DtCEMBER 24, I90SJ 



NA TURE 



able image shall be sent to the far land of BaUhtan to 

 cure the sick daughter of the king of that country. 

 We read how an Egyptian statesman of the reign 

 of Anienhetep III., Amenothes, son of Paapis, was 

 deified by popular superstition after his death, and 

 was eventually admitted to the pantheon. We see 

 a half-comic kinematograph picture of a donkey 

 driven by a fellah and accidentally kicking a half- 

 buried pot, out of which falls the rich golden and 

 silver treasure of Tukh-el-Garmus, now one of the 

 " show pieces " of the Cairo Museum. We see the 

 falling stones revealing the shrine in which stands 

 the Hathor-cow of Deir-el-Bahari, once more greet- 

 ing the light. We read an ancient Egyptian medical 

 treatise and the philosophical dispute of an Egyptian 

 with liis own soul. So the pictures change swiftlv, 

 and the showman explains them with winged words. 

 The book is translated, on the whole, extremelv 

 well. There are, however, some faults in it. On 

 p. 1114, " I'imperatrice Sabine " is translated " the 

 S.aliine Empress" (!) instead of "the Empress 

 Sabina." This is dreadful, as is also " at Cyprus " 

 on p. 51 for " in " Cyprus. One does not say " at 

 England," though one has noticed " at Crete " in 

 the newspapers lately. " Malgache chiefs " (p. 225) 

 are, in English, Malagasy. But blemishes of this 

 kind can be taken out in a second edition of the 

 book, which, it is to be hoped, will appear in a few 

 years' time with additions, and with one or two 

 articles, which are somewhat out of date, such as 

 that on " .\rchaic Egvpl," omitted. 



H. R. Hall. 



A' 



4 PIGMENTATION SURVEY OF SCOTLAND.' 

 A. interested in anthropology and sociology will 

 welcome the recent increase of interest in and 

 the renewal of extensive investigations into the 

 physical characters of the population of the British 

 Isles. The report by Mr. J. F. Tocher on the latest 

 investigation, "A Pigmentation Survey of School 

 Children in Scotland," carried out under the auspices 

 of a committee of the Royal Society, is the most 

 important that has appeared since the publication 

 of Beddoe's " Races of Britain," which forms the 

 basis of our knowledge of racial distribution in these 

 islands. The general and local distribution of colour 

 traits in the children has been accuratelv recorded, and 

 the influence of various factors of race and environ- 

 ment determined. 



The completion of this report is most timely in 

 view of the survey of the school children of England 

 and Wales now being undertaken under the Educa- 

 tion .Act of iqoy. The Board of Education, in its 

 circular, only requests information as to the stature 

 and weight of the children, but it may be hoped that 

 ono_ result of the present publication may be the 

 addition to the schedule of observations on the hair 

 and eye colour, without which all evidences of race 

 arc lost and the whole investigation is rendered in- 

 complete and possibly even misleading. 



The Scotch survey was carried out bv sending 

 schedules and instructions to the masters "in all the 

 schools. These, fortunately, took the matter up so 

 r enthusiasticallv that returns comprising information as 

 to some half-million children were sent in, for which 

 thev will receive the sincere thanks of all anthropolo- 

 gists, who are only too conscious that without the 

 cooperation of the teachers no survev could be even 

 attempted. The hair colours recognised were red, 



1 ■' Pigmentation Survey of School Children in Scotland " By T F 

 Tocher. From KwKeMta. a Journal for the Statistical Study of Biological 

 Problems vol. vi , Nos. 2 and 3. (Cambridge : Universily Press, r.d.) 



NO. 2043, VOL. 79] 



fair, medium, dark, and jet black; the eye colours, 

 pure blue, light, medium, and dark, so that the 

 schedule closely resembled that used by Beddoe. It 

 was found after many e.xperiments that satisfactory 

 lithographic reproductions of the standard colours 

 could not be reproduced, so that the returns refer to 

 tlescriptions, not actual matches of the hair and eyes. 

 It has, however, been shown that classifications based 

 on written descriptions agree sufficiently closely with 

 those obtained by actually comparing each child with 

 standard samples of hair and artificial eyes. 



The schedules having been received, the actual pro- 

 portion of children in each colour class in each locality 

 was determined, the divergence from the figures for 

 the whole of Scotland being noted. By somewhat 

 elaborate calculations it was ascertained whether these 

 divergences were such as might have occurred in a 

 chance sample of the whole population or were sig- 

 nificant of the action of definite factors affecting the 

 local type of pigmentation. 



The Orkney and Shetland Islands, Lewis, eastern 

 Caithness, the eastern boundaries of the Highlands, 

 Lothian, and the Border counties contain a signi- 

 ficantly fair child population. A significant excess of 

 dark hair characterises the Highlands, Galloway, and 

 the citv of Glasgow. Jet-black hair is found in excess 

 in the Highlands. Brown or medium hair is the 

 feature of all densely populated areas. Red hair is 

 only in excess among the populace to the north of 

 the Grampians and to the east of the Caledonian 

 Canal. The author points out that it is significant 

 that this area should have been the home of the oppo- 

 nents of .-\gricola described by Tacitus as rufous. The 

 fair-haired districts correspond to the areas occupied 

 by the Scandinavian or Nordic race, and present 

 another northern feature in the significant excess of 

 pure blue eyes. 



The characters of the Gaelic-speaking population 

 were specially investigated, with the result that an 

 excess of dark and jet-black hair was found. A large 

 proportion of blue eyes was also discovered, possibly 

 in part explained by intennixture of non-British 

 elements now speaking Gaelic. 



Glasgow was found to present such divergences 

 from the general population as to require a special 

 studv. In no division of the city was there an excess 

 of fair hair; medium hair was present in excess 

 throughout the city and to a less extent in the 

 suburban areas. Dark and black hair was found 

 with unusual frequency in the Gorbals and Tradeston 

 districts. Dark and medium eyes were significantly 

 more prevalent in the more denselv populated districts. 

 Glasgow thus agrees with I^ondon and most Con- 

 tinental cities. 



Tocher shows that three factors mav be concerned 

 in this selection. The darkening of the hair with 

 age might take place earlier among fair-haired city 

 children, and the process might be miore intense. For 

 this there is at present no evidence. The medium 

 class micht be the more fertile. The author shows 

 that the number of births per family is greater than 

 the average in areas characterised by an excess of 

 mediuni hair and eyes, while it is telow the average 

 in areas in which fair hair and blue eves are in 

 excess. 



Lastly, the excess of medium traits might be due 

 to blending. The offspring of parents, one fair, the 

 other dark, tend to present hair colours in the pro- 

 portion of one fair, one dark, and two medium, which 

 corresponds with the numbers found in denselv popu- 

 lated areas. In the case of eye colours such blending 

 does not_ seem to occur, so that the excess of dark 

 and medium eyes in towns can only be explained by 

 the preponderance of these colours among the poorer 



