Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 27, 1916.djvu/345

 REVIEWS.

The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India. By R. V. Russell, I.C.S., Superintendent of Ethnography, Central Provinces, assisted by Rai Bahadur Hira Lal, Extra-Assistant Commissioner. 4 vols. London : Macmillan and Co. Ltd., 1916. 42s. This work, "published under the orders of the Central Provinces Administration," has been issued since the author's lamented death. He was one of the victims of the German submarine that sank the Persia in the Mediterranean Sea, on her voyage to India a few months ago. The book is in continuation of the series on the tribes and castes of the various provinces of the Indian Empire, begun so brilliantly by the late Sir H. H. Risley and Mr. Crooke. Mr. Russell has worthily carried on their labours. If he has indulged in speculations, at times somewhat risky, such as Mr. Crooke's characteristic caution withheld him from, he has at other times opened glimpses that promise explanations of customs otherwise mysterious and even grotesque. He freely uses the writings of previous investigators of the history and relations of the various tribes and castes represented in the Central Provinces, always punctiliously and properly citing his authorities. This adds to the value of the book as a work of reference. The assistance rendered to him by various officials, native and European, is also acknowledged at the head of every section.

The object of the series of books on the tribes and castes of the various provinces is not merely scientific, valuable as it is for that purpose. We are reminded in the Preface that it "is intended primarily as a work of reference for the officers of Government, who may desire to know something of the customs