i;.54 SCIENTIFIC RECORD FOR 1882. 



of those upon which students of natural history are wont to found spe- 

 cies — that is, if they were in existence before men were men, and were 

 not brought about since — then polygenism is the true explanation of 

 race difference. However that may be, the whole question depends 

 upon the proper study of environment as to its influence upon living 

 beings. 



Of course, we may study this subject from two points of view. If a 

 balsam ap])le be allowed to grow in any bottle whatever, it will exactly 

 fill the space. Kow, we may regard the bottle as shaping the apple or 

 the apple as fitting the bottle. Likewise with life and its environ- 

 ment. Professor Hseckel calls this housekeeping of organisms, cecol- 

 ogy; Karl Semper, universal physiology; Mivart, hexicology. The 

 terms ''biology," "physiology," " ergology," and even "psychology" 

 have also entered into this scrutiny of organic beings in the presence of 

 environment. They also show the points of view from which the stu- 

 dent regards this complex relation. 



In a discussion upon the growth of children, Mr. George W. Peckham, 

 of Milwaukee, takes up the relation of man to his surroundings. "The 

 size of an organism is the result of inherited tendencies as modified by 

 the two varying factors of waste and repair. To the sum of all the 

 conditions which regulate the rate at which reintegration and disinte- 

 gration take place the name 'environment' is ;!pplied. It occurs to me 

 that by far the greater portion of an iu('.i\ idual's surroundings are de- 

 termined for him by the degree of density of population in the locality 

 in which he lives. That climate has any considerable effect in modify- 

 ing growth, in the face of facts, seems quite improbable. Theoretically 

 a low temperature ought to stunt men, since a large amount of energy 

 would be expended in maintaining bodily heat. Taking a wide survey 

 of the facts we find that the western Eskimo, the negroes of Guinea 

 the Australians, the Patagonians, and the Kaffirs all have an average 

 height of over 170 centimeters. In Europe the non-dependence of 

 stature upon latitude is patent. The rate of growth is such that the 

 boys are taller until the twelfth year and heavier until the thirteenth. 

 Between thirteen and fifteen the girls are taller and heavier; after 

 fifteen the boys exceed the girls in weight and stature. Children of 

 l^ure American descent are taller than children of foreign-born pariButs, 

 but are lighter than those of German parents. The height of American- 

 born men is more modified by conditions accompanying density than 

 by all other influences, race excepted ; urban life tending toward a de- 

 crease of stature." {Sixth An. Bep. Wis. Bd. of Heallh ) 



XI.— INSTRUMENTALITIES. 



All sciences have their instruments of precision, which are but aids; 

 to the perceptive faculties, the memory, and the reason. The anthro- 

 pologist, for each division of his subject, has his implements, his graphic 

 methods, and his symbols. It is very interesting to note how the per- 



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