160 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



anthropology as a science dealing with primitive and backward peoples, 

 and it has sometimes been felt that to apply its principles to neigh- 

 bom'ing peoples, enjoying as high a civilisation as our own, might be 

 looked upon as an insult, implying that their culture was sufficiently 

 primitive to warrant their inclusion in our inquiries. But if we agree 

 that all mankind, savage and civilised alike, are fit material for the 

 anthropologist's investigations, we need have no hesitation in studying, 

 not only the bodily and mental equipment of our neighbours, but their 

 material culture, social organisation, and religious beliefs, just as 

 already, for practical purposes, we study their languages. 



To some extent this has been done by travellers, who describe 

 strange customs and ceremonies which take place in out-of-the-way 

 places. These are usually, however, selected because they are quaint 

 or rare, rather than for the scientific value which they possess, and 

 being recorded too often by untrained observers many details of the 

 utmost scientific importance are frequently omitted. In spite of the 

 comparative uniformity in customs and beliefs among the educated 

 classes throughout Christendom, a uniformity which is perhaps more 

 apparent than real, as soon as we get to the peasant or workman the 

 differences become more apparent. There is not a country in Europe, 

 nor even a province, in which we may not find features of an anthro- 

 pological nature which separates its population, in some respects at 

 least, from the inhabitants of other areas. It is these differences, 

 unimportant as they may appear, which come to the front when trouble 

 is brewing, and these are the factors which, above all others, we need 

 to understand if we are to avoid treading on corns in moments of national 

 irritation. 



It does not fall to the lot of many to spend part of their lives 

 among backward peoples, and only a small section of our compatriot? 

 dwell amid the civilisations of the East. Many people, however, have 

 constant opportunities of travel throughout Christendom, and not a few 

 visit from time to time some of the lands in the Islamic zone. Here 

 they can, to some extent at least, obtain first-hand data of an anthro- 

 pological nature, and make themselves familiar with some aspects of 

 the life of the place. With minds trained to observe accurately and 

 to understand what they see, even a few weeks' holiday in a foreign 

 land will enable them to appreciate better the ideals of their hosts. 

 Constant travel by people alive to the importance of such inquiries will 

 in time so influence the public opinion of many of the nations of Europe 

 that misunderstandings will be less frequent and national sensitiveness 

 less prone to take offence at words and actions which are not intended 

 to provoke. 



But it is not only foreign countries and their inhabitants which the 

 anthropologist needs to study. In every country, especially in lands 

 which have been subject to successive invasions, there are different 

 strata in the population which have different customs and a different 

 outlook. The British Isles are no exception to this rule ; history records 

 the successive arrivals of Eomans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans, and 

 the study of prehistoric i-emains shows us that these invasions have 

 been preceded by a gi'eater number in earlier days. Just as the physical 



