December 1 6th, 1 9 1 9.] Proceedings. xi. 



Mr. W. J. Perry, B.A., read a paper entitled : " The 

 Historical Process." 



The study of the geographical distribution of peoples' in 

 various stages of culture, and of the migrations of peoples, 

 suggests that the degree of civilisation possessed by any 

 community that has advanced beyond the pure hunting stage 

 is the result, direct or indirect, of cultural influences propa- 

 gated from some original centre. It seems as though the 

 fundamental arts and crafts of civilisation were invented in 

 one place, and that the knowledge of them was carried to 

 the outlying parts of the earth, thus producing the various 

 degrees of culture possessed by different communities. The 

 study of archaeological remains supports this contention. 



If this conclusion be accepted, it becomes possible to 

 regard the study of human society from a point of view 

 different from that commonly adopted. We can examine the 

 effects of various social institutions on behaviour. The hunting 

 tribes, the most primitive men of whom we have direct know- 

 ledge, display a uniform type of behaviour: they are peace- 

 ful, truthful, monogamous, honest, kind to children and 

 animals, and thus presumably represent the normal type of 

 human behaviour. The people above them in culture have 

 adopted the institutions of civilised peoples to varying 

 degrees, and their modes of behaviour appear to correspond 

 to their, historical experience. The wide range of culture 

 which exists in the world makes it possible to examine in 

 detail the effects upon human beings of various social 

 institutions, and thus to pave the way for the foundation of 

 a Science of Society, the ultimate aim of which will be to 

 determine which institutions are fitted to develop men to 

 the greatest possible extent. 



Mr. C. E. Stromeyer, M.Inst.C.E., M.Inst.M.E., read a 

 paper on " The Study of Nationalities," in which he 

 pointed out that although structural peculiarities are very 

 useful for differentiating non-related species they are of little 

 use for the purpose of classifying branches of one species, 

 and it is necessary to study their characteristics. He pro- 

 duced a paper which showed very clearly that there are very 

 marked differences amongst the characteristics of different 

 nationalities, for instance the Semitic and Slavonic races have 

 wonderful memory gifts, and the Scandinavians are pre- 

 eminently inventive. The author then dealt with the 

 difficulties associated with the suggested study, pointing out 

 that our words for the several characteristics have no very 

 precise meanings, and he then dealt with the reagents which 

 might be employed for revealing the fundamental charac- 

 teristics of various nationalities. 



