12 



NATURE 



[November 3, 1910 



after the panic of 1907. The significance of these 

 changes is at present obscure. 



7. It has been observed that, while immigrants have 

 large families, the size of the family is very materially 

 reduced in the second generation. This reduction of 

 the size of the family goes hand in hand with the 

 improvement of the physical development of the indi- 

 vidual, as is demonstrated by the fact that children 

 belonging' to small families are considerably tallei 

 than children belonging to large families. 



In connection with this last statement it is worth 

 noticing that Prof. Boas points out that statistics 

 taken on the school children of Toronto, Ont., and 

 Oakland, Cal., show that there is a decided decrease 

 in development of the individuals according to the 

 increasing size of the family, and the Toronto material 

 proves that the decrease in stature with increasing size 

 of family takes place on every economic level. This 



Flc. 2. — Sketches of head forms. Showing (i) the average form of the head 

 of the foreign-born Hebrew ; (2) the average form of the head of the 

 foreign-born Sicilian ; (3) the average form of the head of the American- 

 born Hebrew and Sicilian born more than ten years after the arrival of 

 the mother in America. These sketches are intended only to give an 

 impression of the change in proportion. They do not represent the head 

 iorms in detail. 



does not seem to be due entirely to inherited physio- 

 logical causes nor to differences of nutrition. The 

 fact, however, comes out with greatest clearness that 

 reduction in the size of families goes hand in hand 

 with the improvement of physical development. 



The data upon which these conclusions are based 

 are given in tables of measurements, and synthesised 

 in curves. Their trustworthiness depends upon several 

 conditions being carefully investigated. The wide ex- 

 perience of Prof. Boas as a physical anthropologist 

 and his mastery of statistical methods give us con- 

 fidence that his conclusions are well founded. He 

 acknowledges that the problem is an exceedingly com- 

 plicated one, and he describes the various ways in 

 which he has endeavoured to arrive at trustworthy 

 results ; for these the reader is referred to the report. 



One of the most important problems of physical 



NO. 2140, VOL. 85] 



anthropologv is to determine what effect environment 

 has upon the human species. In his address to tht 

 Anthropological Section of the British Association al 

 the Dublin meeting in 1908, and again in his pres_ 

 dential address to the Royal Anthropological Institute 

 on "The Influence of Environment on Man," delivered 

 on January 25, 1910 (which will shortly be published),' 

 Prof. W. Ridgeway has directed attention to this 

 question. Reference may also be made to Dr. R. 

 Humphrey Marten's presidential address to the South 

 Australian Branch of the British Medical Association 

 (Adelaide, 1900), on "The Effects of Migration from 

 the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere." The inves-: 

 ligations Prof. Boas is now undertaking are of prime 

 importance, as they are based on careful measure- 

 ments, but many more similar studies must be made- 

 before general conclusions can be drawn. It is also 

 obvious that this is not a matter of purely anthropo- 

 logical ^ interest, but is of significance to the 

 sociologist, and should not be neglected by the states- 

 man. A. C. Haddon. 



PRESENT CONDITION OF AMERICAN BISON 



AND SEAL HERDS. 

 T7ROM the third annual report of the American 

 ■*■ Bison Society, recently published at Boston, we 

 learn that the condition and prospects of the three 

 herds of bison maintained by the Government of the 

 United States are all that can be desired, and that, 

 in the opinion of Dr. Hornaday, the future of the 

 species is now secured. These herds comprise one in 

 the Yellowstone Park, with ninety-five head, a second 

 in Wichita, with nineteen head, and a third in Mon- 

 tana, with forty-seven head, the total number of 

 animals thus being 161. Of these herds the one in 

 Montana, which occupies a tract of twenty-nine square 

 miles, has only recently been brought together (as 

 described in the present report), and promises to be 

 the best of the three. Indeed, Dr. Hornaday is of 

 opinion that this herd alone would be suflficient to 

 safeguard the species against extinction, since, owing 

 to the extent of the area on which it is established, it 

 is secure against any ill-effects from in-breeding. Re- 

 garding the Yellowstone herd. Dr. Hornaday is less 

 confident, as the relatively small tract on which it is 

 kept may lead to deterioration. The Wichita herd, 

 on the other hand, is as well situated as the one in 

 Montana. 



In another part of the report is given a census of 

 the total number of pure-bred bison living in. captivity 

 in America on May ist, 1910. This total is 1633, 

 against 1592 in 1908, and loio in. 1903, thus showing^ 

 a well-marked and progressive increase. Out of the 

 1633, 626 are in Canada, and the remaining 1007 in' 

 the United States. In 1903 Canada possessed only 

 forty-one head, the enormous increase being appar- 

 ently due to the transference of the Pablo herd from 

 the United States. Of wild bison the total number 

 is estimated at 475, of which twenty-five are in the 

 Yellowstone, and the remaining 450 in Canada. In 

 1908 the number of wild Canadian bison was esti- 

 mated at 300. The grand total of pure-bred animals 

 living in North America is thus approximately 2108, 

 against 1917 in 1908. 



A considerable portion of the Montana herd was 

 purchased from Mrs. Conrad, of Kalispell, in that 

 State, who also presented the magnificent herd-bull 

 shown in the foreground of the illustration herewith 

 reproduced. 



The selected portion of the Conrad herd was driven 

 bv cowboys, without any noise, to the nearest railway 

 siding. Here "each animal was driven singly into 

 the corral that communicated with the loading chute. 



