332 
BEPORT UPON PHYSICAL CHAR AC'TEIiS OF NILOTIC NEGEOin THIBES 
Fertits 
When these variations in physical cliaracter are found allied with dift'erenoes of occu¬ 
pation, of customs, and of degrees of civilisation, it is difficult to l)elieve that the tribes 
form a homogeneous entity, and it is obvious that no general statement, or only one on lines 
so general as to be almost valueless, can l)e laid down regarding the racial character of 
Nilotic negroes. 
I shall therefore first of all take ipi in some detail the leading characters of the various 
tribes represented in Dr. Pirrie’s collection of measurements. 
The tables which are appended give the average measurements obtained from some 
twelve different tribes, and tables are also appended giving the detailed figures of the 
individuals in several of them. In one or two cases, measurements of representative 
individuals of the same tribe were made in different localities, and I have included in 
separate tables the measurements taken in different places, so as to determine whether the 
racial characters of the one tribe are constant in different localities. The individuals who 
were measured were, without exception, males, and their ages ranged from twenty to forty- 
hve or hfty years. 
In dealing with these measurements I have selected only a few for purposes of com¬ 
parison among the tribes, and chiefly those which are already known to he of value to the 
physical anthropologist, such as head-form, stature, and characters of the nose, with, in 
some cases, reference to the length of the limbs. 
In comparing measurements and indices from the living subject with those obtained 
from measurement of the dried hones of the skeleton, allowance must he made for the 
presence of the soft tissues. Thus, in the case of the head, it is necessary to subtract from 
the indices of heiglit and width to obtain a basis of comjiarison with similar indices 
taken from skulls. 
This subtraction of a figure of from 1 to 2 should also be carried out in order to group 
the heads into the recognised classes of long, medium, and short, as applied to the skull, 
but as the measurements in this jiaper refer entirely to the living subject I have thought 
it inadvisable to introduce any arlhtrary, and not always accurate, deduction from the 
indices, and have compared tribe with tribe on the basis of measurements and indices 
which include the soft tissues. 
The gnathic index used throughout is obtained by comparing the auriculo-alveolar with 
the auriculo-upper-nasal length. 
Nelson Annandale has shown that the measurement from the ear-hole Ijy a projier 
instrument, such as that of Prof. Cunningham (the one, I believe, used by Dr. Pirrie), give 
results which are very similar to measurements to the same points (nasion and alveolar 
point) from the basion, allowing for the soft tissues which cover the root of the nose and 
the alveolar margin of the jaw. 
Fertits 
Measurements were made at Barl)oi (Table I.), and also at Eenk and Melut (Table 
VII.1. In the former case nine individuals were measured, and in the latter case only live, 
and a certain amount of discrepancy exists in the averages in the two cases. The stature 
was very much the same in both, 171 and 170 cm. ; but the cephalic index in the first case 
was only 73-8 and all the individuals came very near this figure, while in the other case the 
index was as high as 78, and in tliis case also three out of the five had indices of nearly 80 
or over. As might be expected, the vertical index in the first case is also low, 69-5, and in 
the second case, 71-2. Among the individuals of whom we have complete measurements 
(at Renk and Melut), the mesaticephalic individuals, the thigh and leg together measured 
85 cm., or practically one half the height. 
