[Letters to the Editor.]

Abstract

THREE of Mr. Hodson's criticisms I can answer very shortly: (1) I am well aware of the existence of the I.C.S. probationers' courses: I have expressed the opinion that considering the importance of anthropology to the embryo administrator, they are scarcely sufficient. (2) The option of selecting an Indian area in the Cambridge Anthropological Tripos is something. How ever, I have pointed out that the district gazetteers, which must be the source books for this work, are "uncorrelated compilations"; in my opinion, they are extremely difficult to handle critically, without some personal knowledge of the areas concerned. (3) With regard to my alleged neglect of Dr. Hutton's and Mr. Mills's magnificent work, I can only point out that I was discussing the impending carving-up of India into federated units: the Assamese hills ore not culturally part of India proper, and from the point of view of the problem under discussion, they offer no great difficulty, because their cultural boundaries are clearly defined.