"■"<>. <i'^"'
\
.xv^'"\
\ %^'
.0
£\
.•#
,A>^ %
-Jj' -.10 ''
v/ ,i>. <-* t< >i^ jk ■> ■ ■'5' ** ^
8 , X " \\^
.^'
'/
•v
.^
N°-;
ci-_
.r^/r^', ^^^^ ^i(^C^^
^
.^^'\
■A A.
/.--'/V-'-'V'^
0 N t
..^^
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
'■^ I - =^r
or
'•A
'^i ; •
'/
f/^-,-
^^.
/2^^<*>«^C_
PEDAGOGICAL
ANTHROPOLOGY
BY
MARIA MONTESSORI
Author of "The Montessori Method'
TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN BY
FREDERIC TABER COOPER '
WITH 16S ILLUSTRATIONS AND DIAGRAMS
NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
MCMXIII
i
Copyright, 1913, by
Frederick A. Stokes Company
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign
languages, including the Scandinavian
D
July, 1913
THE. MAPLE- PRESS. YORK.PA
OCI.A
3 5 114 6 V^
TO
MY MOTHER
RENILDE STOPPANI
AND MY FATHER
ALESSANDRO MONTESSORI
ON THE OCCASION OF THE FORTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THEIR UNCLOUDED UNION, I DEDICATE THIS
^ BOOK, FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT OF LOVE AND
"%» CONTENTMENT WITH WHICH THEY
HAVE INSPIRED ME
PREFACE
For some time past much has been said in Italy regarding
Pedagogical Anthropology; but I do not think that until now any
attempt has been made to define a science corresponding to such
a title; that is to say, a method that systematises the positive
study of the pupil for pedagogic purposes and with a view to
establishing philosophic principles of education.
As soon as anthropology annexes the adjective, ''pedagogical,"
it should base its scope upon the fundamental conception of a
possible amelioration of man, founded upon the positive knowl-
edge of the laws of human life. In contrast to general anthro-
pology which, starting from a basis of positive data founded on
observation, mounts toward philosophic problems regarding the
origin of man, pedagogic anthropology, starting from an analogous
basis of observation and research, must rise to philosophic con-
ceptions regarding the future destiny of man from the biological
point of view. The study of congenital anomalies and of their
biological and social origin, must undoubtedly form a part of
pedagogical anthropology, in order to afford a positive basis for a
universal human hygiene, whose sole field of action must be the
school; but an even greater importance is assumed by the study
of defects of growth in the normal man; because the battle against
these evidently constitutes the practical avenue for a wide regen-
eration of mankind.
If in the future a scientific pedagogy is destined to rise, it will
devote itself to the education of men already rendered physically
better through the agency of the allied positive sciences, among
which pedagogic anthropology holds first place.
The present-day importance assumed by all the sciences cal-
culated to regenerate education and its environment, the school,
has profound social roots and is forced upon us as the necessary
path toward, further progress; in fact the transformation of the
outer environment through the mighty development of experimen-
vii
viii PREFACE
tal sciences during the past century, must result in a correspond-
ingly transformed man; or else civilisation must come to st halt
before the obstacle offered by a human race lacking in organic
strength and character.
The present volume comprises the lectures given by me in the
University of Rome, during a period of four years, all of which were
diligently preserved by one of my students, Signor Franceschetti.
My thanks are due to my master, Professor Giuseppe Sergi who,
after having urged me to turn my anthropological studies in the
direction of the school, recommended me as a specialist in the
subject; and my free university course for students in the Faculty
of Natural Sciences and Medicine was established, in pursuance of
his advice, by the Pedagogic School of the University of Rome.
The volume also contains the pictures used in the form of lantern
slides to illustrate the lectures, pictures taken in part from various
works of research mentioned in this volume. Acknowledgment is
gratefully made to the scientists and scholars whose work is thus
referred to.
I have divided my subject into ten chapters, according to a
special system: namely, that each chapter is complete in itself —
for example, the first chapter, which is very long, contains an out-
line of general biology, and at the same time biological and social
generalisations concerning man considered from our point of view
as educators, and thus furnishes a complete organic conception
which the remainder of the book proceeds to analyse, one part
at a time; the chapter on the pelvis, on the other hand, is exceed-
ingly^ short, but it completely covers the principles relating to this
particular part, because they lend themselves to such condensed
treatment.
Far from assuming that I have written a definitive work, it is
only at the request of my students and publisher that I have con-
sented to the publication of these lectures, which represent a
modest effort to justify the faith of the master who urged me to
devote my services as a teacher to the advancement of the school.
Maria Montessori.
CONTENTS
( The figures in parenthesis refer to the number of the page)
INTRODUCTION
MODERN TENDENCIES OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND THEIR
RELATION TO PEDAGOGY
The Old Anthropology(l)— Modern Anthropology (4)— De Giovanni and Physiologi-
cal Anthropology (11) — Sergi and Pedagogic Anthropology (14) — Morselli and
Scientific Philosophy (21) — Importance of Method in Experimental Sciences (23)
— Objective Collecting of Single Facts (24) — Passage from Analysis to Synthesis
(26) — Method to be followed in the present Course of Lectures(30) — ^Limits of
Pedagogical Anthropology (34). The School as a Field of Research(37).
CHAPTER I
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY
The Material Substratum of Life(38) — Synthetic Concept of the Individual in
Biology(38) — Formation of Multicellular Organisms(42) — Theories of Evolu-
tion(4€) — Phenomena of Heredity(50) — Phenomena of Hybridism(51) — Men-
del's Laws (51).
THE FORM AND TYPES OF STATURE
The Form(67)^Fundamental Canons regarding the Form (74) — Types of Stature,
Macroscclia and BrachysceUa; their Physiological Significance (75) — Types of
Stature in relation to Race(77), Sex(80), and Age(81) — Pedagogic Considera-
tions(88) — Abnormal Types of Stature in their relation to Moral Training(91) —
Macrosceha and Brachysceha in Pathological Individuals (De Giovanni's Hypo-
sthenic and Hypersthenic Types) (95) — Types of Stature in Emotional Criminals
and in Parasites(lOl) — Extreme types of Stature among the Extra-social: Nan-
ism and Gigantism (103) — Summary of Types of Stature(105).
THE STATURE
The Stature as a Linear Index (106) — Limits of Stature according to Race(108) — Stat-
ure in relation to Sex(lll) — Variations in Stature with Age, according to Sex(118)
— Variations due to Mechanical Causes(119) — Variations due to Adaptation in
connection with various Causes, Social, Physical, Psychic, Pathological, etc. (124)
— Effect of Light, Heat, Electricity(132) — Variations in Growth according to the
Season(138) — Pathogenesis of Infantilism (151) — Stature affected by Syphilis
(157), Tuberculosis (158), Malaria(160), Pe]lagra(161), Rickets(164)— Moral and
Pedagogical Considerations(168) — Summary of Stature(170).
THE WEIGHT
The Weight considered as Total Measure of Mass(172) — Weight of Child at Birth
(173)— Loss of Weight (176)— Specific Gravity of Body(178)— Index of
Weight(181).
ix
X CONTENTS
CHAPTER II
CRANIOLOGY
The Head and Cranium(187) — The Face(188) — Characteristics of the Human Cra-
nium (191) — Evolution of the Forehead; Inferior Skull Caps; the Pithocanthro-
pus; the Neanderthal Man(192) — Morphological Evolution of the Cranium
through different Periods of Life(197) — Normal Forms of Cranium(202) — the
Cephalic Index (207)— Volume of Cranium (220)— Development of Brain (220)—
Extreme Variations in Volume of Brain(229) — Nomenclature of Cranial Capac-
ity (242) — Chemistry of the Brain (247) — Human Intenigence(252) — Influence of
Mental Exercise (254) — Pretended Cerebral Inferiority of Woman (256) — Limits
of the Face (259)— Human Character of the Face (260)— Normal Visage (262)—
Prognathism(268)— Evolution of the Face(272)— Facial Expression(276)— the
Neck (282).
CHAPTER III
THE THORAX
Anatomical Parts of the Thorax(281) — Physiological and Hygienic Aspect of Thorax
(286)— Spirometry (288)— Growth of Thorax(294)— Dimensions of Thorax in
relation to Stature(295)— Thoracic Index (297)— Shape of Thorax (299)— Anoma-
lies of Shape(301) — Pedagogical Considerations: the Evil of School Benches(302).
CHAPTER IV
THE PELVIS
Anatomical Parts of the Pelvis (304) — Growth of Pelvis (306) — Shape of Pelvis in
relation to Child-birth (307).
