by these artisans, even though they are characteristic of
the society to which they belong; we shall rather deal with
the position of each body in the community, its comparative
status of superiority or inferiority, its prerogatives and
duties as one of a number of parallel or intercrossing aggre-
gates. Similarly, if we have occasion to take notice of re-
ligious corporations, interest will not center in beliefs or
observances, but in the position which the several groups
occupy in the general polity. If we were to view Christian-
ity from this angle, differences as to auricular confession or
the theory of transubstantiation would figure mainly as
group labels, while the rise to ascendancy in the state of
one body of believers, the degradation of another, the dis-
abilities of a third, would primarily engage our attention.
Nevertheless it is impossible to anticipate how much knowl-
edge of religion proper would prove necessary to illuminate
the main problem, and unawares we might find ourselves
plunged head over heels into the subtleties of scholastic
disputation. It is not otherwise with savage peoples, and
in order to gauge with accuracy the character of a social
organization it is sometimes essential to take note of data
representing all other phases of aboriginal activity.

Scientifically the study of primitive societies does not
require justification. They exist and as part of reality
Science is bound to take note of them. But the manner
and spirit in which they have been regarded in the past have
differed widely, and it will not be amiss to consider some
of the ideals pursued in their investigation.

For one thing, it is possible to assume a predominantly
monographic attitude. Some students fix their gaze upon
a single people at a single epoch of its existence, and en-
deavor to describe this one culture with the utmost fidelity.
In the higher reaches of this type of work the ethnographer
becomes an artist who sympathetically penetrates into the
latent spirit of his culture and creates a picture after the
fashion of Gobineau's Renaissance. That is the ideal of

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