228 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



John Lubbock could gather into the compass of a few concluding 

 pages of a really great work such a tissue of misguiding infor- 

 mation. His character testifies that he could not do so inten- 

 tionally, and it is not likely that his religious views are of such a 

 nature as to lead him to rule outside of the pale of religious be- 

 lief all who do not use a systematic form of worship, or do not 

 acknowledge in creedlike fashion the person of the Divine Being. 

 The only feasible explanation seems to be found in that peculiar 

 blindness which all students know is apt to fall on the eyes of 

 those who are striving to gather material to support a pet theory. 

 In such cases, as the eye runs down page after page of close print, 

 seeking for a scrap of information here or there, it naturally selects 

 the sentence favorable to the theory, and passes over or does not see 

 unfavorable sentences that may contain much more valuable in- 

 formation. Where such a method of investigation is pursued as 

 a basis for quotation, a singularly strong case can commonly be 

 presented on behalf of the theory ; above all, where the works re- 

 lied on have, on account of their age, passed out of general cir- 

 culation. But such a method is palpably unscientific, being cal- 

 culated to give a partial view of the point at issue, whatever that 

 may be. If Sir John Lubbock, in the hurry of a busy life, has 

 not fallen under this common temptation, then one knows not 

 how to explain the extraordinary fact that one of the keenest 

 minds in the English scientific world has so persistently left 

 undone what he ought to have done, and done what he ought not 

 to have done, as he gave to the public quotations from other 

 writers. 



Another strange fact is apparent. Prehistoric Times has gone 

 through five editions, the first being published in 1859, the sec- 

 ond in 1869, and the fifth in 1890. During this period of time in- 

 vestigations into the habits, customs, and religions of isolated and 

 barbarous tribes have been very widespread, and the harvest of 

 information reaped has been very large. But greater light has 

 made no change in Sir John's authorities. Jukes, Collins, Bur- 

 chell, Caillie, Dobritzhoff er, and Catlin maintain their time-honored 

 position, and the harvest of modern investigation might never 

 have been reaped, as far as Sir John is concerned. It is not the. 

 object of this article to enter into this harvest field, though the 

 subject is in every way interesting and the facts close to hand. 

 But a noble work lies before Sir John Lubbock, namely, that of 

 reviewing his original statements in the light of modern investi- 

 gation, and proceeding to prove the position that there is not a 

 well- authenticated case of a single tribe on the face of the earth 

 wholly destitute of the religious idea. 



