Decebiber 18, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



907 



place over continuous areas. Therefore, it 

 seems to my mind that where among neigh- 

 boring tribes an immediate influence of en- 

 vironment cannot be shown to exist, the 

 presumption must always be in favor of 

 historical connection. There has been a 

 time of isolation during which the principal 

 traits of diverse cultures developed accord- 

 ing to the character and environment of the 

 tribes. But the stages of culture represent- 

 ing this period have been covered with so 

 much that is new and that is due to con- 

 tact with foreign tribes that they cannot 

 be discovered without the most painstaking 

 isolation of foreign elements. 



The immediate results of the historical 

 method are, therefore, histories of the cul- 

 tures of diverse tribes which have been the 

 subject of study. I fully agree with those 

 anthropologists who claim that this is not 

 the ultimate aim of our science, because the 

 general laws, although implied in such a 

 description, cannot be clearly formulated 

 nor their relative value appreciated without 

 a thorough comparison of the manner in 

 which they assert themselves in different 

 cultures. But I insist that the application 

 of this method is the indispensable condition 

 of sound progress. The psychological prob- 

 lem is contained in the results of the his- 

 torical inquiry. When we have cleared up 

 the history of a single culture and under- 

 stand the effects of environment and the 

 psychological conditions that are reflected 

 in it we have made a step forward, as we 

 can then investigate in how far the same 

 causes or other causes were at work in the 

 development of other cultures. Thus by 

 comparing histories of growth general laws 

 may be found. This method is much safer 

 than the comparative method, as it is 

 usually practiced, because instead of a 

 hypothesis on the mode of development 

 actual history forms the basis of our deduc- 

 tions. 



The historical inquiry must be consid- 



ered the critical test that science must 

 require before admitting facts as evidence. 

 By its means the comparability of the col- 

 lected material must be tested, and uni- 

 formity of processes must be demanded as 

 proof of comparability. It may also be 

 mentioned that when historical connection 

 between two phenomena can be proved, 

 they must not be admitted as independent 

 evidence. 



In a few cases the immediate results of 

 this method are of so wide a scope that they 

 rank with the best results that can be at- 

 tained by comparative studies. Some phe- 

 nomena have so immense a distribution 

 that the discovery of their occurrence over 

 very large continuous areas proves at once 

 that certain phases of the culture in these 

 areas have sprung from one source. Thus 

 are illuminated vast portions of the early 

 history of mankind. When Prof. Morse 

 showed that certain methods of arrow 

 release are peculiar to whole continents it 

 became clear at once that the common 

 practice that is found over a vast area must 

 have had a common origin. When the 

 Polynesians employ a method of fire making 

 consisting in rubbing a stick along a groove, 

 while almost all other peoples use the fire 

 drill, it shows their art of fire making has a 

 single origin. When we notice that the 

 ordeal is found all over Africa in certain 

 peculiar forms, while in those parts of the 

 inhabited world that are remote from 

 Africa it is found not at all or in rudi- 

 mentary forms only, it shows that the idea 

 as practiced in Africa had one single origin. 



The great and important function of the 

 historical method of anthropology is thus 

 seen to lie in its ability to discover the pro- 

 cesses which in definite cases led to the de- 

 velopment of certain customs. If anthro- 

 pology desires to establish the laws govern- 

 ing the growth of culture it must not con- 

 fine itself to comparing the results of the 

 growth alone, but whenever such is feasible 



