170 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[AususT 1, 1899. 



a binomial curve, as was first suggested by Quetelet and 

 Galton. By the adoption of such a method we are at 

 once able to recognize the standard of height attained by 

 the greatest number of individuals, whilst the sides of the 

 curve will illustrate the proportions of the various indi- 

 viduals who fall either short of, or exceed, the common 

 standard. In this way we are more likely to obtain 

 accurate information regarding what we may term the 

 type height, and the range and numerical value of the 

 variations. The mathematical method of Prof. Karl 

 Pearson attains the same end, but in this simple case does 

 not appear to possess any obvious advantage over the 

 older method. 



Unfortunately, the bulk of the observations placed at 

 our disposal are in the form of averages, so that it is 

 difficult in these cases to estimate the extreme of 

 variation. 



Amongst tall races are included those that measure 

 1 metre 70 centimetres (5 feet 7 inches) and over. The 

 races of medium height vary from 1 metre GO centimetres 

 (5 feet 3 inches) to 1 metre 70 centimetres (5 feet 7 inches), 

 whilst the short races have a height of 1 metre 60 centi- 

 metres (5 feet 3 inches) or under. 



The tall include such races as the Patagonians, West 

 African negroes, some Polynesians, some American Indians, 

 Scandinavians, and Scotch and English. The short, 

 among others, include the Malays, Lapps, Veddahs, Bush- 

 men, Hottentots, Negritoes (or dwarf Asiatic negroes), 

 the Negrillos — adopting the term suggested by Hamy — 

 which include the Akkas, a dwarf form of African negro. 

 It is these small or pigmy races to which, of late years, so 

 much attention has been directed ; their wide-spread dis- 

 tribution, as well as the fact that they are by many 

 regarded as primitive types, lend an interest to their 

 study quite distinct from their physical peculiarities. 

 Additional importance has been imparted to the study of 

 the pigmy races by Prof. Kollman's discovery, near 

 Schaflfhausen, of the remains of a race of pre-historic 

 dwarfs, the bones of which were mingled with those of a 

 much taller race with whom they must have lived, though, 

 whether in a state of "peaceful harmony," as suggested 

 by the distinguished professor, is another matter. The 

 remains of four such neolithic pigmies were met with, and 

 estimating their height from an examination of their leg 

 bones, it was found that on an average, assuming their 

 bodily proportions did not materially differ from those of 

 living forms, their height did not exceed 1 metre 42 centi- 

 metres (4 feet 8 inches), so that, as regards their stature, 

 they correspond closely with the Negritoes inhabiting the 

 Andaman Islands and the Bush race of South Africa. 



Apart from the Lapps, whose height as a rule is about 

 1 metre 53 centimetres (about 5 feet), we have other races 

 of small people inhabiting different parts of Europe. 

 According to Sergi, people of a height not exceeding 

 1 metre 50 centimetres (4 feet 11 inches) are met with in 

 Sicily and Sardinia, where, he states, they form quite 

 fourteen per cent, of the population ; and from observations 

 made by the same anthropologist there appears little doubt 

 that a correspondingly short race is met with in Central 

 European Russia. This naturally gives rise to the question 

 whether there may not be some association with the dwarf 

 African peoples, as suggested by Sergi in his view of the 

 diffusion of the Eur- African race along the Mediterranean 

 shores. 



Turning now to the consideration of the best known 

 race of living pigmies, we find them located in the more or 

 less inaccessible group of islands in the Bay of Bengal, 

 called the Andamans. Though subjected to European 

 influence since the year 1857, and rapidly undergoing 



physical and moral deterioration from their contact with 

 civilization, yet a record has happily been kept of their 

 physical proportions, as well as their social customs, arts, 

 language, etc., by Mr. E. H. Man. Prof. Sir William H. 

 Flower has described their skeletons, and, in discussing 

 their affinities, has thrown out the suggestion that they are 

 probably " the primitive type from which the African 

 negroes on the one hand, and the Melanesians on the 

 other, may have sprung." In appearance they resemble 

 little negroes (hence the name Negritoes). Their average 

 height for the men is about 1 metre 42 centimetres (4 feet 

 8 inches), for the females about 1 metre 37 centimetres 

 (4 feet C inches). The hair is very fine, and curled in the 

 form of short ringlets, so as to present a frizzy or woolly 

 appearance. The colour of the skin is dark, whilst the 

 features are a modification of the Negro type, displaying 

 less projection of the jaws, and lips not so coarse and 

 thick. 



Closely allied to the Andamanese are the Aetas, the dwarf 

 races who inhabit the mountainous district in the interior 

 of the Island of Luzon, whose height on an average is 

 only 4 feet 8 or 9 inches. 



Similarly populated are other islands of the Philippine 

 group, and so also races of a corresponding type are met 

 with in Formosa, the interior of Borneo, and in the 

 Celebes, but curiously enough no trace of them has 

 hitherto been found in Java. This is particidarly interest- 

 ing, as here Dr. Dubois made his most remarkable dis- 

 covery of the Trinil skull, undoubtedly the earliest human 

 remains yet found, all the facts pointing to the conclu- 

 sion that it probably belongs to the younger Pliocene. 

 Along with this skull a thigh bone was found, presumably 

 a part of the same skeleton. Estimated fi'om this, accord- 

 ing to human proportions, the height of the individual to 

 whom it belonged would be 1 metre 65 centimetres to 

 1 metre 70 centimetres (5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 7 inches) ; 

 considerably taller, it will be noted, than the stature of 

 the Negritoes, and obviously upsetting the theory that the 

 Negritoes are a survival of the primitive stock which peopled 

 that part of the earth. 



In Africa, the existence of pigmy races has long been 

 hinted at. Aristotle, Heroditus, and Pliny all make refer- 

 ence to them, and in an interesting work entitled "Man 

 transformed, or the Artificial Changling," published by 

 -John Bulwer, in 1653, a summary of the then state of 

 knowledge is given, wherein reference is made to the 

 occurrence of such races in Greenland, Lapland, Tartary, 

 India, Africa, and Peru, the various authorities being 

 quoted with much precision and show of critical acumen. 

 To this subject the distinguished French anthropologist, 

 Prof. Quatrefages, has recently directed attention in a 

 work entitled " The Pigmies."' Therein the reader will 

 find an interesting account of the distribution of these 

 dwarf races and the conclusions derived therefrom. 



The Bush race, which inhabits the southern portion of 

 the African continent, has long been familiar to Europeans, 

 averaging 1 metre 40 centimetres (4 feet 7 inches in height) ; 

 they agree closely with the Andamanese. In hair, however, 

 they differ from the negro, for though extremely frizzy, it 

 displays a tufted arrangement as if the scalp was covered 

 with little woolly balls. In colour they are yellower than 

 the negro, and display other physical peculiarities which 

 serve to distinguish them from the other inhabitants of 

 the continent. Though leading the life of degraded savages, 

 they are not without their talents, for, as Mr. A. W. Buck- 

 land has pointed out,t their drawings and paintings wiU 



* Translated by F. Starr. London : Macmillan i Co. 1895. 



f " Anthropological Studies." London : Ward & Downey. 1891. 



