460 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVI. No. 1193 



down to the time of the invention of the 

 phonograph, and somewhat beyond that time. 

 One Joseph Faber began to work on an idea 

 of this sort in 1815, and in 1841 had the ma- 

 chine so far finished that it was exhibited to the 

 king of Bavaria, as stated in an article from the 

 London Times of February 12, 1880, which is 

 now lying before me. This machine was ex- 

 hibited in America in the seventies and eighties 

 and I heard it talk and ask and answer ques- 

 tions put by the audience. Its speech was very 

 mechanical, without inflection or emphasis. 

 It was worked by an attendant with a key- 

 board and bellows. An ivory reed whose pitch 

 could be varied formed the vocal chords. The 

 cavity of the mouth could be changed in shape 

 and size by the keys of the keyboard. A 

 tongue and lips of rubber formed the conson- 

 ants. A windmill in the throat rolled the R's 

 and a tube was attached to the nose when it 

 spoke French! It could also speak German 

 and English. It is not probable that any one 

 had thought of a phonograph in the sense in 

 which we use the term as early as 1772. 

 Knowledge of electricity was not sufficiently 

 advanced at that time. 



W. C. Peckham 



QUOTATIONS 



THE PHYSIQUE OF RECRUITS 



In the summer of 1916 the Board of Scien- 

 tific Studies was established under the fegis of 

 the Royal Society to serve as a means of plac- 

 ing knowledge in the possession of scientific 

 and technical societies at the disposal of gov- 

 ernment departments. At the first general 

 meeting of this board in July, 1916, the 

 urgency of a physical survey of the nation, to 

 discover whether or not there existed definite 

 evidence of physical deterioration, was dis- 

 cussed. Emphasis was laid by various speakers 

 on the fact that an Interdepartmental Com- 

 mittee had reported in 1904 that such a survey 

 was necessary. Nothing, however, had been 

 done. The mobilization of a national army 

 had provided an opportunity, as well as a need, 

 for such a survey. 



The Board of Scientific Studies requested 

 the Royal Anthropological Institute to report 



on the desirability and possibility of such a 

 survey. The institute having reported that 

 such a survey was both desirable and possible, 

 the board formed an Anthropological Survey 

 Sub-committee to consider the manner in 

 which such an investigation could best be car- 

 ried out. This sub-committee has not yet re- 

 ported to the Board of Scientific Studies, but 

 we understand that it is seeking for the means 

 of carrying out such a survey through the gov- 

 ernment departments which have directly to 

 do with the health and physique of the nation : 

 the Recruiting Authority — now the Ministry 

 of ^National Service — the Local Government 

 Board and the Board of Education. Repre- 

 sentatives of these departments have joined 

 the Anthropological Survey Sub-committee, 

 and it is hoped that a practical scheme may be 

 formulated at an early date. 



Meanwhile American anthropologists have 

 stolen a march on their British colleagues. 

 When the United States entered the war the 

 National Research Council was at once cre- 

 ated to sei-ve the same purpose as our Board 

 of Scientific Studies. Its Anthropological 

 Committee, formed to advise in the selection, 

 standardization and examination of recruits, 

 has already issued its report and recommenda- 

 tions. It proposes that six of the sixteen great 

 concentration camps should be selected for an 

 anthropological survey — two in the Eastern, 

 two in the Middle, and two in the "Western 

 States — and that special men who had been 

 trained to use exactly the same anthropo- 

 metrical methods at the National Museum at 

 Washington, should be dispatched to carry out 

 a survey of the men in the selected camps. 

 The points for investigation have been reduced 

 to a minimum, namely, standing and sitting 

 heights, three dimensions of the head, two of 

 the face, two of the chest, with precise records 

 of the color of skin, eyes and hair. The statis- 

 tical staff of the Prudential Insurance Com- 

 pany of America has undertaken to deal with 

 the data collected, while the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution will facilitate the publication of re- 

 sults. 



Although the intentions of the British com- 

 mittee are more wide-reaching and aim at as- 