CHAPTER V
THE LIMBS
Anatomy of the Limbs (308) — Growth of Limbs (309) — Malformations: Flat-foot,
Opposable Big Toe(311), Curvature of Leg, Club-foot (3 12)— The Hand(312)—
Cheiromancy and Physiognomy; the Hand in Figurative Speech; High and Low
Types of Hand(312) — Dimensions of Hand(315) — Proportions of Fingers(316)
—the Nails(317)— Anomalies of the Hand (3 17)— Lines of the Palm(318)— Papil-
lary Lines (3 19).
CHAPTER VI
THE SKIN AND PIGMENTS
Pigmentation and Cutaneous Apparatus (320) — Pigmentation of theHair(323) — of the
Skin (325)— of the Iris(325)— Form of the Hair (327)— Anomalies of Pigment:
Icthyosis, Birth-marks, Freckles, etc. (329) — Anomalies of Hair (330).
MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF CERTAIN ORGANS (STIGMATA)
Synoptic Chart of Stigmata(332) — Anomahes of the Eye(333) — of the Ear(334) — of
the Nose(335)— of the Teeth(336)— Importance of the Study of Morphology (338)
— Significance of the Stigmata of Degeneration (342) — Distribution of Malforma-
tions (344) — Individual Number of Malformations (347) — Origin of Malforma-
tions(355) — Humanity's Dependence upon Woman(357) — Moral and Pedagogi-
cal Problems within the School(358).
CONTENTS xi
CHAPTER VII
TECHNICAL PART
The Form(361)— Measurement of Stature(362)— the Anthropometer(363) — the
Sitting Stature(365)— Total Spread of Arms (367)— Thoracic Perimeter(368)—
Weight(368) — Ponderal Index(368) — Head and Cranium(369) — Cranioscopy
(370)— Craniometry(373)— Cephahc Index (376)— Measurements of Thorax(385)
—of Abdomen (386).
THE PERSONAL ERROR
Need of Practical Experience in Anthropology (387) — Average Personal Error (388) —
Susceptibility to Suggestion (389).
CHAPTER VIII
STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY
Mean Averages(391) — Seriation(396) — Quetelet's Binomial Curve(398).
CHAPTER IX
THE BIOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF THE PUPIL AND HIS ANTECEDENTS
Biographic Histories (404) — Remote Antecedents (406) — Near Biopathological Ante-
cedents (407) — Sociological Antecedents (411 ) — School Records (411) — Biographic
Charts(422) — Psychic Tests(425) — Typical Biographic History of an Idiot
Boy(434) — Proper Treatment of Defective Pupils(446) — Rational Medico-peda-
gogical Method(448).
CHAPTER X
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY TO ANTHROPOLOGY FOR THE
PURPOSE OF DETERMINING THE MEDIAL MAN
Theory of the Medial Man(454) — Importance of Seriation(455) — De Helguere's
Curves(460)— Viola's Medial Man(463)— Human Hybridism (466)— the Medial
Intellectual and Moral Man(469) — Sexual Morality(473) — Sacredness of Mater-
nity (474) — Biological Liberty and the New Pedagogy (477).
Table of Mean Proportions of the Body According to Age (480).
Tables for Calculating the Cephalic Index (485).
Tables for Calculating the Ponderal Index(491).
General Index:
A. Index of Names(501).
B. Index of Subjects(503).
INTRODUCTION
THE MODERN TENDENCIES OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE
RELATION THAT THEY BEAR TO PEDAGOGY
Human Hygiene
The Old Anthropology. — Anthropology was defined by Broca
as ''the natural history of man," and was intended to be the appli-
cation of the "zoological method" to the study of the human
species.
As a matter of fact, as with all positive sciences, the essential
characteristic of Anthropology is its ''method." We could not
say, if we wished to speak quite accurately, that "Anthropology
is the study of man" ; because the greater part of acquirable knowl-
edge has for its subject the human race or the individual human
being; philosophy studies his origin, his essential nature, his
characteristics; linguistics, history and representative art inves-
tigate the collective phenomena of physiological and social orders,
or determine the morphological characteristics of the idealised
human body.
Accordingly, what characterises Anthropology is not its sub-
ject: man; but rather the method by which it proposes to study
him.
The selfsame procedure which zoology, a branch of the natural
sciences, applies to the study of animals, anthropology must apply
to the study of man; and by doing so it enrolls itself as a science
in the field of nature.
Zoology has a well-defined point of departure, that clearly
distinguishes it from the other allied sciences: it studies the living
animal. Consequently, it is an eminently synthetic science,
because it cannot proceed apart from the individual, which repre-
sents in itself a sum of complex morphological and psychic char-
acteristics, associated with the species; and which furthermore,
during life, exhibits certain special distinguishing traits resulting
from instincts, habits, migration and geographical distribution.
1
2 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Zoology consequently includes a vast but well-defined field.
Fundamentally, it is a descriptive science, and when the general
character of the individual living creatures has been determined,
it proceeds to draw comparisons between them, distinguishing
genus and species, and thus working toward a classification. Down
to the time of Linnaeus, these were its limits; but since the studies
of Lamarck and Charles Darwin, it has gone a step further, and
has proceeded to investigate the origin of species, an example
that was destined to be followed by botany and biology as a whole,
which is the study of living things.
When anthropology attained, under Broca, the dignity of a
branch of the natural sciences, the evolutionary theory already
held the field, and man had begun to be studied as an animal in
his relation to species of the lower orders. But, just as in zoology,
the fundamental part of anthropology was descriptive; and the
description of the morphology of the body was divided, according
to the method followed, into anthropology , or the method of inspec-
tion, and anthropometry, or the method of measurements.
By these means, many problems important to the biological
side of the subject were solved — such, for instance, as racial
characteristics — and a classification of ''the human races" was
achieved through the evidences afforded by comparative studies.
But the descriptive part of anthropology is not limited to the
inspection and measurement of the body; on the contrary, just
as in zoology, it is extended to include the habits of the individual
living being; that is to say, in the case of man, the language, the
manners and customs (data that determine the level of civilisation),
emigration and the consequent intermixture of races in the orig-
inal formation of nations, thus constituting a special branch of
science properly known by the name of ethnology.
In this manner, while still adhering rigorously to zoological
methods, anthropology found itself compelled to throw out nu-
merous collateral branches into widely different fields, such as those
of linguistics and archaeology; because man is a speaking animal
and a social animal.
One strictly anthropological problem is that of the origin
of man, and its ultimate analogy with that of the other animal
species. Hence the comparative studies between man and the
anthropoid apes; while palseontological discoveries of pre-human
forms, such as the pithecanthropus, were just so many arguments
INTRODUCTION 3
calculated to bring the human species within the scheme of a
biological philosophy, based upon evolution, which held its own,
for nearly half a century, on the battle-ground of natural sciences,
under the glorious leadership of Darwin.
Yet, notwithstanding that it offered studies and problems of
direct interest to man, anthropology failed to achieve popularity.
During that half century (the second half of the Nineteenth),
which beheld the scientific branches of biology multiply through-
out the entire field of analytical research, from histology to bio-
chemistry, and succeeded especially in making a practical appli-
cation of them in medicine. Anthropology failed to raise itself
from the status of a pure and aristocratic, in other words, a super-
fluous science, a status that prevented it from ranking among the
sciences of primary importance. As a matter of fact, while zool-
ogy is a required study in the universities. Anthropology still
remains an elective study, which in Italy is relegated to three or
four universities at most. The epoch of materialistic philosophy
and analytical investigation could naturally hardly be expected
to prove a field of victory for man, the intelligent animal, and
nature's most splendid achievement in construction.
The impressive magnificence of this thought, that bursts like
pent-up waters from the results of positive research into man con-
sidered as a living individual, was forced to await the patient
preparation of material on which to build, such as the gathering
of partial and disorganised facts, which were accumulated through
rigorous and minute analyses, conducted under the guidance of
the experimental sciences. It was in this manner that anthro-
pology slowly evolved a method and, by doing so, raised itself
to the rank of a science', without ever once being" utilised for prac-
tical purposes or recognised as necessary as a supplemental or
integral element of other sciences.
One branch of learning which might have utiHsed the important scientific
discoveries regarding the antiquity of man, his nature considered as an animal,
his first efforts as a labourer and a member of society, is pedagogy.
What could be more truly instructive and educative than to describe to
children that first heroic Robinson Crusoe, primitive man, cast away on this
vast island, the earth, lost in the midst of the universe? Mankind, weak and
naked, without iron, because it still remained mysteriously hidden in the bowels
of the earth, without fire because they had not yet discovered the means of pro-
curing it; stones were their only weapons of defense against the ferocious and
gigantic beasts that roared on all sides of them in the forests. The rude, splin-
4 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
tered stone, the first handiwork of intelligent man, his first instrument and his
first weapon, could be prepared solely from one kind of mineral, of which the
local deposit began to fail — a state of things which, let us suppose, occurred
on some ocean island. Thereupon the men constructed a small boat from the
bark of trees, and sped over the waters, in search of the needed stone, passing
from island to island, with scanty nourishment, without lights in the night-time,
and without a guide.
