Observations of external characters, combined with precise measurements, have now been made on a large scale in most European countries, and these methods are adopted on anthropological expeditions. In this way a great deal of valuable material for study has been accumulated, but much work remains to be done in this direction.
Methods of Dealing with Anthropometric Data.
Not only have head, body, and limb measurements been recorded, but the device of an “index” has been adopted which gives the ratio between two measurements, as, for example, in the previously-mentioned cephalic index (p. [34]). The averages or means of series of indices obtained from one people have been compared with those obtained from other peoples; but this method is misleading, as there is frequently a very considerable range in any given series, and a mean merely gives a colourless conception of racial types, the only value of which is a ready standard of comparison, which, however, is full of pitfalls.
A further step in the advancement of anthropometric research was made when the extent and frequency of such deviations from the mean were recorded. At first this was done in a tabular manner by means of seriations; then curves were employed: a single peak was held to indicate purity of race, double peaks that two racial elements entered into the series measured, a broad peak or plateau was interpreted as being due to race fusion. Dr. C. S. Myers,[[30]] who has discussed these and other methods, points out the fallacies of this interpretation, saying: “There can be little doubt that most of the many-peaked curves owe their irregularity to the inadequate number of individual measurements which have been taken.”
[30]. C. S. Myers, “The Future of Anthropometry,” Journ. Anth. Inst., xxxiii., 1903, p. 36.
Dr. Myers emphatically states:—
If physical anthropology is to be a science, its results must be capable of expression in mathematical formulæ. To this end some of the most interesting of biological work of the age is tending ... generally speaking, the study of living forms is passing from the descriptive to the quantitative aspect, and it is by experiment and observation on biometrical lines that future progress is clearly promised.... Thanks to the recent work of Professor Karl Pearson, the proper start has at last been made.
His school is now attacking by statistical methods the problem of the dependence of the variation of one character upon that of another. It should be remembered that Quetelet was the first to apply the Gaussian Law of Error to human measurements in its elementary binomial form; in this he was followed by Sir Francis Galton, who was the first in this country to realise the importance of applying mathematical methods to anthropological measurements and observations. An interesting account of the genesis of his work in this direction is given in his Memories of My Life (1908). Similar work has also been undertaken by German investigators.
Scientific and Practical Value of Anthropometry.
We may conclude this chapter with a brief summary of the main lines which investigations are now taking; but it is impossible to mention even the more important of recent workers in this vast field.