182 
POPULAK SCIENCE EEVIEW. 
Besides stating succinctly the special features whicli characterise each age, 
and distinguish one from the other, Sir J ohn Lubbock takes the series of 
statements made concerning each race, and categorically proves the asser- 
tions made by geologists. This part of the work we especially commend to 
om.' readers. We shall now pass on to consider the labours of Professor 
Nilsson. 
The author’s object is to describe the ancient races of Sweden, and, by a 
careful examination of the weapons, homes, and habits of existing abori- 
gines, and an analysis of the legendary lore of the Scalds- and Sagas, to show 
that the race which once roamed over Europe was closely allied to if not 
identical with the Esquimaux. This latter mode of viewing the subject 
gives an especial attractiveness to Professor Nilsson's work, for it renders 
the subject as deeply interesting to the Antiquary as to the Geologist. The 
mass of evidence which the author has advanced proves his case very satis- 
factorily. The testimony is divided into several sections, of which we shall 
select those relating to the nomad habitations of the Esquimaux, and the 
characters of some of the weapons of existing savages. The facts collected 
by the author show us the exact character of the habitations of the men of 
the Stone Age in Sweden, and of the modem Esquimaux, and satisfy us that 
in this respect the two races display an extraordinary analogy. The fol- 
lowing remarks by the author put the comparison very neatly : — 
What, therefore, the Esquimaux huts and the tumuli have in common 
with each other is that they all have flat roofs, that they all contain a 
chamber about five feet high, and are provided with a long covered side 
gallery, two or three feet broad, and three feet high, always pointing to the 
east or south. They resemble each other also in their form, which varies, 
beii^ sometimes round, and sometimes an oblong square. Tiieir interior 
arrangement also is in the main the same. In both, the centre of the floor 
is unoccupied, but the chamber is divided along the walls into cells or 
stalls, and in these stalls the inmates — of the sepulchres as well as of the 
dwellings — sit in the same stooping position which all polar people affect. 
It seems scarcely possible to assume that all these various important and 
minute similarities should be only accidental.” Professor Nilsson does not 
think them accidental, but he nevertheless declines to assert that the two 
dwellings are the work of the same people. Further on, in his exami- 
nation of the ancient crania of Sweden, he corrects an impression which 
a superficial observer might possibly- form. He tells us that the skulls 
of the Stone Age are all dolichocephalic (long-headed), like those of 
the modern Esquimaux. It is true that a few brachycephalic skulls have 
been met with in some of the sepulchres, but they are clearly excep- 
tions. What does this argue ? Simply this : another bond of union 
between the Esquimaux and the Swedish Iron ” men, and also that the 
ancient Swede had no relation to the modern Laplanders, since the latter 
are all eminently brachycephalic. The arguments from analogy in the con- 
struction of weapons of defence are also extremely convincing. Professor 
Nilsson urges several, but one is sufficient. Having given a minute 
description of a species of fish-spear,' from North America, which is now in 
the ethnological department of the Museum of Copenhagen, he goes on to 
say: ^^It is remarkable that the half of an implement, evidently similar to 
