OcrToBER 5, 1899] 
some soils, such as a stiff clay, it is almost impossible to guard 
against such a casualty, especially when the barrow is of large 
size and vast masses of earth have to be moved. The amount 
of profitable care that may be bestowed on scientific work of 
this character can nowhere be’ better seen, Iam glad to say, than 
in our own country, in the handsome volumes produced by 
General Pitt-Rivers as a record of his investigations in the 
history of the early inhabitants of Dorsetshire. The memoirs 
contained in them are unsurpassed for scientific thoroughness, 
and they will probably long stand as the model of what 
archzeological investigation should be, It is very seldom, 
however, that circumstances conspire so favourably towards a 
desired end as in the case of General Pitt-Rivers, where a 
scientific training is joined to the love of research, and finally 
ample means give full scope for its practice under entirely favour- 
able conditions. While it is, perhaps, too much to expect that 
all explorations of this character should be carried through with 
the same minute attention to detail that characterises General 
Pitt-Riyers’s diggings, yet his memoirs should be thoroughly 
studied before any work of the same kind is entered upon, and 
should be kept before the mind as the ideal to be attained. It 
is not too much to say that a diligent study of the works of the 
two foremost explorers of prehistoric remains in this country— 
Canon Greenwell and General Pitt-Rivers—will of itself suffice 
to qualify any intelligent antiquary to conduct the exploration of 
any like remains. At the same time, it must not be forgotten 
that exploration is one thing and a useful record of it is 
another, and here the explorer would do well to invite the co- 
operation of specialists if he would get the full value out of his 
work, and there is generally little difficulty in getting such 
help. 
Thane ventured to point out, in moderate terms, the dangers 
to which a large number of our prehistoric sites are liable, and 
to state under what conditions they should be investigated. It 
is not unreasonable to expect, if the danger is so obvious, that 
a remedy should be forthcoming to meet.it. In most of the 
continental States it would be easy to institute a scheme of 
State control by which such sites would vest in the Government 
to just such an extent as would be necessary to prevent their 
being destroyed, and such a scheme might be cheerfully accepted 
and applied with success in any country but our own. Here, 
however, we are so accustomed to rely upon individual influence 
and exertion in matters of this kind, that an appeal to the 
Government is scarcely thought of; while, on the other 
hand, the rights of property are fortunately so safeguarded by 
our tradition and law that nothing but a futile Act of Par- 
liament would have the least chance of passing. Moreover, 
experience teaches us that it is not to State control that 
we must look. The Ancient Monuments Bill, which 
was intended to protect a special class of monuments, 
and was framed with a full regard to the rights of 
owners, still stands in the Statute Book, but for years past it 
has had no effective value whatever. That being so, we must 
look to private organisations, and preferably to those already 
in existence, for some effectual moral influence and control, 
and, in my judgment, the appeal could best be made to the 
local scientific societies. Many of these are very active in their 
operations, and could well bear an addition to their labours ; 
others, less active, might become more energetic if they had a 
definite programme. The plan I would propose is this :—Each 
society should record on the large scale Ordnance map every 
tumulus or earthwork within the county, and at the same time 
keep a register of the sites with numbers referring to the map, 
and in this register should be noted the names of the owner and 
tenant of the property, as well as any details which would be of 
use in exploring the tumuli. I am well aware that a survey of 
this kind has been begun by the Society of Antiquaries of 
London, and is still in progress ; but this is of a far more com- 
prehensive character, and is, moreover, primarily intended for 
publication. The more limited survey I now advocate would 
in no way interfere with it, but, on the contrary, would provide 
material for the other larger scheme. Once the local society is 
in possession of the necessary information just referred to, it 
would be the duty of its executive to exercise a beneficent con- 
trol over any operations affecting the tumuli, and it may safely 
be said that such control could in no way be brought to bear so 
easily and effectively as through a local society. 
