358 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. a2. 



to keep the work within its assigned limits, 

 but it is none the less a disappointment. 



One of the most vakiable features of the 

 book — to the scientific ornithologist, at least 

 ■ — is the bringing together of previous records 

 pertaining to the rarer birds. In almost all 

 eases these have been exliaustively collated, 

 a work chiefly, if not wholly, performed b3' 

 Mr. Purdie, whose well-known fitness for the 

 task is a practical guarantj' of its thorough 

 'accomplishment. 



The weakest spot in the structure is that 

 of the editor's rulings on questions affecting 

 the comparative abundance and seasonal dis- 

 tribution of the less-known birds. In manj' 

 — far too man}- — cases, his conclusions are 

 more or less unwarranted or premature ; in 

 not a few, they are positively and demonstrably 

 erroneous. This was to be expected, how- 

 ever, in view of the fact that neither editor 

 nor author is known to have had an exten- 

 sive experience in New-England fields or 

 woodlands ; and, considering such limitations, 

 it is ehieflj- remarkable that the}' have done 

 so well. 



But, despite its shortcomings, ' New-England 

 bird-life,' as a whole, maj' be honestlj* charac- 

 terized as a work of real merit and unques- 

 tioned utilit}-. Its faults are seldom vital, its 

 excellences many and obvious. . Although a 

 manual, rather than a comprehensive general 

 treatise, it cannot fail to take a high and 

 permanent place among the literature of North- 

 American ornithology. To the student of New- 

 England birds, it is sure to prove a valuable 

 hand-book, adequate for the determination of 

 most problems which the limited field is likelj' 

 to furnish. There is still room, of course, for 

 the more extensive structures which some 



future builders will doubtless rear on this sub- 

 stantial corner-stone. 



Before concluding, we find it necessary to 

 revert to a rather delicate subject, — that of 

 the ostensible authorship of the book. In the 

 preface to part i., the editor touches on this, as 

 follows : — 



" Mr. Stearns undertook this work several years 

 ago, at the writer's suggestion, that sucli a treatise 

 was much to be desired, and could not fail to subserve 

 a useful purpose. Having been diligently revised 

 from time to time, in the light of our steadily increas- 

 ing knowledge, Mr. Stearns's manuscripts have been 

 submitted to tlie editor's final corrections. In revis- 

 ing, and to some extent rewriting, them for publica- 

 tion, the editor has been influenced by the aulhou's 

 request that he would alter and amend at his own 

 discretion." 



Perhaps we are bound to accept this ex- 

 planation literally ; but the reader familiar with 

 Dr. Coues's characteristic style and methods 

 will find few traces of Mr. Stearns's alleged 

 participation. Clearl}' the ' revising ' was 

 verj' thoroughly done. We might go even 

 farther, and venture the surmise that Dr. 

 Coues not only edited, but wrote, the entire 

 book. But is this a matter with which we 

 have anj- business to meddle? Probabl_y not 

 so far as Dr. Coues's interests are at stake. 

 If he chooses to do all the work, and take 

 less than half the credit, it is his own affair. 

 Nevertheless, it certainly is our right to chal- 

 lenge a reputation unfairly won, and until fur- 

 ther proofs are forthcoming we shall refuse to 

 believe that Mr. Stearns's agencj- in ' New- 

 England bird-life ' has been much more than 

 nominal. Perhaps the inside histor}- of the 

 book will never be made public, but intelli- 

 gent ornithologists are hkely to see through a 

 millstone with a hole in the middle. 



AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 

 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION H.— ANTHEOPOLOGY. 



ADDRESS OF OTIS T.MASON OF WASH- 

 INGTON, DC, VICE-PRESIDENT OF 

 THE SECTION, AUG. 15, 1883. 



THE SCOPE AND VALUE OP ANTHROPO- 

 LOGICAL STUDIES. 



EvEPvT thing that comes before the human mind 

 has to pass through a process of weighing and meas- 

 lu-ing, and receives a valuation according to the 

 thinker's standards of merit. In this critical spirit 

 let us pass in review those studies called anthropolc- 



gical, In order to form some estimate of their value 

 according to the measures commonly applied to vari- 

 ous departments of learning. 



Anthropology Is the application of the Instrumen- 

 talities and methods of natural history to the induc- 

 tive study of man. The anthropologist, in this sense, 

 is not a dilettante philosopher, wlio inquires into old 

 things because they are old, or into curious things 

 while they are curious, omitting all the great move- 

 ments and needs of society, and overloading the 

 baggage-train of progress with trumpery picked up 

 along the march. The practical sjiirit of our age de- 

 mands that we ask what truth, or good, or beauty 



