During the 19th century, the Aramean question started to draw attention of western writers and scholars. In 1875, American missionary Henry Van-Lennep (d. 1889), who was working among Eastern Christians in the Near East, stated that Arameans are ""better known as the Syrians, the Assyrians, and the Chaldeans"", and also added: ""The name Aramean is generally applied to all the inhabitants of the country which extends from the eastern boundary of Assyria to the Mediterranean, exclusive of Asia Minor proper and Palestine"". He also divided Arameans in two branches, eastern (""the Eastern Arameans, or Assyrians, now called Chaldeans""), and western (""the Western Arameans, or modern Syrians""). These pan-Aramean views were accepted by some other western researchers, who also held that modern "Syrians" are descendants of Arameans. In 1888, British anthropologist George T. Bettany (d. 1891) thus noted that ""The modern Semitic people occupying Syria are most accurately termed Aramaeans."" In 1919, Irish orientalist Edmond Power (d. 1953) pointed to several questions related to "Christian Arameans" in modern Syria, noting that ""It is in Northern Mesopotamia and Western Syria that the more ancient Aramean element is best preserved owing to the survival of Christianity in these districts"".