742 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 72. 



affection, kissing, tears, cradles, father and 

 child. 



The sixth chapter, ' Primitive Child-Study ' 

 or ' The Child in the Primitive Laboratory,' em- 

 braces the following headings: Licking into 

 shape, massage, face games, primitive weighing, 

 primitive measurements, measurements of limbs 

 and body, tests of eflBciency, sleep, heroic treat- 

 ment. 



I believe these two statements show that the 

 points of view, according to which the author 

 has coordinated his material, are based entirely 

 on considerations foreign to it. This is particu- 

 larly clear in the sixth chapter. The various 

 customs collated there have hardly any psycho- 

 logical connection and can, therefore, not be 

 held to elucidate in any way the mode of 

 thought of primitive man. He neither thinks 

 of studying children — as we are just beginning 

 to do — nor does he subject them to tests. The 

 customs recorded by the author are practiced 

 for a variety of purposes, but, certainly, the 

 fact that they resemble in a general way tests 

 which we might apply does not give us a right 

 to consider them as psychically connected. 



Almost the only chapters in which we can 

 find a connecting idea are the philological ones 

 with which the book opens. In these the author 

 makes a compilation of the uses to which the 

 terms ' father ' and ' mother ' have been put by 

 various people. But here another lack of 

 the whole work becomes particularly glaring. 

 The quotations are gleaned without any attempt 

 at criticism, and much of the material that is of- 

 ered is not a safe guide to follow, because the 

 observations and investigations of the writers 

 referred to were not sufficiently thorough. 



The book is an illustration of the dangers 

 with which the comparative method of anthro- 

 pological investigation that has come into vogue 

 during the last quarter of a century is beset. 



The fundamental idea of this method, as 

 outlined by Tylor and in the early writings of 

 Bastian, is the basis of modern anthropology, 

 and every anthropologist must acknowledge 

 its soundness. 



But with its growth have sprung up many 

 collectors who believe that the mere accumula- 

 tion of more or less similar phenomena will 

 advance science. In every other science the 



material on which induction is based is scanned 

 and scrutinized in the most painstaking manner 

 before it is admitted as evidence. It is absurd 

 to believe that anthropology is entitled to dis- 

 regard this rule, which is acknowledged as 

 fundamental in all other inductive sciences. 

 Furthermore, the object of anthropological re- 

 search being to elucidate psj'chological laws on 

 the one hand and to investigate the history of 

 human culture on the other, we must consider 

 it a primary requirement that only such phe- 

 nomena are compared as are derived psycho- 

 logically or historically from common causes. 

 How this can be done has been shoAvn by no 

 one better than by Tylor. Only the common 

 mistake of attributing any two phenomena that 

 are somewhat alike to a common cause can ex- 

 plain the reasoning that led the author to amass 

 and to place side by side entirely heterogeneous 

 material. 



I believe anthropologists, by silently accept- 

 ing as a contribution to science a compilation 

 like the present made on unscientific principles, 

 will give countenance to the argument that has 

 been brought so often against anthropology as 

 a branch of science : namely, that it is lacking 

 in a well defined scientific method and that, 

 therefore, it is not equal in rank to other 

 sciences. Feanz Boas. 



New York, May 1st, 1896. 



THE DISCUSSION OF INSTINCT. 



To THE Editor of Science : I have been 

 much interested in the letters in your columns 

 on the instinctive activities of young birds. Cer- 

 tain opinions which I hold — and others that 

 the writers suppose that I hold — have been 

 criticised. To explain my exact position, how- 

 ever, would occupy more space than I can rea- 

 sonably ask you to afford nie. May I be al- 

 lowed, therefore, to content myself with stating 

 that I have in preparation a work on Habit and 

 Instinct which will, I hope, be published to- 

 wards the close of this year. There my own 

 observations will be described and reference 

 will be made to the work of other observers, 

 and there the provisional conclusions drawn 

 from such observations will be discussed. I 

 desire to make this statement, lest my silence 

 should be regarded as discourteous in the coun- 



