June 9, 1910J 



NA TURE 



433 



wind force and direction made at selected stations of 

 the second order. A discussion of the results obtained 

 by anemometer was not attempted, on the ground 

 that differences of exposure and of the types of instru- 

 ments rendered instrumental results less trustworthy 

 than Beaufort estimates, so far as comparability with 

 one another goes — a striking testimony to the value 

 of the latter, if carefully made. The main tables give 

 for each station the percentage frequency of wind 

 from each of eight principal directions. The winds 

 from each direction are then subdivided according to 

 wind velocity, five gradations ranging up to 15 m.p.s. 

 being distinguished. Values are given for the whole 

 year and for each quarter separately. 



The last chapter of the work is devoted to a dis- 

 cussion of the results for the upper air obtained with 

 kites at Lindenberg. Tables of averages, similar to 

 those prepared for individual stations, are given for 

 ;ach step of 500 metres up to a height of 4000 metres. 



In " I Venti in Italia " we have a publication which 

 s inspired by much the same idea. It has been 

 prepared at the instigation of the Italian Aeronautical 

 Society, and gives information for iii stations in 

 Italy. As in the German work, the observations are 

 grouped under the eight principal wind directions, 

 but the subdivision by wind forces is not carried out. 

 To make up for this omission, the results for the 

 country as a whole are shown graphically on a series 

 of coloured plates included in the final section. In a 

 country like Italy, where there is a marked seasonal 

 variation of wind direction, a pictorial representation 

 is very useful. The work has been entrusted to Dr. 

 Filippo Eredia, of the Central Meteorological Office 

 of Italy, whose name is a guarantee of careful work- 

 manship. 



We cannot discuss the statistical details; he who is 

 interested in the influence of topography on air cur- 

 rents will find much useful information in the very 

 complete wind-roses given with both works. The re- 

 sults will also be useful to aeronauts when selecting 

 sites for practising grounds or for aerial harbours, 

 or in such matters as the selection of the seasons most 

 appropriate for their experiments. 



"SEW GUINEA PYGMIES. 



IN the last number of Country Life (vol. xxvii., 

 p. 797) Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant, under the run- 

 ning title of '"The Expedition of the British Ornith- 

 ologists' Union to the Snow Mountains of New 

 Guinea," published his fourth article, entitled '"The 

 Discovery of a Pigmy Race," part of which appeared 

 in the Times on June 3. All the information we 

 have at present is that the expedition ascended the 

 Mimika river, and at "an elevation of about two 

 thousand feet they came across a tribe of pigmy 

 people, of whom the tallest stood about four feet six 

 inches, the average height being four feet three 

 inches. Though at present no further details havt 

 been received except that they were extremely wild, 

 there can be little doubt that they belong to that dis- 

 tinct division of the human race known as the 

 Negritos." Mr. Ogilvie-Grant added a short account, 

 with illustrations, of the Semang, a Negrito people 

 of the Malay Peninsula. 



Although stature cannot be taken as a trustworthy 

 criterion of race, as it is very variable, there are 

 certain peoples who can be described as normally tall. 

 medium, or short ; those whose stature falls below 

 i'5 m. (4 feet 11 inches) are usually termed pygmies, 

 such as the Negrilloes of Central .\frica, Andamanese, 

 Semang of the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, and 

 Aetas of the Philippines, the three latter being usually 

 grouped together as Negritos. The Negritos are char- 



NO. 2 I 19, VOL. 83] 



acterised by having short ulotrichous (woolly) hair, 

 very dark skin, moderate brachycephalism, and pygmy 

 stature. 



In a valuable essay, "The Negritos" (1899), Dr. 

 A. B. Meyer critically examined the evidence of the 

 distribution of this race, and, so far as New Guinea is 

 concerned, stated that 



" A Negri tic race side by side with the Papuan race 

 nobody has been able to discover just because it does not 

 exist, and it does not exist because the Papuan race, in 

 spile of its variability, is on the one hand a uniform race, 

 and on the other as good as identical with the Negritos " 

 (P- S5). 



When reviewing this essay in Nature (September 

 7, 1899, p. 433), I stated that I was inclined to adopt 

 the view tlaat the various types exhibited by the 

 natives of New Guinea "point to a crossing of 

 different elements," and do not "simply reveal thv 

 variability of the race," as Dr. Meyer is inclined i 

 believe. While agreeing with Dr. Meyer that the 

 different conditions of existence (p. 8oj in New Guinea 

 probably have reacted on the physical characters of the 

 natives (about which, however, we have extremely 

 little precise information), we have now sufficient 

 evidence to prove that the indigenous population, or 

 true Papuans, has in places been modified by intru- 

 sions from elsewhere, and of late years data have bet 

 accumulating for the probability of the existence of a 

 pygmy population, which may consist of dwarfed 

 Papuans, or more probably represents a Negrito stock. 



In Globus (Bd. xcvii.. May 12, 1910, p. 286), Dr. 

 O. Reche, in describing a journey up the Kaiserin- 

 Augusta River, says that — 



" the population consists of three clearly distinguishable 

 types or races, two of which have long, very narrow skulls, 

 and one a short, broad skull. Inland from the river bank 

 there seems to be in addition to these a pygmy-like people 

 of small growth ; at all events, I found in some of the 

 villages situated on the upper river, among other skulls, 

 some which were remarkably small and of a special type 

 wiiich must have been taken from enemies living farther 

 inland." 



Dr. Rudolf Piich stayed from December, 1904, to 

 February, 1905, in the Kai area, which lies inland 

 from Finschafen, also in German New Guinea. In 

 the Mitt, aus den deutschen Schutzgebieten, 1907, he 

 writes (p. 225) : — 



" During the first part of the time I remained chiefly 

 on the Sattelberg itself, and observed and measured the 

 numerous Kai frequenting the Mission station. In them 

 I became acquainted with a mountain tribe entirely differ- 

 ing from the coast peoples previously visited. In fifty men 

 I found the average height to be 152-5 cm. [5 ft.] ; the 

 skulls are, as a rule, mesocephalic to brachycephalic. 

 Towards the coast (Jabim) dolichocephaly becomes more 

 usual, and the type also changes. Very small people are 

 not infrequently met among the Kai. I have already dealt 

 with this remarkable phenomenon elsewhere,' and will not 

 repeat myself here, but simply give the figures. Among 

 300 adult males I found 9 [sic] individuals, i.e. three per 

 cent., below 146 cm. [4 ft. 9 J in.] in height. The statures 

 measured were : 133 [4 ft. 4^ in.], 135, 138-2, 139, 139.1, 

 140, 143, 143-1, 143-2, 145.4, 145-5. 145-6 [4 ft- 9i in-]- 

 Fig. I shows three of these small Kai people. For the 

 present it cannot be determined whether this is merely a 

 vaiiation in stature or whether we have here survivals of 

 an older smaller race not yet entirely merged into the 

 Kai." 



In the Zeitschr. fiir Eihnol., i^cfj, p. 384, Dr. Poch 

 states that the median height of die Kai men is 

 i52'5 cm. (5 feet), that 3 per cent, have a stature less 

 than 140 cm. (4 feet 7 inches), and he goes on to say 

 that on the north coast of British New Guinea and in 

 Norman by Island he often came across very small 



1 Sitzungsberickt der anth. Gesellschaft in Wien, 1905, p. [40] ff. 



