urplicka] 



PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS 



39 



Thirty-five Pima women, beyond the chil(l-])earing period at 

 the same time, had brought fortli a total of, boys, 52.84 per cent; 

 girls, 47.16 per cent. . 



According to these data the number of boys at birth among the 

 Apache was as 115 and among the Pima as 112.1 to 100 girls. This 

 exceeds anything ever observed with living births among the whites. 

 Among white Americans during the year 1900 the births were only 

 104.9 boys to 100 girls, while among Europeans (except Jews, among 

 whom it is higher) the ratio averages, according to Diising, Nichols, 

 Srdiolo, and others, about 106 to 100. It is probable the excess of 

 males over females wherever it occurs in the Southwestern tribes is 

 due primarily to the large birth rate of male children. 



Yet peculiarities of the death rate may also in some instances be a 

 factor. In one of the above series (the Piman), owing probably to 

 exceptional conditions of life, the percentage of females dead at the 

 time of inquiry exceeded somewhat that of males.*^ While a factor 

 not yet clearly understood, a considerable excess of males is not 

 regarded as conducive to the preservation of the race. 



With regard to families in which one or the other sex predomi- 

 nates, the data obtained by the writer are as follows: 



The whole subject is deserving of further attention. The United 

 States Census or the Office of Indian Affairs would render a valuable 

 service to science by the extension of this line of inquiry to all tribes 

 and to all or at least a large number of Indian women of and beyond 

 the child-bearing period. The inquiry here suggested should be 

 extended further to include Indian women married to whites and 

 women of mixed blood. 



Population by Ages 



It is very desirable and would be equally instructive to have 

 accurate data regarding longevity among the various Indian tribes 

 and the proportion of individuals of different ages composing them. 

 Unfortunately, in this case, as with many other points of inquiry, the 

 investigator meets with a great obstacle — the lack of age records. 

 The uneducated Indian — and such are the majority of those dealt with 

 in this work — does not keep any record of his age or of that of his 



a See also next two chapters and deta.I table under Size of Families. 



