570 



PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION P. 



The subject of the proportions of the upper and lower limbs, and of 

 their various component parts, is one of much interest ; but the measure- 

 ments, having been computed on a very few specimens, are restricted 

 in their value. 



Relation o/ Radius to Humerus. — This has received a good deal of 

 attention. It has recently assumed an important place in anthropology, 

 and Turner has made a classification of human races, based on the 

 radio-humeral index. 



As in the case of other proportions, worked out by White, Law- 

 rence, Humphry, and Broca, the results refer principally to the relation 

 that the human subject, especially the negro, bears to the gorilla, 

 chimpanzee, and orang. It is only of recent years that racial com- 

 parisons have been studied, and the chief work on the subject has been 

 done by Turner, in the Challenger Reports, but, unfortunately, from a 

 very small amount of material. Some years ago I sent him some ad- 

 ditional specimens, regarding which he said, " The limb bones will also 

 be useful in giving me an opportunity of making further measurements 

 in my study of the relative length of the long bones in the Australian 

 natives." He added, " Is it possible to secure examples of the in- 

 nominate bones and sacrum so that one can study the configuration 

 of the pelvis ? " 



The comparative anatomy of the pelvis, so far as it refers to the 

 various races, is a recent study. Nothing on the subject is found in 

 Topinard. Most of the work has been done by Turner, Cunningham, 

 Paterson, and Thomson ; and while the similarity of results to the 

 results of spine study has to be noted, the great dearth of materials 

 has to be mentioned with regret. Among 41 specimens recorded as 

 having been measured, and belonging to races other than white, there is 

 only one pelvis of an Australian female aboriginal. In response to Sir 

 William Turner's request, I have been able to supply to some extent 

 the deficiency, and in process of doing so I have brought to light some 

 things in connection with the lumbar vertebrae and the sacrum that 

 are new -and of special interest. To these I may refer briefly. 



In his Challenger Report, Sir William Turner notes seven examples 

 (out of 30 skeletons) of a peculiarity of the fifth lumbar vertebra, viz., 

 a solution of continuity of the arch immediately behind the superior 

 articular processes, sometimes associated with non-union of the spines. 

 This occurred in a Malay, an Andamanese, a Chinese, two bushmen, 

 an Esquimo, and a negro. Turner also reports it in a Sandwich Islander. 

 No abnormality in the lumbar region or sacrum has apparently been 

 reported in an Australian aboriginal. In 1902 I found in the fifth lumbar 

 vertebra of an aboriginal a hiatus due to the non-union of the spines. 

 This vertebra also showed another peculiarity, since it partook of the 

 characters of a sacral vertebra on its left side and of a lumbar vertebra 

 on its right (Fig. 20). The fourth lumbar (Fig. 21) presented a con- 

 dition of its right transverse process apparently new to anatomy. 

 Another fifth lumbar (Fig. 22) also showed an incomplete arch poste- 

 riorilv. 



