New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-08-16
ANTIQUITIES OF MAN.

ANTIQUITIES OF MAN.
PRIMITIVE NOTIONS Ev1NOED IN TOOLS.
WEAPONS. ARTS AND LAWS.
THE STONE BRONZE AND IRON AGES. popular
Suvar Pp. XVI os5. Macmillan 90.
PROPERTY ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT. BY
sSropoosca sociey Paris ana psSss,S, in che the
school q AntfrOpooE PIP. 1ii 4oi' ne r,s UGo
EVIDENCES OF MAN IN THE DRIFI. 100. a eescd n9s.
S SS% % lima in sseSnsetts oonnscca NswYcsh
Pennsylvania and New-Jersey. Reed Deior n,. %se
American NumisDaac ana Arcn9 pa ~ 1PTyateiy
By Francis worcester DousntJ' ~ ~
printed.
Suppose that traveller in some unexplored
region of Africa, or North America or oou'n
America, should light unexpectedly upon paper
of pins In the hove Of some savage or az tne l'o'
Of tree He would certainly be compelled 70
acknowledge that the discovery was proof no'
Of native ingenuity, but Of the far-reaching IN
Auence Of civilization But take more "ou'ie-
some case. Suppose that the traveller 1ound no'
merely paper Of pins, but complete PIN iac'oiy
In Central Africa that turned out pins similar IN
every essential particular to those made by
Nvilized people. He would certainly be deemed
a very absurd and incompetent person II ne
invented brass pins and machinery for making
them without any aid from more civilized races
This IA. of course, hypothetical case put IN l's
,nosx extreme FORM but the conditions under
which the appliances Of civilization have oeen
distributed are substantially the same IN all aeeS'
and theory which is manifestly incredible "neh
applied to the present is equally lncredioie "He.
applied to the past Yet great deal OF curren'
di,cusson In ethnology and archaeology appears
- @ake for granted total reversal OF mentai
tendencies in man as known to history In oruer
70 account for prehistoric steps In human progress
invention. the rarest Of human achievements Is
treated az II it were more common among pr,n,'-
tive peoples than pebbles in river-oeo, "hiio
imitation. the universal characteristic Oh "ian-
r;rS I. ignored. As Mr. Hunter-Duvar points
out. the disposition is general 10 assert the niue
nsnaent discovery by various tribes Of the princ-
r,.s irvoIved in weapons such as the spear, the
sword. the bow and arrow, and utensils Ike the
asbhook the bone needle, the grinding stone, ana
all the rest. notwithstanding the fact that the
similarity of these articles in shape the world
over almost precludes the thought Of independent
initiative. An arrow head turned up by the
r,ourh IN Ohio or Missouri il the exact counter
mart Of the arrow head found in the helds OF
caves Of Europe The method of fastening IL 10
The shaft ia similar, and the notches are cut ~
The same position relative to the point. Inc INC
IN true Of spear pointA 1t Is to De observed 'na'
whatever conclusions may be reached as 70 ."o
r.,,tsve importance Of imitation and Invention
a. the history. the question has nothing to DO
With the other question Of the origin or unity
or diversity Of the race. Archaeology has not
reached that far distant epoch in the past when
Il ran sav of any habitable place on the earth:
Here men did not exist. though they were already
numerous in other quarters Of the globe. AS lar
A investigation has proceeded, it leaves man
distributed over the whole earth at time coevsl
with the close Of the glacial period. In this
view of the case the only question Is one reia'-
ing to the possibility Of intercommunicauon'
Considering the long reaches OF time that are
involved hardly any hypothesis Of migration oacK
and forth, Of intermixture, of communication, OF
barter, Of conquest. is beyond possibility.
II Mr. Huntcr-Duvar is right. every SUPPOSE
ton as to prehistoric man based on aneecd
changes In the physical basis Of mind is excluded.
So far as the bones and particularly the skulls OF
cave men are concerned, the original owners OF
tbese relics were not inferior in any respect to the
average modern man inhabting the same quarter
a, the rlobe. Reviewing" says he. "the few re-
mains of corporeal man that have been collected
from prehistoric times, enough has been observed
pacity for Improvement: but his surroundings IN
the stone age were not favorable for its develop
ment That this intelligence expanded during the
three thousand years or that are called the nge
NJ bronze, the handiwOrk attributed respectively
70 the beginning and end Of the period proves !;
and still more emphatically in another place 80
far as bone remains can give testimony, the rice
Of man from the earliest has been pretty much as
IL Is now" The improvement. has been mental,
not physical. Tie stod, injurious savage, pass
ing from one discovery to another In the slow
process Of ages. was awakened gradually 10 Cd
eervation, to thought, and to more ana more
varied action by the increase in the number OF
his wants. His environment and his physical re-
ouirements defined only the lowest OF his neces-
sities but the awakened attention added to the
list things which, as soon as they came into use
were looked on as indispensable. Aside from the
individual genius which created the spear, 1t is
impossible to suppose that the average man CON-
ceived such weapon before he saw IL In the
hands of another-just as impossible as tnat the
average man could ever have thought OF the
steam engine, or the sewing machine. or the Gat-
ling gun To the men in every age who were NOT
average men, the race owes it's progress step BY
stem from the absolute dead-level of ignorance 70
All the variations of knowledge. The men OF
reuius have pulled the race up after them.
Because the natural state Of man is that OF a
xtolid ,uuinventive animal, Mr. Hunter-Du
roundly denies that myth is primitive The OBJ
iects the savage is acquainted with are confined
70 a very limited number Not having the neces-
sary starting point of accumulated knowledge, he
cannot conceive objects or notions beyond his
own personal experience. Hence his imagination
IA contracted or rather. he possesses none at ALL
n modern savages have myths it is simply proof
that they were not created yesterday. in other
words, that they are not primitive men. The
lapse of time must have been very great to allow
fist the loes of true memory Of events sgnalized
in cairn and cromlcch and do'men and menhr, and
then Of the growth o. fancIes to replace the facts
that were forgotten. To the awakened minds OF
A. b.onao amo when life had become incalculablY