726 TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION H. 



only imperfectly realised. If its progress is lo be continuous we must convince 

 the politician that it has an important part to play in the schemes in which he is 

 interested. Thus it is certain that in the near future the relations between the 

 foreigner and the native races will demand the increasing attention of statesmen 

 at home and abroad. Here anthropology has a wide field of action in the 

 examination of the causes which menace the very existence of the savage ; of the 

 condition of the mixed races, like the Creole or the Eurasian; of the relations of 

 native law and custom to the higher jurisprudence; of the decay of primitive 

 industries in the face of industrial competition. One of its chief tasks must be 

 the examination of the physical and moral condition of the depressed classes of 

 our home population, and the effect of modern systems of education on the mind 

 and body of the child. It will thus be in a position to assist the servants of the 

 State to meet the ever-increasing responsibilities imposed upon them ; and it will 

 help to dispel the ignorance and misconceptions which prevail even among the 

 intelligent classes in this country in regard to the condition of the native races, 

 who, by a strange decree of destiny, have been entrusted to their charge. By such 

 practical contributions to the welfare of humanity it will not only secure the 

 popular interest which is a condition of efficiency, but engage the ever-increasing 

 attention of those to whom its scientific side is of paramount importance. 



The following Papers were then read : — 



1. The People of Cardiganshire. 1 

 By Professor H. J. Fleure, M.A., D.Sc, and T. C. James, M.A. 



An anthropometrical survey of the Welsh population has been in progress for 

 some years, and detailed observations of about 1,500 adults have been taken. 

 The observations include the facts of descent, pigmentation, features of head and 

 face, fourteen measurements in the head region, and determination of standing 

 height and length of limbs, and all the facts for each individual are recorded 

 on a card which is retained for further analysis. It is worthy of note that the 

 only measurements which have been found useful for analytical work thus far 

 are those of- head-length, head-breadth, bizygomatic-breadth, bigonal-breadth, 

 auriculo-nasal radius and auriculo-alveolar radius, in addition to those of stature 

 and limbs ; and the further work of the survey will be lightened by restricting 

 attention to these features and notes on family history, pigmentation, and other 

 features. The present paper is a first report, and deals with the characteristics 

 of 520 adult males whose family history, so far as it is known, shows that they 

 belong exclusively to Cardiganshire, though that name is not used in the exact 

 sense, but is held to denote the region bounded by the river Dyfi, the Plynlimmon 

 anticline, Mynydd Prescely, and the sea. 



The foundation of the population is of Mediterranean type, characterised by 

 great length and size of head, dark brown to black hair, slight prognathism, 

 stature slightly below the average (1,671 mm.), largely through the absence of 

 very tall individuals, and a somewhat high ratio of length of leg to stature. All 

 the characteristics are shown most markedly among the men with black hair, 

 dark fresh skin, and brown eyes, whose head indices are about 74"6. The length of 

 head seems due mainly to a marked occipital projection. As one goes from these 

 individuals to others with hair dark brown instead of black, one finds that the 

 prognathism and the occipital projection decrease and disappear, the latter 

 change involving a shortening of the head and a consequent rise of head index. 

 The best types are undoubtedly those from the remoter valleys in the mountain 

 sides and those from the deep valley of the Teify and its tributaries around 

 Llandyssul. 



There are scattered individuals with dark pigmentation and a head index 

 805. These usually have the head short, and they are more numerous along the 

 open coast from Llanrhystyd to New Quay than elsewhere. 



The distribution of the fair-haired people is most interesting. There is a 

 sprinkling of them throughout the county with a cluster of the narrower-headed 



1 To be published in Liverpool Annals of ArcJtaology and Anthropohxjy. 



