464 Notices of Memoirs — Sir John Evans' Presidential Address. 



Eeturning to the realms of fact, one fact on which he desired to 

 insist was that of the existence at the present day, in close juxta- 

 position with our own civilization, of races of men who, at all events 

 but a few generations ago, lived under much the same conditions as 

 did our own Neolithic predecessors in Europe. 



The manners and customs of these primitive tribes and peoples 

 were changing day by day, their languages were becoming obsolete, 

 their myths and traditions were dying out, their ancient processes of 

 manufacture were falling into oblivion, and their numbers were 

 rapidly diminishing, so that it seemed inevitable that ei'e long many 

 of these interesting populations would become absolutely extinct. 

 The admirable Bureau of Ethnology instituted in the United States 

 of America had done much towards preserving a knowledge of the 

 various native races on that vast Continent ; and in Canada the 

 annual Archaeological Eeports presented to the Minister of Education 

 were rendering good service in the same cause. 



Moreover, the Committee of the British Association appointed to 

 investigate the physical characters, languages, and industrial and 

 social conditions of the North- Western tribes of the Dominion of 

 Canada was about to present its twelfth and final report, which, 

 in conjunction with those already presented, would do much towards 

 preserving a knowledge of the habits and languages of those tribes. 



It was, however, lamentable to notice how little was being or had 

 been oflScially done towards preserving a full record of the habit?, 

 beliefs, arts, myths, languages, and physical characteristics of the 

 countless other tribes and nations, more or less uncivilized, which were 

 comprised within the limits of the British Empire. At the meeting 

 of this Association held last year in Liverpool it was resolved by the 

 General Committee to press upon the Government the necessity of 

 establishing a Bureau of Ethnology for Greater Britain. Wherever 

 such a bureau was to be established, in connection with the 

 British Museum or the Imperial Institute .... the question of 

 its existence must of necessity rest with Her Majesty's Government 

 and Treasury, inasmuch as without funds, however moderate, the 

 undertaking could not be carried on. He trusted that, in considering 

 the question, it would always be borne in mind that in the relations 

 between civilized and uncivilized nations and races it was of the 

 first importance that the prejudices, and especially the religious or 

 semi-religious and caste prejudices, of the latter should be thoroughly 

 well known to the former. If but a single " little war " could be 

 avoided in consequence of the knowledge acquired and stored up by 

 the Bureau of Ethnology preventing such a misunderstanding as 

 might culminate in warfare, the cost of such an institution would 

 quickly be saved. 



It might be thought that he should have taken that opportunity 

 to discuss some more general subject, such as the advances made in 

 the various departments of science since last the Association met in 

 Canada. These topics would, however, be discussed by more competent 



