576 eeport— 1878. 



for example, has come into existence in a certain fashion in time, the same evidence 

 and the same canons of logic justify us to precisely the same extent in drawing the 

 same kind of conclusions with regard to man. And it is the business of the anthro- 

 pologist to be as severe in his criticism of those matters in respect to the origin of 

 man as it is the business of the palaeontologist to be strict in regard to the origin of 

 the horse ; but for the scientific man there is neither more nor less reason for dealing 

 critically with the one case than with the other. Whatever evidence is satisfactory 

 in one case is satisfactoiy in the other ; and if any one should travel outside the lines 

 of scientific evidence, and endeavour either to support or oppose conclusions which 

 are based upon distinctly scientific grounds, by considerations which are not in 

 any way based upon scientific logic or scientific truth — whether that mode of ad- 

 vocacy was in favour of a given position, or whether it was against it, I, occupying 

 the chair of the Section, should, most undoubtedly, feel myself called upon to call 

 him to order, and to tell him that he was introducing topics with which we had no 

 concern whatever. 



I have occupied your attention for a considerable time ; yet there is still one 

 other point respecting which I should like to say a few words, because some very 

 striking reflections arise out of it. The British Association met in Dublin twenty- 

 one years ago, and I have taken the pains to look up what was done in regard to 

 oiu' subject at that period. At that time there was no Anthropological Department. 

 That study had not yet differentiated itself from zoology, or anatomy, or physiology, 

 so as to claim for itself a distinct place. Moreover, without reverting needlessly 

 to the remarks which I placed before you some time ago, it was a very volcanic 

 subject, and people rather liked to leave it alone. It was not imtil a long time 

 subsequently that the present organisation of this section of the Association was 

 brought about ; but it is a curious fact, that although truly anthropological subjects 

 were at the time brought before the Geographical Section — with the proper subject 

 of -which they had nothiug whatever to do — I find, that even then, more than half 

 of the papers that were brought before that section were, more or less distinctly, of 

 an anthropological cast. It is very curious to observe what that cast was. We 

 had systems of language — we had descriptions of savage races — we had the great 

 question, as it then was thought, of the unity or multiplicity of the human species. 

 These were just touched upon, but there was not an allusion in the whole of the 

 proceedings of the Association, at that time, to those questions which are now to be 

 regarded as the burning questions of anthropology. The whole tendency in the 

 present direction was given by the publication of a single book, and that not a very 

 large one — namely, ' The Origin of Species.' It was only subsequent to the pub- 

 lication of the ideas contained in that book that one of the most powerful instru- 

 ments for the advance of anthropological knowledge — namely, the Anthropological 

 Society of Paris — was founded. Afterwards the Anthropological Institute of this 

 country and the great Anthropological Society of Berlin came into existence, until 

 it may be said that, at the present time, there is not a branch of science which is 

 represented by a larger or more active body of workers than the science of anthro- 

 pology. But the whole of these workers are engaged, more or less intentionally, 

 in providing the data for attacking the ultimate great problem, whether the ideas 

 which Darwin has put forward in regard to the animal world are capable of being 

 applied in the same sense and to the same extent to man. 



That question, I need not say, is not answered. It is a vast and difficult 

 question, and one for which a complete answer may possibly be looked for in the 

 next century ; but the method of inquiry is understood; and the mode in which 

 the materials bearing on that inquiry are now being accumulated, the processes by 

 which results are now obtained, and the observation of new phenomena lead to 

 the belief that the problem also, some day or other, will be solved. In what sense 

 I cannot tell you. 1 have my own notion about it, but the question for the future 

 is the attainment, by scientific processes and methods, of the solution of that 

 question. If you ask me what has been done within the last twenty-one years 

 towards this object, or rather towards clearing the ground in the direction of 

 obtaining a solution, I don't know that I could lay my hand upon much of a very 

 • definite character — except as to methods of investigation — save in regard to on e 

 point. I have some reason to know that about the year 18G0, at any rate, ther e 



