444 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 403. 



theory of evolution ; the one that of the an- 

 tiquity of man, the other that of the inter- 

 pretation of anatomical characteristics of 

 the lower races. The evidence in regard to 

 the anatomical form of early man is very 

 scanty, and for many years the discussion 

 centered in the interpretation of the Nean- 

 derthal skull, which possesses a number of 

 peculiar characteristics, particularly an ex- 

 ceedingly low head and very large super- 

 ciliary ridges. Virchow demonstrated that 

 the skull had undergone many pathological 

 changes, and he took the position that it was 

 unsafe to base on this single specimen a 

 new race which might be considered a pre- 

 cursor of man. He preferred to consider 

 the skull as an individual variation until 

 other similar finds would give corroborative 

 evidence. Virchow was equally cautious 

 in the interpretation of theromorphic vari- 

 ations in the forms of the human body. He 

 maintained that such forms are not neces- 

 sarily cases of atavism, but that they may 

 be due to peculiar physiological processes ; 

 and that without special investigation of 

 their origin they cannot be considered as 

 proof of a low organization of the races 

 among which they are found with particular 

 frequency. There is no proof that such 

 forms are connected with a low stage of 

 culture of the people among whom they 

 are found. They occur, for instance, 

 among the Malays and among the ancient 

 Peruvians, both of which races have at- 

 tained high stages of culture. 



We cannot, in the scope of these notes, 

 enter u.poij Virchow 's numerous investiga- 

 tions bearing upon the anatomy of the races 

 of man. Many of them contain discussions 

 of general principles. His researches on the 

 physical anthropology of the Germans and 

 his description of American crania may be 

 mentioned as specially important. 



His investigation of the anatomical char- 

 acteristics of the Germans led him naturally 

 to studies in prehistoric archeology to which 



he devoted much of his time and energies. 

 For a long time forms of the body were 

 considered a characteristic of nationalities. 

 Forms of skulls were described as Teutonic 

 and Slavic ; there were Turanian and many 

 other kinds of skulls. Nobody has done 

 more than Virchow to show that this view 

 is untenable. The question of the history 

 of the Slavic settlement of eastern Germany 

 has received much attention on the part 

 of German areheologists and is still far 

 from being entirely cleared up. "While 

 methods of burial, prehistoric objects, 

 names of places, plans of villages and hous- 

 es are good indications for ancient Slavic 

 settlements, the anatomical forms of the 

 present population and of ancient skele- 

 tons do not allow us to draw any inference 

 regarding the nationality of the ancient in- 

 habitants, because neither Germans nor 

 Slavs present a uniform and characteristic 

 anatomical type. Virchow has always 

 maintained that the limits of human types 

 do not coincide with the dividing lines of 

 cultures and languages. People who be- 

 long to the same type may speak different 

 languages and possess different forms of 

 culture; and on the other hand — as is the 

 case in Germany— different types of man 

 may be combined to form one nation. 



These phenomena are intimately con- 

 nected with the intricate migrations of the 

 races of Europe; with the invasions of 

 southern Europe by Teutonic peoples and 

 the development of north European culture 

 under the influence of the cultures of the 

 eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. 

 The gradual introduction of metals and the 

 disappearance of the culture of the stone 

 age is one of the phenomena that are of 

 great assistance in clearing up the relations 

 between the ancient inhabitants of Europe. 

 The change of culture indicated by the in- 

 troduction of bronze indicates that tlie new ' 

 culture arose in the far East. This is the 

 reason which induced Virchow to under- 



