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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10. 1921. 



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Applied Anthropology. 



IN the course of the recent meeting of the 

 British Association in Edinburgh one of the 

 sessions of the Anthropological Section was de- 

 voted to the discussion of the ways and means by 

 which the science of anthropology might be made 

 of greater practical utility in the administration of 

 the Empire, particularly in relation to the govern- 

 ment of our subject and backward races. The 

 question was raised by a communication from Sir 

 Richard Temple, who, unfortunately, was not able 

 to be present in person. He recalled the fact that 

 in the course of his address as president of the 

 section at the Birmingham meeting in 191 3, and 

 in a discussion which had been held later in the 

 same meeting, he had brought this question before 

 the Association and recapitulated the steps which 

 had been taken afterwards by the Association 

 and other bodies to bring this matter to the notice 

 of the Government of that time and the public. 

 This movement, which gained considerable sup- 

 port, was brought to an end by the outbreak of 

 war. Once more Sir Richard Temple, in the 

 present appeal, urged the necessity for the official 

 recognition of anthropology as an essential part 

 in the training of those members of the public 

 I services whose duties in remote parts of the 

 [Empire will bring them into contact with an alien 

 NO. 2715, VOL. 108I 



or primitive culture. To this end he advocated the 

 institution of an Imperial School of Anthropology 

 of which the function should be both the training 

 of the official and the collection and classification 

 of the data gathered in the field by such trained 

 officials and others, to form at once the subject- 

 matter of the instruction given by the school and 

 the basis of further research. 



It is apparent that this proposal involves two 

 ideas which in practice it will probably be found 

 expedient to keep quite distinct. The question 

 of training should stand apart from that of the 

 organisation of anthropological study and re- 

 search. Sir Richard Temple's suggestion in its 

 original form as put forward at Birmingham was 

 that the Imperial School might be constituted in 

 connection with one of the universities. Yet 

 it would be difficult to decide upon the claims of 

 any one university, apart from financial considera- 

 tions dependent to a large extent upon possible 

 benefactions. Several of the universities now have 

 facilities for instruction in some, if not all, 

 branches of anthropology, and the number is in- 

 creasing. Further, an officially recognised school 

 in receipt of financial support from public sources 

 would necessarily be subject in a greater or less 

 degree to official control, a prospect which anthro- 

 pologists cannot regard with equanimity. In the 

 present state of the science freedom in method 

 and in outlook is essential to the advancement 

 of the study. Each centre must be free to work 

 out its own salvation. Just as each university has 

 its distinguishing characteristics, so each centre 

 of anthropological teaching should develop along 

 the lines which circumstances such as the char- 

 acter of the museums available for practical work 

 or other local circumstances may dictate. With 

 this development a stereotyped curriculum, 

 whether in a central school or imposed upon all 

 centres of teaching, would be incompatible. Nor 

 is it without significance that centres of anthropo- 

 logical study and research are rapidly , increasing 

 in numbers outside this countr}-. In India, in 

 South Africa, and elsewhere, schools of anthro- 

 pologv are springing up. Sooner or later it may 

 be hoped they will be in a position to make good 

 their claim to inclusion in any organised scheme 

 of instruction. 



If, however, on these grounds it does not seem 

 desirable to urge the institution of a central school, 

 which, as Sir Richard Temple himself would 

 probably agree, is little more than a matter of 

 machinery, the training of the official is a 



