SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIX. No. 479 



SCIENCE 



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CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. —III. 



[Edited by D. G. Brinton, M.D., LL.D.] 

 Aa International Anthropometric Scheme. 



Dr. R. Collignon of the French Army is well known as 

 one of the most active students of anthropology in France. 

 His researches on the tribes of North Africa are classical. 

 He has just issued a " Projst d'Entente Internationale pour 

 arreter un Programme comman de Recherches Anthropolog- 

 iques," which should attract the earnest attention and co-op- 

 eration of followers of this science the world over. 



Without entering into the other details of his plan, those 

 relating to the actual measursments desired may be here 

 stated. In all cases there should be noted the height, the 

 color of the eyes, as either light, dark, or intermediary; color 

 of the hair, as either red, blond, intermediate, brown, or 

 black ; line of the nose, as either convex, straight, or concave. 

 In addition to these, on forty subjects, the two factors of the 

 nasal index should be carefully noted; finally, on twenty 

 of these the followino: head measurements: maximum antero- 

 posterior diameter, maximum transverse diameter, maximum 

 bizygomatic diameter, total height of head. 



Of course, the value of such statistics for comparison will 

 depend a good deal on the operative methods employed. Dr. 

 Collignon explains these with great care; and I would urge 

 all who would like to aid in this admirable project for]inter- 

 national scientific work to address him for particulars, as fol- 

 lows, Dr. Collignon, 42 Rue de la Paix, Cherbourg (mauche), 

 France. 



Embryonic Causes of Variations in Vertebrates. 



The fundamental question in anthropology is that of the 

 causes which have led to the differences in the i-aces of men. 

 Hitherto most writers have been content with surface gen- 

 eralizations about " environment " and " heredity." The dis- 

 ciples of Spencer have rung the changes on these with little 

 positive profit. We have no knowledge what heredity really 



is, and "environment" has borne more than its share of 

 causality. 



A real step in advance has been taken by Dr. Dareste, in 

 his work on " Teratogeny," or the artificial production of 

 monsters. He shows conclusively that monsters or mon- 

 strosities are not the result of pathological changes in the 

 embryo, as has hitherto been supposed, but are modifications 

 of the processes of organic evolution, precisely analogous to 

 those which bring about the differences which distinguish 

 individuals and races in mankind. This can be proved ex- 

 perimentally in oviparous animals, the domestic fowl, for 

 instance. By developing the chick in an artificial incubator 

 and subjecting the egg to unusual conditions, such as shak- 

 ing it from time to time, varnishing it, exposing it to rapid 

 changes of temperature, etc., we can produce monstrosities 

 in all points analogous to those in man. 



The changes take place in the earliest epochs of embryonic 

 life and are in two directions: 1, arrest of development; 2, 

 union of homologous parts. The former assures the perma- 

 nence of an embryonic condition, the latter produces the 

 phenomenon of double monsters. By tracing the conditions 

 which yield these exaggerations, we may distinctly perceive 

 the causes of many of the physical peculiarities of man. 



Application of Psychological Research to Anthropology. 



Experimental psychology is a comparatively new realm of 

 research, and we may confidently expect from it most valua- 

 ble aid in defining the differences between the races of men. 

 Its main object may be said to be the measurement of the 

 relative rapidity, intensity, and persistence of mental actions. 

 This means that it endeavors to discover material gauges 

 and mathematical formulas for the sensory, motor, and in- 

 tellectual processes. Think what this involves ! Nothing 

 less than that we shall be able to measure the mental abilities 

 of a man as we do his height and girth ! 



Ttiough this goal is probably theoretical, as the individual 

 generally eludes averages, these are true for the mass, and 

 we may be sure that a series of observations on, say twenty, 

 pure adult types of the several races would yield results 

 markedly different and highly significant. The points to be 

 examined are such as these: the rate of muscular movement, 

 rapidity, of nervous impulse, transmission of motor and sen- 

 sory stimuli, race-differences in reaction-times, sensation- 

 areas, differences in estimating weights, judgment of the pas- 

 sage of time, sensibility to pain, the rate of forgetting, etc. 

 Witli the excellent psychological laboratories now in opera- 

 tion at several of our leading uni7ersities, these comparative 

 observations could readily be mide, and they certainly promise 

 most important results. 



Curioas Testimony to the Value of the Nasal Index. 



In 1882 the British Government began an ethnographic 

 and anthropometric inquiry into the native races of India. 

 The results, which are now nearly ready for publication, will 

 fill four bulky volumes, and will contain a mass of most 

 valuable material for the study of these interesting peoples. 

 A glimpse of some of them is presented in an article in the 

 last volume of the Journal of the Anthropological Institute, 

 by Mr. H. H. Risley of the Bengal Civil Service. One of 

 the most noteworthy is the conclusion that there are really no 

 physical differences between the Kols and tl<e Dravidian 

 tribes, in spite of the radical diversity of their languages. 

 Neither of them discloses any Mongoloid affinities, though a 

 number of tribes in northern and eastern Bengal are clearly 

 akin to that great Asian race. 



