TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 1205 
2. The Index of the Pelvic Brim as a Basis of Classification.' 
By Professor W. Turner, M.B., F.R.S. 
That the inlet to the human pelvis presented variations in outline, and in the 
proportions of its conjugate and transverse diameters, has been recognised since the 
publication by Vrolik in 1826, and by M. J. Weber in 1880, of their important 
memoirs on the pelvis in certain races of men. In 1866, Zaaijer of Leyden, in 
his study of the pelvis in women of Java, recognised differences in form in 
women of that race. He expressed these differences numerically, taking the trans- 
verse diameter as= 100, and then multiplying the conjugate diameter by 100, and 
dividing by the transverse ; the numeral so obtained is the index of the pelvic brim 
or pelvic index. 
By applying this method to the pelvis in different races of men, a classification 
of races based on the index of the brim may be framed. In carrying out this 
method the male pelvis should especially be studied, as in women the pelvis, for 
sexual reasons, does not present such wide divergencies in the form of its inlet as 
in men. To give precision to the classification it will be advisable to employ special 
terms, and in order as far as possible to bring these terms into accordance with 
those employed in the classification of crania based on differences in the relations 
of the length to the breadth of the skull, Greek terms will be employed. Taking 
the Greek word 7éAXa as equivalent to the Latin pelvis, dolichopellie will signify 
a pelvis the conjugate diameter of which is longer than the transverse or closely 
approaching to it; platypellic—a pelvis in which the transverse diameter greatly 
exceeds the conjugate ; mesatipellic—a pelvis in which the transverse diameter is 
not so greatly in excess of the conjugate. 
Owing to the comparatively limited number of pelves in the different races of 
men which have been measured, it may not be possible to fix definitely at present 
the numerical limits of each of these three groups, but the author assumes that a 
pelvis with a brim index above 95 is dolichopellic ; one with a brim index below 
90 is platypellic; one with a brim index between 90 and 95, both inclusive, is 
mesatipellic. In classing the races of men in one or other of these groups, both 
the author’s own measurements on the pelves of various races and the published 
measurements of others have been taken. Whilst in some races the observations 
have been sufficiently numerous to enable one to speak definitely of the mean 
index of the race, in others, unfortunately, the observations are too few to permit 
one to do more than give a provisional classification. 
The detailed measurements on which this classification is based will be found 
in the ‘ Report on the Bones of the Skeleton collected during the Voyage of H.M.S. 
“ Challenger,” ’ now in the press. 
Dolichopeliic. Mesatipellic. Platypellic. 
Australians. Negros. Europeans. 
Bushmen. Tasmanians. Laplanders ? 
Hottentots. New Caledonians. Esquimaux ? 
Kafiirs. Melanesians ? Guanche ? 
Andamans. — Chinese. 
Aino P — Mongolians generally ? 
Malays. — American Indians ? 
Newzealanders ? = = 
When a pelvis has dolichopellic characters it approximates in the relations of 
its transverse and conjugate diameters to the form of the pelvic brim met with in 
mammals lower than man. In the dolichopellic Australians, Bushmen, Katffirs, 
and Andamanese the sacral length is, on the average, of greater diameter than the 
breadth, and this also is an animal character. 
1 Published in extenso in the Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, October 1885, 
