Fkbbuaby 1, 1900.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



29 



near the rock. A conductor, a b, coutaiuina; a receiving 

 lustriuneut, which in this case is a d'Arsonval galvano- 

 meter, is eai-thed at a and b on opposite sides of the 

 rock by connection with submerged masses of copper, 

 and whenever a current flows through one circuit there 

 * will be a diflFerence of potential produced at the ends of 

 the other circuit, resulting in a llow of current which is 

 shown bv the galvanometer. 



THE EVOLUTION OF SIMPLE SOCIETIES. 



By Professor Alfked C. Haddox, m.a., d.sc, f.r.s. 



Is the following series of ai-ticles I propose dealing with 

 various human social groups in different stages of cul- 

 ture. History is not concerned — or should not be — 

 merely with the rise, progress, and downfall of dynasties 

 and with the doings of great men; but it takes into 

 cognisance the evolution of the people in general. The 

 population of any country is not an incoherent mass, 

 but is composed of groups, and it is the business of 

 Sociolog}' to study the origin and histoiy of these 

 groups, which are subsequently welded into nations. 

 Sociology is partly the study of the raw material of 

 History as it endeavours to account for the idiosyn- 

 crasies of societies and groups of men whose ultimate 

 fate is described by Histoiy. It may perhaps not 

 inappi opriately be termed the Natural History of 

 History. 



I claim no originality in the method of treatment. 

 Several years ago I had the good fortune to assist 

 Prof. Patrick Geddes in his stimulating Summer Courses 

 in Edinburgh, and it was there that this method of 

 study was brought under my notice. 



My friend M. E. Demolins, editor of " La Science 

 Sociale.' has given me permission to utilise the series 

 of sociological studies that have appeared in that highly 

 original journal. As the system initiated by Le Play 

 and so ably elaborated by MM. E. Demolins, R. Pinot, 

 P. de Rousiers, Henri de Tourville, and others is but 

 little known in '^his country — I have ventiu-ed to intro- 

 duce it to the pages of Knowledge. There is not 

 space here to expound the system, which after all may 

 be best illustrated by the treatment of the several 

 articles. 



The first article is mainly an abbreviated translation 

 of papers by M. Demolins in the first volume of " La 

 Science Sociale," but I have not hesitated to give fresh 

 examples and to add qualifications to many of his pro- 

 positions. 



I.— THE HUNTERS. 



Environment. — As Europe is so lai'gely deforested 

 and cultured one must go elsewhere to study the hunter 

 type in i*s purity. Indeed at the present day it is not 

 easy to find people who are pure hunters. The Austra- 

 lians do not cultivate the soil, but their conditions of 

 life are somewhat peculiar, and it will be better to 

 consider the hunting folk who dwell in tropical forests 

 where the environment is fairly uniform. 



The greatest forest region is that of the valleys of the 

 Amazon, Orinoco, and of the rivers of the Guiana-s, an 

 area about equal to that of Europe. 



The physical features, climatic, meteorological and 

 geographical, which desers'e a more extended considera- 

 tion than can here be given to them, determine the 

 nature of the vegetable products, which in this case 

 constitute an immense forest. The prolonged humidity 

 permits the growth of trees, and these by cutting off 

 light and air stifle the growth of grass. Vegetation is 



rampant, savage man is powerless against it. As Bates 

 says, " In the equatorial forests the aspect is the same, 

 or ncai-ly so, every day in the year; budding, flowering, 

 fruiting, and leaf-shedding, are always going on in one 

 species or other. It is never ei'hor spring, summer, 

 or autumn, but each day is a combination of all three." 



Occupation. — The climatic conditions and the 

 luxuriance of the forest render agriculture very labor- 

 ious, especially in the low-lying lands; the line of least 

 resistance is found in living by hunting. There is 

 something to be said in favour of this mode of life. 



The attractions of hunting are very great. In all 

 grades of even +ho most artificial or civilised societies 

 there are people who have an almost irresistible im- 

 pulse to hunt; the instinct of the poacher is similar 

 to that of the aristocratic sportsman who slaughters 

 half-tame pheasants or who stalks deer, or to that of 

 the hunter who travels afar in search of big game. 

 This fascination is evidently felt by those who are 

 practically compelled by circumstances to become and 

 remain hunters. 



Hunting requires no foresight. An intimate know- 

 ledge of the habits of animals is necessary for existence, 

 but no forethought is required to maintain the supply. 

 The breeding of animals for food or industrial require- 

 ments belongs to a later stage of culture, the sole ex- 

 ception being the domestication of the dog, which has 

 been more or less thoroughly accomplished by most 

 hunting peoples. 



The capture of each day provides the food of each 

 day, and this must be consumed immediately for it 

 cannot be preserved. Various methods have been de- 

 vised for drying or smoking meat, but even so it cannot 

 be kept for long periods like tubers or cereals. 



Hunting is suited to the generality of men, for it is 

 interesting, and it calls forth intelligence and the satis- 

 faction of outwitting animals ; it gratifies the lust of 

 killing, and supplies an exciting element of chance, 

 which keeps hope alive through disappointments. The 

 food is stimulating and enjoyable. No preparatory 

 work or thought is required to provide the supply of 

 food. These conditions appeal to the majority of man- 

 kind. 



Although there are no great possibilities in this mode 

 of life, the chase provides for the diverse wants of man. 

 The meat serves for food. The Eskimo prove that it is 

 possible to live exclusively upon a meat diet; in wai'mcr 

 climates there are numerous edible roots, shoots, leaves 

 and fruits which can be had in the vaiious seasons 

 for the picking. The sKi'is provide clothing, materials, 

 for habitations, vessels and the like. It is only in tem- 

 perate and cold climates that clothes are necessary for 

 warmth, and decency requires but a minimum of 

 clothing which in tropical countries is provided by bark 

 or leaves. The same practically applies to habitations. 

 It is mainly the hunters of the prairies, or the inhabi- 

 tants of other treeless districts like the frozen lands, 

 who make use of skin tents. Under the same conditions 

 various portions of the animals are employed for 

 different purposes which the vegetable world supplies in 

 the tropics with the expenditure of less labour to men — 

 such, for example, as fibres and receptacles like gourds. 

 The feathers of birds furnish finery all over the world, 

 but perhaps nowhere have they been employed to the 

 extent that they are, and were, in tropical South 

 America. The hunters there can live isolated from 

 more complicated societies as they are self-contained, 

 and thus they retain a simpler, and probably more 

 primitive, social condition. 



