The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1909-01-22
VIM. A. BRYAN
At BALTIMORE

VIM. Alanson Bryan of Honolulu de.
livered on December %, an address on
ga Visit to Kilauea,' before the
American Association for the Advance.
ment of Science. There was an audi
ence of 1000. Mr.. Bryan also spoke
to the Anthropology Section on In
ventions of the Ancient Hawaiians, say.
ing among other things:
GAS the Hawaiian group was settled
by immigrants from the center of gem
eral disbursement of the Polynesian
race they brought with them to the
new environment very complete
knowledge of the culture possessed at
that time by the whole race. The
progress they made during the fifteen
or more centuries of almost complete
| isolation-at least from contract with
other races-furnishes valuable data for
study of the auto culture, of peo.
Pile when left dependent on their own
resources. The inventions produced by
the Hawaiian people show that while
| they were fairly numerous, they were
| not as a rule of signal chronological
Importance. Fifteen centuries was not
sufficient time in which to produce new
basic inventions of great value; prac.
tically all the progress made along the
many lines of culture were Inventions
that took the form of Improvements on
already elaborated ideas, i. e., were
simply obvious inventions. To illus
trate: The dug out canoes that were
in use at the time of the discovery of
the Islands by the white race, were es'
sentially the same as those in which
their forefathers reached the group. In
spite of the fact that they possessed
the ideas. materials, tools, and the nee.
essary skill to build much larger canoes,
by the simple joining of pieces of wood
together, to make the hull of n. much
more seaworthy craft Their progress
in tapa making was simply an elabora'
tion of details that gave them rank as
the most accomplished bark cloth man
ufacturers in the world. But they did
not know of, or invent, the loom, though
| the material ideas of plating and the
seine needles were in daily use by them.
can examination of their language,
laws, art, customs, practises, etc, show
n. very slow rate of advance in cul.
ture, though they were endowed with
remarkable intelligence. BY reason of
the definite character of their origin,
history, isolation, environment, etc, the
all too meagre data to be had furnishes
material for much interesting philo-
sophical discussion as to the rate OF de-
velopment of the race"
Many Scientists Expected Here.
The Baltimore Stars report of the
final meeting of the American Associa.
| tion for the Advancement of Science
| contains the following:
Probably the most satisfied visitor at
| the general convention is DR.. w. a.
| Bryan, of Honolulu, who today express
ed his qualification at the response to
his efforts to obtain summer meeting
mt Honolulu in 1910, and he is sanguine
that a large number of scientists will
then visit the Hawaiian Islands. Such
summer meetings are held in alternate
years, and Honolulu has never yet been
| favored.
"The suggestion has been received
most enthusiastically, said DR.. Bryan
this morning, "and | hope to see many
leaders in the scientific world in the
summer of 1910. AS matter of fact, -
he continued, "the world at large does
not realize the fact that we have sew
eral scientific bodies of the highest or.
der in our faraway land, whereas, for
instance there are the Geological So.
ciety of New Zealand, the Polynesian
Society, the Asiatic Society of Bengal
and several others of the very highest
character and standing.'
In advancing his arguments for the
proposed summer meeting. DIR. Bryan
cites the example of the British Asso
citation for the Advancement of Science
| ,arhinh bne IN South frinn opl Wi Ill
soon meet in Winnipeg, this point hav'
ing also been emphasized by DIR. Ira
Remsen, president of Johns Hopkins.