48 



ASSOCIATIONS FOE THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. (BRITISH.) 



.less under all conditions, for this involved not 

 only the increased efficiency of one class of ma- 

 chinery over another, but also the protection 

 of human life. The following were among the 

 papers read before the section : " The London 

 and Paris Telephone," by W. H. Preece ; " Eecent 

 Progress in the Use of Electric Motors," by G. 

 Forbes ; " Electric Lighting in Trains," by J. A. 

 Tiinmis; Electric Parcels Exchange System," 

 by A. R. Bennett ; and " On a New System of 

 Screw Propulsion with Non-reversible Engines," 1 

 and " Internal and External Work of Evapora- 

 tion," by W. Worry Beaumont. 



H. Anthropology. The presiding officer of 

 this section was Prof. F. Max Muller. His ad- 

 dress began with a retrospect of his connection 

 with the British Association, and he referred 

 to the meeting of 1847, when he was present, 

 and then he took up the history of the devel- 

 opment of anthropology subsequent to the for- 

 mation of the section in "1884. He then discussed 

 the advantages which anthropology has derived 

 from language, and also the disadvantages 

 which have accrued to anthropology from al- 

 lowing itself too implicitly to be guided by the 

 science of language. Concerning this branch of 

 his subject he said : 



I suppose I need say no more to show how. indis- 

 pensable a study of language is to every student of 

 anthropology. If anthropology is to maintain its high 

 position as a real science, its alliance with linguistic 

 studies can not be too close. Its weakest points have 

 always been those where it trusted to the statements 

 of authorities ignorant of language and of the science 

 of language. Its greatest triumphs have been achieved 

 by men who have combined the minute accuracy of 

 the scholar with the comprehensive grasp of the an- 

 thropologist, and were thus enabled to use the key of 

 language to unlock the perplexities of savage customs, 

 savage laws and legends and particularly, of savage 

 religions and mythologies. If this alliance between 

 anthropology and philology becomes real, then, and 

 then only, may we hope to see Bunsen's prophecy 

 fulfilled, that anthropology will become the highest 

 branch of that science for which this British Associa- 

 tion is instituted. 



Again referring to the address delivered in 1847 

 by Bunsen, he closed with : 



Much has been achieved by anthropology to justify 

 these hopes and fulfill the prophecies of my old friend 

 Bunsen. Few men live to see the fulfillment of their 

 own prophecies, but they leave disciples whose duty 

 it is to keep their memory alive, and thus to preserve 

 that vital continuity of human knowledge which 

 alone enables us to see in the advancement of all 

 science the historical evolution of eternal truth. 



The following are among the more important 

 papers read before this section : " The Social 

 and Religious Ideas of the Chinese as illustrated 

 by the Ideographic Characters of the Language," 

 by R. K. Douglas ; " On Recent Progress in the 

 A'nalysis of Vowel Sounds," by R. T. Lloyd ; 

 " Family Life of the Haidas (Queen Charlotte 

 Islands)," by C. Harrison ; " The Barbaric Ele- 

 ment in Ancient Greece and Italy," by G. Hart- 

 well Jones ; " The Worship of Meteorites," by 

 Hubert A. Newton, of Yaje University ; " Com- 

 parison of Ancient Welsh Gjustoms, Devices, and 

 Commerce with those of Contemporary Nations," 

 by J. S. Phene; "The First- , Salt-sea Wander- 

 ings of the English Race," % W. M. Adams ; 

 " East Central African Customs," by James 

 Macdonald ; " Points of Contac\ between Old 



World Myths and the Customs of the Navaja 

 Myth called the ' Mountain Chant,' " by Miss 

 A. W. Buckland ; " The Formation of a Record 

 of Prehistoric Remains in Glamorganshire," by 

 Edwin Seward ; " Anthropometry applied to 

 the Purpose of Personal Identification," by J. 

 G. Garson ; " Instinctive Criminality : its True 

 Character and Rational Treatment," by S. A. K. 

 Stranahan ; " Recent Hittite Discoveries," by J. 

 S. Phene ; " The Similkameen Indians of Brit- 

 ish Columbia," by Mrs. S. S. Allison ; " On the 

 Pottery made and used by the Nicobar Indians," 

 " by E. H. Man ; and " Notes on the History and 

 Ethnology of Welsh Fairies," by Leyson Rhys. 

 It is interesting to add that the 'president, Prof. 

 Muller, said he felt it his duty to express 

 the gratitude of every anthropologist to Major 

 John W. Powell for the work he had done during 

 the last ten years. As director of the United 

 States Ethnological Bureau he had contributed 

 many useful works on anthropological subjects. 

 The work of the bureau reflected the highest, 

 credit not only upon Major Powell, but upon 

 the Government of the United States, who were 

 doing their utmost to preserve records of an 

 ancient world which were dying out before their 

 eyes. He wished he could impress upon the 

 Colonial Office of her Majesty's Government the 

 necessity of taking similar action. He succeeded 

 some years ago in persuading Earl Granville to 

 encourage the publication of colonial records. 

 There was no country which might be in pos- 

 session of such useful information in regard to the 

 earJy days of mankind as England, but it seemed 

 to be impossible to impress upon the Govern- 

 ment their responsibility in this matter. There 

 was an old world disappearing before their very 

 eyes, and the time would come when the present 

 generation would be held responsible for not col- 

 lecting information which was within their reach. 

 If in the time of Cicero and Caesar somebody had 

 written down the Etruscan language, what an 

 immense amount of time and labor might have 

 been saved. 



Final Sessions. The last meeting of the 

 General Committee was held on Aug. 25, when 

 the report of the Committee of Recommenda- 

 tions was received. It was then announced that 

 the total number of tickets issued was 1,488, 

 realizing a sum of 1,664. Grants of money, 

 amounting in all to 1,013, were appropriated 

 to scientific purposes by the General Committee 

 at the Cardiff meeting. August, 1891, and the 

 announcement of the specific amounts was made. 

 The concluding general session of the associa- 

 tion followed, when resolutions of thanks to the 

 Mayor of Cardiff, the executive committees, and 

 to the local secretaries and treasurers were 

 adopted and acknowledged. Subsequently the as- 

 sociationadjourned to meet in Edinburgh on Aug. 

 3, 1892, under the presidency of Sir Archibald Gei- 

 kie, the eminent geologist. The Lord Provost of 

 Edinburgh, the Marquis of Lothian, the Earl of 

 Rosebery, Lord Kingsburgh, Sir William Muir, 

 Prof. Sir Douglas Maclagan, Sir Willian Turner, 

 Prof. P. Guthrie Tait, and Prof. Alexander Crum 

 Brown were elected vice-presidents for the Edin- 

 burgh meeting. Prof. G. F. Armstrong, F. Grant 

 Ogilvie, and John Harrison were elected local 

 .secretaries for the meeting at Edinburgh, and 

 A. Gillies Smith, local treasurer. The mayor and 



