is so much harder, to be candid about ourselves. Let us look at ourselves as
if we were so many bees and ants, not forgetting, of course, to make use of
the inside information that in the case of the insects we so conspicuously lack.
This does not mean that human history, once constructed according to truth-regarding
principles, should and could not be used for the practical advantage of mankind.
The anthropologist, however, is not, as such, concerned with the practical employment
to which his discoveries are put. At most, he may, on the strength of a conviction
that truth is mighty and will prevail for human good, invite practical men to
study his facts and generalizations in the hope that, by knowing mankind better,
they may come to appreciate and serve it better. For instance, the administrator,
who rules over savages, is almost invariably quite well-meaning, but not seldom
utterly ignorant of native customs and beliefs. So, in many cases, is the missionary,
another type of person in authority, who
