10 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH OUTSIDE AMERICA. 



obstacles which their calling has put in their way, and even if the general 

 body of missionaries were far more deoplj^ and widely interested in ethno- 

 graphical studies than they are, it would still be necessarj^ that their work 

 should be supplemented bj^ inquiries from other sources. 



These sources have in the past been of two chief kinds : private enter- 

 prise perhaps assisted by grants from governments or scientific bodies, and 

 expeditions organized directly b}^ governments, museums, universities, or 

 other public bodies. 



It is to private enterprise that we owe much of our most valuable work 

 in ethnology, and the reasons for this are clear. The mere fact that persons 

 have been led by their knowledge and inclination to undertake such w^ork 

 implies that they have put the best of themselves into their task, while most 

 of those so led have had some training in exact methods in other sciences. 

 It should be one of the objects of any organization which hopes to further 

 ethnographical inquiry to seek out such persons and help to direct into 

 the most favorable channel energies which might otherwise fail of their 

 full effect. Even if the work of a department is to be mainly directed to 

 some special field of anthropological inquiry, it would be wise economy to 

 devote a certain sum to supplement the resources of those who are prepared 

 to give themselves to ethnographical work in other fields. Such persons 

 are often prepared to give readily of their own financial resources, but these 

 are usually insuflficient for the inevitable expenses of the work they wish to 

 undertake, and a relatively small sum set aside to assist the collection and 

 publication of the results of individual enterprise would be an economical 

 means of promoting the science of anthropology. It would be necessary to 

 insure that such private enterprise was not directed merely by the love of 

 adventure, but to see that the training or previous work of an applicant gave 

 reason to expect such exact investigation as is now needed. 



It is not, however, the zeal alone of the private worker which has given 

 so great a value to his work ; there is another cause worth dwelling upon 

 briefly, because it suggests measures which will assist the productiveness of 

 any collective work on a large scale. A recent German writer, Friederici,^ 

 has noted that investigators working alone seem to obtain more valuable 

 results than expeditions endowed with a whole staff of experts. He suggests 

 as a cause the disturbance and excitement produced among the natives by 

 the various activities of the different members of an expedition. A number 

 of people working together at different aspects of ethnographic work interfere 

 with one another and impair the general efficiency. The cause suggested 

 applies especially to survey work. The general condition of excitement 

 produced by the temporary visit of a set of strangers among a people of rude 

 culture is quite incompatible with any kind of serious work. As Friederici 

 points out, the only possible course is to remove oneself and one's informants 



'Wissenschaf tliche Ergebnisse einer amtlicben Forschungsreise nach dem Bismarck-Archipel im Jahr 

 1908 (Beitrage zur Volker-und Sprachenkunde von Deutsch-Neuguinea), Berlin, 1912. 



