May 1, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



661 



in diameter and 8 inches in length. The 

 cylinders had conical depressions at each 

 end, these depressions nearly meeting at the 

 center. Similar ' rollers ' were observed in 

 Connecticut on February 20, 1883, on which 

 day some of them measured 12 x 18 inches, 

 and their paths could be traced for 20 or 30 

 feet in the snow. R. DeC. Ward. 



Haevaed "Univeesity. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 

 ELEMENTARY PSYCHICAL CONCEPTS. 



The eminent anthropologist, whom his 

 disciples love to call the 'Altmeister ' of the 

 science, Dr. Adolf Bastian, has added an- 

 other to his numerous works by one re- 

 cently published in Berlin (Weidmannsche 

 Buchhandlung) , entitled ' Ethnische Ele- 

 mentargedanken in der Lehre vom Men- 

 schen.' These elementary or rather elemen- 

 tal thoughts may be looked upon " as the 

 germinal matter out of which proceeded 

 the psychical growth of the ethnic organism 

 in its various methods of mental or spiritual 

 expression," as the author states in his 

 preface. 



The subjects treated are those opinions 

 which primitive peoples had and have on 

 the topics relating to the ultra- or super- 

 natural world, and its relations to man; 

 such as divinity, the under- world, guardian 

 spirits, mysteries, names, praj^er, sacrifice, 

 prophecy, heaven, hell, fate, evil, good, 

 the creation, miracles, femininity, vows, 

 witches, immortality, and a host of similar 

 notions, which the author treats with his 

 usual astonishing, overflowing and over- 

 whelming erudition, and with that com- 

 plexity of style which simply appals a 

 foreign reader. Anyone who wishes a ' hard 

 lesson ' in German should take up the 

 author's introduction to his second part. 



PATHOLOGY IN ETHNOLOGY. 



One of the most enlightened German 

 writers on ethnology. Dr. Thomas Achelis, 

 makes the following remark in an article in 



Globus, No. 4, 1896: "Every form of de- 

 generation, since it is a pathological pro- 

 cess, does not belong primarily to subjects 

 of ethnologic study." He would grant the 

 first place only to subjects which reveal 

 organic development, progressive evolution, 

 and lift to higher phases of culture. 



This seems a serious error. It is the 

 duty of the ethnologist, as of every other 

 scientist, to study things as they are, award- 

 ing to each an equal amount of attention . 

 What appear to be degenerations are often 

 necessary steps in life process. Important 

 advances in physiology have frequently 

 been gained by the study of pathology. 

 Science is untrue to itself when it under- 

 takes to make the defense of evolution its 

 chief aim. It should seek exact truth, in- 

 different as to whether that makes for good- 

 ness or for badness, as we judge those 

 norms. "What seems most against nature, 

 is yet natural," said Goethe ; and whatever 

 is natural, whatever is real, in other words, 

 should claim our consideration, independ- 

 ently of its imagined tendencies ; and no- 

 where is this more essential than in eth- 

 nology. 



THE ANTHROPOLOGIC STUDY OF PERSONALITY. 



The word persona originally meant the 

 mask which actors wore on the scenic stage ; 

 and a cynic would say that personality 

 often means the same to-day. Strictly, we 

 may use it as a synonym of individual self- 

 consciousness, or the knowledge of self as a 

 subject. In previous ages it was studied 

 exclusively by introverted mental observa- 

 tion, and this led to vague speculations on 

 the " Ego," of small positive worth. 



In the ' Revue Scientifique,' January 25th, 

 Prof. Pierre Janet, of the College de 

 France, lays down the principles for the an- 

 thropologic study of this phenomenon of 

 personaUty. In itself it is to be regarded 

 as the synthesis of the conscious and uncon- 

 scious mental experiences of the Individ- 



