150 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XXII. No. 554 



The process of expression, like that of thought, is 

 conditioned by the physical and psychical nature of man. 

 It is not necessary here to describe the different steps of 

 direct imitation by gesture and cry, of designation from 

 analogy, and finally of imitative and arbitrary graphic 

 representation, by which it is agreed that language was 

 brought to its present high state of efficiency as an in- 

 strument for the spoken and written expression of 

 thought. 



Those principles of expression that are common to all 

 languages, such as the principles of general grammar 

 and those of rhetoric, have their basis in the nature of the 

 intellectual processes. The j)rinciples of general gram- 

 mar are neoessarilj^ the complement of the principjles of 

 logic; as the principles of rhetoric are necessarily the 

 comj)lement of the principles of dialectic. The special 

 grammars of particular languages are more arbitrary in 

 their origins, and occupy a position intermediate between 

 general grammar and such purely conventional devices of 

 expression as spelling, punctuation and variation of letter- 

 forms. 



The nature of the outline as a process-instrument ante- 

 cedent to the full thought and its complete expression is 

 not sufficiently understood, even by those who avail them- 

 selves of its aid in composition. The utility of the out- 

 line is due to the fact that by it we are able to exjDress 

 and contemplate major thought-relations vnthout giving 

 attention to minor ones. 



The use of a certain number of visible symbols must 

 be helpful in the process of connected thought; for by 

 thus enlisting the service of the sense of sight, the mind 

 is enabled the more easily to occupy itself with the judg- 

 ments it has already formed, and accurately to determine 

 their mutual relations. On the other hand, for the same 

 reason, that is, because the mind through the sense of 

 sight is fixed upon them, a great number of words organ- 

 ized into propositions, become a hindrance to that subtle 

 activity of the mind by which, from a chaotic mass of un- 

 assimilated elements, organism of living thought is devel- 

 oped. 



In order, then, to the most effective thinking about 

 thought, as a process necessarily involved in that of com- 

 position, there is requisite a system of symbols which, 

 enabling the mind through the eye to take firm hold of 

 the growing thought, are yet not so numerous or compli- 

 cated as to hinder their own frequent readjustment, as the 

 subject takes form in the mind. These requirements the 

 ordinary form of the outline, with its brackets and catch- 

 words, effectively supplies. 



The cry that composition as it is taught in the schools 

 is a failure is heard on every side. "Why are our teachers 

 not more successful in this really fascinating subject ? Is 

 it not because they are ignorant of, or indifferent to, the 

 scientific basis of composition, as it has been set forth in 

 this article ? Certainly a great reform is called for in the 

 way of far less attention, relatively, given to the trick of 

 juggling with words, and more to the nature and hand- 

 ling of thought. Frightful as the names "logic" and 

 "dialectic" undoubtedly are to the common run of 

 teachers, the subjects they represent not only are harmless 

 in themselves, but lie at the very foundation of effective 

 communication. 



THE INTEENATIONAL CONGEESS OP ANTHEO- 

 POLOaY. 



The International Congress of Anthropology convened 

 at Chicago, Monday, August 28th, and held daily morning 

 and evening sessions during the entire week, closing Sat- 

 urday, September 2d. All the meetings were well at- 

 tended, and there was more than a full supply of excellent 



papers on various branches of anthropologic science, which 

 frequently elicited animated discussion. 



The session on Monday was ojDened by the address of 

 the President of the Congress, Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, 

 whose subject was " The Nation as an Element in Anthro- 

 pology." It was intended to show the physical, mental, 

 and social changes which take place when man passes from 

 a consanguine or tribal condition of government to that 

 which is national. This transition exerts a profound in- 

 fluence on the physical man through new laws of mar- 

 riage and relationship), and on religion, ethics, jurispru- 

 dence and art through the extension of the intellectual 

 horizon. The goal of such changes, the speaker predicted, 

 will not be reached in nationalism, but in international- 

 ism, and in the supremacy of the individual, as the only 

 proper aim of government. The remainder of the day 

 was taken up with the exhibition of trepanned skulls from 

 ancient Peru, by Senor M. A. Muniz, and explanations of 

 the anthropological laboratories of the Department of 

 Ethnology at the Columbian Exposition, by Drs. Eranz 

 Boas, Joseph Jastrow, H. H. Donaldson and G. M. West. 

 The latter offered a paper of great merit on the anthro- 

 pometry of North American school children, and Dr. 

 Boas one on the physical anthroj)ology of North America, 

 the result of very extended measurements. 



Tuesday was devoted to Archaeology, principally Ameri- 

 can. Mr. H. C. Mercer, however, exhibited an artificially 

 flaked stone from the San Isidi'o gravels, near Madrid, 

 Spain, exhumed by himself, and explained its j^robable 

 palseolithic character. Professor G. H. Perkins read a 

 resume of archseological investigations in the Champlain 

 Valley, and Professor Otis T. Mason described in a most 

 interesting manner the mechanical resources invented 

 and developed by the aboriginal toilers of the American 

 continent. The anthropological work at the University 

 of Michigan was sketched by Mr. Harlan J. Smith; Senor 

 Emilio Montes entered a plea for the great antiquity of 

 the civilization of Peru; and Dr. Carl Lumholtz, just 

 back from his explorations among the cave-dwellers in 

 the Sierra Madre of Chihuahua, described their condition 

 and exhibited specimens of tbeir industries. The paper 

 which attracted most attention, however, was that of Mrs. 

 Zelia Nuttall on the Mexican calendar system, in which 

 she presented a highly ingenious theory for the solution 

 of this obscure and famous jjroblem, supporting it with 

 lengthy computations and the opinion of competent astron- 

 omers. The afternoon was spent in discussing the collec- 

 tion of games in the anthropological building by Dr. 

 Stewart Culin, Captain J. G. Bourke and IVIr. Frank Cush- 

 ing. 



The session on Wednesday was devoted to ethnology. 

 It was opened by a paper by the President, Dr. Daniel 

 G. Brinton, on the alleged evidences of ancient contact 

 between America and other continents, in which he cate- 

 gorically denied that any language, art, religion, myth, 

 institution, symbol, or physical peculiarity of the Ameri- 

 can aborigines could be traced to a foreign source. Miss 

 Alice C. Fletcher and Prof. J. C. Fillmore presented a 

 joint study of native songs and music of great interest. 

 Mr. Walter Hough exhibited and described bark cloth 

 from various primitive tribes; Sir. G. A. Dorsey related a 

 peculiar observance among the Quichua Indians of Peru; 

 Mrs. French-Sheldon spoke of some curious customs no- 

 ticed by her among the natives of East Africa; and the 

 Eev. S. D. Peet presented a memoir on secret societies 

 among the vsold tribes. The afternoon was spent in dis- 

 ciissing the anthropological collections in the IJ. S. Gov- 

 ernment Building, Professor O. T. Mason referring to 

 an industrial exhibit based on linguistic stocks; Mr. W. 

 H. Holmes offering a critical study of the development 

 of flaked-stone implements; Mi-. Frank Gushing giving the 