These marvelous accounts ought to be easily understood by children, and
to awaken in them an admiration for their own kinship with humanity, and a
profound sense of indebtedness to the mighty power of labour, which to-day is
rendered so productive and so easy by our advanced civilisation, in which the
environment, thanks to the works of man, has done so much to make our lives
enjoyable.
But pedagogy, no less than the other branches of learning, has disdained to
accept any contribution from anthropology; it has failed to see man as the
mighty wrestler, at close grips with environment, man the toiler and transmuter,
man the hero of creation. Of the history of human evolution, not a single ray
sheds light upon the child and adolescent, the coming generation. The schools
teach the history of wars — the history of disasters and crimes — which were pain-
ful necessities in the successive passages through civilisations created by the
labour and slow perfectioning of humanity; but civilisation itself, which abides
in the evolution of labour arid of thought, remains hidden from our children in the
darkness of silence.
Let us compare the appearance of man upon the earth to the discovery of
the motive power of steam and to the subsequent appearance of railways as a
factor in our social life. The railway has no limits of space, it overruns the world,
unresting and unconscious, and by doing so promotes the brotherhood of men,
of nations, of business interests. Let us suppose that we should choose to
remain silent about the work performed by our railways and their social signifi-
cance in the world to-day, and should teach our children only about the accidents,
after the fashion of the newspapers, and keep their sensitive minds lingering in
the presence of shattered and motionless heaps of carriages, amid the cries of
anguish and the bleeding limbs of the victims.
The children would certainly ask themselves what possible connection there
could be between such a disaster and the progress of civilisation. Well, this is
precisely what we do when, from all the prehistoric and historic ages of humanity,
we teach the children nothing but a series of wars, oppressions, tyrannies and
betrayals; and, equipped with such knowledge, we push them out, in all their
ignorance, into the century of the redemption of labour and the triumph of uni-
versal peace, telling them that "history is the teacher of life."
Modern Anthropology : Cesar e Lombroso and Criminal Anthro-
pology. The Anthropological Principles of Moral Hygiene. — The
credit rests with Italy for having rescued Anthropology from a
sort of scientific Olympus, and led it by new paths to the perform-
ance of an eminent and practical service.
It was about the year 1855 that Cesare Lombroso applied the
INTRODUCTION 5
anthropological method first to the study of the insane, and then
to that of criminals, having perceived a similarity or relationship
between these two categories of abnormal individuals. The
observation and measurement of clinical subjects, studied especially
in regard to the cranium by anthropometric methods, led the
young innovator to discover that the mental derangements of the
insane were accompanied by morphological and physical abnor-
malities that bore witness to a profound and congenital alteration
of the entire personality. Accordingly, for the purposes of diagno-
sis, Lombroso came to adopt a somatic basis. And his anthropo-
logical studies of criminals led him to analogous results.
The method employed was in all respects similar to the natural-
istic method which anthropology had taken over from zoology;
that is to say, the description of the individual subject considered
chiefly in his somatic or corporeal personality, but also in his
physiological and mental aspect; the study of his responsiveness
to his environment, and of his habits {manners and customs);
the grouping of subjects under types according to their dominant
characteristic {classification) ; and finally, the study of their origin,
which, in this case, meant a sociological investigation into the
genesis of degenerate and abnormal types. Thus, since the prin-
ciples of the Lombrosian doctrine spread with a precocious rapidity,
it is a matter of common knowledge that criminals present anoma-
lies of form, or rather morphological deviations associated with
degeneration and known under the name of stigmata (now called
malformations), which, when they occur together in one and the
same subject, confer upon him a wellnigh characteristic aspect,
notably different from that of the normal individual; in other
words, they stamp him a^ belonging to an inferior type, which, ac-
cording to Lombroso's earlier interpretation, is a reversion toward
the lower orders of the human race (negroid and mongoloid types),
as evidenced by anomalies of the vital organs, or internal animal-
like characteristics (pithecoids) ; and that such stigmata were
often accompanied by a predisposition to maladies tending to
shorten life. Side by side with his somatic chart, Lombroso pains-
takingly prepared a physio-pathological chart of criminal subjects,
based upon a study of their sensibility, their grasp of ideas, their
social and ethical standards, their thieves' jargon and tattoo-
marks, their handwriting and literary productions. 'I
And, by deducing certain common characteristics from these
6 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
complex charts, he distinguished, in his classic work. Delinquent
Man, a variety of types, such as the morally insane, the epileptic
delinquent, the delinquent from impulse or passion (irresistible
impulsion), the insane delinquent, and the occasional delinquent.
In this way, he succeeded in classifying a series of types —
what we might call sub-species — diverging from the somatic and
psycho-moral charts of normal men. But the common bio-
pathological foundation of such types (with the exception of the
last) was degeneration. We may well agree with Morselli that,
in many parts of his treatise, Lombroso completed and amplified
Morel, whose classic work, A Study of the Degeneration of the
Human Species, was published in France at a time when Lombroso
had hardly started upon his anthropological researches.
Both of these great teachers based their doctrine upon a
naturalistic concept of man, and then proceeded to consider him,
through all his anomalies and perversions, in relation to that
extraneous factor, his environment. Morel, indeed, considers
the social causes of degeneration, that is to say, of progressive
organic impoverishment, as more important than the individual
phenomena; they act upon posterity and tend to create a human
variety deviating from the normal type. Such causes may be
summed up as including whatever tends to the organic detriment
of civilised man: such (in the first rank) as alcoholism, poisoning
associated with professional industries (metallic poisons), or with
lack of nutriment (pellagra), conditions endemic in certain locali-
ties (goitre), infective maladies (malaria, tuberculosis), denutrition
(surmenage). It may be said that whatever produces prolonged
suffering, or whatever we class under the term vices, or even the
neglect of our duties, chief among which is that of working (para-
sitism of the rich), or any of the causes which exhaust, or paralyse,
or perturb our normal functions, are causes of degeneration, of
impoverishment of the species.
Such is the doctrine which underlies the etiological concept of
abnormal personality in psychiatry as well as in criminology, or
points the way to its bio-social sources.
Accordingly, just as general Anthropology sought to investigate
the origins of races or that of the human species in the very roots
of life, so criminal Anthropology searches the origins of defective
personality in its social surroundings.
The ethical problems which are raised by such a doctrine
\,
INTRODUCTION 7
cannot fail to be of interest to us. The Lombrosian theories,
by raising these problems, have not only shaken the foundations
of penal law, but have even brought about a moral renovation of
conscience. We will leave to the jurists the great civic labor
resulting from having brought the individual as well as the crime
under consideration, in relation to the social phenomenon of
delinquency — in other words, of having substituted an anthro-
pological for a speculative attitude. Whether the delinquent
should be cured, or simply isolated, or even subjected to punish-
ment; whether the prison should be transformed into an asylum
for the criminal insane ; whether the penal laws should be reformed
on principles of a higher order of civil morality : these are problems
which interest us only secondarily.
What does interest us directly as educators is the necessity of
laying our course in accordance with the standard of social morality
which such a doctrine reveals and imposes upon us: since it is our
duty to prepare the conscience of the rising generation. And,
furthermore, to consider whether the organisation of our schools
and of their methods is in conformity with such social progress.
If we cast a general glance at social ethics, from the primitive
beginnings of human intercourse, we witness the evolution of the
vendetta. There was, first, the individual vendetta. It was a
form of primordial justice, with which were associated the senti-
ments of dignity, honour and solidarity; the injured party avenged
himself by slaying; and the family of the slain retaliated by a new
vendetta against the family of the slayer; and thus from generation
to generation the tragic heritage continued to be handed down.
Even now, in certain districts of civilised countries there exist
survivals of these primitive forms of justice. In such cases, the
slayer is held to be, not only honourable but virtuous. Analogously,
in course of time, the individual vendetta, regulated by special
formalities, developed into the duel for a point of honour.
At a more advanced period, in the course of the organisation
of society, the task of vengeance was taken away from the indi-
vidual, and the social administration of justice was established.
Thereafter, the act of an offender was punished by the people
collectively, and the victims of the act had no other recompense
from society than that of a sense of satisfied hatred.
