JULT 10, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



37 



whose preoccupations have not permitted 

 closer following of this branch of research, 

 what has physical anthropology accom- 

 plished, and what are its aims for the 

 future. Both of these are weighty ques- 

 tions and deserve to be answered. 



The amount of work actually done 

 must be considered, together with the 

 obstacles that have stood in the way of 

 fruitful investigation. The greatest of 

 these obstacles has been the imperfect state 

 of anatomical knowledge, which is the 

 starting point of physical anthropology. 

 It is obvious that structural comparison, 

 extending to various groups of humanity, 

 can properly be carried on only on the 

 basis of a thorough knowledge of structure 

 in some one type of man, preferably the 

 white race. Had anatomy been able to 

 furnish such a foundation to physical an- 

 thropology, the progress of the latter would 

 have been immeasurably easier and more 

 rapid. As it was, the new branch began 

 to differentiate itself while general human 

 anatomy was yet very imperfect, and in 

 consequence it was confronted with the 

 tedious taslk of establishing or improving 

 the basis for its future comparisons. Thiis 

 a large portion of the work of anthropolo- 

 gists became and still is purely anatomical. 

 It is safe to say that fifty years ago, when 

 the Paris society of anthropology was 

 founded, there was not one point in any 

 part of the human organism that was well 

 known and understood. Even at this day, 

 with all the excellent work accomplished, 

 there is not yet a single bone in the body, 

 and perhaps no other organ, the knowledge 

 of which together with that of its total 

 range of variation is perfect, and that 

 even in the white race alone, which has 

 been most studied. The splendid anatom- 

 ical text-books of the day give little more 

 than generalities. The specialized litera- 

 ture is much richer; but when one comes 

 to details, there are innumerable lacunse. 



Yet details are to-day the essentials of all 

 research, and they are indispensable in an- 

 thropological comparisons. It would al- 

 most seem from this that the birth of 

 physical anthropology had been premature ; 

 but if one stops to consider the deep in- 

 terest its problems have for humanity, it 

 is seen that its early rise, even on the but 

 partly prepared soil, was natural. 



The second great obstacle to the progress 

 of physical anthropology has been the de- 

 fects in collections of needed material. The 

 third was the dearth of properly trained 

 men, and in the fourth place should be 

 named the difficulties, based on various 

 prejudices or want of comprehension, at- 

 tending the collection of accurate anthro- 

 pological data in many parts of the un- 

 civilized and even the civilized world. 

 Still further impediments, attending this 

 more than other branches of natural sci- 

 ence, were those accompanying the elabora- 

 tion of the necessarily extensive series of 

 data and especially their publication. 



With regard to material, what collections 

 of value for physical anthropology were 

 there half a century ago ? Fair beginnings 

 had been made by that time in a niunber 

 of the European cities, and one particu- 

 larly interesting one on this continent — 

 that of Morton in Philadelphia ; but all this 

 was limited to crania and was useful in 

 awakening suggestions rather than leading 

 to definite conclusions. It required years 

 of assiduous collection and excavation be- 

 fore actual scientific work of any extent 

 could anywhere be attempted. Such col- 

 lection has been going on, and there are 

 now several great and many minor gather- 

 ings of identified material, including those 

 in the National and other American mu- 

 seums. Yet even now we are far from the 

 ideal in this direction, or from collections 

 which would include at least the bones of 

 the whole skeleton, and the brain, and en- 

 able us to determine the complete range 



