ABSTRACT
IN the previous chapters I have been considering in broad outline the general conditions to which man is subjected in Asia, and the groups into which the inhabitants of that area have been generally divided. In the chapters which follow I shall attempt to discuss in detail the general ethnology of the various parts of Asia. In spite of its disadvantages I have found it most convenient to follow the example of most of my predecessors, and to adopt the geographic method of grouping. This method has the obvious advantage that the greater part of the works referred to deal with particular small areas. It also makes the task of the reader simpler if he wishes to consult an atlas, as he will not be continually turning over pages. Such a division is, however, artificial when considered from the point of view of the classification of mankind, although geographical and other boundaries do seem to have played a definite part in the moulding of peoples.
