716 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 



course of lectures dealing with the relation of anthropology to the classics. One 

 of its most learned mycologists, Dr. L. R. Farnell, when about halfway 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 examina- 

 tion of Greek beliefs, practically unworked. The formation of a Roman Society, 

 working in co-operation with and following the methods which have been adopted 

 by the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, is a fresh indication 

 of the increasing importance of the work upon which we are engaged. 



In the field of archaeology Dr. A. J. Evans has commenced the publication 

 of the Minoan records, which open up a new chapter in the early history of the 

 Mediterranean. It is now certain that the origin of our alphabet is not to be 

 found, as De Rouge supposed, in the hieratic script of Egypt, but in the Cretan 

 hieroglyphs ; and that the influence of the Phoenicians 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 mysteries of the Minoan 

 syllabary. 



As regards physical anthropology, the validity of the use of the cephalic 

 index, particularly in discriminating the elements of mixed populations, has 

 been questioned. The recent Hunterian lectures delivered by Professor 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 influence of environment in modifying a structure generally 

 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 Professor 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 influenced, even the shape of the skull, which has always been considered 

 to be the most permanent hereditary characteristic.' Similar resulls appear from 

 a comparison of the American negro with his African ancestor. 



I may refer briefly to the work on folk-lore. Though in recent years it has 

 not maintained the importance 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 disappearing. It has therefore formu- 

 lated a scheme for more systematic investigation in those districts which have 

 hitherto been neglected. A committee including representatives 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 workers 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 

 classification 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 sup- 

 port 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 understand 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, primitive man. 

 Between the embryonic stage of humanity and the present lie vast periods of 

 time; and no methods of investigation open to us at present offer the hope of 



