34 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 706 



in structure, in function, and in all other 

 manifestations of mankind, according to 

 time, variety, place and condition. It is 

 the science of structural, functional and 

 cultural differences in mankind in its 

 epochs and its groups. That part of the 

 science which occupies itself with the body 

 and its functions, investigating their dif- 

 ferences, causes, modes of development 

 and tendencies, from man's beginning, and 

 among his present multiple groups— the 

 research, in brief, into man's organic and 

 functional variations— is physical anthro- 

 pology. 



The comparative element is the funda- 

 mental characteristic of anthropology and 

 that which distinguishes it from allied 

 branches of research. It shows clearly the 

 position of physical anthropology in rela- 

 tion to general human anatomy and physi- 

 ology, and towards general biology. The 

 main objects of general human anatomy 

 and physiology are the completion of 

 knowledge regarding structure, and its 

 inseparable functions, in the average 

 man of the present day; while the 

 chief aims of general biology are to 

 trace the structural and functional rela- 

 tions of the different species of living be- 

 ings to one another, and search for the 

 causes and processes of organic variation 

 and evolution. Physical anthropology is 

 a contiauation, an extension, of all these, 

 to the epochal, racial, other natural, social 

 and even pathological groupings of man- 

 kind, and reaches with its investigations 

 beyond man only so far as is necessary for 

 understanding the phenomena which it 

 encounters. If it had not its present 

 designation it could well be called "ad- 

 vanced human anatomy and biology." 



Physical anthropology is still a young 

 branch of science, though its roots lie far 

 back in the development of human reflec- 

 tion. It is interesting to know that the 

 discovery of America, with its new race of 



people, was one of the main incentives to 

 research in this line. This was followed 

 by discoveries of other lands and peoples 

 in the Pacific and by slowly increasing 

 knowledge of organized beings in general, 

 including the anthropoid apes. All this 

 aroused new thoughts in scientific men and 

 doubts as to the correctness of the old the- 

 ories of creation; and the fermentation in 

 minds, though greatly impeded by the 

 power of dogma, progressed until it finally 

 began to pierce the cloud and manifest 

 itself in publications. Peyrere's "Pre- 

 adamites" appeared in 1655, and, notwith- 

 standing prohibitions and the small real 

 worth of the book, was received with eager- 

 ness and read very extensively. In 1699 

 was published Tyson's "Comparative An- 

 atomy of Man and Monkey. ' ' And in 1735 

 we see the actual foundation stone of mod- 

 ern anthropology laid by Linnasus. It was 

 in Linnaeus 's ' ' Systema Naturte ' ' that man 

 for the first time was placed in, instead 

 of outside, the line of living beings in gen- 

 eral, and that his close organic relation 

 with the rest of the primates was authori- 

 tatively expressed. Then came Buffon, 

 with whom the new branch of the natural 

 science of man takes a more definite form, 

 and thence the progress towards anthro- 

 pology, as differentiated to-day, is continu- 

 ous. The men who contributed towards its 

 development are too numerous to mention; 

 they include all the prominent naturalists 

 and anatomists of the latter half of the 

 eighteenth and the first half of the nine- 

 teenth century, such as Camper, Lamarck, 

 Blumenbach, Soemmering, Lacepede, Cuv- 

 ier, Ketzius, the brothers Geoffroy, Mor- 

 ton, Lawrence, Edwards, Serres, Pritchard 

 and many others.^ Even the teachings of 



= For details concerning the history of anthro- 

 pology see T. Bendyshe, Mem. Anthrop. Soc. Lon- 

 don, Vol. I., 1863-t, pp. 335-458; P. Topinard'a 

 " Elements d'Anthropologie gfingrale," Paris, 

 1885, pp. 1-148; L. Niederle, Athenwum, Prague, 



