyt- 

 ton, B. C.,' by Harlan I. Smith, de- 

 scriptive of the work of the expedition 

 in that line; 'The Thompson Indians of 

 British Columbia,' by James Teit, which 

 is an exhaustive ethnographical account 

 of that tribe, and 'The Basketry Designs 

 of the Salish Indians,' by Livingston 

 Farrand, in which is shown the develop- 

 ment of geometric designs from realistic 

 forms among the Indians of the Salish 

 stock, a development which contrasts 

 sharply with that of the neighboring 

 stocks described by Boas. 



With the results of field-work pour- 

 ing in and the constant modifications of 

 theory brought about thereby, it be- 

 comes a task practically impossible to 

 write a general 'Anthropology' which 

 will not be out-of-date before it issues 

 from the press. Nevertheless, from time 

 to time the attempt is made and one 

 of the latest ventures is 'Man, Past and 

 Present,' by Mr. A. H. Keane (Univer- 

 sity Press, Cambridge). It is a general 

 classification and description of the 

 races of man which is open to the same 



objections as to validity of classification 

 as can be offered to any work on the 

 subject at the present stage of knowl- 

 edge. At the same time it contains 

 much information in compact form, is 

 not technical and will doubtless be use- 

 ful. Of similar scope is 'The Races of 

 Man,' by J. Deniker, which has just ap- 

 peared in English form (Scribner's Con- 

 temp. Sci. Series). This work, also com- 

 pact, is somewhat more technical than 

 Keane's and also more accurate. It con- 

 tains an appendix with brief tables of 

 measurements and indices adapted for 

 quick reference. 



Of more special studies, unquestion- 

 ably the most important work of the 

 year is Messrs. Spencer and Gillen's 'The 

 Native Tribes of Central Australia' 

 (Macmillan). This extraordinarily min- 

 ute account of the customs of the tribes 

 with which it deals has already begun 

 to attract the attention which it de- 

 serves. The problems upon which it 

 throws light are numerous, but prob- 

 ably that of most general interest is 

 Totemism, with its many social and re- 

 ligious bearings. The origin of this 

 well-known savage custom has been a 

 puzzle and heretofore not even a plausi- 

 ble suggestion has been made toward 

 its solution. Messrs. Spencer and Gil- 

 len's account of the totemic ceremonies 

 of the Arunta tribe, however, points ir- 

 resistibly toward a definite economic 

 origin, an attempt to preserve and in- 

 crease the totemic animals and objects 

 for the good of the tribe. The under- 

 lying relation between the clansman and 

 his totem, as well as the social relations 

 between the members of a clan, with the 

 rules regarding marriage and the result- 

 ant modification of the family organiza- 

 tion, are all analyzed with quite ex- 

 ceptional skill and in this and other 

 fields the book is destined to become a 

 classic. 



