APPENDIX B 



THE PYGMY QUESTION 

 By Dr. a. C. HADDON, F.R.S. 



Pygmies, as their name implies, are very short men, 

 and the first question to decide is wliether this short 

 stature is normal or merely a dwarfing due to unfavour- 

 able environment. Although stature cannot be taken as 

 a trustworthy criterion of race, since it is very variable 

 within certain limits among most races, there are certain 

 peoples who may be described as normally tall, medium, 

 or short. The average human stature appears to be 

 about I "675 m. (5 ft. 6 ins.). Those peoples who are 

 1725 (5 ft. 8 ins.) or more in height are said to be tall, 

 those below 1-625 ^i- (5 ft. 4 ins.) are short, while those 

 who fall below 1*5 m. (4 ft. 11 ins.) are now usually 

 termed pygmies. One has only to turn to the investiga- 

 tions of the Dordogne district by Collignon and others to 

 see how profoundly la miscrc can affect the stature of a 

 population living under adverse conditions, for example 

 in the canton of Saint Mathieu there are %'% per cent, 

 with a stature below 1-5 m. But when one finds within 

 one area, as in the East Indian region, distinct peoples 

 of medium, short and pygmy stature, living under con- 

 ditions which appear to be very similar, one is inclined 

 to suspect a racial difference between them, and the 

 suspicion becomes confirmed if we find other characters 

 associated with pygmy stature. 



Pygmy peoples are widely distributed in Central 