But throughout all civil progress, from the most primitive
forms of society down to our own times, there persisted, as a
8 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
fundamental principle, the concept of vengeance, coupled with the
two great moral principles, individually and collectively, of human
society: honour and justice. The naturalistic concept introduced
by the Lombrosian doctrine, namely, living man entering as a
concrete reality into the midst of abstract moral principles,
shatters this association of ideas, and by so doing prepares the
way for a new order of things — which is not a progess of evolution,
but the beginning of an epoch. Vengeance disappears in the new
conception of the defense of society and of an active campaign
for the progress of humanity; and it ushers in an epoch of redemp-
tion and of solidarity, in which all limitations of human brother-
hood are swept away.
The theories of Morel and Lombroso have resulted in calling
the attention of civilised man to all the types of the physiologically
inferior; the mentally deficient, epileptics, delinquents; shedding
light upon their pathological personality, and transforming into
interest and pity the contempt and neglect that were formerly
the portion of such creatures. In this way science has accom-
plished in their behalf a work analogous to that of certain saints
on behalf of lepers and sufferers from cancer in the middle ages.
At that epoch, and even down to the beginning of modern times,
the sick were abandoned to themselves and languished, covered
with sores, in the midst of the horrors of infection; lepers were
universally shunned, and their bodies decomposed without succor.
It was only when these miserable beings began to awaken pity,
in the place of loathing and repulsion, and to attract the charity
of saints, instead of spreading panic among egoists and cowards,
that the care of the sick began upon a vast scale, with the founda-
tion of hospitals, the progress of medicine, and later of hygiene.
To-day those purulent plague-spots of the middle ages no
longer exist; and infection is being combated with progressive
success, in the triumph of physical health.
Yet, we are standing to-day on the selfsame level as the middle
ages, in respect to moral plague-spots and infections; the phe-
nomenon of criminality spreads without check or succor, and up to
yesterday it aroused in us nothing but repulsion and loathing.
But now that science has laid its finger upon this moral fester, it
demands the cooperation of all mankind to combat it.
Accordingly we find ourselves in the epoch of hospitals for the
morally diseased, the century of their treatment and cure; we have
INTRODUCTION 9
initiated a social movement toward the triumph of morality. We
educators must not forget that we have inaugurated the epoch
of spiritual health; because I beheve that it is we who are destined
to be the true physicians and nurses of this new cure. From the
middle ages until now, the science of medicine has slowly been
evolving for us the principles required to guarantee our bodily
health; but we know very well that while cleanliness and hygiene
are signs of civilisation, it is its moral standard that establishes
its level.
This moral solidarity is something which it is our duty to under-
stand thoroughly, if we wish to undertake the noble task of edu-
cators in the Twentieth Century, which was prepared in advance
by the intensive intellectual activity of the century of science.
Granting the social phenomenon of crime, we ought to ask our-
selves : where does the fault lie? If we are to acquit the individual
criminal of responsibility, it falls back necessarily upon the social
community through which the causes of degeneration and disease
have filtered. Accordingly, it is we, every one of us, who are at
fault : or rather, we are beginning to awaken to a consciousness that
it is a sin to foster or to tolerate such social conditions as make
possible the suffering, the vices, the errors that lead to physiolog-
ical pauperism, to pathology, to the degeneration of posterity.
The idea is not a new one : all great truths were perceived in every
age by the elect few; the fundamental principles of the doctrine
of Lombroso are to be already found in Greek philosophy and in
that of Christ; Aristotle, in his belief that there is some one par-
ticular organism corresponding to each separate manifestation of
nature, foreshadows the concept of the correspondence between the
morphological and psychic personality; and St. John Chrisostom
expounds the principle of moral solidarity in the collective respon-
sibility of society, when he says: ''you will render account, not
only of your own salvation, but of that of all mankind; whoever
prays ought to feel himself burdened with the interests of the entire
human race."
Now, if it is not yet in our power to achieve a social reform
based on the eradication of degenerative causes — since society
can be perfected only gradually — it is nevertheless within our
power to prepare the conscience for acceptance of the new morality,
and by educational means to help along the civil progress which
science has revealed to us. The honest man, the worthy man, the
10 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
man of honour, is not he who avenges himself; but he who works
for something outside himself, for the sake of society at large, in
order to purify it of its evils and its sins, and advance it on its path
of future progress. In this way, even though we fail to prepare
the material environment, we shall have prepared efficient men.
In addition to this momentous principle of social ethics, the
Lombrosian doctrines confront us squarely with the philosophic
question of liberty of action, the controverted question of Stuart
Mill, namely that of ''free will." The libertarians admit the
freedom of the will as one of the noblest of human prerogatives,
on which the responsibility for our acts depends; the determinists
recognise that the act of volition obeys certain predetermined
causes. Now the Lombrosian theories find these causes, not after
the fashion of the Pythagoreans, in cosmic laws or astrology, but
in the constitution of the organism, thus serving as a powerful illus-
tration of that physiological determinism, under whose guidance
modern positive philosophy draws its inspiration.*
In the case of criminality, the actions of the degenerate delin-
quent are dependent upon a multiplicity of internal factors, that
are almost necessarily governed by special predispositions. But,
also in accordance with the Lombrosian doctrine, there are external
factors which concur in determining acts of volition, factors
relating to the environment, studied in accordance with rather
vast conceptions: the actions of the individual are determined
in advance by that social intercourse in which the great phenomena
of any given civilisation have their necessary origin — phenomena
such as crime, prostitution, the grade of culture accessible to the
majority, the character of industrial products, the limits of general
mortality. Now, just as there are necessary fluctuations in the
tables of mortality, so also there are fluctuations in the quantity
and quality of those individual phenomena that are looked upon
as crimes: and in the one case no less than in the other, those who
are predisposed are the ones in whom occurs the necessary outbreak
of phenomena having their origin in society.
This constitutes in criminology, as well as in psychiatry, the re-
sultant of all etiological concepts, pertaining to the interpretation
of individual phenomena. It is precisely the same concept as that
so exhaustively demonstrated by Quetelet, with the aid of European
statistics, in his Social Physics, and it has come to represent in
* From a work by E. Morselli: Cesare Lombroso and Scientific Philosophy.
INTRODUCTION 11
modern science that fundamental concept which was to be found
in all the great religions, of the dependence of the individual upon
a governing force that is superior to him. This interpretation of
individual phenomena cannot be ignored in the great problems
of education; because the more literally we interpret the doctrine
here set forth, just so much the less trust must be placed in the
efficacy of education as a modifying influence upon personality,
while it will acquire new importance as a co-worker in the interpre-
tation of social epochs and individual activities, over which it
should exercise a watchful guidance.
But meanwhile it is of interest to us to note how the anthro-
pological movement, introduced with great simplicity of method,
without any scientific or philosophical preconceptions, has led the
investigations of psychiatry into vast and unsuspected fields of
social ethics, bringing into practice fundamental reforms, analo-
gous to those relating to penal law.
Achille De Giovanni and Physiological Anthropology; Anthro-
pological Principles of Physical Hygiene. — Another practical devel-
opment of anthropology is that instituted by Professor De Gio-
vanni, who has introduced into his medical clinic at Padua the
anthropological method in the clinical examination of patients.
He applies the well-known naturalistic procedure, namely, the
discription of individuals, their classification into types, according
to common fundamental characteristics, and the etiological study
of their personality. But while Lombroso took note of malforma-
tions solely in relation to other symptoms of degeneration,
De Giovanni has established a strictly physiological basis for his
investigations. Accordingly, he considers the human individual
in his entirety, as a functionating organism,, and he regards all
inharmonious bodily proportions as signifying a necessary predis-
position to certain determined forms of illness. With this end in
view, he does not concern himself about single malformations,
such for example as prognathism, the frontal angle, etc., but rather
with the general relations of development between the bust which
contains the organs essential to vegetative life, and the limbs; and
from the external morphology of the bust, determined by measure-
ments, he seeks to establish the reciprocal relations in development
within the visceral cavities: 'Hhe proportions of the human body
depend upon the development of its organs; and equally with its
proportions, the whole physiological strength of the body depends
12 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
upon its organs taken collectively." Whoever has a defective
chest capacity not only possesses a smaller allowance of organs
fitted for respiration and circulation of the blood, but as a result
of such anomaly of development he is also predisposed to at-
tacks of special maladies, such for example as chronic catarrh of
the bronchial tubes or pulmonary tuberculosis. Whoever, on the
contrary, is over-developed in abdominal dimensions, will be sub-
ject to disturbances of the digestive system and of the liver. In
his classic work, Morphology of the Human Body, De Giovanni
proceeds to elaborate a doctrine of temperaments, and of their
several predispositions to disease, the tendency of which is to
transfer the basis of medicine from a study of diseases to that of
the individual patients, and to revive in modern days the ancient
concepts of the Greek school of medicine, which from the time of
Hippocrates and Galen drew up admirable charts of the funda-
mental physical types. In place of the ancient classification of
temperaments into nervous, sanguine, bilious and lymphatic, we
have to-day a,s substitutes, according to the school of De Giovanni,
morphological types that are very nearly equivalent, and in which
the predominant disorders are respectively diseases of the heart,
the nervous system, the liver and the lungs.
