Reports Upon the Present Condition and Future Needs of the Science of Anthropology (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from Reports Upon the Present Condition and Future Needs of the Science of AnthropologyAnother and closely allied problem is concerned with the relation between physical anthropology (somatology) and other branches of ethnological inquiry. Natives do not like being measured and they like it the less the more complete and thorough the examination by which the measurements are obtained. Such an apparently insignificant detail as snipping off a piece of hair for the purpose of microscopical examination may not merely offend the personal feelings, but may produce the utmost misery or even sickness through the infringement of a religious injunction. One who begins his acquaintance with a people by getting them to submit to physical examina tion can hardly expect to have obtained a satisfactory introduction to the confidence and sympathy of the people, if he wishes to carry his investigations beyond the superficial and the obvious. The case is exactly parallel with that of the work whose 'primary aim is the collection of material objects. If the physical measurement be postponed till a later stage of the inquiry, all that is wished can be done, and done far more effectually and completely, while other lines of inquiry will prevent misunderstanding and confusion which may be the chief outcome of the measurements alone. Pedigrees may show that many members of the population are the descendants of steady streams of immigration which have perhaps for generations been coming from other places, and an exact knowledge of relationship may convert a collection of figures useful only for the study of a limited range of problems into material of the utmost value for the study of heredity and racial intermixture. Here again the measurements may be fewer and they may cover a narrower geographical field, but they will form a far more valuable and a many-sided source of exact and trustworthy knowledge.If the general principles and points of view which I have so far out lined be accepted, it will follow that the prime need of anthropology is for the intensive investigation of those living examples of human culture which are most likely to disappear or suffer serious decay. The primary and imme diate task of any undertaking designed to further anthropological science should be the investigation of such examples of human culture by the most exact and thorough methods which are available, in which the collection of material objects and the examination of man's physical characters Shall occupy such a place in the inquiry that they do not interfere with the general success of the undertaking, but are coordinated with other lines of work.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.