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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



on the borderland of nonsense except 

 when it crosses the line. The only 

 saving truth it contains and that is 

 by no means its property is that 

 man is a rational creature, that his 

 mental life is very closely connected 

 with his physical life, and that the 

 proper ordering of his thoughts and 

 aims is, therefore, a matter of prime 

 importance for his happiness. All 

 the same, he requires a stable world 

 to live in one the laws of which will 

 not permit him to be wayward or 

 reckless, but which, while making 

 ample return for worthy effort, will 

 visit with penalties not to be averted, 

 u adverse sensations " not to be con- 

 jured away by any tricks of self-hyp- 

 notization, every departure from the 

 path of knowledge and self-control. 



THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL VIEW OF 

 CIVILIZATION. 



WE commented in our last num- 

 ber upon the interesting address de- 

 livered by the President of the Ameri- 

 can Association for the Advancement 

 of Science, and we have now before 

 us an address of equal interest and 

 perhaps of greater practical impor- 

 tance from the president, Dr. Flinders 

 Petrie, of the Anthropological Sec- 

 tion of the British Association. Dr. 

 Petrie is widely known as one of the 

 most learned Egyptologists of the 

 present day, and as professor of that 

 study at University College, Lon- 

 don. He has spent many years in 

 actual research in Egypt, and has 

 thus been brought into close and 

 varied contact with different sec- 

 tions of the Egyptian people. Dur- 

 ing the period of his stay in that 

 country systematic efforts were be- 

 ing put forth to civilize the people 

 according to European ideas, and, as 

 a commencement, to teach them how 

 to read and write; and he has been 

 able to study the process in its prac- 

 tical results. In addition to his spe- 



cial accomplishments, Dr Petrie is a 

 man of wide culture and of a vigor- 

 ous habit of mind, and one therefore 

 whose views are deserving of careful 

 and respectful attention. 



He discusses for us, in his address, 

 the meanings which, from the stand- 

 point of anthropology, should be as- 

 signed to those often vaguely used 

 words "race" and "civilization." 

 We must pass over his remarks on 

 the first of these terms, though they 

 are both interesting and original. 

 In regard to the latter the position he 

 takes is that wherever there was a 

 human society there civilization is 

 to be found. " Civilization," he ob- 

 serves, u really means simply the art 

 of living in a community, the checks 

 and counter-checks, the division of 

 labor, and the conveniences that 

 arise from common action when a 

 group of men live in close relation 

 to each other." In other words, the 

 term has a relative, not an absolute 

 meaning; and the practical question 

 which confronts the so-called higher 

 races in certain cases is whether it 

 is desirable to replace, or attempt to 

 replace, the relative civilization of 

 a given lower race or one which 

 they regard as such by their own 

 more advanced modes of life. 



This brings us to the most impor- 

 tant part of Prof. Petrie's discourse. 

 " Every civilization," he says, " is 

 the growing product of a very com- 

 plex set of conditions depending on 

 race and character, on climate, on 

 trade, and every minutia of the cir- 

 cumstances. To attempt to alter 

 such a system, apart from its condi- 

 tions, is to attempt the impossible. 

 No change is legitimate or beneficial 

 to the real character of a people, ex- 

 cept what flows from conviction and 

 the natural growth of the mind." 

 Such conviction and such mental 

 growth are not to be had if we pre- 

 sent unassimilable ideas and ideals. 

 Our intentions may be excellent, but 