In short, the result of this theory has been to establish an
internal factor of predisposition to disease, analogous to that
established by Lombroso as a predisposition to the phenomena of
crime. And even here the mesogenic factors, that is, the influence
of environment, must be taken into consideration: but environ-
ment acts equally upon all individuals : nearly everyone encounters,
in his surroundings, that nerve-strain which leads to cardiac
disorders and to neurasthenia; almost everyone encounters the
bacilli of tuberculosis; the causes of general mortality are dictated
by the very conditions of civilisation. But among the vast major-
ity who pass unharmed along the insidious paths of adaptation,
only a few fall victims to the particular disease to which some spe-
cial anomaly of their organism predisposes them. In this way we
can understand how it happens that certain ones have reason to
dread a cold that will develop into bronchitis, and others on the
contrary must guard themselves from errors in diet which will
lead to intestinal disorders.
The part of De Giovanni's theory which is of special interest
is that which leads to a consideration of the ontogenetic development
INTRODUCTION 13
in relation to the anomalies of the physio-morphological personal-
ity: "At every epoch of life this principle is applicable: Namely,
that the reason for a special predisposition to disease is to be found
in a special organic morphology. The individual is in a ceaseless
state of transformation, and consequently at different periods of
his life he may show a susceptibility to different diseases." A
person who is predisposed to suffer continually from some com-
plaint during his adult years, was usually unwell during the greater
part of his childhood, although from some other disease; and
with this as a basis, a scientific system of observation could speak
prophetically regarding the physio-pathological destiny of a
child. It is known, for example, that children subject to scrofula
are predisposed to arrive at maturity with an undeveloped chest
and a tendency to pulmonary tuberculosis.
From our point of view as educators, the doctrine of tempera-
ments, and of their respective predispositions to disease, offers a
deep interest, the nature of which is made evident by the author
of the theory himself : for he points out that the period of childhood
is the one best fitted in which to combat the abnormal predisposi-
tions of the organism, wisely guiding its development, to the final
end of achieving an ideal of health, which depends upon the har-
mony of form and consequently of functions, in other words, upon
the full attainment of physical beauty.
Here also, as in the Lombrosian doctrines, etiology fulfils the
lofty task of throwing light upon the causal links between the bio-
sociologic causes and the congenital anomalies of the physiological
personality. The hereditary tendencies to disease, the errors of
sexual hygiene, especially those regarding maternity, reveal to us
the principal causes of that accumulation of imperfections that
oppress and deform the average normal human being. It is be-
cause of such errors and such ignorance that hardly any of us
attain that harmonic beauty that would render us immune to
the treacheries of environment, and enable us to achieve, in
the triumphant security of good health, our normal biological
development.
It is not too much to say, that it is etiology which, applied
to the Lombrosian doctrines, reveals the faults of society, the
sins of the world, and, applied to the theories of De Giovanni,
reveals its errors; and that from the two together there results a
sort of ethical guide leading toward the supreme ideal of the
2
14 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
purification of the world and the perfectionment of the human species.
These are ideals which were in part cherished by the Greeks, who
made their system of education the basis of their physical develop-
ment. Such physiological doctrines are precisely what we also
need to round out our plan for a moral education.
Giuseppe Sergi and Pedagogic Anthropology: Anthropological
Bases of Human Hygiene. — It is also an Italian to whom we owe
that practical extension of anthropology that leads us straight into
the field of pedagogy. It was my former teacher, Giuseppe Sergi,
who, as early as 1886, defended with the ardor of a prophet the
new scientific principle of studying the pupils in our schools by
methods prescribed by anthropology. Like the scientists who
preceded him, he was thus led to substitute (in the field of pedagogy)
the human individual taken from actual life, in place of general
principles or abstract philosophical ideas.
As a matter of fact, while the doctrines of Lombroso and De
Giovanni are profoundly reformatory, they nevertheless offer us
nothing more substantial than certain new ideals of morality and
social improvement. But the really practical field in which these
ideals might in a large measure be realised is the school.
What progress would result for humanity if, on the basis of
these new ethical principles, we contented ourselves with trans-
forming our prisons into insane asylums? Such scanty fruit might
well be compared to the mercy of that mediaeval Icrdling who,
out of consideration for a gentleman, commuted his sentence from
hanging to decapitation. And scanty fruit would also be reaped
by the science of medicine if, in its new anthropological develop-
ment, it should content itself merely with diagnosing the personal-
ity of the patient, in addition to the disease; that is to say, for
example, if, instead of telling a patient that his attack of bronchitis
would be cured within twenty days, it should go on to predict,
on the basis of the morphology of his body, that he would infallibly
fall ill every year, until such time as pulmonary tuberculosis should
put a fatal ending to his days.
On the contrary, behind the light of ideality that shimmers
through and across these doctrines, we perceive our plain duty to
trace out a path that will lead to a regeneration of humanity. If
some practical line of action is to result, it will undoubtedly have
to be exerted upon humanity in the course of development, in other
words, at that period of life when the organism, being still in the
INTRODUCTION 15
course of formation, may be effectively directed and consequently
corrected in its mode of growth.
Accordingly, the possible solution of the most momentous
social problems, such as those of criminality, predisposition to
disease, and degeneration, may be hoped for only within the limits
of that space which society sets aside for guiding the new genera-
tions in their development.
In the school, we have hitherto retained, almost as a principle
of justice, a leveling uniformity among the pupils: an abstract
equality which seeks to guide all these separate childish individu-
alities toward a single type which cannot be called an idealised
type, because it does not represent a standard of perfection, but
is on the contrary a non-existent philosophical abstraction: the
Child. Educators are prepared for their practical services to
childhood, by studies based upon this abstract infantile personality;
and they enter upon their active work in school with the precon-
ception that they must discover in every pupil a more or less faith-
ful incarnation of the said type; and thus, year after year, they
delude themselves with the idea that they have understood and
educated the child. Now, this supposed uniformity cannot exist
in the children of a human race so varied that it can produce, at
the selfsame time, a Musolino* and a Luccheni,* a Guglielmo
Marconi and a Giosue Carducci. All the different social types
of men who labor with their hands and with their brains, the
transformers of their environment, the producers of wealth, the
directors of governments, equally with the undistinguished crowd
of parasites, the enemies of society, all lived together in childhood,
sitting side by side, upon the same school benches.
It was in 1898 that the first Italian Pedagogical Congress was
held in Turin, and was attended by about three thousand educators.
Under the spur of a new passion, that made me foresee the future
mission and transformation of a chosen social class, setting forth
upon a glorious task of redemption — the class of educators — I
attended the Congress. I was at that time an interloper, because
the subsequent felicitous union between medicine and pedagogy
still remained a thing undreamed of, in the thoughts of that period.
We had reached the third day of our sessions, and were all awaiting
with interest an address by Professor Ildebrando Bencivenni,
who was announced to speak upon the theme of "The School that
*MusoLiNO was a brigand, and Luccheni an anarchist and regicide.
16 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Educates." The discussion of this subject was expected to con-
stitute the substantial work of the Congress, which seemed to
have been called together chiefly in order to solve the problem of
the greatest pedagogic importance: how to give a moral education.
It was that very morning, just as the session was opening, that the
frightful news burst upon us like a thunderbolt, that the Empress,
Elizabeth of Austria, had been assassinated, and that once again
an Italian had struck the blow! The third regicide in Europe
within a brief time, that was due to an Italian hand!
The entire public press was unanimously stirred to indigna-
tion against the educators of the people; and as a demonstration
of hostility, they all absented themselves that day from partici-
pating in the Congress.
There was something approaching a tumult in the ranks of
teachers; inasmuch as they felt themselves innocent, they pro-
tested against the calumny of the newspapers in thus unjustly
holding them responsible.
Amid the intense silence of the assembly, Bencivenni delivered
a splendid discourse regarding the reform of educative niethods
in the school. Next in order, I took the platform and, speaking
as a physician, I said: It will be all in vain for you to reform the
methods of moral education in our schools, if you do not bear in
mind that certain individuals exist, who are the very ones capable
of committing such unspeakable deeds, and who pass through
school without ever once being influenced in any manner by educa-
tion. There exist various categories of abnormal children, who
will fruitlessly go through the same grade over and over again,
disturbing the routine and discipline of the class: and in spite of
punishments and reprimands, they will end by being expelled
without having learned anything at all, without having been modi-
fied in any manner. What becomes of these individuals who,
even in childhood, reveal themselves as the future rebels and ene-
mies of society? Yet we leave such a dangerous class in the most
complete abandonment. Now, it is useless to reform the school
and its methods, if the reformed school and the reformed methods
are still going to fail to reach the very children who, for the pro-
tection of society, are most in need of being reached ! Any method
whatever suffices to fit a sane and normal child for a useful and
moral life. The reform that is demanded in school and in
pedagogy is one that will lead to the protection of all children
INTRODUCTION 17
during their years of development, including those who have
shown themselves refractory to the environment of social life.
