Europe in palæolithic time, though perhaps a little earlier in type. Along these lines, and from one or other of these tropical sources, he would seek the distribution of palaæolithic man. But what of neolithic man? Here President Evans dwelt emphatically on the absolutely unbridged chasm that separates the two types. The closing portion of palæolithic time was marked by the presence of the reindeer in Europe, and by a diminution in the size of the stone hatchets, apparently corresponding with the disappearance of the great mammals of the earlier time. But there is no indication of a ground or polished implement. He inclines to the view strongly that, owing to failure of food or other causes, man died out in northern and central Europe, possibly lingering in the Mediterranean region, as at the cave of Mentone, but that for the most part Europe became uninhabited, and remained so for a long period. When neolithic remains appear, the country has reached the physical conditions of the present time, and there is every indication of a new migration from the east and south. In Egypt and in India finely polished implements are abundant at certain points; and these doubtless indicate the pathway of the second great migration, from which we may more or less dimly trace the beginnings of historic development.
In closing, Sir John Evans urged the importance of establishing a bureau of ethnology for the Greater Britain, as of immense value, not only to the student of anthropology and archæology, but in the practical intercourse of Government officials, travelers, missionaries, and explorers with the native races on the borders of the empire. He paid a handsome tribute to the work of our own Bureau of Ethnology, and also to the researches being carried on in the Dominion, partly by the Government and partly by a committee of the association. The project of such a general bureau had been urged upon the Government by the last meeting, at Liverpool, but so far no action had resulted, the question being one of expense. But if, by a better understanding of native tribes and their modes of life and thought, one "little war" could be avoided, the cost of such an institution would speedily be saved.
The American Association was very much in evidence during the sessions, a number of our leading scientists taking prominent parts. This was most marked in the departments of Geology, Geography, and Anthropology; less so in the other sections, although some able representatives were present in nearly all of them, and most of the sectional committees included one or more names familiar to attendants at the American meetings.
In the section of Anthropology, presided over by Sir William Turner—a portly, florid old gentleman, with white whiskers and
