566 



NATURE 



[January 23, 19 13 



for the British Association for the Advancement 

 of Science by Barbara Freire-Marreco and Prof. 

 J. L. Myres. 4th edition. Pp. xii + 288. 

 (London : Royal Anthropological Institute, 

 191 2.) Price 55. 

 (5) Rough Stone Mouumcnts ami their BtiiJders. 

 By T. E. Peet. Pp. xii +172. (London and 

 New York: Harper and Bros., 1912.) Price 

 2.<;. 6d. net. 



T' 



School at Athens opens with an interest- 

 ing- review of the working- of this institution since 

 its foundation in 1883, prepared by the honorary 

 secretary, Mr. G. A. Macmiilan. In spite of its 

 limited resources, the school, which deserves more 

 active support from archa;olog:ists and students 

 of classical literature in this country, has done 

 most valuable work in the excavation of historical 

 sites, and in the preparation of monographs on 

 the archaolog-y and anthropology of Greece and 

 the eastern JEgean area. In the present volume, 

 besides reports on the topog-raphy of the Troad, 

 Thebes, Phylakopi, Phokis, and other places, 

 Mr. W. R. Halliday has made an important con- 

 triliution to the study of comparative religion in 

 his article entitled "Cenotaphs and Sacred 

 Localities," in which he deals with the stratifica- 

 tion of local beliefs. It is interesting to read a 

 description of a Thracian Tholos tomb at Kirk 

 Kilisse, written before the recent campaign which 

 has directed public attention to this place. The 

 number, as usual, is provided with a fine series of 

 maps and illustrations. 



(2) Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer, in the new 

 volume of his survey of the people of the Cochin 

 State in south-western India, passes from a de- 

 scription of the degraded forest and menial tribes 

 to the higher castes, with whom he is much more 

 personally familiar. He begins with an elaborate 

 account of the Brahman classes, which display 

 remarkable differences in beliefs and customs as 

 compared with their brethren in northern India, 

 from whom they form a comparatively recent off- 

 shoot. Then come the Nayars, with their strange 

 n-iarriage regulations and their unique association 

 with the Nambutiri Brahmans. Equally interest- 

 ing are the Mohammedan Mappillas, a race sub- 

 ject to occasional outbreaks of savage fanaticism 

 which has from time to time nerved them to resist 

 British troops. We have a full account of the 

 remarkable colony of White and Black Jews, 

 whose origin and history are still subjects of con- 

 iroversy. Finally, he describes the Syrian Church 

 ol Malabar, an institution of much interest to 

 students of the history of Christianity. On all 

 these varied races the author has collected a mass 

 of valuable information. This book, for which 

 NO. 2 2. 1^6. VOL. QOI 



anthropologists are indebted to the liberality of 

 the State Government, is excellently produced, 

 and supplied with admirable photographic illustra- 

 tions. Thanks to the writer and Mr. Edgar 

 Thurston, the ethnologist is now provided with 

 a trustworthy account of the races of southern 

 India. The survey will be completed by a third 

 volume devoted to physical anthropology, the 

 appearance of which will be awaited with much 

 interest. 



(3) Lord Avebury's work on primitive civilisa- 

 tion, first issued in 1870, now ranks as an 

 anthropological classic. It is, however, much to 

 be regretted that the author, in this new edition, 

 has been unable to subject the work to a thorough 

 revision and bring his authorities up to date. It 

 is true that in his introduction he refers to some 

 recent work, and discusses with admirable re- 

 straint the vivacious criticisms of the late Mr. 

 Andrew Lang on the views expressed on savage 

 religion ; but, frankly speaking, his bibliography 

 and references are not up to the level of modern 

 research. A list of authorities on the beliefs and 

 sociology of primitive man which ignores Sir E. 

 Tylor's "Primitive Culture," and writers like 

 Profs. Frazer and Westermarck, Messrs. Craw- 

 ley. Hartland, and Lang, is clearly inadequate, 

 and the authorities quoted in the notes, though 

 good of their kind, are prehistoric, because they 

 do not include recent surveys of savage life in 

 Australia, India, America, Africa, or Melanesia. 

 It may be hoped that in the next edition of this 

 useful book Lord Avebury will take the oppor- 

 tunity of subjecting it to thorough revision, by 

 bringing the bibliography up to date, and improv- 

 ing the notes by quotations from the works of 

 modern travellers and ethnologists. 



(4) The "Notes and Queries on Anthropology," 

 issued by the Royal .'\nthropological Institute 

 with the aid of a grant from the British Associa- 

 tion, now appears in a thoroughly revised edition, 

 prepared under the superintendence of Miss 

 Freire-Marreco and Prof. J. L. Myres. Every 

 chapter of the work bears the marks of careful 

 and judicious reconsideration, and, as it stands, 

 it should be in the hands of every traveller and 

 official w-ho has the chance of investigating savage 

 races. In future editions of this valuable ques- 

 tionnaire, it might be advisable to extend the list 

 of works recommended to the stiident, which only 

 very imperfectly represents the best modern work. 

 A section might also be added suggesting the pre- 

 cautions under which these elaborate interroga- 

 tories should be used in field work, with a sugges- 

 tion, gathered from the experience of those familiar 

 with savage races, of the best methods by which 

 trustworthy information can be collected. 



