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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 846 



achieved its greatest triumphs in classical 

 archeology and in the prehistoric archeol- 

 ogy of Europe. For centuries the political 

 and civil history of the Romans, Greeks 

 and Oriental nations have been taught in 

 the schools of the Old World. By the efforts 

 of thousands of learned and industrious 

 investigators, whatever knowledge could be 

 obtained from descriptions and reports of 

 historians, from the study of monuments 

 that have survived the destruction of the 

 old world, has been recorded and secured 

 for the benefit of scientists and of the gen- 

 eral public. We may say without exag- 

 geration that an exact knowledge of the 

 political and social life and of the char- 

 acteristics of the individual life of the 

 people of antiquity; a true concept of the 

 extent of the influences arising therefrom, 

 of the influences these civilizations re- 

 ceived from the neighboring countries, and 

 of the source from which they sprang, — was 

 not attained until ancient history applied 

 archeological methods, until by the use of 

 the spade were unearthed the homes, 

 graves, utensils, arms, ornaments, cos- 

 tumes, the remains of human bodies, and 

 the worm-eaten literature of that ancient 

 people. 



Thus it was proved that field work was 

 most necessary for the progress of arche- 

 ology; underground lie the documents, 

 truthful witnesses of the ancient civiliza- 

 tions about which we read; underground 

 lie also the remains that are witnesses of 

 civilizations, and the forms of primitive 

 development of which no historian has 

 written a single word. It is only neces- 

 sary to bring them to light. However, for 

 this kind of work, the energies of a single 

 man are insufficient, no matter how skill- 

 ful, diligent or learned he may be. Nor 

 are the means sufficient which a scientist 

 standing alone has at his disposal. 



For these reasons in different countries 



of the European continent, the govern- 

 ments have taken upon themselves to es- 

 tablish and support institutions, to appoint 

 directors and assistants who are charged 

 with the task of exploring the centers of 

 ancient civilizations, in the classic soil of 

 Italy, Greece, Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria 

 and other parts of the world. Associations 

 of private citizens interested in this subject 

 compete with the governments. In this 

 way were organized the French, German, 

 English and Austrian schools and those of 

 the United States of America and other 

 nations; in Eome, Athens, Smyrna, Cairo, 

 Crete, Babylon, etc. 



In establishing the institutions, the gov- 

 ernments, scientists and scientific societies 

 had a double purpose. The first and fore- 

 most was of course to learn as accurately 

 and as completely as possible the character- 

 istics of that great civilization whose heirs 

 are we who live in Europe now, and which 

 has spread to this continent and to other 

 parts of the world. To accomplish this 

 purpose it was important to preserve the 

 relics that were found, to collect small ob- 

 jects and to note the places where they 

 were discovered and the manner in which 

 they had been deposited, and to keep them 

 in museums. 



The other object which the governments 

 and scientific associations wished to attain 

 was more particularly of an educational 

 character. This purpose was partly ac- 

 complished by the museums, which were 

 enriched by the finds made by archeological 

 research. The peculiar traits as well as 

 the artistic character of the remains that 

 had been collected were admirably adapted 

 to impress the imagination and to teach the 

 young. There are, however, a great many 

 things which can not be kept in museums, 

 and there are many others which can only 

 be seen and studied in the museums of the 

 countries in which they have been found. 



