ogy. It is fortunate, however, that he has done so, for the writings and works of many men are summarized in a way to malce the volume convenient for reference. In his treatment the author is somewhat dogmatic. His excuse for this is that "a work speaking with uncertain sound would obviously be useless, or at least of little value" if intended as a guide "amid the initial entanglements of a confessedly difficult subject." Occasionally his views strike one as extreme, for instance, when, in speaking of the "length of man's days on earth," he says: "It becomes obvious that merely to account for the highly specialized Hamito-Semitic division a much longer period will be needed than is conceded by Professor Prestwich to the human family itself." Professor Prestwich has suggested 20,000 or 30,000 years as man's age. On a question so much in debate as that of man's antiquity, dependent as it is on the date of the glacial epoch, moderate and tentative views are to be preferred. In general, however, Mr. Keane is moderate and just on debated points.
The book is divided into two parts, the first dealing with "Fundamental Problems," the second with "The Primary Ethnical Groups." The "Fundamental Problems" are really fundamental to ethnology but are not strictly ethnology. It seems necessary, however, to have this matter included to make the subsequent discussion clear. After defining terms the author treats of the physical evolution of man, including man's relation to the other animals, remains of man, etc. This is evidently a question in physical anthropology. Mental evolution is noticed in a few pages. When did mankind first appear on the earth? It is an interesting problem and one far from solved. It seems fairly well established that man lived in Europe in "interglacial times." Obviously then the question hinges on the date of the glacial epoch or epochs. This leads to a discussion of the glacial problem. From a study of this problem the author concludes that man was living on the earth "not less, probably much more, than half-a-million years ago,"—a courageous conclusion in face of present evidence.
The palæolithic, neolithic and metal ages are taken up in their natural order. The famous relic sites, notably those of England, France and America, the kitchen-middens, lake-dwellings, crannoges, dolmens, menhirs, cromlechs, traces of peoples long since disappeared in name even if still represented by their descendants, are noticed in
