ANTHROPOLOGY. 33 1 



Perspiring SCHELLONG [1891, 159] hardly ever saw with the Papuans, not even 

 from great bodily exertion, as when carrying heavy loads. Under similar circumstances, also 

 when rowing, I saw the people of H. B. perspiring very freely, the darkest of our carriers 

 (schedule N°. 36) excessively, still my olfactory organs were seldom offended by the 

 smell. Regarding the natives of British New Guinea MACGREGOR [1897, 28J experienced the 

 same. With the mountain tribes, however, much grease adhères to the skin, especially when 

 this has the rough surface which is formed by the scales of tinea imbricata, and this some- 

 times causes a disagreeable smell, also experienced by MOOLENBURGH [1902, 164] and JENS 

 [1904, 52]. To prevent this in K. W. Land they oil the skin (HAGEN [1899, 167]). 



The nails of the fingers are clearly curved longitudinally, but, as already noticed by 

 Maclav [i8/3 a , 243], far more transversely. Wherever I paid attention to it, the lunula 

 was visible on ail the fingers with the exception of the little one. In most cases the side 

 edges of the visible part of the nail run parallel from the middle of the length, but often 

 they converge towards the top, a condition very seldom met with in Europeans (VlGENER 

 [1896, 603J ). With 9 righthanded persons I determined the lineal as well as the bent breadth 

 of ail the finger-nails of the right hand, 3 times also of the left. The bent breadth was 

 almost the same with the corresponding fingers of both hands, but the lineal breadth, which 

 on the right (from thumb to little finger) amounted to: 14.5, II, 12, 11, 9 m. m., was on the 



left from '/, to 1 m. m. less, the curvinç-index ( - — — — ) on the riçht being 76, 7<k, 7Ç, 



,z V bent breadth J & & ' ' J ' J 



74, 73, on the left was 73, 69 (?), 69Q), 72, 70. Similar results, namely that the curving of 

 the nails of the left hand is greater than of the right, VlGENER [1. c, 589] noted with Euro- 

 peans. The above numbers also show that the thumb in both hands always has the flattest 

 nail, the curvature increasing more or less regularly towards the little finger. With Europeans 

 the same was found by BOAS and GEGENBAUR ; later measurements of VlGENER [1. c, 596], 

 however, state that with Europeans the flattest nail is more often found on the index than 

 on the thumb. The foot-nails were measured from plaster casts ; their absolute degree of 

 curvature is considerably less and diminishes towards the fifth toe, the indices being: 86, 

 88, 89, 89, 93. 



The hair of the Papuan has from the earliest times excited the spécial interest of 

 ail who made the acquaintance of this people; this may be proved by the name "Papuan" 

 being derived from the frizzly hair (RlEDEL [1884, 428]), which at the same time must be 

 considered as the most constant characteristic of the race. Concerning the eastern parts of New 

 Guinea cases of wavy-, even straight-haired people were reported (e. g. FlNSCH [1888, 216, 283J, 

 [1888 — 93, 83, fig. 1, 184], MACGREGOR [1897, 3°]> SELIGMANN [1906, 232]), which are the 

 results of intermixture. Only once straight hair, "cheveux flottants", was mentioned of a 

 western, true Papuan tribe, namely from the Arfak, by De RlENZl (LESSON [1880, 46]), but 

 this must hâve been a mistake, as was afterwards proved by VAN DER GoES [1858, 164], 

 Wallace [1869, II, 187], Meyer [1873, 309], Von 'Rosenberg [1875, 92], D'Albertis 

 [1880, I, 217] and Van Hasselt [1886, 577]. 



Earl [1853, 1], in writing that the hair of the Papuan "does not spread over the surface of the 

 head as is usual with the Negroes of Africa, but grows in small tufts, each of which keeps separate from 

 the rest", gave rise to the opinion that the hair grew like the bristles in a shoe-brush. This is decidedly 