Some of the arguments in favour of some such protection for 
our unconsidered ancient monuments have been already briefly 
stated, and, in conclusion, I would only urge this in their favour, 
NO. 1562, VOL. 60] 
NATURE 
555 
that while the more beautiful monuments of later and historic 
times are but little likely to want defenders, the less attractive 
early remains are apt to disappear not so much from want of 
appreciation as from want of knowledge, and I would repeat 
that it is from them alone that we can reconstitute the life- 
story of those who lived in what we may, with truth, call our 
dark ages. 
I will now ask you to turn your attention to another matter in 
which it seems to me that this country has opportunities of an 
unusually favourable kind. I refer to the collection of anthro- 
pological material from races which still remain in a fairly primi- 
tive state. It is somewhat trite to allude to the extent of our 
Empire and the vast number of races either subject to our 
rule or who look to us for guidance and protection. The 
number may be variously computed according to the bias, 
philological or physical, of the observer, but it will not be con- 
tested that our opportunities are without precedent in history, 
nor that they greatly exceed those of any existing nation. 
That being so, it may not be useless to see how far these oppor- 
tunities are utilised. While it will not be denied that the 
Indian Government and the Governments of some of our 
Colonies have done excellent work in the direction of anthro- 
pological research and publication, and that exhaustive reports 
from our Colonial officials are frequently received and after- 
wards entombed in parliamentary papers, yet it is equally clear 
that work of this kind is not a part of our administrative 
system, but rather the protest of the intelligent official mind 
against the monotony of routine. The material, the opportunity, 
as well as the intelligence and will to use both, are already in 
existence, and all that is now wanted is that the last should be 
encouraged, and the work be done on a systematic plan, and, as 
far as may be, focussed on some centre where it may be available 
for present and future use. It was for this end that I ventured 
to bring before the British Association at the Liverpool meeting 
a scheme for the establishment of a central Bureau of Ethnology 
for Greater Britain. Frequent appeals had been made to me by 
officials of all kinds in distant parts of the Empire to tell them what 
kind of research work they could most usefully undertake, and 
it seemed a pity not to reduce so much energy and good will into 
a system. Hence the Bureau of Ethnology. The Council of 
the Association, on the recommendation of the Committee, in- 
vited the Trustees of the British Museum to undertake the 
working of the Bureau ; this they have accepted, with the result 
that if the Treasury will grant the small yearly outlay it will be 
under my own supervision. If I had foreseen this ending I 
might have hesitated before starting a hare the chasing of which 
will be no sinecure. 
It was considered necessary, before attempting to begin the 
work of the Bureau by communicating with commissioners and 
other officials in the various Colonies and Protectorates, to lay 
the matter before Lord Salisbury and to invite his approval of 
the scheme. The whole correspondence will appear in the 
Report of the present meeting, but I may be pardoned for 
quoting one paragraph of the circular letter from the Foreign 
Office to the several African Protectorates. It is as follows: 
‘* Lord Salisbury is of opinion that Her Majesty’s officers should 
be encouraged to furnish any information desired by the Bureau, 
so far as their duties will allow of their doing so, and I am to 
request you to inform the officers under your administration 
accordingly.” Whenit is remembered that this is strictly official 
phraseology, its tenor may be considered entirely satisfactory, 
and there can be little doubt that other departments of the 
Government will recognise the utility of the Bureau in the same 
liberal spirit. Thus we shall have within a short time an 
organisation which will systematically gather the records of the 
many races which are either disappearing before the advancing 
white man, or, what is equally fatal from the anthropological 
point of view, are rapidly adopting the white man’s habits and 
forgetting their own. 
The Bureau of Ethnology, however, will only perform a part 
of the task that has to be done. While there is no doubt of the 
value of knowledge as to the religious beliefs and customs of 
existing savages, it is surely of equal importance that anthro- 
pological and ethnological collections should be gathered together 
with the same energy. The spear of the savage is, in fact, far 
more likely to be replaced by the rifle than is his religion to give 
way to ours, Thus the spear will disappear long before the 
religion is forgotten. It may be said that we have collections 
of this kind in plenty, and it is true that in the British Museum, 
at Oxford, Cambridge, Liverpool, and Salisbury, there are indeed 
