420 



NATURE 



[September 29, 19 10 



the Empire. In India, whenever the Government has made 

 really serious mistakes, the failure has been due to 

 ignorance or disregard of the beliefs or prejudices of the 

 subject people. A little more than a century ago a mutiny 

 of native troops at Vellore was due to injudicious attempts 

 to change a form of headdress which they believed to be a 

 symbol of their religion or caste ; ignorance of the condition 

 of the Sant^ls allowed them to be driven to frenzy by the 

 e.\tortions of moneylenders which culminated in a serious 

 outbreak ; the greased cartridges of the Great Mutiny, and 

 the revolt against measures, adopted in defiance of native 

 feeling to check the plague epidemic, teach a similar lesson. 

 In India at the present time " the old order changeth, 

 yielding place to new "; and at no period in the history of 

 our rule was it more necessary to effect a reconciliation 

 between the foreigner and the native. While the tabus of 

 marriage relations and commensality will for an indefinite 

 period prevent the amalgamation of the races, much of the 

 present disquiet is due to ignorance and misunderstanding 

 on both sides. The religious and social movements now in 

 progress deserve the attentive study of the British people. 

 In religion various attempts are being made to free 

 Hinduism from some of its most obvious corruptions, to 

 harmonise Eastern and Western ideals, and to elevate the 

 former so as to enable them to resist the pressure of the 

 latter. Such is Vedantism, a revival of the ancient 

 pantheistic philosophy, which not only claims supremacy in 

 India, but asserts that its mission is to replace the dying 

 faiths of the Western world. The spread of monotheism, 

 as represented by Bhagavata beliefs, is equally noteworthy ; 

 and the effect of the revival of the cults of Ganpati, god 

 of luck, and of Sivaji, the Mahratta hero, on the political 

 situation in the Deccan deserve the most careful con- 

 sideration. 



The social movement is the result of that fermentation 

 which is in progress among the subject peoples in many parts 

 of the world. While the educated Indian claims social 

 equality with the foreigner, he is occupied with a serious 

 problem at his own doors. The degraded castes, popularly 

 called the " untouchables," are revolting against the 

 obloquy which they have long endured at the hands of the 

 higher races. Many of them have sought relief by joining 

 the Christian or Muhammadan communities, and the pro- 

 gress of conversion is so remarkable as to excite the sur- 

 prise and alarm of the orthodox classes. Measures have 

 been designed to improve their almost intolerable position. 

 It remains to be seen how far any concessions which are 

 likely to satisfy them can be reconciled with the ideals of 

 the caste system. 



It is true that the people of India prefer to celebrate 

 many of their religious and social rites free from observa- 

 tion of the foreigner, and that there are forbidden chambers 

 in the Oriental mind which no stranger may enter. But 

 the experience of those best qualified to express an opinion 

 is that a sympathetic interest in the religious and social 

 life of the people, so far from tending to increase the 

 existing tension, is a valuable aid towards the promotion of 

 mutual goodwill and sympathy. Orthodox native States 

 not only show no aversion to ethnographical inquiry, but 

 are themselves actively engaged in such surveys. Even the 

 Rajputs, who ordinarily display little taste for scientific 

 work, are beginning to undertake the collection of the 

 bardic chronicles which embody their tribal folk-lore and 

 traditions. 



When the divergencies in the beliefs and institutions of 

 the foreigner and the indigenous races are realised and 

 understood, a compromise must be effected, each side dis- 

 carding some hereditary prejudices — the Hindu that 

 aversion to the manners and customs of the European 

 which is the chief barrier to the promotion of intercourse 

 between the races ; the European that insularity of thought 

 which makes it difficult for him to understand all that is 

 valuable in novel types of belief and culture, as well as 

 that lack of imagination which inclines him to exaggerate 

 what seems to him intolerable in the economical condition, 

 the social organisation and beliefs of races whose environ- 

 ment differs from his own. 



