Anthropological Studies

Preface

. The following pages consist chiefly of a series of essays, contributed at various times to the Westminster Review and the Journal of the Anthropological Institute, revised and corrected, and with much original matter added in accordance with the latest utterances of men of science. Whatever shortcomings may be discovered in the volume must be attributed to want of skill in the writer rather than to lack of interest in the subject matters treated, which, being selected from what may be looked upon as the romance of Anthropology, cannot fail to attract readers who have any taste for the pre historic development of the human race, as illustrated not only by the discoveries of archæologists in the graves of long-forgotten races ; but also by the manners and customs of the savages of to-day, who may be held to continue the slow march of the ancient world, in the rear of the whirl and confusion of the army of modern progressionists. The crowded audiences which always assemble in the Anthropological Section, at the meetings of the British

PREFACE.

. Association, seem to prove that Anthropology, which has never had as large a number of disciples in Great Britain as in other European countries and in America, would become a popular study here also if hetter understood. My object, therefore, in the present volume has been so to popularize my subjects as to attract my readers to study for themselves those deeperworks from which I have culled the facts I have brought together, and from which I have drawn my own con clusions, not always in accord with those of the authors I have quoted, but which I would yet fain hope may be found by my critics to be neither puerile nor unreason able. " Truth," says the proverb, " lies at the bottom of a well," and it is only by stirring up the waters of controversy that the goddess may be brought to the surface.

The quaint tales and legends, the archaic monuments, the weapons, implements, and works of art, which appear alike, and yet unlike, in so many widely-separated countries, and among diverse races, I look upon as the scattered fossils of Anthropology, from which may be built up some of the unknown histories of the human race, even as the solitary Moa bone served in the hand of the skilful comparative anatomist to build up that extinct bird of New Zealand. Whether I have succeeded in unearthing and placing in position any of these buried fossils so as to add in any appreciable degree to the skeleton of the unknown man of pre-historic times

PREFACE.

. IX I must leave to the judgment of my readers. There are, however, numerous anthropological fossils of great importance which I have not ventured to touch. From some of these, chiefly linguistic, has been built up the theory which is at present occupying so much attention as to the original home of the Aryans, a theory which has received the qualified support of Professor Huxley, in his able article on " The Aryan Question and Pre historic Man," in the Nineteenth Century for November. Canon Isaac Taylor's book on the subject is so full of interest, and so accessible, that I do not feel myself called upon to enter upon a subject which can only be properly treated by professed philologists. I have also omitted all detailed account of the dis tinctions of race as regards admeasurements of the skull and various parts of the body, colour of the hair and skin of existing races, &c. &c, which although of great anthropological importance, would be out of place in the present volume.

Being anxious not to overload my text with references, I append a list of the principal works consulted, com mending them to the thoughtful perusal of all whom I may succeed in interesting in the subjects here introduced to their notice. A. W. Buckland. London, 1890. CONTENTS. CHAPTEE I. The Birth of Anthropology ... 1 Anthropology — The Science of Man — Definition — Owes its Birth to Geology — Pre-scientific Geology — Freaks of Nature — Germs of Science among the Ancients — Lucretius — The Fortuitous Concourse of Atoms — The Vast Periods of Geology foreshadowed in Oriental Fables — Struggles between Faith and Reason. CHAPTEE II. Astronomical Theories 8 Geological Facts due to Astronomical Causes still in Operation — The Glacial Period — Theories of Croll, Lyell, Adhemar — Sir John Lubbock, Hopkins, and Dr. John Evans on Change of Earth's Axis — Professor Haughton — Sir W. Thompson on Rigidity of Earth — Semi-Tropical Plants in the Arctic Region — Traces of Glaciation in Europe, North America, India, and South Africa — Bearing of the Glacial Epoch upon the Antiquity of Man.

