J. F. Tocher 
139 
Meantime, in order to have the returns systematically arranged for inspection 
and tabling, two large cases (9' x 7') having 120 compartments were made ready 
and put in the writer's laboratory. Of the compartments, 110 were prepared for 
the special reception of the returns by districts, but of course each return 
envelope had printed and written on it the name of the school, parish, district 
and county to which it referred, for immediate identification. The remaining 
compartments were reserved for incomplete returns. A special case with county 
compartments was prepared to deal with the separate correspondence and a series 
of despatch boxes was obtained to hold and systematise the tabled data. These, 
with a typewriter, constituted the equipment for the survey. Everything was 
now ready for action. 
On the 8th December, one day after the issue of the schedules, the first group 
of returns — 5 in number — was received. After this a steady flow of returns came 
by each post. Within a fortnight, 366 had been received, and by the beginning 
of the last week of December the author was able to submit his first Interim 
Report to the Royal Society, stating that over 700 had been returned. Hundreds 
of letters had meantime been received asking for additional schedules and for 
explanation as to what appeared doubtful to the teachers making enquiries. 
These were all promptly answered, and as a result of the experience gained with 
those returns already sent in, an additional explanatory circular was sent out to 
those schools from which returns had not yet been made. This circular made 
clear doubtful points with regard to (1) classification of boys and girls, and (2) 
the method of recording relationships. The circular had the desired effect of 
obviating any further difficulties in making the observations. A steady stream of 
returns came during the early months of the year 1904. Each return was at 
once acknowledged and the teacher making the return thanked on behalf of the 
Committee. The response of the teachers was remarkable. The vast majority 
of them made the returns in an evidently painstaking and careful manner; and 
a great many of them, besides, wrote explanatory letters as to relationships, 
ancestry and probable racial mixture of their groups. The author was kept 
employed acknowledging these, and in replying to the hundreds of additional 
letters of enquiry during the first nine months of the year. In order to keep 
the scheme fully before the teachers, a reminder circular was issued in April to 
those schools from which no returns or acknowledgments had been received. 
This had the effect of bringing in a larger proportion of returns during the month 
of April. The rate steadily decreased until November, when only 3 — the last 
included in the analysis — came in by post and were acknowledged. The following 
table (Table IV.) shows the actual numbers received during each month and tlie 
rate of return per cent, per month. 
Altogether, 2695 returns were however received, but of these 407 were in- 
complete in certain particulars. Over 500 schools therefore made no return. The 
following table shows only the number of schools from which complete returns 
were received. With regard to the incomplete ones, either the names, ages, sex or 
18—2 
