554 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1912. 



US that in liis first attempts to trace out "the evolution of custom 

 and institution" he started from the assumption that "where simi- 

 larities are found in different parts of the world they are due to inde- 

 pendent origin and development, which in turn is ascribed to the 

 fundamental similarity of the workings of the human mind all over 

 the world, so that, given similar conditions, similar customs and 

 institutions will come into existence and develop on the same lines." 

 But as he became more familiar with the materials of his research he 

 found that such an attitude would not admit of an adequate explana- 

 tion of the facts, and he was forced to confess that he "had ignored 

 considerations arising from racial mixture and the blending of 

 cultures." 



I recall these statements to your recollection now, not merely for 

 the purpose of emphasizing the far-reaching significance of an address 

 which is certain to be looked back upon as one of the most distinctive 

 and influential utterances from this presidential chair, nor yet with 

 the object of telling you how, in the course of my investigations upon 

 the history of the people in the Nile Valley,^ I also started out to 

 search for evidences of evolution, but gradually came to realize that 

 the facts of racial admixture and the blending of cultures were far 

 more obtrusive and significant. My intention is rather to investigate 

 the domain of anthropology in which unequivocal evolutionary 

 factors have played a definite role; I refer to the study of man's 

 genealogy, and the forces that determined the precise line of devel- 

 opment his ancestors pursued and ultimately fashioned man himself. 



I suppose it is inevitable in these days that one trained in biological 

 ways of thought should approach the problems of anthropology with 

 the idea of independent development as his guiding principle; but 

 the conviction must be reached sooner or later, by every one who 

 conscientiously, and with an open mind, seeks to answer most of the 

 questions relating to man's history and achievements — certainly the 

 chapters in that history which come within the scope of the last 60 

 centuries — that evolution yields a surprisingly small contribution to 

 the solution of the difficulties which present themselves. Most of 

 the factors that call for investigation concerning the history of man 

 and his w^orks are unquestionably the direct effects of migrations and 

 the intermingling of races and cultures. 



But I would not have you misunderstand m}'- meaning. Nothing 

 could be further from my intention than to question the reality of 

 evolution, as understood by Charles Darwin, and the tremendous 

 influence it is still exerting upon manldnd. In respect of certain 

 perils man may, perhaps, have protected himself from "the general 

 operation of that process of natural selection and survival of the fittest 



1 "The Ancient Egyptians," Harpers, 1911. 