CHAPTEE III. The Antiquity of Man .... 17 The unvarying Succession of Implements of Rough Stone (Paleolithic), Polished Stone (Neolithic), Bronze, and Iron — Age of Copper probably intervened between Neolithic and Bronze Epochs — Geologic Measure of the Ages — Paleolithic Tools in Egypt — Interesting Discovery by General Pitt-Rivers — Tools of the Drift and Cavern Periods — Exploration of Kent's Cavern by Mr. Pengelly — The French Caves — Similarity of Fauna CONTENTS. XII — Man certainly cotemporary with Extinct Animals — His Pre- Glaeial Origin still in dispute — Difference between Early and Later Paleolithic Tools. CHAPTEE IV. The Origin of Man 33 Ancient and Orthodox Belies incompatible with Modern Discoveries — Darwin's Theory at present unproved — French Anthropologists — Broca's Progression of Types — Ancient Beliefs — Gradual Advance of Man — Great Chasm between Man and Ape — The most Ancient Skulls — The Dolichocephalic (long) and the Brachycephalic (round) Types co-existent — Monogenists and Polygenists — Continental Discoveries of Pliocene Man not credited by English Anthropologists — Lyell and Darwin on Man's probable Age and Birthplace — His Slow Dispersal.

CHAPTEE V. Geographical Distribution .... 49 Importance of the Subject — Effects of Climate, Soil, and Food not sufficiently studied — The Peopling of Oceanic Islands — Darwin and Wallace on Permanence of existing Continents — The Hypothetical Lemuria — Huxley and Flower on the Classification of Modern Races — Latham on the Effects of Climate and Soil on different Races — Isolation as a Preservative of Type — Pigmy Races — The Small Dark Race of Europe — Huxley's Four Types — Probable Route of Migration of Australioids — General Pitt- Rivers on Early Modes of Navigation — Distribution of the Great Mongoloid Race. CHAPTEE VI. Migrations 63 Civilized Man alone capable of ranging from the Tropics to the Poles — Barriers to Early Migrations — The Phœnicians and the Mammoth — Changes effected by Human Agency — Distribu tion of Mammals prior to the Advent of Man — Change of Habitat consequent upon Glacial Epoch — Did Man follow the Game ? — Professor Boyd-Dawkins on the Eskimo — Early Art of the Rein deer Race — Its Importance — Wanderings of the River-drift Men CONTENTS.

XIII — The Bushmen, and other Dwarf Races of Africa — Are they also Offshoots of Paleolithic Man 1 — Neolithic Races — The Basques — Asiatic Migrations — Wanderings of the Malayo-Polynesians across the Pacific — Effects of Involuntary Migrations — Modern Instance — Migrations of the Aryans — Recent Theories. CHAPTEE VII. Primitive Agriculture . • . . . . 81 Agriculture the First Step towards Civilization — Probably Originated with Women — Antiquity of Cereal Agriculture — Native Names — Maize — Was it known in the Eastern Hemisphere prior to Columbus ? — Turkey Corn — Ancient Cultivation in America — Food of Ancient Egyptians — Roots and Fruits preceded Cereals — Chinese Agriculture — Moon- Worship among Agricultur ists — Lunar Influence on Plants — Agricultural Implements — Bushman Digging- Sticks — The Primitive Plough — The Tribulum of the East — Women as Agriculturists — Terraced Agriculture in China and Peru.

CHAPTEE VIII. The Serpent in Connection with Metallurgy 104 Metallurgy next to Agriculture as a Civilizing Agent — Gold the first Metal used — The Use of -Copper — Commercial Inter course consequent upon Metallurgy — Serpent Worship — The Good Serpent always connected with the Precious Metals — Totemic Origin — Do they really store Glittering Things . — The Nagas of India and of Egypt — Cadmus — Quetzalcoatl — Osiris — Silver — Smelted Metal probably unknown — Indian Legend — Melted Gold conferring Immortality — The Serpent Myth in America — Atlantis. CHAPTEE IX. Serpents and Precious Stones . . . 116 The Good Serpent or Dragon in Christian Times — Emblem of Kingly Power — King Arthur — Owen's History of Serpents — Men Serpents — Moses and the Serpent — Good and Evil Serpents — The former the Symbol of Gods and Benefactors— The Midgard CONTENTS.

