eexliv Proceedings of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal. {N.S., XVII, 
expedition to the Torres Straits was undertaken, and, as a 
result of the expedition, we possess the invaluable volumes 
on the anthropology of that region, up till then very imper- 
fectly known to science. Whereas these foreign Universities 
have enthusiastically fitted out expeditions to distant lands 
for anthropological study and research, our own Universities 
have hitherto remained lamentably indifferent even to the 
unbounded field for anthropological investigation lying at 
their very door. Again, whereas very few of our Universities 
have thought fit to approach the imperial or Provincial 
help in this direction. But without the co-operation of a body of 
educated persons taking a practical interest in such work, 
these societies cannot be expected to accomplish much. And 
even in this respect, our Governments in India have been far 
less liberal than, for example, the Government of the United 
States which makes an annual grant of £8,000, a year to 
