346 
EEPOKT UPON PHYSICAL CHAKACTEKS OF NILOTIC NEGROID TRIBES 
The degree of prognathism among different tribes constitutes an important factor in 
discriminating between the races, and an attempt has been made to obtain an index for this 
feature by comparing the length of a radius drawn from the auricular point to the root of the 
nose with one drawn from the auricular point to the alveolar point on the gum at the root of 
the upper incisor teeth. An index of this kind affords a rough method of estimating the 
amount of projection of the upper jaw. In the great majority of cases among the Nuers 
this index was from 100 to 110, or even, in one ease, 115 mm. In only one individual had it 
sunk as low as to 92-S, and the average among the thirteen individuals was 106-6. In an 
aboriginal Australian, measured by Prof. Cunningham,' the alveolar index, measured in 
the same way, was 104 mm. 
CJiamcters of the Nose. The nasal height showed considerable variation. Among the 
one set of representatives the height varied from 32 to 50 mm., while in the other the figures 
varied from 37 to 47 mm. Comparing this with the breadth of the nose we find the diameter, 
as might be expected, to be large, being as much as 47 mm. in one case among the first set, 
and 45 mm. in the second. In many cases the breadth exceeded the length and the 
height. The average nasal index was found to be 103 in the first set, and 97 in the second. 
Li.mhs. The length of the upper arm varied from 305 to 385 mm. in one set of people, 
while in the second set it was from 330 to 370 mm., and the average length was 348 mm. 
In one case the length of the forearm exceeded that of the upper arm by 5 mm., but the 
average length of the upper arm among the first set was 339 mm. and that of the forearm 
313 mm., while in the second set the corresponding figures were 348 and 311 mm. The 
upper arm, therefore, practically always exceeded the forearm in length. 
Measurements of the length and breadth of the hand and fingers were made in some 
cases, with the result that the average maximum length of the fingers was 104 mm. and the 
breadth of the hand in the same cases was 79'4 mm. 
Turning to the lower limb, the length of the thigh varied from 450 to 540 mm. in one 
set, and from 430 to 465 mm. in the second, the average length being 452'8 mm., while the leg 
varied from 390 mm., which is unusually short, and 440 mm., which is about the average, to a 
maximum of 518 mm. among the first set measured. But the variation in length among the 
second set was much less, from 425 to 460 mm., and the average length was 444-2 mm. The 
length of the foot was, on the average, 241 mm. to the tip of the second toe, and 248 min. 
to the tip of the great toe, while the breadth of the foot was, on the average, 99 mm. 
The value of these and the numerous other measurements as racial characters will be 
best discussed by carrying out a comparison between the results obtained in them and those 
found in the other tribes. 
The stature, among the first set of people, ranged from 1650 mm. to 1760 nun., and 
was even as much as 1950 mm. in one individual, but the average stature was 1780 mm. 
The average obtained in the second case was 1795-7 mm. The two sets of people, 
therefore, show a close resemblance to one another, with a few minor variations. 
Summarising the general physical characters of this tribe it is found that they are a 
tall people. The length of the lower limb is not quite half the length of the body, but the 
span of the arms usually exceeds the height liy 100 mm. The length of two segments of 
the lower limb exceeds that of the corresponding parts of the upper limb by 237 mm., while, 
as regards their head and face, they are dolichocephalic, with vertical height which is even 
less than the width of the skull. The face is rather wide and the zygomatic arch is fairly 
prominent. The minimum frontal diameter is rather high, and the nasal index is high and 
resembles that found among such races as the native Australian. 
‘ Cimninghaiii, D. .J., “The Head o£ an Aboriginal .Vusti-aliau.” liepnrt of the Royal Anthropoloyieal 
Jnstitutc, 190,S. 
