1897.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 525 



omy. He was never satisfied with describing variations merely. 

 To his acute and orderly mind they remained valueless and mean- 

 ingless until their full significance, both as cause and consequence 

 in the complete morphology of the individual, was set forth. 



This masterly grasp of the inter-relation of anatomical facts was 

 finely illustrated by his various communications in the Proceedings 

 of this Academy and elsewhere, on the consequences brought about 

 when the immediate ancestor of Man gradually adapted himself to 

 walk upright instead of upon '"all fours." 



Dr. Allen traced most of the special anatomical characteristics 

 of Man to this evolution from a quadrupedal to a bipedal type. He 

 pointed out how it led to a new disposition or re-arrangement of the 

 special organs, such as pushing the heart over to the left side due to 

 the flattening of the sternum, and changes in the position of the 

 teeth. He took pains to point out also that our species is still far 

 from being entirely adapted for the erect position, as is evidenced by 

 the inadequate valvular mechanism of the veins, the shape of the 

 pelvis and other features. 



Such considerations led him in one of his later papers, read be- 

 fore the Congress of American Physicians and Surgeons, (1894), to 

 point out the practical application of morphology as a factor in the 

 etiology of disease. This essay is full of interesting matter for the 

 anthropologist, and is largely based on comparative racial anat- 

 omy. 



He justly says : "The scientific study of race in connection with 

 diseased action is almost an unbroken field." 



I have space to mention only two of the highly important con- 

 clusions reached in that essay. 



The first is the striking distinction which he draws between spe- 

 cialization and degeneration in Man, as compared with analogous 

 processes in the lower animals. I illustrate it by his example of 

 the change from a quadritubercular to a tritubercular tooth in the 

 human species. Dr. Allen remarks of this : " We can say with cer- 

 tainty that the loss of a cusp in a human molar tooth is associated 

 with decreased initial energy ; and that such changes are not due, 

 as in the lower animals, to adaptation to special, and as a rule to 

 higher ends." 



The second point in this paper of the greatest interest to anthro- 

 pologists, is the contrast which Dr. Allen draws between the skele- 

 tons of civilized and uncivilized men. The bones of civilized peo- 



