An analysis of the nutritional system of a primitive people
opens out a new, and very interesting, field of research, and it is fitting that a woman should be a pioneer in this direction, though others, notably Dr. Steffansson among the Eskimo, have done some little-acknowledged spade-work. In Hunger and Work in a Savage Tribe (Routledge, 10s. 6d.), Dr. A. I. Richards has surveyed the problem with general reference to the Southern Bantu, and particular reference to the Babemba of Rhodesia among whom she has had her first field experience. The result is a book of absorbing interest, well put together and documented, in which she analyses the various nutritional factors and shows, not only how the quest of food knits together the various aspects of culture, but also shapes the sentiments which bind together the members of each social group. This is not the place for a critical analysis of her work, but while the book has naturally a special appeal for biologists and anthropologists, it may also be recommended to all intelligent readers who need not fear that they will be faced by a formidable array of technicalities. Though perhaps she errs on the side of dogmatism and would find it difficult to justify all her deductions, Dr. Richards has given us a book which is provo- cative and sane, and at the same time exhibits primitive culture from an entirely new angle.
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