XIV Worm — Indian Legend — The Serpent as Guardian of Gems — Virtues of the Guardian transferred to the Gems — Legends of Gems — Abraham and the Ruby— The Gesta Romanorum — The Serpent-Stone, or Bezoar — Musk as an Antidote to Snake-bites — Sculptured Snakes rendered Tombs Sacred— Legends of Serpents in connection with Rude Stone Monuments — The Serpent and Sun-worship — Serpent Mounds — The Serpent Egg of the Druids, and the Mundane Egg — The Serpent Myth of Turanian Origin — Disseminated by Colonists of that Race. CHAPTEE X. Divination — By the Rod and by the Arrow 140 Witch-Doctors and Diviners — Modern Dowsers — History of the Divining-rod — Its Shape — To be cut from a Fruit-Bearing Tree — Connection with the Sceptre and with Horns as Symbols of Power — The Bifurcated Stick with Rings borne by many Gods — Augury by Birds — Survival in the Wishing-Bone — Miracles wrought by the Rod — Extreme Development of Rhabdomancy among the Finns — Miraculous Virtues ascribed to Trees — Divin ation by Arrows — Used in casting Lots — Belomancy practised by Nebuchadnezzar and by the Ancient Greeks — Lots among the Anglo-Saxons, Hottentots and Kaffirs — Connection of Rods and Arrows with Ancient Alphabets — Magical Virtues of Runes — The Etruscan Tages and Greek Python — The Irish Alphabet — Rhabdomancy and Belomancy traceable to Pre-Aryan Race — Possibly possessed of a Power unknown to us — Subject for Psychological Research.

CHAPTEE XL Birds in the Mythologies of Various Races 160 Birds as Symbols of Ancient Divinities — The Goose — Sacred in India, Ceylon, Egypt, Rome, and Ancient Britain — A Turanian Totem — Transformed into the Swan among Aryans — The Pea cock in India — Emblem of Juno denoting her Eastern Origin — The Owl of Evil Augury — Minerva's Owl perhaps the Cuckoo, or Minerva the Chief Divinity of Owl Tribe — The Phœnix — An Astronomical Myth — The Hawk in Egypt, India, and Persia — Fijian Legend — Mexican Bird-Serpent — The Vulture, Emblem of Maut — Worn as Head-dress in Egypt and China — Bird of Augury CONTENTS. XV — The Cock — Symbol of Osiris and Durga — Sacred to Mars, Apollo, and Esculapius — Of Sepulchral Significance in Etruria — Sacrificed to the Sun in Scotland — The Dove the Bird of Venus — Symbol of the Soul in Etruria — Connection with the Mundane Egg — The Eagle — Special Symbol of Aryan Races — Legendary Antipathy to Serpents denotes Race Antagonism — The Eagle in "Mexico and in India — Legend of the Mundane Egg in many Lands.

CHAPTEE XII. Traces of Pre-historic Intercourse between East and West 182 Legends corroborated by Monumental Evidence — Dr. Daniel Wilson's Routes of Migration — The Testimony of Canoes and other Boats — Implements and Utensils — Rock Sculptures of Peru — The Pottery of Peru and Hissarlik — The Symbol of the Pro truding Tongue — The Winged Globe of Egypt in Yucatan and Palenque — The T and Swastika — The Mexican Pyramid*, Dolmens and Rocking-Stones — Cyclopean Architecture — Earth Mounds and Burial Customs — Monuments in Pacific Islands — Mr. Dall on Distribution of Masks and Labrets — Shell Ornaments. CHAPTEE XIII. Surgery and Superstition in Neolithic Times 200 Trephined Skulls in Peru and Illinois — Discovery of 51. Prunieres' — Supposed Drinking Cup — Dr. Broca's Explanation — His Theories — Surgical Operation for Epilepsy — Posthumous Trephining to provide Amulets — Operation chiefly on Children — Performed by grating away the Substance with Flint Imple ment — Process described by Taxil (1603) — Incomplete Trephining — Object, to facilitate Escape of Evil Spirit — Amulets from Tre - phined Skulls — Rondelles found in Trephined Skulls — All French Trephined Skulls belong to Neolithic Times — None known in Britain — Extension to Mediæval Times — Still in use in Algeria and Polynesia — Algerian Mode resembles that of Ancient Peru — Belief in Efficacy of Operation — Victor Horseley's Theory — Dr. Robert Fletcher on Pre-historic Trephining. contents.

