"The determination of the Indo-European civilization is precisely the point which affords least hope of any satisfactory result. It rests on linguistic evidence pure and simple, and it is open to the gravest doubt whether such evidence is capable of giving the results which are claimed for it by those who seek to determine the Indo-European home. . . . It should suffice to remember that on the basis usually adopted we would have to conclude that the Indo-Europeans knew snow and feet, but were ignorant of rain and hands. The difficulty, of course, is in theory recognized by all who deal with the issue; the trouble is that in practice they tend more or less completely to ignore it, and to create for us a picture of the Indo-Europeans which is probably a mere delusive shadow of the actual civilization of the people. Yet it should be a warning when we find that linguistically we may assert that the Indo-Europeans knew butter but were unacquainted with milk. (189-190)"