204 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1128 



among the adults, in which the pulse was ex- 

 cited, the heart enlarged and the temperature 

 slightly above normal. There were over 30 

 per cent, of such cases among the younger 

 and middle-aged adults among the Cheyenne 

 River Sioux, and about the same proportion 

 at Fort Yates, particularly in the vicinity of 

 the Farm School. At first the symptoms were 

 puzzling and attributed to rheumatism, exces- 

 sive use of coffee, or tobacco; but it was soon 

 seen that in most if not all cases they were 

 connected with a greater or lesser thyroid en- 

 largement, and eventually it became plain that 

 they were due to the latter and were the symp- 

 toms of thyroid derangement. 



The foremost question in this connection is, 

 what are the causes of this localized prevalence 

 of serious disturbances of the thyroid gland. 

 It is not a tribal peculiarity, for other branches 

 of the Sioux away from the river are less 

 affected. There is no evidence that the disease 

 extends for any great distance along the Mis- 

 souri, or is common among the whites of same 

 localities. The water used by the natives is 

 mostly that of the Missouri and its small 

 affluents. The present habits of these Indians 

 are those of fairly civilized Indians in general. 

 They were always hunters and great meat 

 eaters, and are doubtless still more so than 

 agricultural tribes, but this is true of all the 

 Sioux. The country is of the rolling prairie 

 type, the climate rigorous but not over-severe. 

 Malarial infections are infrequent, but scrof- 

 ula, consumption and venereal diseases pre- 

 vail; all of which affords no clue as to the 

 causes of the goiter. 



It seems that here, if anywhere, in this coun- 

 try there is a good chance for a thorough in- 

 vestigation, by modern means, of the condi- 

 tions leading to thyroid enlargement. The 

 people concerned are very tractable, and both 

 reservations are within easy reach of the rail- 

 road. The Bureau of Indian 'Affairs would 

 doubtless favor and assist the investigations. 

 In his visits to upwards of 50 tribes the writer 

 has never met with a locality where the thyroid 

 " infection " was as prevalent and active, and 

 where conditions for research into its causes 



In conclusion it may be added that goiter 



among Indians is not, so far as the writer's 

 experience goes, connected with cretinism, 

 which seems not to occur at all in that race, 

 or with myxedema, and only rarely and mod- 

 erately with exopthalmy. 



Ales Hrdlicka 

 U. S. National Museum 



COMPULSORY MATHEMATICS— AN 

 EXPLANATION 



To the Editor of Science: Professor Key- 

 ser, in reviewing Professor Miller's " Histor- 

 ical Introduction to Mathematical Litera- 

 ture " 1 speaks of " the nation-wide deprecia- 

 tory utterances of such educational leaders 

 and agitators as Commissioner Snedden and 

 Abraham Flexner" (relative to the value of 

 the study of mathematics, I infer). I think 

 he can not be fully informed as to my position. 



My objection is merely against giving high- 

 school mathematics a highly " protected " posi- 

 tion, shared by no other subject except Eng- 

 lish, as we do now through college entrance re- 

 quirements and the traditions controlling in 

 secondary schools. I know (having been a 

 moderately successful teacher of high-school 

 mathematics myself for several years) that a 

 substantial percentage of high-school pupils, 

 otherwise of good ability and promise, do not 

 respond well to mathematic teaching, and, I 

 believe, do not materially profit from the as- 

 signed tasks, which are uninteresting, discour- 

 aging, and even, at times, obnoxious, to them. 

 I think this is frequently the case with pupils 

 of literary bent and artistic leanings. 



I naturally very much favor the extended 

 study (preferably under better teaching than 

 we now obtain from the teachers prepared by 

 our college departments of mathematics) of 

 secondary school mathematics by all those an- 

 ticipating vocational studies or pursuits where 

 the results of such study serve a demonstrably 

 instrumental purpose. Furthermore, I should 

 strongly encourage other pupils to undertake 

 these studies and to pursue them vigorously 

 as long as they can be made to find the drill 

 and the broadening outlook given by them in- 

 teresting and, probably, fruitful. 



i Science for July 7, 1916, pp. 25-28. 