XVI CHAPTEE XIV. On Tattooing 222 Tattooing very Ancient and almost Universal — In some Places Men and in others Women only Tattooed — Two Distinct Modes of Operation — I. By Cuts Cicatrized. II. By Pricks with Colouring Matter rubbed in — Cicatrization in Australia and Africa — Three Cuts on Cheek in West Africa — Same Mark on Ancient Bronze Head in Italy — Cicatrization in Andaman and Admiralty Islands and Timor Laut — Tattooing in New Zealand — Among the Nagas of India — In Borneo — In New Guinea — Among the Haidahs and Eskimo — Tattoo Marks on Chin of Women — Denotes Marriage — Tribal Marks — On Shell Masks — On Easter Island Statues — Implements of Tattooing — Tattooing in Japan. CHAPTEE XV. Traces of Pre-historic Commerce in Europe 235 Importance of the Subject of Pre-historic Commerce — Cups of Similar Pattern in Mycenæ, Corneto, and Cornwall — The Golden Armour of Mold — Lunulæ in Ireland and in Corneto — Buttons and Fibulæ — Were they Manufactured in Ireland, and of Irish Gold 1 — Identity of Various Articles in Ireland and Etruria — Irish Legends — Firbolgs and Leather Bags of Miners — Gold the Attraction to the Etruscans — Ingots of Gold in Irish Bogs — The Tumuli of New Grange and Dowth possibly Etruscan — Valiancy's Reference to Etruscan Games — Mr. Walhouse on Pre-historic Commerce with India — The Beryl — Barter — Jade and Amber — Mr. Boyd-Dawkins on Etruscan and Phœnician Trade Routes.

CHAPTEE XVI. Primitive Instruments of Music . . . 249 I. The Drum. Music Universal — Ancient Myth of Music of the Spheres — Instruments of Percussion — The Drum — Wooden Harmonicons — Wide Distribution — The Rock Band — Chinese Harmonicons — The Drum in Religious Ceremonies — The Rattle — Drums and Rattle combined — The Timbrel — Bells — Legends relating to CONTENTS. XVII Scottish Bells — Belief in Music for expelling Disease — Antiquity of Cymbals — Bells and Gongs in China — The Bell of St. Patrick — Bells as Instruments of Vengeance — The Baptism of Bells — Reversion in Musical Instruments — Jubal. CHAPTEE XVII. Primitive Instruments of Music . . 265 II. The Flute. Inflatile Instruments — Flutes in Paleolithic Times — Pandean Pipes — Ornithoparcus on Jubal — George Eliot's Poem — The Bag pipe — The Horn and the Trumpet — Etruscan Bronze Trumpets found in Ireland — Trumpets of an Enemy's Arm-bone — Hebrew Trumpets — Egyptian, Assyrian, Etruscan, and Greek Pipes and Double Pipes — The Nose-Flute — Chinese Bamboo Flutes — Flutes of Peru and Mexico — Egyptian Reed Pipes with Straws Inserted — Clay Pipe of Babylon — Effect of Music upon Animals — The Organ — St. Dunstan — Krisna and Marsyas.

CHAPTEE XVIII. Primitive Instruments of Music . . 281 III. The Lyre. Traditional Origin of the Lyre — The Tortoise in Asia and America — The Search for Osiris — Transferred to Orpheus — Same Myth in Mexico and Peru — The Lyre in South and West Africa — The Bent Bow the Precursor of the Harp — Egyptian and Assyrian Harps — Old Irish Harp — Semitic Lyre — The Lyre of Apollo — The Shell of the Tortoise imitated in Gourds — The Plectrum in the East — The Vina, or Bina — Strings of the Lyre vary in Number — Pythagorean Lyre — The Three Measures — The Story of Orpheus — Introduced into Britain by the Romans — Tesselated Pavements — Diodorus Siculus and Stonehenge — Sun Dances — Merlin and Amphion — Aklhelm and his Harp — Nero — Troubadours. LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS REFERRED TO IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES.

