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men may be counted by millions who stand ready to welcome any upheaval that will give them an opportunity to seize and appropriate the possessions of their neighdors. They declare that whatever may come, it can not be worse than the present order or disorder.

The strong nations of the earth may for a time prey upon the weaker; but there will be a limit. What then? Will they turn against each other, and all go down in one common ruin? Will national debts continue to grow until they can no longer be borne, and then be repudiated, bringing upon the world one terrific financial cataclysm. Signs are not wanting that point in this direction.

The occurrences pointed out here are neither impossible nor improbable. But, one thing is certain-they are not inevitable. There is no law of nature that will bring them about. Whether men go to destruction as individuals or in groups, they do so by their own choice.

Athens, Ohio, September, 1900.

THE MEMOIRS OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

BY CHAS. HILL-TOUT.

The American Museum of Natura! History has recently issued the fourth part of the second volume of the series. It treats exclusively of the Ntlakamug or Thompson Indians of British Columbia, a tribe of the wide-spread Salish stock. The notes were collected by Mr. James Teit of Spencer's Bridge, B. C., and edited by Franz Boas, and they form a very valuable addition to our knowledge of this division. They deal chiefly with the customs, habits, clothing, dwelling-houses, arts, manufactures, and social organization of the tribe. The memoir is richly illustrated and contains a practically exhaustive account of this interesting people, which, from the fact that Mr. Teit has lived in close and familiar intercourse with them for many years may be regarded as reliable and authoritative. In consequence of the tribe being divided into several groups, more or less distant and separated from each other, it is not always quite clear if the customs or practices recorded characterize the whole tribe, or only the upper group amongst which Mr. Teit chiefly resided. From my own personal knowledge of them, the customs prevailing in one group did not always in another, or, if so, were more or less modified. Another point of importance, is the omission on Mr. Teit's part to state whether the puberty customs, which he gives with much detail, were practiced winter and summer alike.

ARCHITECTURE IN THE STONE AGE.

BY STEPHEN D. PEET.

The division of the prehistoric period into three ages was accomplished at a very early period in the history of modern archæology. This division came about from the study of the monuments, rather than of the relics. It is owing to the explorations of certain Scandinavian archeologists, among the monuments which so abound in that country, that it came into vogue. They ascertained that the barrows which cover the surface contained bodies which were buried with the knees drawn up and with stone relics by their side, and other signs indicating a low grade of civilization. They found certain sepulchral chambers, formed of huge boulders, in which the dead were deposited without being burned, and in these were stone implements without any traces of metal. This furnished them with the data for the first period, which they called the Stone Age.

They also found bronze weapons in certain graves which contained no bodies, but the ashes of the dead, showing that the bodies had been burned instead of buried. This gave to them the name Bronze Age.

They, with others, discovered that other monuments were marked by a new system of burial; the body was laid in the grave, stretched to its full length, and in the grave were specimens of iron and silver, traces of alphabetic inscription, and articles of peculiar style of ornament, all of which showed that they belonged to the early historic or proto-historic age. They accordingly gave the name Iron Age to this period.

Professor Nilsson compared the flint implements found in the barrows with those of savages, and recognized the social condition of the people by this means. Professor Steenstrup discovered a striking analogy between the ancient graves and chambered tombs of Sweden, and the modern huts of the Greenlanders and Eskimos, and concluded that the abodes of the dead were imitations of the dwellings of the living; especially as the chambered tombs had long passages leading to them, resembling the entrance to the hut of the Eskimo. This thought was seized upon by those who were exploring the monuments of Great Britain and the north of France, and found to be very useful in explaining their uses, as well as age.

There are, to be sure, many monuments in Great Britain which cannot be ascribed to any particular age, the use of which is still a matter of uncertainty. We refer now to the cromlechs, or circles of standing stones, and especially to the allignments which are so common in these countries. The fact, however, that these are associated with dolmens would

indicate that they belonged to the Stone Age, and that the circles were used for religious ceremonies, and the allignments, perhaps, for gravestones, or monuments to mark the place of a fierce battle.

Closer study has brought out the resemblance of the chambered tombs of Great Britain, and especially of the dolmens of France, to the houses,

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the discovery of the lake dwellings in Switzerland. These were placed upon platforms supported by piles, which had been driven into the bottom of the lake at some distance from the shore, thus giving an isolation to the homes and people, which of itself insured safety from the attack of wild animals and of their enemies. Examination of the relics which were found beneath them, showed that the people had reached the agricultural state, and gained their subsistence from cultivated fields, as well as from the fish of the lake and animals of the forests, as grain and fruit were found mingled

with the bones of animals and various articles of domestic use.

