NO. 6 EAR EXOSTOSES HRDLICKA 2/ 



SEX 



Since Bonnafont (1868). all writers who have dealt with the sub- 

 ject agree that ear exostoses are considerably more common in men 

 than in women. Thus Delstanche ( 1878, p. 14) says that they are 

 " much more frequent in males," and practically the same words are 

 used by Von Troeltsch (1881, p. 141). Whitney (1886, p. 442) found 

 " the subjects were as a rule men " ; for Kessel (1889) the growths 

 were " decidedly more frequent in the males." Schlomka ( 1891, p. 16) 

 and Sabroux ( 1901) express themselves exactly as do Delstanche and 

 \^on Troeltsch. For FJraunberger ( 1896) it is " certain they are more 

 common in males." There are many other expressions to the same 

 effect. 



More definite data on the subject, in living Europeans, are given by 

 Korner and Bezold. The latter says (1908, p. 102) : " The male sex 

 is affected much more frequently than the female. My statistics show 

 a proportion of 1 1 to i, those of Korner of 3.5 to i." 



The individual clinical reports are frequently negligent as to sex, but 

 from those in which sex is stated, the indications are very conclusive. 

 Out of 89 instances that I was able to gather in which the sex was 

 given, 70 of the individuals, or nearly four-fifths (78.7 percent), were 

 males, and but 19, or a little over one-fifth (21.3 percent), were 

 females. Jn tlie old craniological observations on non-European peoples 

 sexing has been attempted in but a very few cases and that inade- 

 quately ; but as far as the data go they show among those aft'ected with 

 ear exostoses a decided predominance of males. 



New observations. — The new materials reported upon in this work 

 have all been sexed on the basis of ample experience, with all possible 

 care, and often with the aid of the rest of the skeleton, so that the 

 records may safely be held reliable to within less than 5 percent of 

 possible error. The results are given in the table on page 28. 



The data show that : 



]n all the groups, Egyptian, American, and Polynesian, ear exostoses 

 are more common in the males than in the females. 



The total frequency of the growths in a group appears to have little 

 if any influence on their relative frequency in the two sexes. 



The proportion of occurrence in the two sexes differs considerably 

 between some of the groups. Much of this difference is probably con- 

 nected with the unequal and not always adequate number of specimens, 

 but apparently there are also other reasons, the nature of which re- 

 mains obscure. 



In the two Polynesian groups the relative frequency of the growths 

 in the females is higher than that in any of the American series. 