Anderson, A. A. : 'Twenty-five Years in a Waggon.' Anderson, Dr. Joseph : ' Scotland in Early Christian Times. Bancroft : ' Native Races of the Pacific. ' Baring Gould : ' Myths of the Middle Ages. ' Beaufort, E. A. (Viscountess Strangford) : ' Egyptian Sepulchres and Syrian Shrines. ' Belt, Thomas : ' Naturalist in Nicaragua.' Bollaert, Wm. : 'Antiquities, &c. of South America.' Boyd-Dawkins : ' Early Man in Britain.' Brinton, Daniel G. : ' Myths of the New World.' Broca, Dr. Paul : ' Sur la Trepanation du Crane et les Amulettes Craniennes a l'epoque Neolithique,' Presidential Address (Trans lation of) Journ. Anth. Inst. Nov. 1877. Cartaillhac, E. : 'La France Prehistoriquc' Creuzer, G. F. : 'Religions d'Antiquite.' Croll, James : ' Climate and Time.' Dall, Wm. Healey : ' Masks and Labrets. ' (Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1881-82, Smithsonian Institution.)

Darwin, Charles : 'Origin of Species,' 'Descent of Man.' Daubeny, Professor C G. B. : ' Six Lectures on Roman Husbandry. ' Dennis, George : ' Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria.' Du Halde, Jean Baptiste : ' History of China. ' Engel : ' Music of the most Ancient Nations.' Ennemoser, Joseph, M.D. : 'History of Magic' Evans, Dr. John, F.R.S., &c. : 'Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain.' Fergusson, James: 'Rude Stone Monuments,' 'Tree and Serpent Worship. ' Fletcher, Dr. Robert : ' On Pre-historic Trephining and Cranial Amulets,' 'Contributions to N. American Ethnology,' Vol. V. Geikie, James : ' The Great Ice Age.' Haweis, Rev. H. R. : 'Music and Morals.' Hawkins, Sir John : ' History of Music' Holden, Edward S. : 'Studies in Central American Picture Writing.' (First Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, 1879-80, Smithsonian Institution. ) Holmes, W. H. : ' Art in Shell of Ancient Americans. ' (Second Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, Smithsonian Institution.)

Hue, Evariste R. : 'The Chinese Empire.' Hutchinson, Consul : ' Two Years in Peru.' XX LIST OF WORKS REFERRED TO. Huxley, T. H., F.R.S., &c. : 'Man's Place in Nature.' Johnston, H. H. : 'The River Congo.' Kay, Stephen: 'Caffrarian Researches.' Keating : 'History of Ireland.' Keller, Dr. Ferdinand : ' Lake Dwellings of Switzerland. Layap.d, Austin : ' Discoveries at Nineveh,' &c. Lebrun, Pierre : 'Superstitions Anciennes et Modernes.' Lenormand, Francois : 'Magic among the Chaldæans.' Leslie : ' Early Races of Scotland.' Lubbock, Sir John, F.R.S., &c. : 'Pre-historic Times,' 'The Origin of Civilization.' Lyell, Sir Charles: 'Antiquity of Man.' Mallery, Garrick: ' Pictographs of Norlh American Indians.' (Fourth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, 1882-83, Smithsonian Institution.) Mallet : ' Northern Antiquities.' Man, E. H. : ' The Andamanese.' (Journal of Anthropological Institute, February 1881, August 1882, November 1882, February 1883.)

Markham, Clements : ' Rites and Laws of the Incas.' Maurice, Thomas : ' History of Hindostan.' Migne : ' Dictionnaire de Mythologie ' (Sciences Occultes). Moor: 'Hindu Pantheon.' Owen : 'History of Serpents.' Pitt-Rivers, General, F.R.S., &c. : 'Excavations in Cranborne Chase,' 'Early Modes of Navigation ' (Journ. Anth. Inst., April 1875), 'Chert Implements in Nile Valley' (Journ. Anth. Inst., May 1882). Pococke : ' India in Greece.' Potter: 'Antiquities of Greece. ' Prescott : 'Histories of Peru and Mexico.' Rawlinson, 'Translation of Herodotus,' ' Early Monarchies.' Rowbotham, J. F. : 'History of Music' Speir, Mrs.: 'Life in Ancient India.' Taylor, Canon Isaac : ' Origin of the Aryans,' ' Origin and Primitive Seat of the Aryans.' (Journ. Anth. Inst., February 1888.) Tennant : ' Ceylon.' Tylor, Dr. E. B. : 'Anahuac,' 'Primitive Culture,' 'Early History of Mankind.' Tyndale : ' Sardinia.' Wallace, A. R. : 'Malay Archipelago,' 'Island Life, 'Geographical Distribution of Animals.' Warton : ' History of Poetry.' Wilde, Sir W. : Ireland Past and Present.' Wilkinson : 'Manners and Customs of Ancient Egyptians.' Williams : ' Fiji and Fijians.' Wilson, Dr. Daniel : ' Pre-historic Man,' ' Pre-historic Annals of Scotland.' Yarrow, Dr. H. C. : 'Mortuary Customs of N. American Indians.' (First Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, 1879-81, Smithsonian Institution.)

