December 8, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



able, until it can be sustained by observed 

 facts. 



This idea is probably related to the author's 

 conception of the transmission of cultural 

 elements in the form of complexes. He says : 

 " A migration of single cultural elements, also 

 of tales, over veide distances, without the 

 spread of other cultural possessions at the 

 same time, may be designated without hesita- 

 tion as a ' Kulturgeschichtliches ISTonsens ' " 

 (p. 116). I should like to see the proof of this 

 daring proposition. It is, of course, not the 

 question whether one cultural group owes 

 much or little to another one, but whether 

 cultural elements are necessarily transmitted 

 in groups. To take only a few examples. Is 

 not the gradual introduction of cultivated 

 plants and domesticated animals a case in 

 kind? Does not the irregular distribution of 

 tales show that they are carried from tribe 

 to tribe without relation to other transmis- 

 sions? It seems to me that the more the 

 problem of cultural contact is studied, the 

 more amazing becomes the independence of 

 far-reaching influences in one respect, from 

 the spread of other cultural possessions. The 

 example of language used by Mr. Graebner 

 (p. Ill) presents facts entirely different from 

 those which he imagines. Thus we find pho- 

 netic influences without corresponding lexical 

 or morphological influences and vice versa. 

 The serious defect of the " Method " is here 

 clearly seen. Instead of operating with the 

 purely mechanical concepts of transmission 

 and conservatism relating to the most ancient 

 types of culture, we must investigate the in- 

 numerable eases of transmission that happen 

 under our very eyes and try to understand 

 how transmission is brought about and what 

 are the conditions that favor the grouping of 

 certain new elements of an older culture. 



I think I have shown that not only the 

 psychological and evolutionary standpoint con- 

 tain hypothetical elements that must be sub- 

 ject to a rigid criticism, but that the restric- 

 tion of all ethnic happenings to mechanical 

 transmission or preservation contains many 

 hypotheses the validity of which is open to 

 most serious doubt. Mr. Graebner has failed 



in his attempt, because he does not apply the 

 same rigorous standard to his own favorite 

 views, that he applies so successfully to a dis- 

 cussion of the evolutionary theory (pp. 77 et 

 seq.). Here he is at his best, and his criticism 

 of the many hypothetical assumptions con- 

 tained in all theories of the evolution of cul- 

 ture are well taken and should be read and 

 minded by all students of ethnology. In a 

 few cases, particularly in the discussion of 

 correlated ethnic phenomena, he does not seem 

 to do quite justice to the force of the argu- 

 ment, because he prefers a spacial interpreta- 

 tion of these correlations to a sequential one; 

 but both are certainly equally possible and 

 probable. 



It is, however, curious to note that, notwith- 

 standing his uncompromising negative posi- 

 tion, the author tacitly re-introduces some of 

 the most fundamental concepts of cultural 

 evolution. Thus he speaks on p. 63 of the 

 " well-known tendency of degeneration and 

 disintegration, according to which myths be- 

 come legends and fairy-tales, significant insti- 

 tutions formal traits " ; and again on p. 152 : 

 " Undoubtedly sound points of view are, that 

 the beginnings of every phenomenon must be 

 simple and in a way naturally grow, and that 

 the development must be intelligible by the 

 most simple psychological process." My criti- 

 cism of these assumptions would be much more 

 far reaching than that of Mr. Graebner. 



Thus it seems to me that the methods of 

 Mr. Graebner are subject to the same stric- 

 tures as those of the other schools, and 

 the " Ferninterpretation," " Kulturkreise " and 

 " Kulturschichten " must be considered as no 

 less hypothetical than the " Stufenbau " of 

 Breysig or the sequences of Lamprecht. 



In the development of science it is, however, 

 useful to carry through a hypothesis to its 

 limits and to investigate the ultimate conclu- 

 sions to which it will lead. From this point 

 of view pages 104^151, in which the principle 

 of conservatism and transmission are strained 

 to the utmost with an absolute disregard of aU 

 other possibilities, will be helpful for a gradual 

 clearing of our views. Perhaps even more 

 helpful is the actual application that Mr. 