Thus I laid the first stone toward the education of mentally
deficient children and the foundation of special schools for them.
The work which followed forms, I think, the first historic page of
a great regeneration in the whole class of teachers and of a profound
reform in the school; a question so momentous that it spread rap-
idly throughout all Italy and was followed by the establishment
of institutes and classes designed expressly for the deficient; and,
most important of all, by the universal conviction which it carried,
it also constituted the first page of pedagogy reformed upon an
anthropological basis.
This is precisely the new development of pedagogy that goes
under the name of scientific: in order to educate, it is essential to
know those who are to be educated. '^ Taking measurements of
the head, the stature, etc." (in other words, applying the anthro-
pological method), ''is, to be sure, not in itself the practice of
pedagogy," says Sergi, in speaking of what the biological sciences
have contributed to this branch of learning during the nineteenth
century, ''But it does mean that we are following the path that
leads to pedagogy, because we cannot educate anyone until we
know him thoroughly."
Here again, in the field of pedagogy, the naturalistic method
must lead us to the study of the separate subjects, to a description
of them as individuals, and their classification on a basis of char-
acteristics in common; and since the child must be studied not by
himself alone, but also in relation to the factors of his origin and
his individual evolution — since every one of us represents the
effect of multifold causes — it follows that the etiological side of the
pedagogical branch of modern anthropology, like all its other
branches, necessarily invades the field of biology and at the same
time of sociology.
Among the types which it will be of pedagogic interest to trace
in school-children, we must undoubtedly find those that corre-
spond to the childhood of those abnormal individuals already stud-
ied in Lombroso's Criminal Anthropology, and in De Giovanni's
Clinical Morphology.
Nevertheless, it is a new study, because the characteristics of
the child are not those of the adult reduced to a diminutive scale,
but they constitute childhood characteristics. Man changes as he
18 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
grows; the body itself not only undergoes an increase in volume,
but a profound evolution in the harmony of its parts and the com-
position of its tissues; in the same way, the psychic personality of
the man does not grow, but evolves; like the predisposition to
disease which varies at different ages in each individual considered
pathologically. For all those anomalous types which to-day are
included under the popular term of deficients, for the pathological
weaklings who reveal symptoms of scrofula or rickets, there is no
doubt that special schools and methods of education are essential.
We teachers would like, through educative means, to counteract
the ultimate consequences of degeneration and predisposition to
disease: if criminal anthropology has been able to revolutionise the
penalty in modern civilisation, it is our duty to undertake, in the
school of the future, to revolutionise the individual. And by achiev-
ing this ideal, pedagogic anthropology will to a large extent have
taken the place of criminal anthropology, just as schools for the
abnormal and feeble, multiplied and perfected under the protection
of an advanced civilisation, will in a large measure have replaced
the prisons and the hospitals.
We owe to the intuitive genius of Giuseppe Sergi the conception
of a form of pedagogic anthropology far more exact in its methods
of investigation than anything which had hitherto been fore-
shadowed. This master takes the ground that a study of abnormal
and weakly children is a task of absolutely secondary importance.
What is imperative for us to know, he claims, is normal humanity,
if we are to guide it intelligently toward that biological and moral
perfection, on which the progress of humanity must depend. If
general pedagogy is destined to be transformed under a naturalistic
impulse, this will be effected only when anthropology turns its
investigations to the normal human being.
Educators are still very far from having a real knowledge of that
collective body of school-children, on whom a uniformity of method,
of encouragement and punishment is blindly inflicted; if, instead
of this, the child could be brought before the teacher's eyes as a
living individuality, he would be forced to adopt very different
standards of judgment, and would be shaken to the very depths
of his conscience by the revelation of a responsibility hitherto
unsuspected.
Let us take one or two examples; let us consider, among the
pupils, one child who is very poor.
INTRODUCTION 19
Studied by the anthropological method, he is revealed, in
every personal physiological detail, as an inferior type. The child
of poverty, as Niceforo has well shown, is an inferior in stature,
in cranium, in weight, in muscular and intellectual strength; and
the malformations, resulting from defects of growth, condemn
him to an aesthetic inferiority; in other words, environment, mode
of living, and nutrition may result in modifying even the relative
beauty of the individual. The normal man may bear within him
a germ of physical beauty inherited from parents who begot him
normally, and yet this germ may not be able to develop, because
impeded by environment. Accordingly, physical beauty consti-
tutes in itself a class privilege. This child, weak in mind and in
muscular force, when compared with the child of wealth, grown up
in a favorable environment, shows less attractive manners, because
he has been reared in an atmosphere of social inferiority, and in
school is classed as a pariah. Less good looking and less refined,
he fails to enlist the sympathy which the teacher so readily con-
cedes to the courteous manners of more fortunate children; less
intelligent himself, and unable to look for help from parents who,
more than likely, are illiterate, he fails to obtain the encouragement
of praise and high credit marks that are lavished upon stronger
children, who have no need of being encouraged. Thus it happens
that the down-trodden of society are also the down-trodden in the
school. And we call this justice; and we say that demerit is pun-
ished and merit is rewarded; but in this way we make ourselves
the sycophants of nature and of social error, and not the adminis-
trators of justice in education!
On the other hand, let us examine another child, living in an
agreeable environment, in the higher social circles ; he possesses all
the physical attraction and grace that render childhood charming.
He is intelligent, smiling, gentle-mannered; at the cost of small
effort he gives his teacher ample satisfaction by his progress, and
even if the teacher's method of instruction happens to be somewhat
faulty, the child's family hasten privately to make up for the defi-
ciency. This child is destined to reap a harvest of praise and re-
wards; the teacher, egotistically complacent over the abundant
fruit gathered with so little effort, and the moral and aesthetic
satisfaction derived from the fortunate pupil, gives him unmeasured
affection and smooths his whole course through school. But
if we study the rich, intelligent, prize- winning child carefully, we
20 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
find that he, too, is not perfect in his anthropological development;
he is too narrow-chested. This is the penalty of the rich and the
studious; every privilege brings its own peril; every benefit
contains a snare; every one of us to-day, without the light of science,
runs the risk of diminishing our physiological equilibrium, by living
in an environment that contains so many defects. The child of
luxury, living continually indoors, diligently studying in his well-
warmed home, under his mother's vigilant eye, is impeding the
development of his own chest; and when he has completed his
growth and his education, will find himself with insufficient lungs;
his physical personality will have been permanently thrown out of
equilibrium by a defective environment. This highly cultured
man may some day find himself urged on to big endeavour; his
intelligence will create vast ideals, but he will not have at his
disposal the physical force that is so strictly associated with the
power to draw from the surrounding air a sufficient quantity of
oxygen by means of respiration. The spirit is ready, but the fiesh
is weary; and all his ambitious hopes may be shattered in the
very flower of life by pulmonary tuberculosis, to which he has
himself created an artificial predisposition.
It is our duty to understand the individual, in order to avoid
these fatal errors; and to arise to higher standards of justice,
founded upon the real exigencies of life — guided by that spirit of
love which is essential to the teacher, in order to render him truly
an educator of humanity.
Love is the essential spirit of fecundity whose one purpose is to
beget life. And in the teacher, love of humanity must find
expression through his work, because the very purpose of love is to
create something. Accordingly, this spirit of fecundity ought to
produce the teacher's mission, which to-day is the mission of
reforming the school and accepting the proud duty of universal
motherhood, destined to protect all mankind, the normal and
abnormal alike. This is a reform, not only of the school, but of
society as a whole, because through the redeeming and protective
labours of pedagogy, the lowest human manifestations of degenera-
tion and disease will disappear; and, more important still, it will
make it henceforth impossible for normal human beings, conceived
from germs that promise strength and beauty, little by little to lose
that beauty and strength along the rough paths of life, through
which no one has hitherto had the knowledge to guide them.
INTRODUCTION 21
*'In the social life of to-day an urgent need has arisen," says our
common master, Giuseppi Sergi, "a renovation of our methods of
education and instruction; and whoever enrolls himself under this
standard, is fighting for the regeneration of man."
