RKPOKT OF THE SECKETAHY. 19 



T sluill also be jxlad to know if you will conscut to ho a incinbev of a 

 coininittce to award such ai prize, if jiivcii, and to leain from you in 

 the saniecoMiieetiou of any important icsearcli, .iicrniane to your own 

 studies, that would be nuiterially advanced by a grant Irom the funds 

 now available under this liberal construction. 



In further illustration of my meaniui;', I take the liberty of inclosing 

 a copy of a reply made to me in answer to a similar impiiry concerning 

 the science of anthropoh)gy, which 1 do merely to show more clearly 

 the character of the information I desire. 



The following was the inclosure. It is an answer by a distinguished 

 anthropologist to a similar <|uestion, and was inclosed as an illustration 

 of the fact that the terms of the Ilodgkins donation api)ly <'ven to sci- 

 entific matters which may appear at first sight disconnected with the 

 subject (/. f. to anthroi>ology), but which upon consideration are seen 

 to be intimately related to it: 



Dear, Sir : In reply to your imjuiry concerning the relations existing 

 between anthropology and the study of the atmosphere I l)eg leave to 

 say that the natural history of man takes into consideration: — 



(1) Man, as modified by climate, 



(2) His arts as occasioned and afi'ected by the atmosphere. 



As to the first, the atmosphere, through climate, elevation, etc., upon 

 man considered as an animal, is l)elieved to have affected his bodily 

 form and stature, the color of his eyes, hair, and skin; his longevity, 

 fecundity, and vigor, and therefi)re to have been the most ])otent factor 

 of all iii producing those varieties of onr si)ecies called races, and to be 

 at the foundation of these problems whose discussion constitutes the 

 science of ethnology. 



As to the second, most of the arts and activities of man depend upon 

 the atmosphere^ for their suggestion and methods. For example, his 

 habitations, clothing-, and the common occupations of his daily life are 

 most obviously controlled by hisatmosphei'i*' surroundings, which make 

 him in the Arctic regions a hunter of furs, dwelling underground; in 

 the temperate zone a farmer, dwelling- in houses; in the tropics a 

 hunter of ivory, dwelling- in open shelters from the sun. 



Permit me to observe further, that the study of the air can not be 

 omitted in connection with the sci<'nce of sociology. E\en philology 

 draws its material and i)erha]»s derives it forms largely from the atmos- 

 ])here, andthei»rimitive]>hil()S()phiesand mythologies of the world are 

 filled with imag<'ry an<l theories derived therefrom. Therefore in select- 

 ing, at your rexjuest, from the relationships of the atmosi)here to the 

 science of antliiopi)logy in general, two or more subjects foi" i)rize 

 essays, I have only too much s(u)])e. 



After nuu;h consideration I would pro])ose to suggest that a ])rize of 

 not less than $1,000 sliould be offered for an essay upon oneof the fol- 

 lowing topics: 



1. The relation of atmospheric phenomena, to the cosmogenies, 



creeds, and cults of all peoi)les. 



2. Atmos])heric changes as determiniu.g the foi-nis of primitive so- 



ciety, family and tril)al organizations, etc. 



3. As between the monogenistic and the i)olyg-euistic theory of the 



origin of man, what light is thrown u[)on the (luestion by a study 

 of atmospheric intluences upon nnui's ])hysical constitution. 



4. Atmospheric infiueuees and phenomena as afi'ecting constructive 



and decorative architecture. 



