540 
tory realism of Dr. Radosavljevich, we should 
not be justified in asserting that a difference 
in type had taken place, for both statures, 5 
feet 3 in. and 5 feet 6 in. fall within our 
category of shortness. As a matter of fact, it 
depends entirely on the statistical compari- 
son of foreign-born and American-born indi- 
viduals (involving the numbers of cases and 
standard deviations) whether the difference is 
areal one. A difference of 1 em. may consti- 
tute an actual difference of type in the sta- 
tistical sense.” Dr. Radosavljevich’s inability 
to grasp what Boas means by “a change of 
type” and in his insistence on dragging in 
the irrelevant conventional classification of 
head forms must be regarded as pathetic. 
I believe I have sufficiently elucidated the 
nature of Dr. Radosavljevich’s contribution. 
I should gladly have refrained from any com- 
ment, were it not for the regrettable fact that 
there are so few anthropologists in America 
who are able to form an intelligent opinion on 
the issues involved, and that the uninitiated 
are liable to be deceived by Dr. Radosavlje- 
vich’s imposing array of bibliographic refer- 
ences. Rosert H. Lowi 
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL History 
REPORT OF THE SEAL COMMISSION 
To THe Eprror or Science: In a recent de- 
bate in the House of Representatives on the 
fur seal bill, Congressman N. E. Randall, of 
Iowa, made the following statement, as re- 
ported in the Record, p. 2158: 
Dr. David Starr Jordan wrote a book. He 
appropriated this chart of Professor Elliott’s and 
incorporated it into his book as his own. Dr. 
William T. Hornaday, of New York, subsequently 
wrote a book. He saw Dr. Jordan’s book con- 
taining this Elliott chart, and Dr. Hornaday re- 
produced that chart in his book crediting it to 
Dr. Jordan. About that time Professor Elliott 
became alive to the situation and wrote a letter of 
protest to David Starr Jordan. Dr. Jordan was 
compelled to admit the plagiarism of the chart 
and that Dr. Elliott was the author of it and the 
discoverer of the facts it exhibits. 
? Westergaard, ‘‘Die Grundziige der Theorie der 
Statistik’? (Jena, 1890), p. 187. 
SCIENCE 
[N.S. Vou. XXXV. No. 901 
This charge of plagiarism is so specific and 
circumstantial that it demands an answer. 
The chart referred to is doubtless the one 
printed in the back of the first preliminary 
report of the Seal Commission of 1896-7, of 
which Dr. Jordan was chairman. As secre- 
tary of the commission I am familiar with 
the circumstances. When the manuscript of 
the report was submitted to the Treasury 
Department, Mr. Charles S. Hamlin, then 
assistant secretary, suggested the advisability 
of a chart or map giving the relative location 
of the Seal Islands and showing the general 
migration route of the herd. The commission 
had in process of preparation, under the direc- 
tion of Mr. Charles H. Townsend, for its final 
report, an authentic chart of the herd’s migra- 
tion route to be platted from the log records 
of numerous sealing vessels, but this could not 
be got ready in time for the preliminary re- 
port, and Dr, Jordan was averse to publishing 
a merely conjectural chart. The assistant 
secretary held that such a chart, even if not 
strictly accurate, would be useful to the gen- 
eral reader and indicated how it could be 
readily compiled from the records of the de- 
partment. Dr. Jordan acquiesced in this ar- 
rangement and left the entire matter of the 
preparation and printing of the map to the 
department. He did not see the chart until 
it appeared in the printed report. That the 
chart appears without legend as to authorship. 
or source was explained by the fact that it 
was prepared by the department’s own drafts- 
men and from its own data. Furthermore, the 
chart contains no information which was not 
at that time the common property of any one 
having a general knowledge of the subject. It 
consisted of a series of curved lines emanating 
from the passes of the Aleutian Islands, sweep- 
ing down through the North Pacific Ocean, 
veering toward the American coast and re- 
turning to the Aleutian passes and thence to 
the Pribilof Islands, the winter months being 
printed in the series of lines at points sup- 
posed to mark the progress of the herd. How 
completely this chart was superseded by Mr. 
Townsend’s records platted from some 120 
sealing logs will be seen by reference to his. 
