. Nature . l country from theplains, and it is found only among the more primitivetribes, like the Irulas and Kurumbas. Even amongthem it is important to note that prognathism andwooliness of hair appear as aberrant characters. Inthe second place, when we speak of the Dravidianhead form, we must remember that it is not con-sistently uniform throughout the Presidency. What-ever may be the causes of this variance of type—theinfluence of environment or miscegenation—aboutwhich Mr. Thurston, with his characteristic caution,declines to express an opinion, it is certain that thetype in the northern
. Nature . l country from theplains, and it is found only among the more primitivetribes, like the Irulas and Kurumbas. Even amongthem it is important to note that prognathism andwooliness of hair appear as aberrant characters. Inthe second place, when we speak of the Dravidianhead form, we must remember that it is not con-sistently uniform throughout the Presidency. What-ever may be the causes of this variance of type—theinfluence of environment or miscegenation—aboutwhich Mr. Thurston, with his characteristic caution,declines to express an opinion, it is certain that thetype in the northern district is subbrachycephalic ormesaticephalic, while it is only in the Tamil andMalayalim countries that we find it to be dolicho- orsubdolicho-cephalic. The chief interest in the ethnography of southernIndia lies in the startling variances of culture whichappear throughout the population. For an exampleof what is apparently the lowest type, we may turnto the Yanadis, a dark-skinned, platyrhine, under-. sized tribe inhabiting the Telugu country. Theirreligion is a crude form of animism; they make fireby friction ; eat their food almost raw, merely scorch-ing or warming the flesh of the animals which theykill; and yet, with the curious inconsistency whichpervades the Hindu social system, they are regardedby the higher classes as gentlemen of the forest, areallowed to draw water from wells used by high-castepeople, and may carry it to Brahmans. In directcontrast to them we may refer to the Nayadis, atribe in the plains little higher in culture than theYanadis, who live by collecting jungle products, andare regarded as so impure that in their begging roundsthev are compelled to stand at a distance fromrespectable houses, and to make their appeals forcharitv in stentorian tones. A. higher tvne of culture is reached in the Badagas,the agriculturists of the hills, where the pastoralelement is represented by the Todas, and the industrial ?66 NATURE [SErTEMBER 22, IQIO by the Kota
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