Abstract
THE practical difficulty of drawing a dividing line between the legitimate scope of anthropology and that of other studies is so great that we are often told there is no science of anthropology. This absence of definiteness adds a charm1 to the subject and is fertile in the production of new ideas, for it is at the fringe of a science that originality has its greatest scope. It is only by a synthesis of the various studies which are grouped together under the term anthropology that one can hope to gain a clear conception of what man is and what he has done. After giving a brief classification of the subjects included under the general term of anthropology, Dr. Haddon said his reason for touching on the subject at all was to suggest a general survey in the hope that fellow-students may carefully consider the lines upon which future research may be undertaken with profit, as there are times and occasions when one branch of inquiry is more immediately desirable than another. A few remarks were made on certain aspects of anthropological research, and various lines for future investigation were indicated.
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Anthropology: Its Position and Needs 1 . Nature 67, 449–450 (1903). https://doi.org/10.1038/067449a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/067449a0