atheistic"? The historians of the present time would be astonished at such an objection. But it is of the same kind as that which is made when physiological psychology is reproached with not speaking of the soul, of freedom, and of personality, and with only recognizing the physical conditions of phenomena, although that is the only problem which it pretends to resolve.
As a rule, all the sciences that study the conditions necessary to a higher development can be called, in a qualified way, materialistic with reference to the higher sciences. They are certainly so in the sense conceived by Aristotle, to whom matter was only the basis on which was built and to which was added a new form; and it is still a question in metaphysics whether there is any other matter than that. In the Aristotelian sense, chemistry is materialistic in relation to physiology; physiology in relation to psychology; political economy in relation to morality; geography in relation to history , and history in relation to theodicy. Psycho-physiology thus appears to be in the same condition as the other sciences. In itself it is less materialistic than physiology proper, because it adds an element, consciousness, which physiology does not recognize; but it is more materialistic than psychology proper, which studies consciousness itself and in itself.—Translated for the Popular Science Monthly from the Revue des Deux Mondes.
| CUSTOMS AND ARTS OF THE KWAKIOOL.[1] |
By GEORGE M. DAWSON, D. S., F. G. S.
DURING the summer of 1885, the writer was engaged in the geological examination of the northern part of Vancouver Island and its vicinity, the territory of the Kwakiool people. In connection with the prosecution of his work, he was in constant and intimate association with this people, and enjoyed many excellent opportunities of obtaining facts respecting them, of hearing their traditions and stories, and of becoming familiar with their mode of life and habits of thought. The notes, made at the time, are here presented in a systematized form. As thus set down in order, they are intended to be merely a record of facts and observations, and are offered as a contribution toward our knowledge of the Indians of the west coast. Notwithstanding diversity of language and dialect, these coast people form a single group in respect to arts, and to a less extent in regard to customs and traditions. The useful arts and modes of construction have
- ↑ Abridged from a paper entitled "Notes and Observations on the Kwakiool People of Vancouver Island," presented to the Royal Society of Canada, May 25, 1887.
