490 SOMATOLOGY 



widening of the primitive conception of the anthropological do- 

 main. Each university, to begin with, establishes a single chair 

 of anthropology, and its insufficiency immediately becomes ap- 

 parent. The domain of anthropology is not only a vast one; it is 

 so replete with varieties. In the teaching of anthropology by the 

 incumbents of widely scattered chairs in European universities, 

 it is also seen that the very diverse forms gain prominence in ac- 

 cordance with the special expert abilities of each professor. 



When Broca opened his school with six chairs in 1876, this num- 

 ber soon appeared to be inadequate, and the creation of two addi- 

 tional chairs hardly sufficed to supply deficiencies which, from year 

 to year, became more and more evident. Here, then, was something 

 to appall the richest university in the world, were it an absolute 

 necessity that an anthropological institute be put in possession 

 of an organization fulfilling all the needs of the science. However, 

 such is not quite the case. What is urgently needful is that ample 

 space be reserved about the newly established institution for future 

 development and expansion. 



As the situation now presents itself, these needs are already 

 great and very difficult to meet in the older Europe. Adaptations 

 of a simple kind, and perhaps less costly than a newly created 

 organization, however provisional they may be, would give con- 

 siderable satisfaction. Especially should we avoid being deceived 

 by the idea that the old universities or academies are, as a rule, 

 unamenable to adaptation with the view of achieving the indi- 

 vidualization of anthropology. The many difficulties to be over- 

 come demand initiative and sustained effort. Initiative and effort 

 can be aroused only by a clear idea of what is to be attained and 

 of what importance it is. It is just such a clear idea and its more 

 widespread appreciation which must be relied upon to remove 

 the many obstacles as they arise or to foresee them as clearly as 

 possible before they do arise. 



How may such a clear idea be gained? Evidently by a study 

 of the situation of anthropology among the sciences, and princi- 

 pally among the neighboring sciences of which it may at times 

 seem to be but a superfluous duplicate. It stands to reason that 

 if the reality corresponds to appearances, the individualization 

 of anthropology would not be rightly understood; anthropology 

 supplies a deficiency which it alone is capable of supplying. Hence 

 the conception of its individuality appears, conjointly with the 

 creation of sociology, as a most important event in the history of 

 the sciences, and for that reason exerts an incalculable influence 

 upon humanity's future. 



This, gentlemen, is not a question to be submitted to personal 

 judgment alone. It is a question of scientific philosophy in which 



