376 Notes and Comments, 



light and size of room that would be most effective, and finally 

 the exterior which would fit this interior. It would be perfectly 

 possible to build a museum of concrete or brick that would be 

 better adapted to the collections than the usual marble structure, 

 and the saving in expense would be sufficient to ensure adequate 

 equipment for carrying on the work of the institution. This 

 is a point too often neglected. Many officials are looking 

 toward the future for a type of museum building all on one 

 floor, which shall be without stairs.' Other subjects discussed 

 are lights, offices, workshop, restaurants, decoration, floors, 

 furniture, cases, etc. 



MODERN MAN AND HIS FORERUNNERS.* 



Though the author gives a synopsis at the heading of each 

 chapter, and deals with the Problems of Anthropology, the 

 Zoological Position of Man, Extinct Species and Races of Man 

 and their Culture, the Growth of Human Power, Origins of 

 Civilization, Growth and Spread of Civilization, Man at the 

 Present Day ; it is a little difficult to follow his theme, or to 

 find what he has to say that is new. He deals with various 

 monkeys and their habits. He tells us ' Out of the ground- 

 living or human group of animals which diverged from the 

 arboreal apes, two species ultimately survived the rest. 

 These were two species of man, the Neanderthal and the 

 so-called ' modern ' species. Both had brains as large as the 

 average European of to-day and larger than some modern 

 savages. Both were " human " in their ways of living.' 



EXTINCT FORMS. 



' After long ages the more massive Neanderthal species 

 became extinct ; why, we do not know. Advancing along 

 parallel lines the " modern " species evolved several races. 

 Some of these have survived to the present day ; others, 

 inferior in no way that we can discover, have died out ; why, 

 we do not know. Even before the last ice age, when the 

 Neanderthal species was still living side by side with the 

 " modern " species, the products of human ingenuity witnessed 

 to intelligence, artistic taste and manual dexterity, in no way 

 inferior to those of modern races. Certain races developed a 

 high culture ; these races disappeared, leaving no descendants, 

 and their culture was lost, not handed on, only to be rediscovered 

 after the passage of roughly from fifty to a hundred thousand 

 years. Once more, why they vanished and their culture was 

 lost we do not know.' 



A CONCLUSION. 



The author's ' conclusion ' is somewhat inconclusive. He 

 says, ' Man is himself altering the surface of the Globe with 

 great rapidity. He seems bent on making a clean sweep of all 



* 'A Short Study of the Human Species, Living and Extinct,' by 

 H. G. F. Spurrell. London : G. Bell & Son. 192 pp. Price 7/6 net. 



Naturalist, 



