570 ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE LAST TWENTY YEARS. 



I can only say to day we have no debts ; we have not borrowed from 

 any hypotbesis-framer ; we do not go about oppressed by a fear that the 

 things to which we hold will be overturned. What we now determine 

 has stability and will prove a foundation for further researches. We 

 have levelled the ground so that succeeding generations may make as 

 much use as possible of these means furnished them by us. It is our 

 confidence based upon the recognition given us by our rulers and the 

 sympathy of the people that in the future there will be no lack of ma- 

 terial for work. 



Gentlemen, it is now our duty to go to work unitedly and with more 

 zeal than ever before, so that all these questions may be solved which 

 are of such importance to man for his understanding of self, and for his 

 social and political development. Let us take hold then so that real 

 and abiding progress may be ours. 



I would propose as our aim to be attained in the coming twenty years 

 that we obtain such an insight into the anthropology of European nations 

 as to be able to present some valuable points concerning the connec- 

 tion of European tribes and to succeed in showing the reasons for ex- 

 isting differences among them. 



This much I wanted to say to-day. I beg pardon for speaking so long. 



Anthropology is surrounded by a dense fog of traditions, a large 

 number of them useless. Much labor is necessary to bring oat its nu- 

 cleus, just as it is the case with many of our fruits, whose little living 

 kernel is surrounded by thick woody coverings. These germs are to be 

 found in the field of anthropology and they must be opened up in com- 

 ing days. May they find as much appreciation from a circle of such 

 interested hearers as I see before me to-day. 



