SCIENCE. 



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



himself has felt the clutch of the demon 

 of thirst that camps ever close upon the 

 trail. 



The student engaged in field research in 

 archeology can usually find but few facts at 

 best from which to reconstruct the history 

 of the past, and those few are often ob- 

 scurely hidden in the mud of the swamp 

 or the sand of the desert, where a careless 

 blow of the spade may annihilate the rec- 

 ord forever. For example, the shape of 

 ancient wooden implements may be known 

 from the mold of clay in which they de- 

 cayed; but this form may be destroyed by 

 ■a. single stroke. Many old skulls, also, are 

 so fragile when found that after a few 

 minutes' exposure to the air they crumble 

 to dust. Careful treatment may save some 

 of them, but quick and accurate observa- 

 tion is absolutely necessary. 



But correct observation is not the sole 

 requirement for success. It suffices to 

 render a man useful and helpful in minor 

 positions, but ere he can become a leader 

 in thought and action he must have the 

 ability to interpret the data accumulated. 

 In other words, he must develop his rea- 

 soning powers, and here again anthropol- 

 ogy presents her opportunity. In the do- 

 main of culture history, particularly in its 

 genesis, he ventures upon so much con- 

 troversial ground that he must wield his 

 weapons well in order to pass safely 

 through. It was to this opportunity for 

 diversity of opinion, and the innate belli- 

 cose tendency of man, that Huxley attrib- 

 uted the growing popularity of the science 

 a quarter of a century ago. I have found 

 that the presentation in the lecture room 

 of the inter jectional, gesture, and other 

 theories of language usually leads to the 

 liveliest discussion Avith the students, dis- 

 cussions that are sometimes adjourned to 

 the home of the instructor. The ascertain- 

 able evidence relating to the origin of be- 

 liefs gives rise to widely differing induc- 



tions. A venerable friend who is prepar- 

 ing a treatise upon religion told me that 

 he had found sixty-two theories accounting 

 for its origin— and I had the pleasure of 

 calling his attention to a sixty-third. In 

 the examination of any considerable por- 

 tion of that array of arguments, the stu- 

 dent must exercise his judgment to dis- 

 criminate between the plausible and the 

 reasonable. Pie aims to discover funda- 

 mental principles and laws, and to that end 

 his attitude must be, not credulous, but 

 critical. Folk-lore, too has its debatable 

 problems of myth migration, acculturation 

 and relationship. In the arts opportuni- 

 ties for independent reasoning abound; 

 for example, the student may examine the 

 weapons, utensils and ceremonial objects 

 of a tribe, and by comparison and analysis 

 determine the character and course of de- 

 velopment of its decorative art. He may 

 study primitive scales of music, and inves- 

 tigate the theories of Danvin, Spencer, 

 Grosse and others accounting for its ori- 

 gin. 



The ethnologic study of technology is by 

 no means the least in its power to stimulate 

 thought. The college student all too fre- 

 quently loses sight of the importance of the 

 part that, manual labor plays in the main- 

 tenance of civilization, and is usually ig- 

 norant of the extent of its contributions 

 to cultural development. It extends the 

 range of his thoughts to learn of the age- 

 long gropings of his forebears in their dis- 

 covery of the value of a newly fractured 

 flint as a cutting instrument, and their im- 

 provement of it until it became a symmet- 

 rical blade. He sees a deeper meaning in 

 the simpler industrial activities as he learns 

 that the training of the muscles reacts upon 

 the brain. The savage who binds a raw- 

 hide netting around a rough frame for his 

 snowshoes, finds that the untrimmed edges 

 of the wood soon cut through the leather. 

 He makes many pairs, perhaps, before he 



