August 19, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



who presented the deed to the trustees of the Peabody Museum of 

 Cambridge. Professor Putnam's report, in connection with a brief 

 letter from Miss Alice Fletcher, led to an important discussion on 

 the preservation of mounds and relics, and the opinion was ex- 

 ])ressed unanimously that some step must be taken in this direction. 

 In order to impress the United States and the State governments 

 and legislatures with the importance of this matter, it was moved 

 that the association, in a general session, appoint a committee whose 

 task it should be to take the necessary steps in this direction. Mrs. 

 Stevenson, president of the Ladies' Anthropological Society of 

 Washington, and Miss Fletcher, were elected members of the com- 

 mittee. Major Powell's remarks on the difficulties which would be 

 encountered in carrying out the proposed scheme, and the fact that 

 attempted ' preser\'ations ' had sometimes ended in actual destruc- 

 tion, led to the election of a second committee of five members, for 

 impressing the State historical societies and legislatures with the 

 importance of the matter, and inducing them to preserve the relics 

 in their territories, while the former committee will draw the atten- 

 tion of Congress to those situated on public lands. 



The desire to draw greater attention to archaeology was also 

 characteristic of Prof. Thomas Wilson's paper on the state of 

 archwology in western Europe. He showed that in America, 

 though the interest of the public is increasing, nothing equal to the 

 work of European nations has been done. Scandinavian archaeolo- 

 gists ought to be our teachers in this line of research : they were the 

 first to work out scientific methods and to undertake researches on 

 a great scale. Professor Wilson laid great stress on the influence 

 of European societies and scientific institutions and of the support 

 of the government upon the rapid development of prehistoric 

 anthropology. 



The papers and discussions on archaeological subjects showed 

 that a closer connection between geologists and archseologists is 

 very desirable, or, rather, that the student of archaeology ought to 

 be conversant with dynamical geology, more particularly with 

 the influence of water and wind upon the earth's surface. This is 

 the only method to avoid serious errors and to reach satisfactory 

 results. Prof. C. C. Abbott's method, which he explained during 

 the sessions in numerous remarks and in his paper on evidences of 

 pre-Indian occupation of New Jersey, makes it clear that this is the 

 most satisfactory method of study. Of course, the form of the im- 

 plements must also be considered. Dr. Brinton's suggestion, that 

 the occurrence of simple implements and of compound implements 

 (i.e., those in which the worked stones are attached to handles) 

 should be made a principle of division of the paleolithic age, may 

 be accepted in so far as we must suppose, a priori, that simple 

 implements were the earliest inventions of developing mankind. It 

 is, however, doubtful whether the finds really justify a separate con- 

 sideration of both ages. The important question of the age of 

 American antiquities, and whether they belonged to the Indians in- 

 habiting the continent at the time of the discovery or to a pre-In- 

 dian race, received its proper share of attention. Besides Professor 

 Abbott's paper, which was mentioned above, Mr. G. N. Perkins's 

 remark, that in the Champlain valley a steady development of 

 forms, from the most ancient to the recent ones, may be observed, 

 deserves to be mentioned. 



The desire of tracing the earliest history of man in America, 

 which is the most vigorous inducement of American archaeology, 

 was also the basis of Horatio Hale's paper on the true basis of eth- 

 nology. A few weeks ago Major Powell had expressed, in a letter 

 to Science, the opinion that there can be no ethnology, as all at- 

 tempts to classify mankind have failed. This refers to ethnology, 

 as defined by Powell, as the science treating of the classification of 

 mankind. Professor Hale opposes this opinion, maintaining that 

 the languages afford a sufficient basis for the classification of 

 man into races. Major Powell, in defence of the position he had 

 taken, said that languages, customs, and religions were only adher- 

 ing to the individual, while the anthropological character was the 

 only constant phenomenon. But here, as well as in the ethnologi- 

 cal characteristics of races, admixtures of blood had made it im- 

 possible to reach satisfactory results. This elicited the important 

 remark from Dr. Brinton, with which we heartily concur, that lan- 

 guage and religion of the individual may be easily changed, but that 

 tribes and races do not so readily adopt new social institutions and 



new languages, and that not the individual, but the tribe, is the 

 important object of study. His opinion is, that the psychology of 

 nations is the true basis of ethnology, and we may add that the his- 

 tory of civilization is its ultimate aim. 



