564 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 380. 



in any of the natural sciences this knowl- 

 edge may be acquired, but it frequently 

 happens that students having no taste for 

 these branches will not take them under 

 the elective system. Thus they may be 

 graduated with an excellent store of lin- 

 guistic, literary or mathematical informa- 

 tion, and yet be sadly deficient in the power 

 of observation and of correct inference, 

 important requisites for success in this 

 workaday world. To such students anthro- 

 pology opens a new field. He who may 

 abhor the smell of zoological specimens and 

 the sight of laboratory dissections will, per- 

 haps, take kindly to the examination of 

 fictile objects, or textiles, or the various 

 other art products that we study to deter- 

 mine the cultural status of this or that 

 group of men, or for the purpose of tra- 

 cing the course of industrial or sesthetic 

 development. He who may be indifferent 

 to the wonders revealed by the lens of the 

 botanist may engage with enthusiasm in 

 research relating to the music, mythology 

 or ceremonies of alien peoples. He whose 

 interest is not held by the marvelous story 

 of geology fixed in lifeless stone may be 

 zealous in the study of living humanity. 



Among his fellows the anthropologist 

 finds abundant opportunity for cultivating 

 his powers of observation. After studying 

 the problems of heredity, miscegenation, 

 degeneracy, and the like, it becomes an in- 

 stinct with him to note the color of hair 

 and eyes, the shape of the head and face, 

 and other individual peculiarities of those 

 around him. A friend tells me that he 

 relieves the tedium of a long examination 

 of which he may have charge by tabulat- 

 ing statistics concerning the busy writers 

 before him; how many are left-handed, 

 part their hair in the middle, wear glasses, 

 are blonds or brunettes and the like. Here 

 it is little more than a pastime, but it illus- 

 trates the manner in which the habit of 

 observation is fixed. 



In the field the anthropologic investi- 

 gator quickly discovers that to record accu- 

 rately requires the keenest watchfulness. 

 Let us suppose that we are witnessing the 

 annual festival of the Jicarilla Apaches. 

 The event is the relay race. The runners 

 are marching in column through the surg- 

 ing mass of spectators. Drums are beat- 

 ing, rifies and revolvers are fired, shouts 

 and cries add to the confusion. What is 

 the signal that causes the column to divide 1. 

 Why do all march to one goal and then 

 half of them march back to the other? 

 Soon the crack of the' starter 's pistol sends 

 the best runner of each of the two groups 

 down the course on the first relay. The 

 excitement is intense. The walls of the 

 narrow lane down which the brown forms 

 are flitting yield to the pressure from 

 without and threaten to collapse. The ob- 

 server struggles to obtain a position near 

 the goal. Does the winner touch his suc- 

 cessor of the next relay? Does he hand 

 him any object to carry? What is the pur- 

 pose of these branches of cottonwood that 

 are moved up and down the line? What 

 is the meaning of the tufts of down that 

 are added to the scant attire of the run- 

 ners? Why are they cooled by spraying 

 their backs ' from the mouths of their at- 

 tendants? What are the methods of im- 

 parting speed resorted to by the opposing 

 factions? For half an hour the observer 

 hurries from point to point with camera 

 and pencil in hand, and then suddenly the 

 uproar becomes deafening. The race is 

 ended. Offerings of bread, grapes and 

 other fruits from the distant Rio Grande — 

 even watermelons— are thrown from the 

 crowd to the victors. A dozen observers 

 are needed now to complete the account. 

 Indeed, some measure of ubiquity is often 

 longed for by the field-worker. He has 

 every incentive to become proficient in 

 quickness and accuracy of observation. 



Again, the student may be so fortunate 



