September 26, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



493 



of culture in all its phases, he would pass 

 from center to circumference, noting what 

 each people had done in that branch {A, B, 

 C, D). In doing this he would ascend the 

 culture-ladder from the lowest to the high- 

 est round, traversing the full range of 

 human accomplishment in the various 

 activities. At the same time, if the exhibits 

 were numerous and properly arranged, he 

 could form a fair idea of what the race as 

 a whole had accomplished, following the 

 development of culture from beginning to 

 end. 



This seems at first glance a most com- 

 plete and comprehensive scheme, for, fully 

 worked out, it would present the peoples of 

 the world, their activities and history, in a 

 single view. But on closer inspection it 

 is found to have numerous shortcomings, 

 apparently unfitting it for general museum 

 use. (1) In applying it, the important 

 factor of the relations of peoples to one 

 another in the world and to their environ- 

 ment must be disregarded; (2) the ques- 

 tion of the order of the ethnic units^ould 

 be difficult to settle, since many peoples are 

 of one grade or nearly the same grade; 

 while some occupy various grades in part; 

 a tribe or nation may be advanced in one 

 direction or activity calling for an outer 

 place on that account, and backward in 

 another, calling for an inner place; (3) 

 such a grouping would be unsatisfactory 

 save where collections are comprehensive 

 and full; besides, (4) a building of un- 

 usual design and dimensions would be re- 

 quired ; (5) a most serious objection is that 

 this concentric arrangement of a compre- 

 hensive exhibit, consisting of thousands of 

 units, would be highly perplexing to any 

 but the trained museumi student and wholly 

 beyond the grasp of the ordinary visitor. 

 Ninety out of every hundred persons would 

 utterly fail to comprehend the arrange- 

 ment. On the other hand, the straight-away 

 succession of geo-ethnic units seriated ac- 



cording to geographic position (Fig. 1), 

 though necessarily falling short in some 

 minor respects, presents the great advan- 

 tage of simplicity and directness. Units 

 of all sizes are accommodated with equal 

 facility— if a group be small a limited space 

 can be assigned ; if a group be large, a larger 

 space or even an entire hall may be devoted 

 to it. Comparative studies in the various 

 culture-branches are carried on with rea- 

 sonable ease, since a particular subject or 

 class of exhibits has, as far as may be, the 

 same relative place in each of the groups. 

 Each culture feature may be studied to 

 best advantage in actual contact with the 

 other features of its own group, that is to 

 say, the pottery of a particular group can 

 better be studied in its own setting of re- 

 lated arts— basketry, sculpture, wood carv- 

 ing, etc.— than it can if separated from 

 them. 



The geo-ethnic assemblage of exhibits is 

 generally applicable and affords many 

 advantages, giving at once to ordinary 

 visitors and to students a comprehensive 

 notion of the peoples of the world and 

 their culture in their true proportions and 

 relations. It should be the fundamental 

 arrangement in every general anthropolog- 

 ical museum. 



THE CULTURE-HISTORY ARRANGEMENT. 



But this is not all that the museiun can 

 do to illustrate the history of man. Per- 

 haps the greatest fact of humanity is its 

 evolution. By the geo-ethnic arrangement 

 just described we may amply present the 

 peoples of the world, ancient and modern, 

 and yet fail to convey any definite notion 

 of the development of culture— of the 

 progress of arts and industries, and the 

 gradual unfolding of the human mind. 

 These lessons of evolution may be conveyed 

 by assembling artifacts representing the 

 various activities, and seriating them ac- 

 cording to the stage of culture which they 