Anthropology has thus a practical as well as a scientific 

 side. The needs of inquirers whose interest mainly lies in 

 the investigation of survivals and in the stages of evolution 

 in culture and belief can, as I have endeavoured to show, 



NO. 2135, VOL. 84] 



be met only by the adoption of improved methods of inquiry 

 and a more rigorous dissection of evidence. Unfortunately 

 the inadequate resources of the societies devoted to the 

 study of man, as contrasted with the extent of the sphere of 

 inquiry and the importance of the savage or semi-savage 

 races as factors in the progress of the Empire, prove that 

 the practical value of anthropology is as yet only imper- 

 fectly realised. If its progress is to be continuous we must 

 convince the politician that it has an' important part to 

 play in the schemes in which he is interested. Thus it is 

 certain that in the near future the relations between the 

 foreigner and the native races will demand the increasing 

 attention of statesmen at home and abroad. Here 

 anthropology has a wide field of action in the examination 

 of the causes which menace the very existence of the 

 savage ; of the condition of the mixed races, like the 

 Mulatto or the Eurasian ; of the relations of native law and 

 custom to the higher jurisprudence ; of the decay of primi- 

 tive industries in the face of industrial competition. One 

 of its chief tasks must be the examination of the physical 

 and moral condition of the depressed classes of our home 

 population, and the effect of modern systems of education 

 on the mind and body of the child. It will thus be in a 

 position to assist the servants of the State to meet the 

 ever-increasing responsibilities imposed upon them ; and it 

 will help to dispel the ignorance and misconceptions which 

 prevail even among the intelligent classes in this country in 

 regard to the condition of the native races, who, by a 

 strange decree of destiny, have been entrusted to their 

 charge. By such practical contributions to the welfare of 

 humanity it will not only secure the popular interest which 

 is a condition of efficiency, but engage the ever-increasing 

 attention of those to whom its scientific side is of paramount 

 importance. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 

 Mr. Arthur Hale has been appointed second demon- 

 strator in the chemical department of the Finsbury 

 Technical College. 



Among the public introductory lectures to be given at 

 University College (University of London) during October, 

 we notice the following : — October 3, niton : one of the 

 argon series of gases. Sir W. Ramsay ; October 4, the 

 origin of scenery. Prof. E. J. Garwood ; October 6, the life 

 and times of Sennacherib, Dr. T. G. Pinches ; recent in- 

 vestigations into the mental growth of children, Dr. C. 

 Spearman ; October 10, climatic control, Prof. L. W. 

 Lyde ; instinct. Prof. Carveth Read; October 13, experi- 

 mental phonetics. Mr. D. Jones. 



We see from the calendar of the day section of the 

 Bradford Technical College for next session that, to meet 

 the growing demands and necessities of the textile and 

 other departments, a block of buildings is in course of 

 erection in close proximity to the present college. The 

 buildings for the textile department, when completed and 

 equipped, will be worthy of the chief centre of the wool 

 industry in this country. The new equipment will be of 

 a complete character, enabling wool to be taken in the 

 fleece and turned out, in conjunction with the dyeing and 

 finishing department, in the dyed and finished state. In 

 connection with this extension of the college, it has been 

 decided to put down a plant for the department of 

 engineering which, although primarily intended for educa- 

 tional purposes, will at the same time serve to supply light 

 and power to the present building, the new extensions, 

 and the school of art. From the point of view of both 

 mechanical and electrical engineering students this will 

 constitute a valuable advance. The whole of the plant 

 has been so designed that any one set may be available 

 for demonstration or experiment without interfering with 

 the supply of current for, lighting or power. More ex- 

 tended trials will be carried out during the summer months, 

 when only a small portion of the plant is required for 

 generating purposes. Students will thus have excellent 

 opportunities of obtaining practical instruction in steam 

 and electrical engineering, and of becoming acquainted 

 with the running of a power station. 



