52 
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ANTHROPOLOGY 
The Committee on Anthropology was one of the first constituted under 
the National Research Council. Its personnel is limited to representatives 
of Physical and Medical Anthropology which branches it was recognized 
could be of direct assistance in national preparedness. Its membership com- 
prises William H. Holmes, Chairman; Ales Hrdlicka, Secretary; Dr. Charles 
B. Davenport, Carnegie Institution; Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman, Chief Statis- 
tician, The Prudential Insurance Company; Dr. E. A. Hooton, Anthropologist 
of Harvard University; Dr. George M. Kober, Dean of the Medical Depart- 
ment, Georgetown University; Mr. Madison Grant, Trustee, American 
Museum of Natural History; and Dr. Tom A. Williams, Psychiatrist and 
Anthropologist. 
Activities of the Committee. — On February 16, 1917, certain recommenda- 
tions were formulated, which under the heading "A National Anthropomet- 
ric Survey," were submitted to the Executive Committee of the National 
Research Council by Dr. Charles D. Walcott, first vice president of the 
Council. 
In April additional suggestions were laid before Dr. V. C. Vaughan, repre- 
senting the Council. These suggestions related to changes in the physical 
requirements of the Army, the advisability of proper regulation of the instru- 
ments and methods to be used in the measurement of recruits, the need of 
additional anthropological observations on drafted men in the camps, and 
the preservation of valuable data and specimens on post-mortem material. 
Later these recommendations were formally submitted to the National Re- 
search Council. 
In May these suggestions were submitted in final form. In June they were 
presented before the Medical Branch of the National Defense Council, and in 
August were published in brief form in the Proceedings of the National Acad- 
emy. In June the Committee made further definite proposals for the stand- 
ardization of the instruments used in the examination of recruits and for the 
regulation of methods. 
Finally during August and September a proposal was made for sending a 
trained anatomist to the base hospitals in Europe for the purpose of collect- 
ing much needed observations as well as specimens for further study. At 
the same time the Committee called attention to the probability that our 
men in France would discover in their digging operations valuable archeologi- 
cal and skeletal material, which should be preserved to science; and further, 
the Committee offered its services in dealing with the many problems relat- 
ing to race, nationality and language which are bound to be encountered 
