THE ANTHROPOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF 
THE INMATES OF ASYLUMS IN SCOTLAND. 
By J. F. TOCHER. 
(1) Introductory. 
The idea of making anthropometric observations on the inmates of asylums 
in Scotland originated with Dr Macpherson, Commissioner in Lunacy. At his 
suggestion and through his instrumentality the survey was carried out by the 
writer and his assistants. The survey forms part of a scheme, entertained by the 
Henderson Trust of Edinburgh, and has for its aim the making of an anthro- 
pometric examination of the physical characters of the Scottish people. In view 
of the fact that the data could be very easily collected, it was considered advisable, 
in the first instance, to commence with the asylum class of the population. 
Measurements were therefore begun on the inmates in December 1903, and with 
the assistance and cooperation of the medical superintendents and staffs of the 
various asylums, were carried out and completed by the end of 1904. The data, 
collected and classified, have just been published by the Henderson Trust in 
the form of a Report, which is reprinted as a supplement to this Volume of 
Biometrika. This Report is intended by the Trust to be, and is, a repository of 
facts at the disposal of those who make a special study of the head form of Man, 
but it advances nothing whatever by way of interpretation of the facts themselves. 
Since the Henderson Trust is interested only in the collection of data, it is not 
by omission, but by design that the Trustees have, very properly, excluded from 
their Report any statements purporting to interpret the results or to reach general 
conclusions. That task is now attempted here. As the organiser of the survey 
and the person responsible for the Report, the writer has been accorded the first 
opportunity of making the necessary statistical analysis which must precede any 
interpretation of the data. The results of this analysis, together with a statement 
of such conclusions as have been reached, are embodied in the present memoir. 
Altogether 4436 males and 3951 females were observed, but from these 
numbers 55 males and 26 females were excluded from the general analysis, 
because they were held to be exceptional cases by the medical superintendents 