Chapter I. The Birth Of Anthropology

Anthropology — The Science of Man — Definition — Owes its Birth to Geology — Pre-scientific Geology — Freaks of Nature — Germs of Science among the Ancients — Lucretius — The Fortuitous Concourse of Atoms — The vast Periods of Geology foreshadowed in Oriental Fables — Struggles between Faith and Reason. Notwithstanding the progress made in scientific knowledge, there are yet many, even among the highly educated and intellectual, who know nothing of anthropology except the name, and who if asked to define the term would assert that it had something to do with old bones, flints, and rubbish. Such men would be astonished at the vast scope of anthropological research, as marked out by the leaders of a science young in years, but numbering among its teachers and students many of the most advanced thinkers of the day, not in Great Britain only, but throughout the world.

The answer to the question, What is anthropology . is perhaps best given in the words of one of its earliest and most enthusiastic students, the late Sir William Wilde, of Dublin, who in his opening address to the Biological Section of the British Association in Belfast (1874) defined anthropology (which was then, and for B many subsequent years, included in the Biological Section) as " The science of man ; his origin, age, and distribution on our globe ; his physical conformation, and his susceptibility of cultivation ; his various forms of speech ; his laws, habits, manners, customs, weapons, and tools; his archaic markings, as also bis pictorial remains, his tombs, his ideographic and phonetic or alphabetic writing, down to his present culture in different countries, and his manufactures, arts, and degrees of intelligence in the different phases of life throughout the world."

Wide as this definition would appear to be, it hardly exhausts the list of subjects included under the term, anthropology; for the religions and superstitions, the myths and fables of widely-separated races, form an important link in tracing the origin and migrations, the commerce and early intercourse between such races. Among these numerous subjects, one or more must be of interest to almost every one, even although com paratively few may care for the archaic portion of the varied programme, as illustrated by flint tools and megalithic monuments. To treat of anthropology in all its aspects, would be obviously impossible in a book which aims at becoming a popular treatise, nevertheless it would seem to be necessary to give something of an epitome of the more abstruse parts of the subject, in order to show some reason for the importance assigned by anthropologists to facts which would otherwise appear to be trivial.

Anthropology undoubtedly owes its birth to the still youthful science of geology. Before the truths of that science became recognized, all fossils were looked upon as strange freaks of nature. In all the older books on natural history, reference is constantly made to the curious and wonderful simulation of vegetable and animal forms, and particularly of shells and marine animals, in stone, by the hand of Nature ; and we may easily imagine the bewilderment these things caused to those who could not be satisfied with explanations which their common sense ridiculed, but which they THE BIRTH OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 3 were bound to accept as the authoritative utterances of the Church, a power they durst not question. When, however, liberty of speech and freedom of thought began to assert themselves as the prerogatives of free man, philosophers whispered their doubts, and hinted at theories, which, however crude, are yet often wonder fully full of the germs of truth as revealed by scientific research; nor have these prophetic utterances been confined to modern times, for travelling far back into the night of ages, we find in every age and in every civilized country, men who have seen visions and dreamed dreams, of things now being slowly brought into the region of reality by scientific evolution.