Enrico Morselli and Scientific Philosophy. — Among the names
of Italian scientists that must be called to mind, in discussing the
modern developments of anthropology, a special lustre attaches to
that of Enrico Morselli, who has earned the right to call himself
the critic, or rather, the philosopher of anthropology. Notwith-
standing that he has made his name famous in the vast field of
psychiatry, this distinguished Genoese practitioner has found
time to assimilate the most diverse branches of science and the
most widely separated avenues of thought, qualifying himself
as a critic, and systematising experimental science on the lines of
scientific philosophy.
His great work. General Anthropology, is developed on synthetic
lines, embracing in a single scientific system all the acquired
knowledge of the past two centuries, and may rightfully be called
the first treatise on philosophic anthropology. While the experi-
mental sciences, by collecting and recording separate phenomena,
were gradually preparing, throughout the nineteenth century,
a great mass of analytical material, chosen blindly and without
form, they apparently engendered a new trend of thought posi-
tively hostile to philosophy: the odium antiphilosophicum, as
Morselli calls it. And conversely, the speculative positivism of
Ardigo remained throughout its development a stranger to the
immediate sources of experimental research, and adhered strictly
to the field of pure philosophy. It remained for Morselli to per-
ceive that the scientific material prepared by experimental science
was in reality philosophical material, for which it was only neces-
sary to prepare instruments and means in order to systematise
it and lead it into the proper channels for the construction of a
scientific philosophy.
Throughout the whole period of his intellectual activity,
Morselli sought to unite experimental science and philosophy, by
taking his content from the former and his form from the latter.
To gather and catalogue bare facts could not be the scope of
science; such labour could result only in sterilising the mind.
''The human mind," says Morselli, ''does not stop at the objective
study of a phenomenon and its laws; it wants also to fathom their
22 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
nature; the how does not content it, but it must also have the
wherefore." It must mount from facts to synthesis, constantly-
achieving a new and fuller understanding. But what determines
the content of philosophy is not speculative thought, but facts
that have been collected objectively. Such is the view of Enrico
Morselli, expressed in the introduction to his Review of Scientific
Philosophy: "We think the moment has come for professional
philosophers to allow themselves to be convinced that the progress
of physical and biological sciences has profoundly changed the
tendencies of philosophy; so that it is no longer an assemblage of
speculative systems, but rather the synthesis of partial scientific
doctrines, the expression of the highest general truths, derived
solely and immediately from the study of facts. On the other
hand, we hope also that in every student of the separate sciences,
whether pure or applied, the intimate conviction will take root
that no science which applies the method of observation and
experiment to the particular class of phenomena which form its
subject, can call itself fully developed so long as it is limited to the
collection and classification of facts. Scientific dilettantism of
this sort must end by sterilising the human mind, whose natural
tendency is to advance from observed phenomena by successive
stages to the investigation of their partial laws, and from these
to the research of more and more general truths. But philosophy,
thus understood, can never confine itself within the dogmatism
of a system, but rather will leave the individual mind free to
make constant new concessions, in the pursuit of the truth.
''The human mind is condemned to search forever, and perhaps
never to find, the ultimate solution to the eternal problem which
it offers to itself; accordingly, let it keep itself at liberty to accept
to-day as probable, a solution which further researches or newly
discovered facts will compel it to reject to-morrow in favor of
another. We must admit that in philosophic concepts there is a
constant evolution, or rather natural selection, thanks to which
the strongest concepts, those best constituted, those that are
fitted to make use of scientific discoveries with the broadest
liberality, are predisposed to prove victorious or at least to hold
their own for a long time in the struggle."*
It is this liberty that makes it possible for us to pursue experi-
* From a study by Prof. E. Troilo, Enrico Morselli as a Philosopher. In the volume by
MoESELLi, Milan: Vallabdi, 1906.
INTRODUCTION 23
mental investigations, without fear that our brains may become
sterile. And by liberty we mean the readiDess to accept new
concepts whenever experience proves to us that they are better
and closer to the truth which we are seeking. Even though the
absolute truth were never reached, the experimental method is
the path most likely to lead us toward it step by step.
'~ Accordingly, what we should demand of investigators is not a
creed, a philosophic system, but "the objective method in their
researches and in the sources of their inductions." For this is the
way to train the workers and philosophers of experimental science.
And the same lines must serve us for building up a philoso-
phy capable of shaping a regenerated method of pedagogy.
The Method
The determining factor in anthropology is the same that
determines all experimental science: the method. A well-defined
method in natural science applied to the study of living man
offers us the scientific content, which we are in the course of
seeking.
The content bursts upon us as a surprise, as the result of
applying the method, by means of which we make advances in the
investigation of truth.
Whenever a science prescribes for itself, not a content but a
method of experimenting, it is for that reason called an experi-
mental science.
It is not easy for those who come fresh from the pursuit of
philosophic studies to adapt themselves to this order of ideas.
The philosopher, the historian, the man of letters prepare them-
selves by assimilating the content of one particular branch of
learning; and thereby they define the boundaries of their indi-
vidual knowledge and close the circle of their individual thought,
however vast that circle may be.
Indeed, the elaboration of human thought, the series of historic
deeds, the accumulated mass of literature, may offer immense
fields ; but after the student has little by little assimilated them, he
cannot do otherwise than contain them within him precisely as
they are. Their extent is limited by the centuries that cover the
history of civilised man, and it is invariable, since it exists as a
work accomplished by man.
24 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Experimental science is of an entirely different sort. We must
look upon it as a means of investigation into the field of the infinite
and the unknown. If wo wish to compare it to some branch of
learning that is universally familiar, we may say that an experi-
mental science is similar to learning to read. When as children we
learn to read, we may, to be sure, estimate the effort that it costs
us to master a mechanical device; but such a mechanical device
is a means, it is a magic key that will unlock the secrets of
wisdom, multiply our power to share the thoughts of our con-
temporaries, and render us dexterous in despatching the practical
affairs of life.
Thus considered, reading is a branch of learning that has no
prescribed limits.
It is our duty to learn to read the truth, in the book of nature;
I. by collecting separate facts, according to the objective method;
II. by proceeding methodically from analysis to synthesis. The
subject of our research is the individual human being. _'
1. The Objective Collecting of Single Facts. — In the gathering of
data, our science makes use of two means of investigation, as we
have already seen : observation or anthroposcopy; and measurement
or anthropometry. In order to take measurements, we must know
the special anthropometric, instruments and how to use them; and
in making observations, we must treat ourselves as instruments,
that is, we must divest ourselves of our own personality, of every
preconception, in order to become capable of recording the real
facts objectively. For since our purpose is to gather our facts from
nature and await her revelations, if we allowed ourselves to have
scientific preconceptions, we might distort the truth. Here is
the point which distinguishes experimental science from a specula-
tive science; in the former, we must banish thought, in the latter
we must build by means of thought. ' Accordingly at the moment
when we are collecting our data, we must possess no other capacity
than that of knowing how to collect them with extreme exactness
and objectivity.
Accordingly we need a method and a mental preparation, that
is, a training which will accustom us to divest ourselves of our
own personalities, in order to become simple instruments of investi-
gation. For instance, if it were a question of measuring the heads
of illiterate children and of other children of the same age, who
are attending school, in order to learn whether the heads of
INTRODUCTION 25
educated children show greater development, we need not only to
know how to use the millimetric scale and the cranial calipers
which are the instruments adapted to this purpose; we need not
only to know the anatomical 'points at which the instruments must
be applied in the manner established by the accepted method; but
we need in addition to be unaware, while taking the measurements,
whether the child before us at a given moment is educated or illit-
erate because the preconception might work upon us by sugges-
tion and thus alter the result. Or again, to take what in a certain
sense is an opposite case, and nevertheless analogous, we may
undertake a research into some absolutely unknown question, as for
instance, what are the psychic characteristics of children whose
development has kept fairly close to the normal average, and of
those whose anthropological measurements diverge notably from
the average: in such a case we ought to measure all the children,
make the required psychological tests separately, and then compare
the results of the two investigations.
A woman student in my course, last year, undertook precisely this
sort of investigation, namely, to find out what was the standing in
school of children who represent the normal average anthropo-
logical type, that is to say, those whose physical development had
been all that was to be desired : and she found that normal children
are vivacious (happy), very intelligent, but negligent; and conse-
quently their number never includes the heads of the classes, the
winners of prizes.
In addition to gathering anthropological data, which requires a
special technique of research, we need to know how to proceed to
interpret them.
We are no longer at the outset of our observations. No sooner
was the method established, than there were a multitude of students
in all parts of the world capable of objective research, that is to
say, of anthropological investigations. The sum total of all
these researches forms a scientific patrimony, which needs to be
known to us, in order that our own conclusions may serve to
complete those of other investigators, who have preceded us, and
thus form a contribution to science.
