446 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION G. 



experimental methods, which in the physical and natural sciences 

 have yielded such splendid results. But a new and more scientific 

 spirit has already manifested itself in the prosecution of archaeo- 

 logical and philological research. In view of the daily accumulating 

 materials furnished to the historical inquirer it is time to set aside 

 the prejudices and the rather lax methods of investigation of the 

 olcf classical and philological schools. We are indebted to them 

 for the collection and preservation of the most valuable documents 

 indispensable to an understanding of the life of ancient days, but 

 their attempts to connect the mythologies, the traditions and the 

 arts of the various nations of antiquity seems to have left the 

 materials at our command in a state of almost inextricable confu- 

 sion. The shelves of our libraiies are adorned with voluminous 

 and often amply illustrated works descriptive of the monuments of 

 antiquity, but there can be no doubt that a fresh and exhaustive 

 examination of the latter by technical experts will lead to a more 

 satisfactory explanation of their real significance and original 

 purpose. 



But Anthropology, while tracing the gradual progress of man 

 towards a higher civilisation, may claim to subserve a still nobler 

 purpose. In the face of all racial and national distinctions, 

 which until now have divided and estranged from each other the 

 scattered members of human society, it proclaims the essential 

 unity of mankind. It supplies evidence that in speaking of the great 

 human family we are not using a phrase which has no meaning. 

 Anthropology asserts and proves that men are indeed brothers and 

 fellow-workers in the great movement of civilisation. It shows 

 that although the latter has been the outcome of a long struggle 

 extending over thousands, and may be tens of thousands of years, 

 we have evidence of a steady advance commencing with the first 

 dawn of human life upon this globe, and that in spite of the 

 numerous and terrible catastrophies which have overwhelmed one 

 period of civilisation after another, the higher type of man, like 

 the phoenix of the fable, has always sprung up again from its 

 ashes in order to continue its course towards a still higher 

 destiny. 



In presenting these imperfect notes upon the auspicious occasion 

 of the first meeting of the Australasian Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science, I chiefly intended to trace a general outline 

 of the aims and scope of Anthropology, and to press the claims 

 of this youngest of sciences upon the attention of all those who 

 are disposed to encourge research within the limits of the 

 Australasian colonies. The wonderful progress achieved by the 

 latter during the century which has elapsed since the daeof their 

 foundation, must react favourably upon all intellectual pursuits, 

 which, to a greater extent than any others, contribute to the 

 glory of a nation and secure for it an honourable place in the 

 annals of the future. 



