IV 



ON THE METHODS AND EESULTS OF 

 ETHNOLOGY 



[1865] 



ETHNOLOGY is the science which determines 

 the distinctive characters of the persistent modifi- 

 cations of mankind ; which ascertains the dis- 

 tribution of those modifications in present and 

 past times, and seeks to discover the causes, or 

 conditions of existence, both of the modifications 

 and of their distribution. I say " persistent " 

 modifications, because, unless incidentally, ethno- 

 logy has nothing to do with chance and transitory 

 peculiarities of human structure. And I speak 

 of " persistent modifications " or " stocks " rather 

 than of " varieties," or " races/' or " species/ 1 

 because each of these last well-known terms 

 implies, on the part of its employer, a preconceived 

 opinion touching one of those problems, the 

 solution of which is the ultimate object of the 



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