MUSEUMS OF HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS. 619 



vivals of primitive times is exerted in preserving the objects them- 

 selves as well as the recollection of them, for future study. Thus 

 are explained the origin and growth of ethnological museums, of 

 which the one in Berlin is one of the best specimens. 



The second circumstance that has determined with hardly less 

 force the direction of late research is the shaping of archaeology 

 into a real science of prehistory. The growing interest in the 

 European states in collecting the antiquities of the country, with 

 the activity of Danish and Swedish students and the co-operation 

 of several German investigators, have been the means of intro- 

 ducing general order and chronological consistency into this pre- 

 viously chaotic domain. The discovery of the Swiss pile-dwell- 

 ings kindled zeal in the study through all Europe ; and prehistoric 

 museums are now among the institutions in the completeness of 

 which each nation has a peculiar pride. 



In this study, out of the graves and dwellings of our ancestors, 

 is unfolding before us a new picture of the growth of human civil- 

 ization ; and we observe with surprise and wonder how it serves 

 as a complement to the conception supplied by the view of the de- 

 velopment of savages, so that one supplements the other. We 

 look at our ancestors themselves as they stood in their day where 

 savages are now. 



Art-history proper is preceded by the history of labor ; a long 

 story, that began in the farthest primeval time, is still continu- 

 ing, and is destined to continue ever. There is no boundary-line 

 between the two, for no man can say where art begins, or toil for 

 daily living ends. Art proceeds out of the labor of the day, as a 

 flower from a bud. History and prehistory are only outwardly 

 separate, while inwardly they are undistinguishable. As pre- 

 history survives in the present savages, so likewise prehistoric 

 traditions pass over into the lives of civilized peoples. The re- 

 covery and preservation of these traditions is a not less important 

 aid to the understanding of civilization than prehistory itself; 

 for they furnish the threads by which we can trace the connection 

 of the past and the present in immediate sequence. 



The connections of the oldest traditions are afforded first by 

 language and legends, for the study of which no museums are 

 required. Next to these in value are material objects, particu- 

 larly useful ones, with which are associated antique designs and 

 mythic — sometimes superstitious — meanings, and which also in 

 their forms, decorations, and applications give very definite views 

 of their age. It is the purpose of the projected museum of cos- 

 tumes and household goods to collect these objects — not the only 

 purpose, for there are many stages in the historical development 

 of peoples which have left their traces in dress and furnishings, 

 but the principal one. A museum of costumes and household 



