NA TURE 



667 



THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1913. 



IMMIGRATION AND ANTHROPOMETRY. 



Changes in Bodily Form of Descendants of 

 Immigrants. By Prof. Franz Boas. Pp. xii4- 

 573. (New York : Columbia University Press ; 

 London : H. Frowde, 1912.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 



IN the year 1908 Prof. Boas, at the request of 

 the United States Immigration Commission, 

 began an investigation into the physical character- 

 istics of immigrants. The volume under review 

 contains an elaborate tabulation of the anthropo- 

 metric data obtained, together with an analysis 

 of the conclusions drawn from them. One of the 

 most remarkable of the facts brought to light is 

 the changes undergone in head form by the descend- 

 ants of Hebrews and Sicilians. The cranial index 

 of the former when born in Europe appears to 

 be about 83 ; it sinks to 81 among those born 

 in America. Among the latter, on the other hand, 

 the index rises with the change of birthplace from 

 78 to more than 80. 



It has been suggested, as a mechanical explana- 

 tion of the relative lengthening of the Hebrew 

 skull in America, that in Europe the babies 

 of this race when very young are wrapped 

 up in swaddling clothes so tightly that they 

 cannot move themselves, and kept l^ing on 

 their backs ; that thus there is constant pres- 

 sure on the back of the skull when it is in its 

 most plastic condition, with the result that it 

 decreases in length but increases in breadth. In 

 .America much greater freedom is allowed to the 

 child, and it can lie as it likes, sometimes on its 

 back, sometimes on its side ; consequently, with 

 the removal of the conditions which produce an 

 artificial shortening a longer skull is developed. 

 Prof. Boas examines and dismisses this hypo- 

 thesis. One of the principal objections to it is 

 that if it applies to the Hebrews it should apply 

 to the Sicilians and Bohemians, who also keep 

 their babies tightly swathed, but the relative 

 length of the skull among the children of Sicilian 

 and Bohemian immigrants decreases instead of 

 increasing. 



It has also been argued that the results obtained 

 are due to the fact that the types of immigrants 

 of each nationality have been changing gradually, 

 but an examination of the cranial indices of 

 Hebrews who immigrated at different periods from 

 18S0 to 1910 show that the index is constant 

 throughout this period, and in addition to this the 

 difference between those who arrived in any parti- 

 cular year and their descendants is the same as 

 that shown by a similar comparison involving the 

 whole series. 



KO. 2260, VOL. 90] 



The reality of the results is confirmed by the 

 fact that the changes noted are more marked 

 among those children who were born more than 

 ten years after their mothers had arrived in the 

 United States than among those whose mothers 

 had arrived more recently. 



.\lthough the numbers dealt with are not \ery 

 large, it is difficult to suppose that the results are 

 due merely to chance, nor can they be attributed 

 to what might be called a statistical accident. 

 There does not appeai to be any ground for deciding 

 whether they are due to the influence of a changed 

 environment or to the selective elimination of 

 certain types. Prof. Boas inclines to the former 

 view and urges that the onus of proof rests on 

 those who hold the latter. They will probably be 

 inclined to disagree with him on this point. 



E. H. J. S. 



PROBLEMS OF THE COTTON PLANT. 

 The Cotton Plant in Egypt. Studies in Physiology 

 and Genetics. By W. Lawrence Balls. Pp. 

 xvi-l-202. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd, 

 1912.) Price 5X. net. (Macmillan's Science 

 Monographs.) 



THERE can be no doubt of the freshness and 

 originality of mind with which Mr. Balls 

 has attacked a great diversity of problems in their 

 application to the cotton plant. Some of these 

 questions are genetic, some pathological, some 

 physiological in the stricter sense, and most of 

 them involve considerations of direct economic 

 importance. 



Starting with the intention of improving the 

 Egyptian cotton crop, the author found himself led 

 on from one problem to another, and to the solu- 

 tion of each he makes a real contribution, often 

 approaching to the dignity of discovery. His 

 analysis of growth-rate and of the many influences 

 which affect it is an illuminating piece of work, 

 full of novel suggestions, and a botanical physio- 

 logist, looking for a line of work, might with profit 

 follow up any of the various threads which Mr. 

 Balls lets drop in his course. 



The same is true of that part of the book especi- 

 ally relating to genetics. The F,, generation was 

 often of a most complex type, and by the applica- 

 tion of a graphic method of analysis apparatus is 

 introduced which may probably assist in the un- 

 ravelling of other similar cases. In his study of 

 the heredity of seed-weight, new and interesting 

 ground is broken. It is shown that a form with 

 seed actually light is genetically endowed with the 

 capacity to form heavy seed, but, owing to the 

 smallness of the boll, the seed does not become 

 heavy. The problem of interference between 



C C 



