Contributions to the Anthropology of the East Greenhinders. 



155 



West coast, the fact seems to be that the measurements taken bj' 

 the Expedition show a considerable increase from the southernmost 

 part of the West coast (the districts of Juhanehaab) through the 

 southern up to the northern part of the East coast. 



Height 



Men 



Number 



Aver- 

 age ') 



Maxi- 

 mum 



Mini- 

 mum 



Women 



Number Average 



Maxi- 

 mum 



Mini- 

 mum 



Northern East coast . 

 Southern — 



Southern West coast . 



31 



1647 



1760 



1540 



15 



1551 



1650 



: 22 



1604 



1682 



1486 



23 



1529 



1630 



21 



1576 



1684 



1520 



24 



1518 



1602 



1450 

 1430 

 1452 



Although the differences are in themselves pretty considerable, 

 we cannot regard this result as decisive, considering the relatively 

 small number of persons measured; the question, however, is of 

 some interest, because we often find it stated that the Eskimo's 

 height decreases from West to East. If this theory, which is trace- 

 able to statements made by Topinard in his excellent "Etude sur 

 la taille" ^), was at all tenable, the measurements given here might 

 seem to bear out the hypothesis broached by Rink'^) that East 

 Greenland has been populated by immigration from the north, by 

 going round north of the whole island. It must be insisted, how- 

 ever, that a hypothesis of this nature requires to be supported by 

 much more solid grounds; moreover, if we glance through the 

 available sources, viz., a number of descriptions of travels in the 

 arctic regions, we will find that the theory as to the decreasing 

 height of the Eskimo can by no means be considered to be firmly 

 grounded, even if we do not put nearly so severe a strain on the 

 materials as Topinard himself has done in the conclusion of his 

 above-mentioned treatise. 



The superior height of the population on the East coast to that 

 on the West can hardly be accounted for by the difference in the 

 natural conditions of life; on the other hand there seem to be 

 grounds for presuming that the more or less intimate contact with 

 European civilisation has had some effect in this direction, though 

 there are no positive indications to show in what manner this in- 

 fluence has worked. In this connection, it should be borne in mind 

 that the population on the north part of the East coast, between 



^) Here and in the sequel all measures are given in metres, where there is no 



express statement to the contrary'. 

 '-) Revue d'Anthropologie V. 1876, p. 61. 

 2) Eskimoiske Event}^- og Sagn. Kbhvn. 1866. Indledning p. 44. 



