738 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST.  [VoL. XXXIII. 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 
Man Past and Present.1— This admirable treatise furnishes us 
with a much-needed text-book of ethnography. It is a continuation 
of the author’s so-called ÆzĀnoľogy treating the varietal divisions 
of mankind “more in detail, with the primary view of establishing 
their independent specialization in their several geographical zones 
and at the same time elucidating the difficult questions associated with 
the origins and interrelations of the chief subgroups, and thus 
bridging over the breaks of continuity between Man Past and 
Present.” Another object sought in this volume has been to empha- 
size the fundamental principles of anthropology: psychic unity, the 
factor of environment, and the significance of social and religious 
institutions. ‘From this point of view the present may be consid- 
ered as a continuous illustration of the first volume, and students of 
such sociological subjects as the family, clan and tribe, totemic, 
matriarchal, and shamanistic usages, current views on primordial 
promiscuity and group marriages, early philosophies, theogonies, 
theories of the universe, assumed revelations involving sublime con- 
‘cepts of the Supreme Being in savage peoples of low cranial capacity, 
will here find some fresh materials not perhaps unworthy of their 
consideration.” The two opening chapters deal in a summary way 
with origins and early migrations. Professor Keane restates his 
belief in a generalized proto-human form that overran the territory 
now occupied by the four primary divisions of mankind and from 
which they have sprung “ by continuous adaptation to their several 
environments.” The human character of the Pithecanthropus erectus 
remains is fully accepted and regarded as a true link between man 
and the generalized Simian prototype. No interval existed between 
the Old and the New Stone Ages. In the Z¢thnology Keane 
estimated the length of time that has elapsed since the beginning of 
the Neolithic Age at 100,000 years; he now questions whether this 
high figure ought not to be raised. The duration and relations of 
the Ages of Metal are briefly dealt with, and some account is given 
of the evolution of writing systems which usher in the Historical 
Period. 
The main sections of the succeeding chapters are introduced by a 
conspectus of such salient features as: Primeval home; Present 
range; Physical characters; Mental characters; Main divisions. 
1 Keane, A. H. Man Past and Present. Cambridge, University Press, 1889. 
584 pp., 8vo. 
