may think I have already trodden bare. 
] 
: 
OcTOBER "6, 1913] 
NATURE 
of the British Empire, the kind of knowledge of the 
alien populations within its boundaries required by 
rsons of British origin who would administer the 
mpire with benefit to the people dwelling in it, and 
the importance to such persons of acquiring that 
knowledge. 
I now turn to the present situation as to this last 
point and its possible improvement, though in doing 
so I have to cover ground that some of those present 
The main 
proposition here is simple enough. The Empire is 
governed from the British Isles, and therefore year 
by year a large number of young men are sent out 
to its various component parts, and to them must 
inevitably be entrusted in due course the administra- 
tive, commercial, and social control over many alien 
_races.. If their relations with the foreign peoples with 
whom they come in contact are to be successful, they 
must acquire a working knowledge of the habits, 
- customs, and ideas that govern the conduct of those 
peoples, and of the conditions in which they pass 
their lives. All those who succeed find these things 
out for themselves, and discern that success in ad- 
ministration and commerce is intimately affected by 
success in social relations, and that that in its turn 
is dependent on the knowledge they may attain of 
those with whom they have to deal. They set about 
learning what they can, but of necessity empirically, 
trusting to keenness of observation, because such self- 
tuition is, as it were, a side issue in the immediate 
and imperative business of their lives. But, as I have 
already said elsewhere, the man who is obliged to 
obtain the requisite knowledge empirically, and 
without any previous training in observation, is 
heavily handicapped indeed in comparison with him 
who has already acquired the habit of right observa- 
tion, and, what is of much more importance, has been 
put in the way of correctly interpreting his observa- 
tions in his youth. 
To put the proposition in its briefest form: in 
order to succeed in administration a man must use 
tact. Tact is the social expression of discernment and 
insight, qualities born of intuitive anthropological 
knowledge, and that is what it is necessary to induce 
in those sent abroad to become eventually the con- 
trollers of other kinds of men. What is required, 
therefore, is that in youth they should have imbibed 
the anthropological habit, so that as a result of having 
been taught how to study mankind, they may learn 
what it is necessary to know of those about them 
correctly, and in the shortest practicable time. The 
years of active life now unavoidably wasted in secur- 
ing this knowledge, often inadequately and incorrectly 
even in the case of the ablest, can thus be saved, to 
the incalculable benefit of both the governors and the 
governed. 
The situation has, for some years past, been appre- 
ciated by those who have occupied themselves with 
the science we are assembled here to promote, and 
several efforts have been made by the Royal Anthropo- 
logical Institute and the Universities of Oxford, Cam- 
bridge, and London, at any rate to bring the public 
benefits accruing from the establishment of anthropo- 
logical schools before the Government and the people 
of this country. 
In 1902 the Royal Anthropological Institute sent a 
deputation to the Government with a view to the 
establishment of an official Anthropometric Survey of 
the United Kingdom, in order to test the foundation 
for fears, then widely expressed, as to the physical 
deterioration of the population. In 1909 the institute 
sent a second deputation to the present Government, 
to urge the need for the official training in anthro- 
pology of candidates for the Consular Service and of 
the Indian and Colonial Civil Services. There is 
NO. 2294, VOL. 92] 
PAL VE 
happily every reason to hope that the Public Services 
Commission may act on the recommendations then 
made. This year (1913) the institute returned to the 
charge and approached the Secretary of State for 
India, with a view to making anthropology an integral 
feature of the studies of the Oriental Research Insti- 
tute, to the establishment of which the Government 
of India had officially proposed to give special atten- 
tion. The institute has also lately arranged to deal 
with all questions of scientific import that may come 
before the newly constituted Bureau of Ethnology at 
the Royal Colonial Institute, in the hope with its 
cooperation of eventually establishing a great desi- 
deratum—an Imperial Bureau of Ethnology. It has 
further had in hand a scheme for the systematic and 
thorough distribution of local correspondents through- 
out the world. 
At Oxford, anthropology as a serious study was 
recognised by the appointment, in 1884, of a reader, 
who was afterwards given the status of a professor. 
In 1885, it was admitted as a special subject in the 
final honours school of natural science. In 1904, a 
memorandum was drawn up by those interested in the 
study at the University, advocating a method of 
systematic training in it, which resulted in the forma- 
tion of the committee of anthropology in the follow- 
ing year. This committee has established a series 
of lectures and examinations for a diploma, which 
can be taken as part of the degree course, but is open 
to all officers of the public services as well. By these 
means a school of anthropology has been created at 
Oxford, which has already registered many students, 
among whom officers engaged in the administration 
of the British Colonies in Africa and members of the 
Indian Civil Service have been included. The whole 
question has been systematically taken up in all its 
aspects, the instruction, formal and informal, compris- 
ing physical anthropology, psychology, geographical 
distribution, prehistoric archeology, technology, 
sociology, and philology. 
At Cambridge, in 1893, there was a recognised lec- 
turer in physical anthropology, an informal office now 
represented by a lecturer in physical anthropology 
and a reader in ethnology, regularly appointed by the 
University. In 1904, as a result of an expedition to 
Torres Straits, a board of anthropological studies was 
formed, and a diploma in anthropology instituted, to 
be granted, not for success in examinations, but in 
recognition of meritorious personal research. At the 
same time, in order to help students, among whom 
were included officials of the African and Indian Civil 
Services, the Board established lectures on the same 
subjects as those taught at Oxford. This year, 1913, 
the University has instituted an anthropological tripos 
for its degrees on lines similar to the others. The 
distinguishing feature of the Cambridge system is the 
prominence given to field work, and this is attracting 
foreign students of all sorts. 
In 1909, joint representations were made by a depu- 
tation from the Universities of Oxford and Cam- 
bridge to both the India and Colonial Offices, advo- 
cating the training of Civil Service candidates and 
probationers in ethnology and primitive religion. 
In 1904, the generosity of a private individual estab- 
lished a lectureship in ethnology in connection with 
the University of London, which has since developed 
into a professorship of ethnology with a lectureship 
in physical anthropology. In the same year the same 
benefactor instituted a chair of sociology. In 1909 
the University established a board of anthropology, 
and the subject is now included in the curricula for 
the degrees of the University. In and after 1914, 
anthropology will be a branch of the science honours 
degree. The degree course of the future covers both 
| physical and cultural anthropology in regard to 