Methods of ethnological researches are making steady progress. 

 This is shown by the papers of Dr. Wesley Mills, on the study of a 

 small and isolated community in the Bahama Islands ; and by that 

 of Mr. Steward Culin, ' China in America.' The former is a con- 

 tribution to the solution of the problem of the influence of monotony 

 in climate and social institutions upon man : the latter treats of an- 

 other interesting question which is of the greatest importance in 

 studying the history of mankind, — the constancy of ethnological 

 peculiarities, and the influence of one people upon another. Papers 

 treating of the ethnology of certain tribes were comparatively few. 

 Great interest was excited by two specimens shown by Mr. G. F. 

 Kunz, — a gigantic jadeite adze from Oaxaca, Mexico, which shows 

 signs of being cut from a bowlder by the use of a string, and is 

 beautifully carved and polished ; and a very remarkable human 

 skull of rock crystal in natural size, probably of Mexican origin. On 

 this occasion we had the pleasure of hearing the assumed similarity 

 between the Mexican and Japanese arts thoroughly refuted by Mr. 

 Tatui Baba. In fact, the task of proving the similarity rests on the 

 shoulders of those maintaining its existence. 



The last paper we have to mention is that by Mr. J. Jastrow, on 

 sensory types of memory and apperception. He discussed apper- 

 ception as brought about by visual and auditual perceptions, and 

 treated of the connection of both kinds of perceptions in many indi- 

 viduals. He referred to the important bearing of this question on 

 education, as different methods must be applied for the two classes of 

 individuals. He gave some methods for determining the prevailing 

 faculty. His opinion is, that the visualists form the more numerous 

 class, but we believe that the universal existence of language shows 

 the importance of auditualism. Researches in experimental psy- 

 chology, such as Mr. Jastrow undertakes, are not yet carried on to 

 a great extent in America, but we may hope that in course of time 

 they will become an important feature of the sessions of the An- 

 thropological Section, as this branch of science is one of the 

 foundations of the psychology of individuals and of nations. 



Section I. 



\Report not received in time for this issue] 



THE GEOGRAPHICAL MOVEMENT IN ENGLAND. 



I WAS asked some time ago to furnish Science with an account of 

 the results of the efforts of the Royal Geographical Society towards 

 the improvement of geographical education in England, and to 

 give some idea of the character of the collection of appliances 

 exhibited in London and elsewhere in connection with this move- 

 ment. I have waited till now in order that I might be able to state 

 positively that so far the society's efforts have met with almost 

 complete success. The University of Oxford has just appointed a 

 reader in geography ; not only so, but the appointment has been 

 given, I believe I am safe in saying, to the only one among the 

 numerous candidates likely to carry out the views of the Geo- 

 graphical Society as to what the geography of the future should be. 

 Mr. Harford J. Mackinder, the new reader in geography, is a young 

 graduate of Oxford, who has taken high honors both in science and 

 in history, and thus is qualified to treat geography adequately on all 

 its sides. As one of the lecturers in connection with the Oxford Uni- 

 versity extension scheme, he has attended large and enthusiastic audi- 

 ences in various English provincial towns. What his conception of 

 geography is may be seen from the paper which he read before the 

 Geographical Society, and which is printed in the Proceedings of 

 March, 1S87. Cambridge University has decided to follow the 

 example of Oxford in the beginning of next year, and meantime has 

 requested the council of the Geographical Society to nominate one 

 or more of its members to lecture on the subject in the autumn of 

 the present year. 



Thus it will be seen, that, so far as our two great universities are 

 concerned, the recent efforts of the society have been completely 

 successful : for it must be borne in mind that the council of the 

 society have all along felt, that, unless geography were recognized 



