25 



in every twenty-five is subject to this defect. Astigmatism exists, 

 according to observations on the boys and masters ut Marlborough 

 School, in two out of every three individuals. 



These are the principal enquiries undertaken by the Antliropo- 

 metric Committee ; otliers might liave been added, as the size and 

 shape of head, for the cephalic index can be calculated from the 

 head of a living individual almost as well as from a skull ; the 

 length of the lower limbs, as shown by the difference between the 

 sitting and standing positions ; tlie girth, length, and breadth of 

 other parts of the body :— but it was soon found that the simpler 

 the requirements were, the more trustworthy would Be the results, 

 and that it is a great mistake to ask for too much. 



For a test of hearing, Mr. Galton has devised a very pretty 

 little instrument, consisting of a whistle sounded by squeezing air 

 out of a small india-rubber bag, and marked with a graduated 

 scale, the figure on wliich is to be observed at the moment the 

 squeak of the whistle becomes inaudible. It is complicated, 

 however, by the fact that the air leaving the mouth of the whistle 

 makes a sound at the same time, and that the observer has to be 

 careful to distinguish between the two. For ascertaining the 

 faculty of distinguishing between slight differences of weight, 

 Mr. Galton used cartridges which he filled, not with powder, but 

 with weights increasing by small degrees. For the cartridges have 

 now been substituted smaU brass cylinders. 



Probably the largest collection of anthropometric statistics over 

 brought together was that published by the Government of the 

 United States of America, in three volumes, of the soldiers in the 

 armies of the Union at the conclusion of the War of Secession, 

 edited by Dr. J. H. Baxter. As these men were not a picked 

 military body, but were volunteers enrolled from all classes of the 

 people, the statistics were of great value. Since their publication, 

 Mr. B. A. Gould has published a work on the same subject ; and 

 Professor Bowditch, of Harvard, Mass., has made extensive 

 anthropometric researches, especially with regard to the growth of 

 children. 



In Switzerland, observations on the colour of eyes, hair, and 

 skin of 405,609 children have been recorded. In Belgium, 



