Wehaveseenthat，closelyconnectedwiththemainlinesofinvestigationinarchaeologyandanthropology，therewereotherresearchesthrowingmuchlightontheentiresubject。InapreviouschapterwesawespeciallythatLafitauandJussieuwereamongthefirsttocollectandcomparefactsbearingonthenaturalhistoryofman，gatheredbytravellersinvariouspartsoftheearth，thuslayingfoundationsforthescienceofcomparativeethnology。Itwassoonseenthatethnologyhadmostimportantbearingsuponthequestionofthematerial，intellectual，moral，andreligiousevolutionofthehumanrace；
ineverycivilizednation，therefore，appearedscholarswhobegantostudythecharacteristicsofvariousgroupsofmenasascertainedfromtravellers，andtocomparetheresultsthusgainedwitheachotherandwiththoseobtainedbyarchaeology。
Thus，moreandmoreclearbecametheevidencesthatthetendencyoftheracehasbeenupwardfromlowbeginnings。Itwasfoundthatgroupsofmenstillexistedpossessingcharacteristicsofthoseintheearlyperiodsofdevelopmenttowhomthedriftandcavesandshell-heapsandpile-dwellingsbearwitness；groupsofmenusingmanyofthesameimplementsandweapons，buildingtheirhousesinthesameway，seekingtheirfoodbythesamemeans，enjoyingthesameamusements，andgoingthroughthesamegeneralstagesofculture；somebeinginaconditioncorrespondingtotheearlier，sometothelater，ofthoseearlyperiods。
Fromallsidesthuscameevidencethatwehavestillupontheearthexamplesofallthemainstagesinthedevelopmentofhumancivilization；thatfromtheperiodwhenmanappearslittleabovethebrutes，andwithlittleifanyreligioninanyacceptedsenseoftheword，theseexamplescanbearrangedinanascendingseriesleadingtothehighestplaneswhichhumanityhasreached；
thatphilosophicobserversmayamongtheseexamplesstudyexistingbeliefs，usages，andinstitutionsbackthroughearlierandearlierforms，until，asarule，thewholeevolutioncanbeeasilydivinedifnotfullyseen。Moreover，thebasisofthewholestructurebecamemoreandmoreclear：thefactthat“thelinesofintelligencehavealwaysbeenwhattheyare，andhavealwaysoperatedastheydonow；thatmanhasprogressedfromthesimpletothecomplex，fromtheparticulartothegeneral。”