are being made and the physical and pathological facts which are being 

 secured are deficient in the required degree of inherent accuracy, it is 

 self-evident that one of the greatest opportunities for securing such 

 information will be lost, if, in fact, it has not been entirely missed, in 

 connection with the examination of the manhood of the nation, at ages 

 21 to 31, under the provisions of the Selective Draft. 



RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON ANTHRO- 

 POLOGY OF THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 



The value of the opportunity for securing such information was 

 clearly recognized by the Committee on Anthropology of the National 

 Research Council, and repeated efforts were made to induce the army 

 authorities to adopt a blank for examination purposes which would pro- 

 vide for all time a trustworthy return of the physical characteristics of 

 the age period when maturity has been reached and when the resulting 

 information would be most useful for practical, medical and other 

 purposes. The blank suggested to the authorities is appended to this 

 discussion (Appendix A), but it is most regrettable that it should not 

 have been adopted. The measurements which have been made or 

 will be made in the case of millions of men will therefore be almost 

 useless for scientific purposes and, there are reasons for believing, 

 frequently misleading for the purposes of the Selective Draft to secure 

 those best fitted for military service in the field. The new data, 

 therefore, cannot be utilized to best advantage in the ultimate work- 

 ing out of trustworthy standards of height, weight and chest expan- 

 sion, which are the three essentials insisted upon by army medical 

 authorities. Indifference to the racial antecedents of the examined 

 recruit or conscript, or, in other words, the race or country of birth of 

 the parents of the person examined, precludes the practical utility of 

 the new information, since, as presently to be shown, the racial factor, 

 in height and weight, at least, is invariably of paramount importance. 



by John Beddoe, B. A., M. D., &c, London, 1870; Height, Weight and Chest Measurements 

 of Soldiers, by Dr. H. Busch, Berlin, 1878; The Relation between Growth and Disease, by 

 H. P. Bowditch, M. D., Philadelphia, 1881; Die naturliche Auslese beim Menschen, by Otto 

 Ammon, Jena, 1893; The Range and Significance of Variation in the Human Skeleton, by 

 Thomas Dwight, M. D., LL. D., Boston, 1894; Anthropometry and Physical Examination, by 

 Jay W. Seaver, A. M., M. D., New Haven, Conn., 1896; Social Anthropological Studies, by 

 Dr. W. Pfitzner, 1899; A Graphic Standard Table of Heights and Weights, by Oscar H. 

 Rogers, M. D., 1899; Manual of Physical Measurements, by Wm. W. Hastings, Springfield, 

 Mass., 1902; Essay on the Stature of Man at Various Epochs, by A. Dastre, from the 

 Smithsonian Institution Report for 1904; Overweight and Underweight Statistically Inves- 

 tigated by Means of a Card System, by S. W. Carruthers, in Proceedings of the German 

 Periodical for Insurance Sciences, 1907; Physical Growth and School Progress, by Bird 

 Thomas Baldwin, Washington, 1914; Physical Anthropology in America, by Ales Hrdlicka, 

 Panama-California Exposition Edition, Lancaster, Pa., 1914; Socio-Anthropometry, by B. L. 

 Stevenson, Ph. D., Boston, 1916; Communication from Mr. Francis Galton on International 

 Anthropometry to Sir Rawson W. Rawson, President of the International Statistical Insti- 

 tute; Zur Anthropometric der Menschen Messkunst, by Dr. Engel, Director, Royal Bureau 

 of Statistics of Prussia (n. d.) ; Meddelelser on Danmarks Antropologi (Communications on 

 the Anthropology of Denmark), an annual report issued by the Danish Anthropological Com- 

 mittee on the anthropological survey of Denmark, Copenhagen, 1910-12; Military Anthro- 

 pology, by Livi; Criminal Anthropology, by Lombroso; General Anthropology, by Enrico 

 Morselli; Anthropology of Sweden, by Retzius and Fuerst, 1902. 



15 



