30 SATUIIDAY LKCTUliES. 



legitimate subject of human inquiry, is as yet an unverified 

 hypothesis. If, however, we assume that a living being will 

 be spontaneously produced when all the phj^sical conditions 

 necessary to its existence are present, we must allow that in 

 the case of man, with his complex and refined organization, 

 the fortuitous assembly of the multiform conditions required 

 for his appearance would be extremely rare, and from the 

 doctrine of probabilities could scarcely occur more than at 

 one time and at one place on this planet." 



V. The last question concerning the origin of man is well 

 represented in the controversy of Sir John Lubbock with 

 Archbishop Whately. The former maintained that man 

 was at first a low savage, and that the course of history has 

 on the whole been a progress towards civilization. Accord- 

 ing to the latter, man has always been pretty much what he 

 is at present. 



II. — Archseology. 



Bordering close upon anthropogeny is archaeology, whose 

 province it is to discuss the first efforts of the last child of 

 nature to walk forth into the broad world. The data are 

 far from c-omplete, but are becoming more adequate to show 

 the advance from rude stone to polished stone, to bronze, 

 and finally to iron, as the material of human implements. 



In this study the geologist, the linguist, the anatomist, 

 technologist, and the sociologist meet to reconstruct priscan 

 society. As the present epoch epitomizes all preceding- 

 epochs of the world in its fauna ; so does the ensemble of 

 humanity to-day comprehend all past histories. It is no 

 more difficult to reconstruct an ancient tribe from a few 

 human bones and implements than for the comparative 

 anatomist to re-edify an extinct animal from a few of its 

 fossil remains. I could give you no more convincing proof 

 of what I say than to invite you to study carefully Professor 

 Rau's archaeological collection, in the Smithsonian Building. 



