Indian Antiquary Vol 42

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 306

292
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[DECEMBER, 1913.
inquiry methodically conducted on lines which experience has shown them will lead to the minimum of error in observation and record.
I trust I have been clear in my explanation of the anthropologists' case, though in the time at my disposal I have been unable to do more than indicate the subjects they study, and have been obliged to exercise restraint and to employ condensation of statement to the utmost extent that even a long experience in exposition enables one to achieve. Briefly, the science of anthropology aims at such a presentation and explanation of the physical and mental facts about any given species or even group of mankind as may correctly instruct those to whom the acquisition of such knowledge may be of use. In this instance, as in the case of the other sciences, the man of science endeavours to acquire and pass on abstraot knowledge, which the man of affairs can confidently apply in the daily business of practical life.
It will have been observed that an accurate presentation of the physical and mental characteristics of any species of mankind which it is desired to study is wholly dependent on accurate inquiry and report. Let no one suppose that such inquiry is a matter of instinct or intuition, or that it can be usefully conducted empirically or without due reference to the experiences of others; in other words without sufficient preliminary study. So likely indeed are the uneducated in such matters to observe and record facts about human beings inaccurately, or even wrongly, that about a fourth part of the Notes and Queries ' is taken up with showing the inquirer how to proceed, and in exposing the pitfalls into which he may unconsciously fall. The mainspring of error in anthropological observation is that the inquirer is himself the product of heredity and environment. This induces him to read himself, his own unconscious prejudices and inherited outlook on life, into the statements made to him by those who view life from perhaps a totally different and incompatible standpoint. To the extent that the inquirer does this, to that extent are his observations and report likely to be inaccurate and misleading. To avoid error in this respect, previous training and study are essential, and so the Notes and Queries on Anthropology,' a guide compiled in co-operation by persons long familiar with the subject, is as strong and explicit on the point of how to inquire as on that of what to inquire about.
Let me explain that these statements are not intended to be taken as made ex cathedra, but rather as the outcome of actual experience of mistakes made in the past. Time does not permit me to go far into this point, and I must limit myself to the subject of Sociology for my illustration. If a man untlertakes to inquire into the social life of a people or tribe as a subject apart, he is committing an error, and his report will almost certainly be misleading. Such an investigator will find that religion and technology are inextricably mixed up with the sociology of any given tribe, that religion intervenes at every point not only of sociology but also of language and technology. In fact, just as in the case of all other scientific research, the phenomena observable by the anthropologist are not the result of development along any single line alone, but of a progression in a main general direction, as influenced, and it may be even deflected, by contact and environment.
If again the inquirer neglects the simple but essential practice of taking notes, not only fully, but also immediately or as nearly so as practicable, he will find that his memory of facts, even after a short time, has become vague, inexact, and incomplete, which means that reports made from memory are more likely to be useless than to be of any scientific value. If voluntary information or indirect and accidental correboration are ignored, if questions are asked and answers accepted without discretion; ii exceptions are mistaken for rules, then the records of an inquiry may well mislead and thus become worse than useless. If leading or direct