October 28, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



treated, of an ethnic criterion which is ac- 

 knowledged by all the leading authorities 

 of Europe to be of the utmost value. Still 

 another objection to the use of the cephalic 

 index as a racial criterion, even from some 

 of its best friends, seems to be answered by 

 the study of such curves. It is maintained 

 that the cephalic index is not an objective 

 reality, but merely a relation of the length 

 of the head to its breadth. This is, indeed, 



would be absurd to maintain it. Surely it 

 is the relativity in length of the leg bones 

 compared with spinal column. If such a 

 relation, then, of the length of the head to its 

 breadth be not a fit subject for detailed 

 analysis our curves certainly belie it. 



Seriation curves drawn for the cephalic 

 index are entirely similar to the more 

 familiar ones based upon observations of 

 stature.* The same principles underlie 



JEP.IAT10N 



or 



JCEPHflUC INDEX 



true. Yet how about nearly every other 

 standard of comparison instituted either in 

 anthropology or zoology ? Is the long arm 

 of the negro, compared with his length of 

 trunk, according to Baxter and Gould, any 

 the less characteristic because it is a rela- 

 tion f How do we measure the peculiarities 

 in posterior extremities of the kangaroo or 

 the rabbit? By their absolute length ? It 



them in each case. In the first of our dia- 

 grams it will be noted that we have to do 

 with a very large number of individuals. 

 It illustrates the difference in contour be- 



* These we have analyzed with diagrams in Popular 

 Science Slonlhly, LI., 1897, p. 197 et seq. A special 

 discussion of the significance of ' type ' as distinct 

 from ' race ' will appear also in the Jour. Anth. Inst., 

 London, for November, 1898. 



