R. Crewdson Benington 
131 
(5) Living English Head and English Cranial Type, 17th century. The 
idea at the bottom of this investigation was to test the Whitechapel Plague Pit 
crania (see Biometrika, Vol. ill, p. 191) against the living English head in order 
to ascertain whether the results obtained for those crania may be considered as 
approximately true for modern crania. We were able by the aid of small gifts 
to induce 118 non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal Engineers to have 
their heads measured. Of these men 103 were of English parentage, English born; 
Three were of Scottish parentage, born in Scotland ; two of Scottish parentage, 
born in London ; five of Irish parentage, born in Ireland ; two were of mixed 
Scottish and English parentage, one of mixed Scottish and colonial parentage ; 
one of mixed Irish and Scottish, and one of mixed Irish and English parentage. 
It was not thought necessary to exclude these Scottish and Irish contingents ; the 
head contours were taken in 106 cases. 
The actual observations made on the 118 non-commissioned officers and men 
were as follows : (i) age, (ii) weight, (iii) height, (iv) previous occupation, (v) length 
of service, (vi) distinctions, (vii) birthplace of father, (viii) of mother, (ix) of subject, 
(x) nature of hair (wavy, curly, straight, crisp, soft), (xi) type of nose, (xii) Flower's 
greatest head length, (xiii) glabellar greatest head length, (xiv) nasion greatest 
head length, (xv) maximum breadth, (xvi) auricular height, (xvii) naso-mental 
height, (xviii) bi-malar width, (xix) nasal height, (xx) nasal width, (xxi) nasal 
index, (xxii) cephalic index from (xii), (xxiii) cephalic index from (xiii), 
(xxiv) minimum temporal breadth. These results will be discussed later elsewhere, 
but the mean values may be given here: (i) 26'1 yrs., (ii) list. 2 - 8 lbs., (iii) 68'5", 
(xii) 193-6 mm., (xiii) 194-9 mm., (xiv) 193-3 mm., (xv) 15M mm., (xvi) 125-9 mm. (?), 
(xvii) 121-6 mm., (xviii) 133"9 mm., (xix) 54-9 mm., (xx) 31*6 mm., (xxi) 57 - 8 mm., 
(xxii) 78'1, (xxiii) 77*5, (xxiv) 121'4 mm. Certain of these results may be profitably 
compared with those given by Mr Schuster for the same characters in this number 
of Biometrika, pp. 49 — 51. 
Comparison of Oxford Undergraduates and Royal Engineers. 
Age 
Weight 
Stature 
Head 
Length 
Breadth 
Auricular 
Height 
Cephalic 
Index 
Undergraduates 
Royal Engineers 
20-2 
261 
10 st. 12 lbs. 
11 st. 3 lbs. 
1765 
1740 
196-1 
194-9 
152-8 
151-1 
136-6 
125-9(?) 
78-02 
77-50 
Most of the differences here are precisely those we are familiar with when 
different social classes are investigated. The outstanding point is the extreme 
difference in auricular height. I presume Mr Schuster measured from the centre 
of the auricular passage. His value is in excess of other measurements on the 
living head (see p. 50 of this volume of Biometrika), but the excess is nothing like 
so great as in the case of these Royal Engineers. It is not easy to suppose 
17—2 
