14 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



of this racial type came to be so different that it is now impossible 

 to prove them to be genetically related. In the same way, new 

 developments of culture may have taken place which are so entirely 

 disconnected with older types that the older genetic relationships, 

 even if they existed, can no longer be discovered. 



If we adopt this point of view, and thus eliminate the hypothetical 

 assumption of correlation between primitive type, primitive language, 

 and primitive culture, we recognize that any attempt at classification 

 which includes more than one of these traits can not be consistent. 



It may be added that the general term "culture" which has been 

 used here may be subdivided from a considerable number of points 

 of view, and different results again might be expected when we 

 consider the inventions, the types of social organization, or beliefs, as 

 leading points of view in our classification. 



Artificial Character of All Classifications of Mankind 



We recognize thus that every classification of mankind must be 

 more or less artificial, according to the point of view selected, and 

 here, even more than in the domain of biology, we find that classifi- 

 cation can only be a substitute for the genesis and liistory of the now 

 existing types. 



Thus we recognize that the essential object in comparing different 

 types of man must be the reconstruction of the historj^ of the develop- 

 ment of their types, their languages, and their cultures. The history 

 of each of these various traits is subject to a distinct set of modifying 

 causes, and the investigation of each may be expected to contribute 

 data toward the solution of our problem. The biological investiga- 

 tion may reveal the blood-relationships of types and their modifica- 

 tions under social and geographical environment. The linguistic 

 investigation may disclose the history of languages, the contact of 

 the people speaking them with other people, and the causes that led 

 to linguistic differentiation and integration ; while the history of civili- 

 zation deals with the contact of a people with neighboring peoples, 

 as well as with the history of its own achievements. 



