September 29, 1910J 



NATURE 



415 



influence of dreams and the theory of the external soul, the 

 latter being occasionally found connected with totemism ; 

 and he points out that one function of a totem clan was to 

 |)rovide by methods of mimetic or sympathetic magic a 

 supply of the totem plant or animal on which the existence 

 of the community depends, this I unction being not meta- 

 physical or based on philanthropic impulse, but on a cool 

 but erroneous calculation of economic interest. He has also 

 cleared ihe ground by dissociating totemism from exogamy, 

 Ine latter, as an institution of social life, being, he believes, 

 later in order of time than totemism, and having in some 

 cases accidentally modified the totemic system, while in 

 o.hers it has left that system entirely unaffected. The law 

 of e.\ogamy is, in his opinion, based mainly on a desire to 

 prevent the union of near relations, and on the resulting 

 belief in the sterilising effects of incest upon women in 

 general and edible animals and plants. In dealing with 

 totemism as a factor in the evolution of religion he gives 

 us a much-needed warning that it does not necessarily 

 develop, first into the worship of sacred animals and plants, 

 and afterwards into the cult of anthropomorphic deities with 

 sacred plants and animals for their attributes. In the stage 

 of pure totemism totems are in no sense deities, that is to 

 say, they are not propitiated by prayer and sacrifice; and it 

 is only in Polynesia and Melanesia that there are any 

 indications of a stage of religion evolved from totemism, a 

 conclusion which demolishes much ingenious speculation. 

 It is hardly to be expected that in a field covered by the 

 wrecks of many controversies these views will meet with 

 universal acceptance. But the candour with which he 

 discards many of his own theories, and the infinite labour 

 and learning devoted to the preparation of his elaborate 

 digest, deserve our hearty recognition. 



In his treatise on " Primitive Paternity," Mr. E. S. 

 Hartland deals with the problems connected with the rela- 

 tions of the sexes in archaic society. Mother-right he finds 

 to be due not so much to the difficulty of identifying the 

 father as to ignorance of physiological facts ; and he 

 supposes that the transition from mother-right to father- 

 right originated not from a recognition of the phvsical con- 

 ditions of paternity, but from considerations connected with 

 the devolution of property ; as Prof. Frazer states the case, 

 it arises from a general increase in material prosperity 

 leading to the growth of private wealth. 



We also record the steady progress of the great " Encyclo- 

 p:tdia of Religion and Ethics," under the editorship of Di. 

 J. Hastings, which promises to provide an admirable digest 

 of the results of recent advances in the fields of comparative 

 religion and ethnology. 



It is now admitted by all students of classical literature 

 that th« material collected from the lower races is an indis- 

 pensable aid to the interpretation of the myths, beliefs, and 

 culture of the Greeks and Romans. Most of our univer- 

 sities provide instruction of this kind ; and Oxford has 

 opened its doors to a special course of lectures dealing with | 

 the relation of anthropology to the classics. One of its 

 most learned mythologists, Ur. L. R. Farnell, when about 

 half-way through his treatise on the cults of the Greek 

 states, admitted the increasing value of the science in 

 elucidating the problems on which he was engaged. Even 

 with this well-advised change of method he has left the 

 field of peasant religion, nature-worship, and magic, which 

 must form the starting-points for the next examination of 

 Greek beliefs, practically un worked. The formation of a 

 Roman Society, working in cooperation with and following 

 the methods which have been adopted by the Society for 

 the Promotion of Hellenic .Studies, is a fresh indication cf 

 the increasing importance of the work upon which we are 

 engaged. 



In the field of archaeology Dr. \. J. Evans has 

 commenced the publication of the Minoan records, which 

 open up a new chapter in the early history of ihe 

 Mediterranean. It is now certain that the origin of our 

 alphabet is not to be found, as De Roug6 supposed, in the 

 hieratic script of Egypt, but in the Cretan hieroglyphs ; and 

 that the influence of the Phoeniciajis in its development was 

 less important than has been generally supposed. Before 

 the full harvest of these excavations can be reaped we may 

 have to await the discovery of some bilingual document, 

 like the Rosetta Stone, which will solve the mvsteries of 

 the Minoan svllabarv. 



