xvi NATURAL CLASSIFICATION OF MAN 239 



the societies, institutions, and individuals who cultivate this 

 vast subject are, in all these lands, as it is indeed to so great 

 an extent in our own, devoted to that branch which borders 

 upon the old and favourite studies of archaeology and geology. 

 The fascinating power of the pursuit of the earliest traces of 

 man's existence upon the earth, with the possibilities of 

 obtaining some glimpses of his mode of origin, is attested in 

 the devotion seen everywhere in museums, in separate publica- 

 tions, and in journals, to prehistoric anthropology. 



But, though the study of man's origin and earliest appear- 

 ances upon the earth, and that of the structural modifications 

 to which in course of time he has arrived, or the study of 

 races, are intimately related, and will ultimately throw light 

 upon one another, I venture to think that the latter is the 

 more pressing of the two, as it is certainly the more practically 

 important; and hence the necessity for greater attention to 

 physical anthropology. In seeking for a criterion upon which 

 to base our study of races, in looking for essential proofs of 

 consanguinity of descent from common ancestors in different 

 groups of men, I have no hesitation in saying that we must 

 first look to their physical or anatomical characters, next to 

 their moral and intellectual characters for our purpose more 

 difficult of apprehension and comparison and, lastly, as 

 affording hints, often valuable in aid of our researches, but 

 rarely to be depended upon, unless corroborated from other 

 sources, to language, religion, and social customs. 



The study of the physical or anatomical characters of the 

 races of man is unfortunately a subject beset with innumer- 

 able difficulties. It can only be approached with full ad- 

 vantage by one already acquainted with the ordinary facts of 

 human anatomy, and with a certain amount of zoological 

 training. The methods used by the zoologist in discriminating 

 species and varieties of animals, and the practice acquired in 

 detecting minute resemblances and differences that an ordinary 

 observer might overlook, are just what are required in the 

 physical anthropologist. 



As the great problem which is at the root of all zoology is 

 to discover a natural classification of animals, so the aim of 

 zoological anthropology is to discover a natural classification 



