PIGMENTATION IN OLD AMERICANS — HRDL1CKA. 445 



tions. They were restricted to healthy adults of both sexes of be- 

 tween 24 and 60 years of age and without any selection as to class or 

 territorial derivation. The subjects were all volunteers and in- 

 cluded members of some of the foremost American families. 



The stud}' proved throughout one of the most absorbing interest ; 

 but an unexpected difficulty developed in finding sufficient numbers 

 of persons of the right qualifications. Native Americans whose fami- 

 lies have two generations on each side born in this country may 

 already be counted by the million, but those of three generations or 

 more are far scarcer, except in certain limited inbred regions or 

 communities. It was on this account that short trips had eventually 

 to be taken into Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, and finally 

 the mountain region of Tennessee, where additional series of highly 

 interesting subjects were examined. 3 



The final number of subjects on whom observations were made 

 counts nearly 2,000. The large majority of them were from the 

 Eastern States, the States that furnished the old stock to the rest of 

 the country. In the East all the States are represented in the series 

 from Maine to the Gulf, and a good comparison will be possible be- 

 tween the Yankees and the Southerners. . 



The first preliminary report upon these studies was made before 

 the Nineteenth International Congress of Americanists in 1915 at 

 Washington ; 4 the second before the recent International Eugenics 

 Congress in New York; and a third in April, 1922, before the Na- 

 tional Academy of Sciences in Washington. The data on pigmenta- 

 tion and conditions relating to the hair are embodied in this article. 



DEFINITIONS. 



By pigmentation we mean the amount and nature of coloring 

 matter in the skin, eyes and hair ; though the condition is also manifest 

 in the mucous membranes, in the sclerotic, and even in other parts 

 and tissues of the body. 



The pigmentation of an individual is not the same throughout his 

 life, and will not appear the same under all conditions. It is much 

 influenced by age, prolonged exposure or confinement (especially the 

 skin and hair) and state of health. In addition the appearance of 

 the skin, eyes, and even hair will be modified by the blood (flush, 

 paleness or blueness of skin, brightness or dullness of eye, dull dry- 

 ness of hair), the state of feeling, the presence or absence of the 

 natural sebaceous or oily coating (in the skin and hair), and the 



3 In Virginia, very efficient help with the work was given by Professor Robert Bennett 

 Bean, of the University of Virginia. After mastering the methods employed by the 

 writer, and with the same instruments, he measured a good series of the U. S. Corps of 

 Engineers located at that time near the University. 



* Published in the Proceedings of the Congress, Wash. 1917, pp. 5S2-601. 



