July 20, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



65 



parts, that the pnictical aspects ami difficulties 

 of the question have been studied with great 

 thoroughness and ability, and have naturally 

 absorbed the time and thoughts of tlie author, 

 and taken, therefore, the most prominent place. 

 What seem to ns the most valuable and fun- 

 damental of all the considerations are brought 

 in as secondary. Thus we find an intimation 

 only that the museum ''attempts to show 

 the evolution of civilization ; " we cannot be 

 wrong, it appears to us, in imagining that this 

 is to be the great aim of the National muse- 

 um ; and again, '• the collections should form 

 a museum of anthropology, the word 'anthro- 

 pology ' being applied in its most compre- 

 hensive sense. It should exhibit the physical 

 characteristics, the history, the manners (past 

 and jiresent) of all peoples (civilized and sav- 

 age), and should illustrate human culture and 

 industry in all its phases. The earth, its 

 physical structure and its products, is to be 

 exhibited with special reference to its adapta- 

 tion for use by man and its resources for his 

 future needs. The so-called natural history 

 collections — that is to say, the collections i>i 

 pure zoology, geology, and botany — should 

 be groiqjed in separate series, tvhich, though 

 arranged on another plan, shall illustrate and 

 supplement the collections in industrial and 

 economic natural history." AVe felt immedi- 

 atel}' the deepest interest in knowing how so 

 large a part of the National museum could be 

 arranged on another plan without confusing 

 the effect of the whole, but looked for ex- 

 planations in vain. 



The idea of making the National museum 

 a museum of anthropolog}- must, we think, 

 command unqualified respect ; and it seems to 

 us to contain so much of future promise, that 

 we feel all the more regret that the details of 

 the scheme had not received the healthy i)ur- 

 gation of general and expert criticism. The 

 classification is also highl}' original, and shows 

 the result of extensive study, and practical 

 knowledge of ways and methods. 



The general outlines of the scheme of clas- 

 sification, which is announced as provisional 

 and open to necessary] modification, are as 



follows : the exhibition of articles is to be 

 divided into eight large divisions, or ' sec- 

 tions,' including sixty-four smaller divisions ; 

 which last we shall, for convenience, designate 

 under the name of ' topics,' to distinguish 

 them from the sections into which the}- are 

 grouped by Mr. Goode, — "Section I., Man- 

 kind; II., The earth as man's abode; III., 

 Natural resources; IV'., The exploitative in- 

 dustries; v., The elaborative industries ; VI., 

 Ultimate products and their utilization ; VII., 

 Social relations of mankind : VIII., Intel- 

 lectual occupations of mankind." 



AVe recognize the enormous difMculties in the 

 way of the author of this scheme ; and, while 

 we congratulate him upon the successful han- 

 dling of the details, — which we have not the 

 space to quote in full, and therefore cannot do 

 him personally full justice, — we must dissent 

 stroiigl}' from the main ideas, which, we think, 

 show the want of a broad and masterly com- 

 prehension of the i")hilosophical ideas which 

 should govern the classification and purposes 

 of our National museum. The scheme itself, 

 in this respect, is a curious mixture of the old 

 notion, that, in order to understand man, we 

 must uecessaril}- start with the study of man- 

 kind, and of the modern idea of evolution. 

 The legitimate process of instruction from this 

 stand-point begins with the simplest forms of 

 life, and follows up their developmental and 

 evolutionary histor}- in organization and in 

 time, until we arrive at the most highl}" spe- 

 cialized forms. Man is the most highly 

 specialized of all animals, ph_vsicall3' and 

 psychologicalh", and therefore, it is claimed, 

 needs to be A'iewed in the light of all knowl- 

 edge, unobscured by the prejudices and mis- 

 conceptions which aie liable to arise from the 

 adoption of the opposite modes of study. 



Certainl}- the former mode is incompati- 

 ble with the thorough and direct method of 

 studying the principles of evolution, whether 

 these relate to one set of objects or another, 

 and is not accordant with the idea of the ' evo- 

 lution of civilization ' and the evident neces- 

 sity of expressing, in all the minor industrial 

 collections, '' the steps by which man has ar- 