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Following up the clue, Professor Anderson and other Scotch archæologists entered into the study of the monuments found in Scotland. They discovered that in that country the people of the Bronze Age buried their dead in large pottery vases, which showed considerable progress in art. With the vases were deposited specimens of bronze. Dr. Monroe discovered a number of crannogs, or artificial islands, in the midst of the Scotch lakes, and beneath the surface a large number of iron relics; the relics and the structure both showing considerable mechanical skill.

LAKE DWELLINGS OF BRONZE AGE: SWITZERLAND.

Thus, it was from the study of the monuments, that the

division. of the prehistoric period into three ages occurred, and that a system was adopted by which both the relics and the monuments could be classified. This is a division which does not belong to any one country, nor to any one period of time; for it is just as applicable to the ancient regions of the East, as to the more modern countries of Europe and to America, although bronze was very little in evidence here, and iron was not introduced until the time of the Discovery, as the isolation of the continent prevented those metals from being introduced. The same system has been recognized in Africa and northern Asia, and it is probable that it will prove applicable to the islands of the sea.

I. This gives rise to the idea that there were in all these countries successive periods of development during the pre

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historic period. The order of progress and the law of social development may be recognized as clearly by the study of the structures, as by that of the relics; for these furnish a means of comparison with the structures occupied by the ruder, uncivilized races known to history, which, in turn, present a vivid picture of the social status which fermerly prevailed.

The most interesting fact about this classification or division into ages, is that it is proving applicable to the ancient historic countries-Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, Asia Minor, Cyprus, and possibly to Syria. In Babylonia, the remains of the Stone and Metal Ages date back to remote times, and ante-date the Christian era several thousand years. They are supposed to belong to a race concerning which very little is at present known, namely, the ancient Accadians. It has been often assumed that in these historic lands man began his history in

an advanced state, that there was no prehistoric period; and that tokens of the Stone Age would never be discovered, though it has been granted that bronze was early in use, and afterward was succeeded by iron.

Late discoveries are proving that there were various cultural states which are marked by stone, bronze, and iron, and that the Stone Age preceded the Metal Age in all these historic lands. The question comes up as to the date at which the Stone Age ended and the Metal Age began. This question involves another: the endurance of the Stone Age; for in the beginning and ending of this age, we find the preparation for the Bronze Age. It is a point which it is difficult to determine, and yet it is probable that the Stone Age in Europe and Asia began far back in geological times; but it is to be divided into two parts, the old and the new-the paleolithic and neolithic. There are those who hold that the Paleolithic Age dates back to the tertiary period, and includes the time when man was associated with the now extinct animals. The remains of man in the gravel beds and in the caves indicate that in the first age he had more or less skill with tools, and was able to construct houses and boats. The Neolithic Age was the building era, for in it nearly all forms of constructed dwellings appeared. This age may, however, in southern regions, have begun at a much earlier date, than in the northern, and Babylonia may have had a period of development which ante-dated the historic period several thousand years. This would make the beginnings of architecture or house construction in Asia as far back as 10,000 years before Christ; for history, or tradition, is supposed to have begun as early as 6,000 years B. C., and we would naturally expect that it would take about 4,000 years for man to develop from the Paleolithic, through the Neolithic, to the Metal Age. Dr. Hilprecht says:

I do not hesitate to date the founding of the Temple of Bel and the first settlement at Nippur, somewhere between 6000 and 7000 B. C., and possibly earlier.*

Dr. J. P. Peters says:

We discovered written records no less than 6,000 years old, and proved that writing and civilization were by no means in their infancy. Further than that, our explorations have have shown that Nippur possessed a history extending backward of the earliest written documents found by us at least 2,000 years.+

As to the races among whom this civilization began, much information has been brought out, though no general consensus has been reached. The early cuneiform texts show that the languages had strong affinities with the Ugro-Finnish or UralAltaic. Rev. J. C. Black maintains that it was allied to the Chinese. The Accadians, among whom the civilization first ap

•See "Academy," 18.

+ See "Narrative of the Expedition to Babylonia, 1888-185€ **

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