616 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 
pology aims at such a presentation and explanation of the physical and mental 
facts about any given species or even group of mankind as may correctly instruct 
those to whom the acquisition of such knowledge may be of use. In this 
instance, as in the case of the other sciences, the man of science endeavours to 
acquire and pass on abstract knowledge, which the man of affairs can confidently 
apply in the daily business of practical life. 
It will have been observed that an accurate presentation of the physical and 
mental characteristics of any species of mankind which it is desired to study is 
wholly dependent on accurate inquiry and report. Let no one suppose that such 
inquiry is a matter of instinct or intuition, or that it can be usefully conducted 
empirically or without due reference to the experiences of others; in other words 
without sufficient preliminary study. So likely indeed are the uneducated in 
such matters to observe and record facts about human beings inaccurately, or 
even wrongly, that about a fourth part of the ‘ Notes and Queries’ is taken up 
with showing the inquirer how to proceed, and in exposing the pitfalls into 
which he may unconsciously fall. The mainspring of error in anthropological 
observation is that the inquirer is himself the product of heredity and environ- 
ment. ‘This induces him to read himself, his own unconscious prejudices and 
inherited outlook on life, into the statements made to him by those who view 
life from perhaps a totally different and incompatible standpoint. To the extent 
that the inquirer does this, to that extent are his observations and report likely 
to be inaccurate and misleading. To avoid error in this respect, previous 
training and study are essential, and so the ‘ Notes and Queries on Anthro- 
pology’, a guide compiled in co-operation by persons long familiar with the 
subject, is as strong and explicit on the point of how to inquire as on that of 
what to inguire about. 
Let me explain that these statements are not intended to be taken as made 
ex cathedrd, but rather as the outcome of actual experience of mistakes 
made in the past. ‘l'ime does not permit me to go far into this point, and I must 
limit myself to the subject of Sociology for my illustration. If a man under- 
takes to inquire into the social life of a people or tribe as a subject apart, he 
is committing an error, and his report will almost certainly be misleading. 
Such an investigator will find that religion and technology are inextricably 
mixed up with the sociology of any given tribe, that religion intervenes at every 
point not only of sociology but also of language and technology. In fact, just 
as in the case of all other scientific research, the phenomena observable by the 
anthropologist are not the result of development along any single line alone, 
but of a progression in a main general direction, as influenced, and it may be 
even deflected, by contact and environment. 
If, again, ‘the inquirer neglects the simple but essential practice of taking 
notes, not only fully, but also immediately or as nearly so as practicable, he 
will find that his memory of facts, even after a short time, has become vague, 
inexact, and incomplete, which means that reports made from memory are more 
likely to be useless than to be of any scientific value. If voluntary information or 
indirect and accidental corroboration are ignored, if questions are asked and 
answers accepted without discretion, if exceptions are mistaken for rules, then the 
records of an inquiry may well mislead and thus become worse than useless. 
Tf leading or direct questions are put without due caution, and if the answers 
are recorded without reference to the natives’ and not the inquirer’s mode of 
classifying things, crucial errors may easily arise. Thus, in many parts of the 
world, the term ‘ mother’ includes ‘all female relatives of the past or passing 
generation, and the term ‘brother’ the entire brotherhood. Such expressions 
as ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ may and do constantly connote relationships which 
are not recognised at all amongst us. The word ‘marriage’ may include 
‘ irrevocable betrothal,’ and so on; and it is very easy to fall into the trap 
of the mistranslation of terms of essential import, especially in the use of words 
expressing religious conceptions. The conception of godhead has for so long 
been our inheritance that it may be classed almost as instinctive. It is 
nevertheless still foreign to the instincts of a large portion of mankind. 
Tf also, when working among the uncultured, the inquirer attempts to 
ascertain abstract ideas, except through concrete instances, he will not succeed 
in his purpose for want of representative terms. And lastly, if he fails to 
project himself sufficiently into the minds of the subjects of inquiry, or to 
