740 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 280. 



It is probable that the most potent influ- 

 ence turning the tide toward Germany 

 rather than toward France, at least for the 

 sciences, is to be found in the attitude of 

 the American professors themselves, in 

 the advice they give their students. This, 

 however, cannot be held as an ultimate ex- 

 planation.* "Why do these men in Amer- 

 ican universities advise their students to 

 go to Germany ? Why are the scientific 

 libraries in this country so much better 

 stocked with German literature than with 

 French literature ? I cannot help the feel- 

 ing, though I have no statistics, that on 

 the whole Germany has, within the past 

 forty years, produced more scientific men 

 and more scientific literature than has 

 France. It is doubtless true that we neglect 

 unduly French scientific literature in this 

 country. But it is probably also true that 

 to-day, as forty years ago, we justly look to 

 Germany as the seat of the leading spirits 

 in the progress of biological science. 



As a second reason cited by some to ac- 

 count for the lack of American interest in 

 French universities, is the apparent distance 

 placed by the French professor between 

 himself and his students. 



Finally we have the possible barrier of 

 the difference in race, with all that this 

 implies. Science is supposed to know no 

 racial boundaries ; but even scientific men 

 are influenced by the hereditary and ac- 

 quired ideas and ideals of their race. 



Frederick C. Nbwcombb. 



Ann Aeboe, April 14, 1900. 



THE SENSES OF PRIMITIVE MAN.'\ 

 There is a general belief that savages are 

 able to see things that are invisible to the 



* As bearing on tliis topic, see ' Notes on the His- 

 tory of Foreign Influence upon Education in the 

 United States,' by Hinsdale. Eeport U. S. Com- 

 missioner of Education, 1897-98. Vol. I., p. 591. 



f Abstract of three lectures delivered by Dr. W . 

 H. E. Rivers, before the Royal Institution of Great 

 Britain, London, on Jan. 18, 25, and Feb. 1. 



European, and the question is how far this 

 alleged superiority is due to power of obser- 

 vation or to actual acuteness of vision. 

 For the elucidation of this and many other 

 problems in experimental psychology exact 

 investigation is necessary on savages under 

 natural conditions. This Dr. Rivers was 

 enabled to do during the recent expedition 

 to Torres Straits and New Guinea, which 

 was organized by Dr. A. C. Haddon. Al- 

 though the Torres Straits islanders are not 

 now savages, they may fairly be described 

 as primitive since a generation ago they 

 were naked savages. The greatest amount 

 of work was done on Murray Island, and 

 the people readily allowed themselves to be 

 experimented upon. The conditions were, 

 as a whole, very favorable, the great major- 

 ity of the natives investigated did their best 

 as is evidenced by the smallness of the 

 mean variation in most of the quantitative 

 investigations. The Murray islanders are 

 dolichocephalic Papuans with a very dark 

 skin and the typical black frizzly hair. 

 They also have the characteristic excitable 

 Papuan temperament. 



The visual acuity of these people was 

 found to be superior to that of normal Euro- 

 peans, though not in any very marked de- 

 gree. The visual powers of savages, which 

 have excited the admiration of travellers, 

 may be held to depend on the faculty of 

 observation ; starting with somewhat su- 

 perior acuteness of vision by long attention 

 to minute details coupled with familiarity 

 with their surroundings, they become able 

 to recognize things in a manner that at first 

 sight seems quite wonderful. But such ex- 

 clusive attention as they have learned to 

 pay to objects of sense appears a distinct 

 hinderance to the development of the 

 higher faculties. This view might at first 

 seem paradoxical, since sense impressions 

 are the foundation of the intellectual pi-oc- 

 esses ; but, on the other hand, the intellec- 

 tual superstructure must suffer if too much 



