LECTUEE II. 23 



Brazil J Drs. Scherzer and Scliwarz, on a large scale, during the 

 voyage of tlie Novara ; and the brothers Schlagintweit in 

 India. Burnaeister has pubhshed the results^ if not the details, 

 of his measurements ; the observations of the latter travellers 

 have, to my knowledge, not yet been pubhshed in their en- 

 tirety. Since the story of the colossal idols of Thibet, the 

 scientific reputation of the brothers Schlagintweit is not such 

 as to warrant implicit faith in their conclusions ; so that we 

 must adopt the Novara expedition as the starting-point of a 

 scientific investigation of human races in distant regions. 



It is a matter of primary importance to establish a uniform 

 standard of measurement, so that we may compare the results 

 obtained by a variety of observers, without any necessity of 

 reduction. Most observers, with the exception of the English,* 

 now use — and quite properly — the French measure and weight, 

 the metre and the kilogramme ; and it is surprising that so dis- 

 tinguished a naturalist as Karl Ernst von Baer should adopt the 

 English standard, which is not even fixed, some dividing the 

 foot into ten, others into twelve, inches. By the way, gentle- 

 men, the great reputation of the English, as practical people, 

 rests on as small a foundation as any other flattery, and it is 

 precisely the things of common life that prove this most evi- 

 dently. During the Crimean war, we saw the stiff and formal 

 English perish from frost and hunger, though they had abundant 

 provisions at a small distance ; whilst the more handy French, 

 with much scantier material at their disposal, contrived to make 

 themselves exceedingly comfortable. f It is just the same in 

 social life. There is not a more senseless metrical and monetary 

 system than the English. Without calculation you cannot re- 



* The English have certainly hitherto used their own measitres ; but the 

 inconvenience of this course is so fully appreciated by myself and brother 

 members of the Council of the Anthropological Society of London, that we 

 have decided to do all we can to introduce French measurements, into 

 all our researches and investigations. The author is not, apparently, aware 

 of the difficulty of obtaining any mutual action on the part of English 

 men of science. The Anthropological Society — as a young institution — is 

 fortunately free from the trammels and hereditai-y prejudices which too often 

 are successful barriers to the introduction of foreign methods. — Editor. 



t This is, to a great extent, true ; but the causes of the great mor- 

 tality of the English troops in the Crimea are also in some measure to be 

 ascribed to the want of training of our young soldiers, a large proportion of 

 whom besides were suffering from the effects of syphilitic disease. — Editoe. 



