ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 57 



DISCUSSION. 



Prof. Thomas said that the paper was valuable as tending to throw 

 light on the subject of intrusive burial and mentioned in connection 

 therewith some recent finds in Wisconsin. 



Mr. Proudfet said that he had obtained from an Indian grave 

 in Southwestern Iowa silver disks similar to those mentioned by 

 Dr. Thompson. 



Dr. Fletcher, referring to the flattening noticed in certain skulls 

 exhumed by Dr. Thompson, expressed the belief that such condition 

 was probably not due to pressure in burial. 



Colonel Seely said that from what we now know it is evident that 

 the savage was far more than a straggler in the wilderness. The 

 remains of various ritualistic systems suggests a more elaborate con- 

 ception in such matters than is consistent with notions previously 

 entertained concerning the savage state. As illustrating this line 

 of inquiry Col. Seely read an extract from the Gippsland Mercury, 

 for January, 1884, giving an account of certain aboriginal ceremonies 

 witnessed by A. W. Howitt on the occasion of admission of the 

 youths of the Kurnai tribe to the dignity of manhood. 



Eighty-Second Regular Meeting, April 15, 1884. 



Major J. W. Powell, President, in the Chair. 

 The Curator reported the following gift: Final report of the 

 Anthropometric Committee of the British Association. 

 A vote of thanks was passed to the donors. 



Dr. J. M. Gregory read a paper on the "Elements of Modern 

 Civilization." 



Civilization is the supreme fact in sociology. It is the compre- 

 hensive name of all that marks progress and well-being in society 

 and states. It is also the highest criterion by which to test the 

 value of social institutions. Whatever promotes civilization we 

 pronounce good and useful ; whatever abases or destroys it is bad. 



What is civilization ? What are the essential elements of which 

 it is composed, and by which it may be described? These are ques- 

 tions which confront the student of sociology at the outset of his 

 studies. 



