42 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Europe in palaeolithic time, though perhaps a little earlier in type. 

 Along these lines, and from one or other of these tropical sources, 

 he would seek the distribution of palaeolithic man. But what of neo- 

 lithic man? Here President Evans dwelt emphatically on the abso- 

 lutely unbridged chasm that separates the two types. The closing 

 portion of palaeolithic time was marked by the presence of the rein- 

 deer in Europe, and by a diminution in the size of the stone hatchets, 

 apparently corresponding with the disappearance of the great mam- 

 mals of the earlier time. But there is no indication of a ground 

 or polished implement. He inclines to the view strongly that, 

 owing to failure of food or other causes, man died out in northern 

 and central Europe, possibly lingering in the Mediterranean region, 

 as at the cave of Mentone, but that for the most part Europe became 

 uninhabited, and remained so for a long period. When neolithic 

 remains appear, the country has reached the physical conditions of 

 the present time, and there is every indication of a new migration 

 from the east and south. In Egypt and in India finely polished 

 implements are abundant at certain points; and these doubtless in- 

 dicate the pathway of the second great migration, from which we 

 may more or less dimly trace the beginnings of historic develop- 

 ment. 



In closing, Sir John Evans urged the importance of establishing 

 a bureau of ethnology for the Greater Britain, as of immense value, 

 not only to the student of anthropology and archaeology, but in the 

 practical intercourse of Government officials, travelers, missionaries, 

 and explorers with the native races on the borders of the empire. 

 He paid a handsome tribute to the work of our own Bureau of Eth- 

 nology, and also to the researches being carried on in the Dominion, 

 partly by the Government and partly by a committee of the asso- 

 ciation. The project of such a general bureau had been urged upon 

 the Government by the last meeting, at Liverpool, but so far no 

 action had resulted, the question being one of expense. But if, by 

 a better understanding of native tribes and their modes of life and 

 thought, one " little war " could be avoided, the cost of such an 

 institution would speedily be saved. 



The American Association was very much in evidence during the 

 sessions, a number of our leading scientists taking prominent parts. 

 This was most marked in the departments of Geology, Geography, 

 and Anthropology; less so in the other sections, although some able 

 representatives were present in nearly all of them, and most of the 

 sectional committees included one or more names familiar to at- 

 tendants at the American meetings. 



In the section of Anthropology, presided over by Sir William 

 Turner a portly, florid old gentleman, with white whiskers and 



