trigued by the report that "Indian parturients are given a birth syrup of which molasses (273 mg per ioo g) is a principal ingredient." I do not see any connection between this and whether the San were ever "genuine hunter-gatherers" or the calcium-intake or lactosemalabsorber problem. Moreover, I doubt that the "birth syrup" is given to all women of all groups, castes, and classes in all regions in India. Sweeping statements based on a general antipathy towards theories which do not explain culture only in terms of culture do not suffice for scientific discourse. Sometimes some knowledge is also necessary, and in the case of the milk-drinking San a very basic textbook in evolutionary biology would have done.