will do much toward preserving a knowledge of the habits and languages of those tribes. It is sad to think that Mr. Horatio Hale, whose comprehensive grasp of the bearings of ethnological questions, and whose unremitting labors have so materially conduced to the success of the committee, should be no longer among us. Although this report is said to be final, it is to be hoped that the committee may be able to indicate lines upon which future work in the direction of ethnological and archæological research may be profitably carried on in this part of her Majesty's dominions. It is, however, lamentable to notice how little is being or has been officially done toward preserving a full record of the habits, beliefs, arts, myths, languages, and physical characteristics of the countless other tribes and nations more or less uncivilized which are comprised within the limits of the British Empire. At the meeting of this association held last year at Liverpool it was resolved by the general committee "that it is of urgent importance to impress upon the Government the necessity of establishing a Bureau of Ethnology for Greater Britain, which, by collecting information with regard to the native races within and on the borders of the empire, will prove of immense value to science and to the Government itself." It has been suggested that such a bureau might with the greatest advantage and with the least outlay and permanent expense be connected either with the British Museum or with the Imperial Institute, and the project has already been submitted for the consideration of the trustees of the former establishment. The existence of an almost unrivaled ethnological collection in the museum, and the presence there of officers already well versed in ethnological research, seem to afford an argument in favor of the proposed bureau being connected with it. On the other hand, the Imperial Institute was founded with an especial view to its being a center around which every interest connected with the dependencies of the empire might gather for information and support. The establishment within the last twelve months of a scientific department within the institute, with well-appointed laboratories and a highly trained staff, shows how ready are those concerned in its management to undertake any duties that may conduce to the welfare of the outlying parts of the British Empire—a fact of which I believe that Canada is fully aware. The institute is therefore likely to develop, so far as its scientific department is concerned, into a bureau of advice in all matters scientific and technical, and certainly a Bureau of Ethnology such as that suggested would not be out of place within its walls. Wherever such an institution is to be established, the question of its existence must of necessity rest with her Majesty's Government and Treasury, inasmuch as without funds, however moderate, the
Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 52.djvu/121
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ARCHÆOLOGY AND THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN.
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