122 MCGEE 



ume by the Smithsonian Institution, forms one of the earliest 

 and most trustworthy foundations for the science of sociology. 

 The next great contribution to the New Ethnology was a joint 

 product, the chief contributors being Brinton in this country and 

 Tylor in England ; they sought a basis for defining and classi- 

 fying the peoples of the world in their myths and beliefs. Mean- 

 time the handiwork of prehistoric and other primitive folk was 

 made known through numerous investigators ; while physical 

 anthropology was well advanced, especially in Europe. Such, 

 in brief, was the state of the science before Powell — though it 

 is not to be forgotten that his career overlapped those of Morgan 

 and Brinton, as well as that of Tylor, the sole survivor of the 

 series of pioneers. 



In his earlier explorations Powell concerned himself first with 

 the handiwork of the natives, and afterward with their myths ; 

 and almost from the beginning his vigorous mind grasped the 

 great fact that both kinds of products, just like those of the 

 processes of geology, are best interpreted in terms of agency, 

 the agency in this case being human thought. Thence his 

 studies extended to the social organization of the tribes — to the 

 law of kinship, to loves and hates, to mating and family life — 

 and then to esthetic concepts, and on to the elaborate observances 

 of ceremonial life ; and he mastered the languages, first as a 

 means of gathering facts and later for their own inherent inter- 

 est. Throughout he found the same fundamental principle to 

 apply, each new observation only confirming the truth that 

 human actions are best interpreted in terms of mental power. 

 An early outcome of the work was a definition of the human 

 activities as a basis for scientific research ; and here Powell was 

 able to combine, and thus to raise to higher planes, the admir- 

 able work of the pioneers already gone before, as well as that 

 of his contemporaries. Then Gallatin's philology, Morgan's so- 

 ciology, and the mythology (or sophiology) of Tylor and Brin- 

 ton fell into orderly relation ; while from his new height Powell 

 was able to outline the fields of technology and esthetology, 

 and thus to define the entire domain of the actual humanities. 



As his studies progressed, Powell saw that primitive and more 

 advanced men do not think alike — that their minds respond 