NO. 2135, VOL. 84] 



.As regards physical anthropology, the validity of the use 

 of the cephalic inde.x, particularly in discriminating the 

 elements of mixed populations, has been questioned, 'ihe 

 recent Hunterian lectures delivered by Prof. A. Keith, as 

 yet published only in the form of a summary, are designed 

 to place these investigations on a more scientific basis. In 

 particular increased attention is being given to the influ- 

 ence of environment in modifying a structure generallv so 

 stable as the human skull. Thus it has been ascertained 

 that the immigrant into our towns, by some process of 

 selection or otherwise, develops a longer and narrower head 

 than the countryman. The recent American Commission, 

 under the presidency of Prof. Boas, reports that " racial 

 and physical characteristics do not survive under the new 

 climate and social environment. . . . Children born even a 

 few years after the arrival of their parents show essential 

 differences as compared with their European parentage. . . . 

 Every part of the body is infiuenced, even the shape of the 

 skull, which has always been considered to be the most 

 permanent hereditary characteristic." Similar results 

 appear from a comparison of the American negro with his 

 .\frican ancestor. 



I may here refer briefly to the work on folk-lore. 

 Though in recent years it has not maintained the import- 

 ance which it at one time secured in the proceedings of 

 this section, we still regard it as an essential branch of the 

 study of man. The Folk-lore Society, after thirty-two 

 years' useful work, finds that much still remains to be done 

 in these islands to secure a complete record of popular 

 beliefs and traditions, many of which are rapidly disap- 

 pearing. It has therefore formulated a scheme for more 

 systematic investigation in those districts which have 

 hitherto been neglected. \. committee including representa- 

 tives of the two allied sciences is also engaged on the 

 necessary task of revising and defining the terminology of 

 anthropology and folk-lore. 



The materials collected by field woikers in various regions 

 of the world, and popular accounts of savage religion, 

 customs, and folk-lore continue to arrive in such increasing 

 numbers that the need of a central bureau for the classifi- 

 cation of this mass of facts has become increasingly 

 apparent. It is true that we have suffered a set-back, it 

 is to be hoped only temporary, in the rejection of an appeal 

 made to the Prime Minister for a grant-in-aid of the Royal 

 Anthropological Institute. But if we persist in urging our 

 claims to official support the establishment of an Imperial 

 Bureau of Ethnology cannot be long deferred. 



One result of this accession of fresh knowledge, largely 

 due to improved methods of research, is to modify some 

 of our conceptions of savage psychology. We now under- 

 stand that side by side with physical uniformity there may 

 be wide differences arising from varieties of race and 

 environment. It is becoming generally recognised that we 

 can no longer evade the difficulty of interpreting beliefs and 

 usages by referring them to that elusive personality, primi- 

 tive man. Between the embryonic stage of humanity and 

 the present lie vast periods of time ; and no methods cf 

 investigation open to us at present offer the hope of suc- 

 cessfully bridging this gap in the historical record. To use 

 the words of Prof. Frazer : " It is only in a relative sense, 

 by comparison with civilised men, that we may legitimately 

 describe any living race of savages as primitive." Hence 

 the hypothesis of the unilinear evolution of culture whicjj 

 satisfied an earlier school will no longer bear examination. 



Further, not to speak of the artistic endowments cf 

 palaeolithic man, we find to our surprise that a race like 

 Ihe ."Australian Arunta, whose lowness in the scale of 

 humanity does not necessarily connote degradation, has 

 worked out with exceptional ability through its tribal 

 council their complex and cumbrous systems of group 

 marriage and totemism. They have developed a cosmogony 

 which postulates the self-existence of the universe ; they 

 have reached a belief in reincarnation and transmigration 

 of the soul. So far from their social system being rigid it 

 is readily modified to suit new conditions. They live in 

 peace with neighbouring tribes, and have established the 

 elements of international law. On the moral side, though 

 there is much that is cruel and abhorrent, they are not 

 wanting in kindliness, generosity, gratitude. The savage, 

 in short, is not such an unobservant simpleton as some 

 are inclined to suppose ; and any interpretation of his 



