FEBK0ABT 27, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



201 



religion, mysticism, and metaphysics; 3.5 per 

 cent. o£ the titles were mixed and indefinite; 

 4 per cent, dealt with animal psychology; 36 

 per cent, with human psychology; and 6.5 per 

 cent, with what approached physical and gen- 

 eral anthi'opology. 



I foimd further that the publications in- 

 cluded in your index, and hence those in 

 which you are interested, range from anatomy 

 and histology of the nervous system to mathe- 

 matics on the one hand and metaphysics on 

 the other, covering practically the whole vast 

 range of phenomena relating to the nervous 

 system and mental activities of man and 

 animals. This shows indefiniteness, incom- 

 plete crystallization. 



As psychology advances, its field will doubt- 

 less become better differentiated, and possibly 

 separated into a number of special sub- 

 branches. When this happens the relations 

 of the various subdivisions of psychology and 

 those of anthropology will be more evident 

 and easier of precision. It will then be found 

 that your anatomical and physiological sec- 

 tion will have many points of contact with 

 physical anthropology, while your sections on 

 behavior, beliefs, habits, dreams, etc., will con- 

 nect in many respects with the anthropolog- 

 ical studies which are to-day grouped under 

 the terms of ethnology and ethnography. 



However, even such clarified relations would 

 be of no great importance, were it not for the 

 fact that psychology must as time passes on 

 enlarge the scope of its activities, until no 

 small part of these shall really become an- 

 thropological. 



And here I must define anthi-opolog-y. Its 

 old definition as the " science of man " is not 

 sufficient, being too comprehensive and too 

 indefinite. But if you will examine the 

 activities in any branch of anthropology, you 

 will find that although they deal with a vast 

 array of subjects they are all characterized by 

 certain something distinctive, and this is the 

 comparative element. Anthropology is essen- 

 tially a science of comparisons. It is com- 

 parative human anatomy, physiology, psychol- 

 ogy, sociology, linguistics, etc. And being 

 comparative it does not deal with individuals 



or mere abstract averages, but with groups of 

 mankind, whether these are social, occupa- 

 tional, environmental, racial, or pathological. 

 In brief, it is the science of hiunan variation, 

 both in man himself and in his activities. 



Let us now return to psychology. In the 

 course of its development, psychology will 

 unquestionably find its choicest field in group 

 studies. It has already begun in this direc- 

 tion. It compares classes with classes, as 

 during the late war; it will enter in the not 

 far distant future into race psychology; and 

 it will compare other definite human groups 

 with groups, study their variations and the 

 causes of these, study evolution, involution, 

 and degenerations of the nervous organs of 

 mankind as a whole — and all this will be or 

 be very near to anthropology. 



A word in conclusion. Anthropology and 

 psychology as they are to-day, are fairly inde- 

 pendent branches of scientific activities, with 

 no closer actual bonds and interdependence 

 than those that exist, for instance, between 

 either of them and sociology, or history. But 

 in their further development and particularly 

 that of psychology, the two branches will ap- 

 proach closer together until an important part 

 of their activities will be in the same orbit. 



A. Hrdlicka 



THE FUNCTIONS AND IDEALS OF A 

 NATIONAL GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. II 



Kinds of Work to he Undertaken hy a 

 National Geological Survey. — There has been 

 considerable difference of opinion as to the 

 kinds of work that should be undertaken by a 

 national geological survey. Shall its field be 

 confined to what may be included under 

 geology or shall it embrace other activities, 

 such as topographic mapping, hydrography 

 and hydraulic engineering, mining engineer- 

 ing, the classification of public lands, the col- 

 lection and publication of statistics of mineral 

 production and the mechanical arts of publi- 

 cation such as printing and engraving. These 

 various lines of activity may be divided into 

 two main classes — those that are more or less 

 contributory to or subordinate to the publi- 



