Art. III. — Anthropology in Australia* 

 By A. W. HowiTT, F.G.S. 



[Read Tuesday, May 13, 1890.] 



For the fiist time in Australia the study of Anthropology 

 has taken up a definite position, by the formation of Section 

 E of the Royal Society of Victoria. It seems remarkable 

 that the science of man should have been the last to have 

 attracted special attention here, where there are unrivalled 

 opportunities for its presentation in a country where man still 

 exists in as nearly a primitive condition as it is possible to 

 find in any part of the world. 



It is certainly true, that since the time when the white man 

 took up his abode in Australia, there have always been more 

 or less numerous enquiries into native customs, commencing 

 with Collins, who compiled his work called " An Account of 

 New South Wales " in the early years of settlement. Since 

 then, until now, there has been a constant succession of 

 observers who, as explorers, settlers, and missionaries, have 

 devoted more or less time and attention to enquiring into 

 and recording the customs and the beliefs of the Aborigines 

 who wandered over the Australian land. These works, and 

 numerous detached accounts which are scattered tla-ough, and 

 I may say buried in, the transactions of societies here and 

 elsewhere, form a literature of considerable extent, and of 

 very varied degrees of authority and value. In the great 

 majority of these works, even in some of the most recent, 

 which profess to be written with authority, it is dangerous 

 for any one to accept the statements made without such 

 knowledge on the part of the reader as will enable him to 

 form an independent opinion. 



The time has now come for this great mass of material to 

 be digested, and for those portions which are of value to be 

 extracted, circulated, and placed in such form that it may be 

 possible to make some generalisation. I have long proposed 

 to myself to attempt this in connection with a work on the 



* An IntioductoiT Address, read before Section E. 



