866 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol XLIII. No. 1120 



The Army Medical Museum and American Anthro- 

 pology: D. S. Lamb. 



Tlie Army Medical Museum at Washington be- 

 gan to receive Indian crania in 1867. In 1868 a 

 circular was sent to medical oificers of the army 

 asking for Indian skeletons, crania and "curiosi- 

 ties. ' ' The crania received were measured and the 

 results published. By 1877 there were nearly 

 2,000 crania in the museum. In 1884, in the 

 progress of the study by another officer, a new 

 method of measurmg the capacity of the skull was 

 devised, also a craniophore; and composite photo- 

 graphs of skulls were made. In 1887-88 a large 

 number of crania and skeletons were obtained 

 from prehistoric ruins in the valley of the Gila 

 in Arizona. These also were measured and stud- 

 ied, and the results published. Altogether the 

 basis of the several publications consisted of three 

 to four thousand skulls. 



The Permane7Vt Teeth, with special reference to 



American Children: Robert Bennett Bean. 



The teeth of the Pilipinos appear from one to 

 four years earlier than in American whites; of 

 the French six months to one year earlier; of the 

 American Indians one to six months earlier, and 

 of the Germans six months to two years later. 



The great difference between the Filipinos and 

 other peoples is that the canines of the Filipinos 

 erupt much earlier. 



The girls are more precocious than the boys, 

 but the difference is not so great among the Fili- 

 pinos, and is greatest among the whites. 



The canines and third molars are imdergoing 

 retrograde metamorphosis, as indicated by their 

 size in prehistoric times and to-day. The Fili- 

 pinos and Indians, in whom the canines and 

 molars erupt early, are more like the prehistoric 

 men than are the Germans and Americans, in 

 whom the canines and molars erupt late. 



Hyper-morphism, long head, nose and face and 

 long occiput is a condition (1) of precocity, (2) 

 of unsound teeth, (3) of greater age, (4) of the 

 male sex, (5) of the American white, (6) of de- 

 velopment more complete; whereas hypo-morph- 

 ism, broad head, nose and face and large parietal, 

 is a condition (1) of retardation, (2) of sound 

 teeth, (3) of less age, (4) of the female sex, (5) 

 of the Filipino and (6) of development less com- 

 plete. 



The following supernumerary teeth were seen: 

 Among 146 Filipino girls, none. 

 309 German girls, none. 



412 American girls, 1 upper and 1 lower 



incisor. 

 579 Filipino boys, 2 upper incisors, 1 



upper canine. 

 324 German boys, none. 

 415 American boys, 1 upper incisor. 



Bacial Elements in the Modern Population of 

 America: Fkanz Boas. 



Three types may be distinguished among the 

 modern populations of the American continent — 

 those in which the indigenous element forms a 

 high percentage, those with a strong negro admix- 

 ture, and those derived almost entirely from Euro- 

 pean sources. In comparison to these, the popu- 

 lations with strong Asiatic affiliations are unim- 

 portant. The regions in which the pure aborig- 

 inal population forms a large part of the modern 

 population are few and restricted in extent. The 

 political development of American states is very 

 largely dependent upon the prevalence of one or 

 the other of these types of population. The study 

 of these types and the practical questions in- 

 volved in their composition present a number of 

 important problems. In these populations in 

 which the aboriginal blood predominates or forms 

 a large part the effects of racial mixture must be 

 studied. 



In all these regions the mixture proceeds in 

 both directions, marriages between native men and 

 European women and vice versa being of nearly 

 equal frequency. Material for answering the bio- 

 logical questions involved is very inadequate. It 

 has been shown that in the United States the 

 physical development of the half-bloods is superior 

 to that of the parental types, and that the fertil- 

 ity of the half-blood women is greater than that 

 of women of pure race. The claim has been made 

 that racial traits of the Indians and of the whites 

 are inherited according to Mendelian laws; but no 

 adequate proof of this contention can be given. 

 In those regions in which there is a strong infu- 

 sion of negro blood, conditions differ consider- 

 ably in Latin America and in Anglo-Saxon Amer- 

 ica. In the former regions marriages between 

 men and women of the two races are almost equally 

 frequent. In the latter region marriages between 

 white men and negro women form the vast major- 

 ity. These conditions have a far-reaching influ- 

 ence upon the development of the resulting popu- 

 lation. In the former case a permeation of the 

 two races results in a mixed type, with almost 

 equal amount of blood contributed by each side. 



