570 



SCIENCE. 



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



pends upon two elements, the credulity of 

 man, and the power of the sub-conscious 

 mind. The parallel is observed in the 

 medicine-men of that modern cult which 

 numbers hundreds of thousands of other- 

 wise intelligent Americans. Their healers 

 proceed by methods no more rational than 

 those of the aborigines, and in some re- 

 spects similar to them. Their success de- 

 pends upon the same two factors. The red 

 shaman calls the headache an evil demon 

 and proceeds to suck it through a tube. 

 The white shaman terms it sin and dispels 

 it by a ' demonstration. ' 



The student of folk-lore learns of the rise 

 and fall of many an ' occult ' belief. As 

 this phase of human expeiience is intangi- 

 ble and variable, those only who have been 

 instructed concerning the characteristics 

 of thought can profit by an accumulated 

 knowledge. 



While anthropology may not be classed 

 as a ' bread and butter ' study, it does 

 equip the student who is to become a mer- 

 chant, physician, attorney, with a practi- 

 cal knowledge of the motives of his com- 

 petitors and clients. He learns in youth 

 the significance of the folk-saying, ' Human 

 nature is the same the world over.' His 

 interest in the science cannot terminate 

 with the pass-mark of the final college ex- 

 amination, but must be coextensive with 

 his interest in his kind. He will employ 

 it in his vocation and enjoy it as an avoca- 

 tion. 



To the aspirant for honors in the diplo- 

 matic service, anthropology offers an ad- 

 mirable training. He learns the signifi- 

 cance of the racial factor in national wel- 

 fare; the measure and condition of pro- 

 gress; the principles of ethnologic juris- 

 prudence; and, also, the characteristics of 

 the particular people among whom his du- 

 ties lead him. 



For the legislator, anthropology must 

 become a necessary preparation. America 



has problems whose solution calls for the 

 widest knowledge of races and cultures. 

 Such knowledge, free from political bias 

 and hereditary prejudice, can best be 

 gained by the study of the science of man. 

 The list of these problems is a formidable 

 one, including Philippine slavery, Moham- 

 medan harems, Tagal insurrections, Span- 

 ish-American complications, coolie labor, 

 the negro problem, the Indian question, not 

 to mention the demands for legislation that 

 shall regulate the immigration of Poles, 

 Russian Jews, Italians, Hungarians and 

 others. 



Anthropology prepares the law-maker 

 and the jurist for the task of coping with 

 crime. Criminal anthropology has ex- 

 plained the character and causes of crim- 

 inality and degeneracy, and led to revolu- 

 tionary changes in the methods of crime 

 prevention. While it is difficult to accept 

 all the claims of the school of which Lom- 

 broso is the accomplished master, we must 

 acknowledge our indebtedness to it for the 

 reforms that it has directly or indirectly 

 inaugurated. 



For the injurious effects of exclusive 

 specialization, anthropology offers a cor- 

 rective. It is particularly fatal to narrow- 

 ness in the teacher, who oftentimes leads 

 young people to specialize in his particular 

 field before they are aware of their own 

 aptitudes and wishes. It forearms the 

 teacher of inferior races, who usually ig- 

 nores the traditional mental activities of 

 those he would instruct. It induces a more 

 considerate attitude in the missionary who 

 calls the religion of his parishioners mere 

 superstition, and speaks with contempt of 

 their mode of thought, not appreciating 

 the manner of its growth through un- 

 counted centuries of struggle. 



These fcAV representative examples but 

 buggest the extent of the utility of the sci- 

 ence in the affairs of men. In the training 

 of youth anthropology furnishes a com- 



