394 ETHNOLOGY. 



aud shelter; by the sweat of what is beieath the brow, I mean the 

 braiiJ, he e;tri)S the food that nourished the souL He takes the models 

 of his' material implements and comforts and the methods of his handi- 

 work from natnre. He clothes his thoughts in words of natural 

 imagery. He utilizes the forces of nature. He makes the winds and 

 the seas to serve him. He finds his way by the refraction of the rays 

 of light which the stars shed down back to the stars, and learns the 

 secrets of their going. 



If, then, we are to treat man properly, we cannot be satisfied with a dis- 

 cussion of one part of his nature or of one phase of his life. Ethnol- 

 ogy, and anthropology, its handmaid, undertake to explain the origin, 

 antiquity, unity of race, primitive condition of the human species f its 

 relation to lower beings, as well as to its material environment ^ the 

 cause and historical development of its imi^lem en ts, clothing, weapons, 

 shelter, amusements, public life, social phenomena; of its geographical 

 starting-point and distribution; of its language, religion ^ present con- 

 dition, and future prospects. Too much houoi' cannot be paid to the 

 philosophers of Greece, to the schools which they founded, and to their 

 successors in medieval and modern times, for their application of 

 the inductive method to metaphysical studies. Too much honor 

 cannot be paid to the long line of anatomists from Hippocrates to Owen 

 and Huxley, who have found their way, little by little, through the laby- 

 rinths of his mysterious body. But most honor will be due tohimwhoshall 

 grasp the theme in its entirety, and give to all the facts their true import 

 in the series. Meanwhile, it is for each of us, however humble, to bring 

 his gift to one common altar, and for all to co-operate in paying due 

 homage to a science which must eventually receive what is good and 

 true in every method of investigation. 



We come now to consider the best means of exhibiting the facts and 

 objects of human culture. The same rule of proceeding from particu- 

 lars to generals, from specialties to a comprehensive view, are in force 

 here. There are many public and private museums in Europe and 

 America devoted to single sides of culture. They cover nearly every 

 part of the work of general ethnology, embracing the prehistoric records 

 of dritt, cave, lake-dwelling, kjokkenmoddings, shell-heaps, mounds, 

 rude stone monuments, &c., and coming down through the civilizations ' 

 witnessed by the Nile, the Tigro-Euphrates, the Ganges, the Yang-tse- 

 Kiang Rivers, by the Mediterranean, the Black, and the Caspian Seas, we 

 shall find evidences of their condition in special collections for their illus- 

 tration. 



Just as the generalization of all our knowledge concerning the earth 

 constitutes the true study of the cosmos, as the aggregation of the 

 sciences auxiliary to ethnology is the basis of our knowledge of culture, 

 so, too, the existence of these vast and valuable special collections make 

 it possible to begin to group together those objects which will illuminate 

 our investigations about the tribes of men regarded as parts of one 



