IV METHODS AND RESULTS OF ETHNOLOGY 211 



ing analysis of their words and grammatical 

 forms. 



Or, the ethnologist may turn to the study of 

 the practical life of men; and relying upon y the 

 inherent conservatism and small inventiveness 

 of untutored mankind,^ he may hope to discover 

 in manners and customs, or in weapons, dwellings, 

 and other handiwork, a clue to the origin of "the , 

 resemblances and differences of nations.- Or, he 

 may resort to that kind of evidence which is 

 yielded by History proper, and consists of the 

 beliefs of men concerning past events, embodied 

 in traditional, or in written, testimony. Or, when 

 that thread breaks, Archaeology, which is the 

 interpretation of the unrecorded remains of man's 

 works, belonging to the epoch since the world has 

 reached its present condition, may still guide him. 

 And, when even the dim light of archeology 

 fades, there yet remains Palaeontology, which, in 

 these latter years, has brought to daylight once 

 more the exuvia of ancient populations, whose 

 world was not our world, who have been buried 

 in river beds immemorially dry, or carried by the 

 rush of waters into caves, inaccessible to inundation 

 since the dawn of tradition. 



Along each, or all, of these paths the ethnologist 

 may press towards his goal ; but they are not 

 equally straight, or sure, or easy to tread. The 

 way of palaeontology has but just been laid open 

 to us. Archaeological and historical investigation? 