The difference between the philosophic dreamer of the past and the man of science of the present day, bein?- that the former was content to rest in his own visionary belief of the origin of things, and the pro gression of the human race, whilst the scientist of to-day takes nothing upon trust ; vague beliefs, however probable, are nothing to him, he demands proof of everything before asserting it as a fact, and there can be no doubt that this habit of investigation has had a marked effect upon the ever-increasing ratio of human progress, for knowledge begets knowledge, one discovery inevitably leads to another, so that if the rate of pro gress manifested during the present century be maintained, it is impossible to conceive what may be in store for mankind in the future. Lucretius, when he vaguely enunciated the atomic theory, little imagined the perfection to which that theory would attain in modern times.

The fortuitous concourse of atoms, of which he dreamed, is now generally accepted as the cosmic origin of the universe, the source of our solar system, and of many similar systems, past, present, and to come, scattered widely through the mighty infinity of space. So when he spoke of the motions of atoms as downward, adding — " And like rain would the atoms fall but for an inherent power, by which alone they can break the laws of Fate. At un certain times, and at uncertain points in space, they swerve a little from their equal poise. It is this alone that enables them to combine " — he was ignorant of the great and universal law of gravitation, and its power in causing the combination of atoms, and the formation of worlds; nor did he ever dream of the past history of the universe as revealed by astronomy and geology, the vast nebulous mass of uncombined atoms gradually accumulating and condensing, gradually combining and shaping themselves into a sun, with all its attendant planets and satellites, comets and aerolites, the planets gradually cooling and shrinking till vapour became water, and a fiery molten mass crystallized into rocks, this cooling and shrinking process continuing until at length after — who can tell how many ages ! the earth became fitted for living organisms ; these, low and imperfect at first, slowly rising in the scale of being till man appears — the grandest and latest work of creation, say the orthodox — the crowning point of development up to this present, say the disciples of Darwin ; but it may be to be superseded hereafter by a still higher and more perfect form.

Yet Lucretius, with his infinity of atoms in perpetual motion with unspeakable velocity (through infinite time and space), seems to have anticipated the facts of modern scientific research. So likewise, when at the beginning of the present century men began to study with interest the monuments and written histories of Eastern nations, and found in them records carrying back history to a remote past beyond the days of Noah and of Adam, according to Usher; the scholar, just learning his alphabet, smiled contemptuously from the height of his superior knowledge upon the fables of these benighted heathens, and treated the cycles of Egypt, the astronomical records of China and Chaldæa, the Yugs of India, as the inventions of a boastful and designing priesthood, anxious to enhance thereby the glories of their national history.

Yet the discoveries of modern science in geology, astronomy, and ethnology go far to prove that the traditions of these ancient peoples, however derived, after making due allowance for Oriental allegory and poetic hyperbole, are not far from the truth. THE BIRTH OF ANTHROPOLOGY. Take, for instance, the almost universal tradition of the aqueous origin of the earth, slowly rising from the ocean. Whether fished up from the depths by Mauie, or called into being by Brahma, or hatched by doves from the mundane egg in Assyria, the tradition is the same, of a period of watery chaos in which human life had no part ; a time in which the gods reigned, and after an immense interval created man. Take again the vast cycles of Egyptian tradition, wherein the stars returned to their places after a circle of constant change, only to start again on their unwearied round ; or look at the traditions of Babylon, respecting the monstrous forms at first created, from which sprang those we now see ; and observe how closely these three traditions, held by the most civilized peoples of the ancient world, correspond with the discoveries of geologists, astronomers, and anthropologists of our own day.

The early geologists, when they first began to perceive, from facts which could not be gainsaid, that the history of the earth as revealed by science was not exactly in accordance with that which theologians had taught, were perplexed exceedingly. Could it be possible that all they saw had been brought about in six thousand years ? Here they found traces of ancient river-beds which had long since become dry land ; there a stream had hewn for itself a channel many feet deep through solid rock ; here, high up the mountain-side and many miles from the sea, were beds of sea-shells and pebbles ; there, beneath the ocean, were miles of submerged forest. At first these singular facts were accounted for as the effects of a series of mighty cataclysms, which were supposed to have rent the rocks and upheaved the mountains, and buried large tracts of land suddenly beneath the waves ; and in these great convulsions of nature the deluge of Noah played an important part, for did not all this take place when " The fountains of the great deep were broken up " ?