Half a dozen well-known experts in anthropology and archaeology are
responsible for the stimulating volume on Early Man : His Origin, Development and Culture (Benn, 8s. 6d.)—a series of lectures delivered for the Royal Anthro- pological Institute, with abundant illustrations. Professor Elliott Smith writes on the evolution of man and Sir Arthur Keith on the evolution of human races, with a passionate outburst at what he regards as the folly of young nations who try to part themselves from the rest of the world by a lan- guage-barrier. Professor F. G. Parsons, in a lively paper, sketches " the making of that very composite and little- understood person, the modern Englishman," who appears to be anything but a pure " Nordic. Mr. Burkitt's summary account of " Most Primitive Art " is followed by a careful discussion of " The Beginnings of Agriculture " by Mr. Harold Peake, who confesses himself unable to decide between the claims of Egypt and Mesopotamia to priority, and thinks that perhaps some Syrian woman—deified later as Isis—made the great discovery that barley and wheat could be sown and reaped yearly. Finally, Professor J. L. Myres describes the discovery of metals—gold and silver, copper and iron. The book is a most readable introduction to a fascinating subject.
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