28 



The Journal of Heredity 



region and season, because there will be 

 the necessary demand for them. How 

 far the change from one food to an- 

 other is essential to health is a question 

 for the dietitians to settle, but I do 

 insist that the whole question of test- 

 ing new foods must rise from the 

 slough of foolish neglect, where it re- 

 mained almost from the time of primi- 

 tive man, to the plane it deserves to oc- 

 cupy, for, after all, we are not certain 

 we have the best. We know a few food 

 plants cannot grow everywhere, and 

 the whole drift of evolution is towards 

 a greater variety of all things— foods 

 as well as other things. 



New foods (new species, not only 

 new preparations) must, and I believe 

 will, be tried out on as great a scale as 

 that which characterizes the advertis- 

 ing campaigns for cereal foods. When 



that time comes many of the new plant 

 foods will come into their own and 

 compete with the old and form natural 

 agricultural monopolies where they 

 grow the best. 



We would indeed be supine if, blind 

 to the lessons of this great war, we 

 dropped back into the same old rut in 

 our education with regard to the role 

 which is being played in agriculture 

 through the foolish, unreasoning and 

 unjust popular ridicule of the great 

 foods of the world. Narrow-minded- 

 ness in the food habits of the people is 

 as much to be avoided as narrow-mind- 

 edness towards labor-saving machinery 

 or towards morals or government or re- 

 ligion. The restricted menu affects the 

 essential function of eating and so ef- 

 fects the adaptability of the species and 

 hinders its evolution. 



Racial Problems and World Problems 



A recent meeting of the newly 

 formed Galton Society took place in the 

 American Musum of Natural History. 

 It was preceded by a luncheon at which 

 the members present were the guests 

 of Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn 

 and Mr. Madison Grant. The follow- 

 ing members and guests were present : 

 Professor E. G. Conklin, Mrs. William 

 H. Crocker, Dr. C. B. Davenport, Dr. 

 Gregory, Mr. Madison Grant, Mrs. E. 

 H. Harriman, Professor Huntington, 

 Professor McGregor, Professor Mer- 

 riam. Professor Osborn, Dr. Lothrop 

 Stoddard, Professor E. L. Thorndike, 

 Dr. Wisslor, Dr. F. A. Woods. 



Professor Merriam, of California, 

 spoke of the place anthropology should 

 hold in the universities. In order 

 to make the discussion concrete, he 

 gave a brief outline of the history 

 of the anthropology in the University 

 of California. When the department 

 was started everyone thought best to 

 begin with the local anthropological 

 problem, in other words, with the study 

 of the California Indians. Under Pro- 



fessor Kroeber this work has been car- 

 ried to a very satisfactory conclusion 

 and, while a great deal more work 

 could be done, it seems that a point 

 had been reached where new problems 

 should be undertaken. The speaker 

 thought this was typical of anthro- 

 pology in America. Everywhere the 

 feeling had been, and rightly, that 

 attention should be given to the prob- 

 lems at hand. The result is that we 

 have a very systematic body of knowl- 

 edge concerning the North American 

 Indians, but have no contributing work- 

 ers in larger anthropological problems. 

 The effect of the world war and its 

 broadening influences make it highly 

 desirable that anthropology should be 

 put upon a broader and more funda- 

 mental plane, particularly should it deal 

 with problems concerning our own ra- 

 cial and national antecedents. The 

 broadening of anthropology would also 

 require the drawing in and coordination 

 of much that has been done in psychol- 

 ogy, biology, neurology and history. 