In other words, there have already been certain principles es-
tablished and certain laws discovered, on an experimental basis;
and all this forms a true and fitting content of our science. It will
serve to guide us in our researches, and to furnish us with a stand-
26 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
ard of comparison for our own conclusions. Thus, for example,
when we have measured the stature of a boy of ten, we have un-
doubtedly gathered an individual anthropological fact; but in order
to interpret it, we must know what is the average stature of boys
of ten; and the average will be found established by previous
investigators, who have obtained it from actuality, by applying
the well-known method of measuring the stature, to a great
number of individuals of a specified race, sex, and age, and by
obtaining an average on the basis of such research.
Accordingly, we ought to profit from the researches of others,
whenever they have been received, as noteworthy, into the litera-
ture of science. Nevertheless, the patrimony which science
places at our disposition must never be considered as anything
more than a guide, an expression of universal collaboration, in
accordance with a uniform method. We must never jurare in
verba magistri, never accept any master as infallible : we are always
at liberty to repeat any research already made, in order to verify
it; and this form of investigation is part of the established method
of experimental science. One fundamental principle must be
clearly understood; that we can never become anthropologists
merely by reading all the existing literature of anthropology,
including the voluminous works on kindred studies and the in-
numerable periodicals; we shall become anthropologists only at
the moment when, having mastered the method, we become
investigators of living human individuals.)
We must, in short, be producers, or nothing at all; assimilation
is useless. For example, let us suppose that a certain teacher has
studied anthropology in books: if, after that, he is incapable of
making practical observations upon his own pupils, to what end
does his theoretical knowledge serve him? ' It is evident that
theoretic study can have no other purpose than to guide us in the
interpretation of data gathered directly from nature^
Our only book should be the living individual; all the rest
taken together form only the necessary means for reading it^
2. The Passage from Analysis to Synthesis. — Assuming that we
have learned how to gather anthropological data with a rigorously
exact technique, and that we possess a theoretic knowledge and
tables of comparative data: all this together does not suffice to
qualify us as interpreters of nature. The marvellous reading of
this amazing book demands on our part still other forms of prepara-
INTRODUCTION 27
tion. In gathering the separate data, it may be said that we have
learned how to spell, but not yet how to read and interpret the
sense. The reading must be accomplished with broad, sweeping
glances, and must enable us to penetrate in thought into the very
synthesis of life. And it is the simple truth that life manifests
itself through the living individual, and in no other way. But
through these means it reveals certain general properties, certain
laws that will guide us in grouping the living individuals according
to their common properties; it is necessary to know them, in order
to interpret individual differences dependent upon race, age, and
sex, and upon variations due to the effort of adaptation to environ-
ment, or to pathological or degenerative causes. That is to say,
certain general principles exist, which serve to make us interpreters
of the meaning, when we read in the book of life.
This is the loftiest part of our work, carrying us above and be-
yond the individual, and bringing us in contact with the very
fountain-heads of life, almost as though it were granted us to
materialise the unknowable. In this way we may rise from the
arid and fatiguing gathering of analytical data, toward conceptions
of noble grandeur, toward a positive philosophy of life; and un-
veil certain secrets of existence, that will teach us the moral norms
of hfe.
Because, unquestionably, we are immoral, when we disobey the
laws of life ; for the triumphant rule of life throughout the universe
is what constitutes our conception of beauty and goodness and
truth — in short, of divinity.
The technical method of proceeding toward synthesis, we may
find well defined in biology : the data gathered by measurement can
be grouped according to the statistical method, be represented
graphically and calculated by the application of mathematics to
biology: to-day, indeed, biometry and hiostatistics tend to assume
so vast a development as to give promise of forming independent
sciences.
The method in biology, considered as a whole, may be compared
to the microscope and telescope, which are instruments, and yet
enable us to rise above and beyond our own natural powers and
come into contact with the two extremes of infinity; the infinitely
little and the infinitely large.
Objections and Defences. — One of the objections made to peda-
gogical anthropology is that it has not yet a completely defined con-
28 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
tent, on which to base an organic system of instruction and reliable
general rules.
It is the method alone that enables us to be eloquent in defence
of pedagogic anthropology, against such an accusation. For the
accusation itself is the embodiment of a conception of a method
differing widely from our own : it is the accusation made by specula-
tive science, which, resting on the basis of a content, refuses to
acknowledge a science that is still lacking and incomplete in its
content, because it is unable to conceive that a science may be
essentially summed up in its method, which makes it a means of
revelation.
How could we conceive of the content of pedagogic anthropology
otherwise than as something to be derived by the experimental
method from the observation of school-children? And where could
we conceive of a possible laboratory for such a science, if not in the
school itself? The content will be determined little by little, by
the application of the anthropological study to school-children in
the school, and never in any other manner.
Now, if it were necessary to await the completion of a content
before proceeding to any practical application, where could we
hope to get this content from — especially since we look for no help
either from speculative philosophy or divine revelation?
When a method is applied to any positive science, it results in
giving that science a new direction, that is to say, a new avenue of
progress: And it is precisely in the course of advance along that
avenue that the content of the science is formed: but if we never
made the advance, the science would never take its start. Thus,
for example, when the microscope revealed to medicine the existence
of micro-organisms, and bacteriology arose as the positive study
of epidemiology, it altered the whole procedure in the cure and pro-
phylaxis of infective maladies. Prior to this epoch people believed
that an epidemic was a scourge sent by divine wrath upon sinners;
or else they imagined it was a miasma transported by the wind,
which groves and eucalyptus trees might check; or they pictured the
ground ejecting miasmatic poisons through its pores: — and human-
ity sought in vain to protect itself with bare-foot processions and
religious ceremonies, attended by jostling throngs and cruel flagel-
lation; or else they betook themselves to the shade of eucalyptus
trees, in the midst of malarial lowlands. Entire cities were de-
stroyed by pestilence, and malarial districts remained uncultured
INTRODUCTION 29
deserts, because entire populations, in the brave effort to perform
their work, were destroyed by successive impoverishment of the
blood.
It is bacteriology that has put to flight this darkness of ignorance
that was the herald of death, and has created the modern condi-
tions of environment, which, by a multitude of means, defend
the individual and the nation from infective diseases; so that to-
day civilised society may be said to be advancing toward a triumph
over death.
But the microbes have not all of them been discovered ; bacteri-
ology and general pathology are still very far from having com-
pleted their content. If we had been obliged to wait for such com-
pletion, we should still be living quite literally in the midst of
mediaeval epidemics; or, to state the case better, where in the
world would the science of medicine ever have attained its new
content? For it has been building it up, little by little, hy directing
medicine upon a new path. It was the introduction of this new
method of investigating the patient and his environment that
experimentally reaped the fruit of new etiological discoveries, and
new means of defence : the microscope became perfected because it
came into universal use in practice; bacterial cultures owe their
perfectionment to the fact that they became the common means
of investigation for the purpose of diagnosis; just as tests in clinical
chemistry have become perfected through practical use. Without
which, who would ever have perfected the microscope, or the
science of bacteriology? In a word, whence are we to get the
content of any positive science, if not from practical application?
A direction and an applied method represent a triumph of
progress ; and in progress, a content cannot have defined limits. We
do not know its goal; we know only that at the moment when it
finds its goal, it will cease to be progress.
It is many years since medicine abandoned the speculative
course, and we see it to-day hourly enriching itself with new
truths; its triumphal march is never checked, and it moves
onward toward the invasion of future centuries. In the wake
of its progress, that frightful phenomenon which we call mortality
tends to fall steadily to a lower level; giving rise to the hope that
through future progress it will cease to be the mysterious, menacing
fate, ever watchful and ready to sever the invisible threads of
human life. These threads are to-day revealing themselves as
3
30 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the resistant fibres of a fabric; because, humanity by engaging
collectively in the audacious search after truth, and by thus pro-
tecting the interests of each individual through the common in-
terests, has succeeded in offering a powerful resistance to the
mysterious sheers.
Accordingly, we may say that the substitution to-day of an
anthropological development of pedagogy, in the place of a purely
philosophical and speculative trend, does not offer it merely an
additional content, an auxiliary to all the other forms of teaching
on which it now comfortably reposes; but it opens up new avenues,
fruitful in truth and in life; and as it advances along these avenues,
regenerated from its very foundations upward, it may be that
pedagogy is destined to solve the great problem of human
redemption.
The Method to be Followed in These Lectures
Lastly, just one more word regarding the didactic method that
I intend to follow, in delivering this course of lectures. From the
purpose already stated, it follows that this Course in Anthropology
must be eminently practical. Of the three weekly lectures, only
one will be theoretical; that is to say, only one in which I shall
expound the content of our science; a second lecture will treat of
the technique of the method; that is to say, I shall devote it to
describing the practical way of gathering anthropological data,
and how we must study them and re-group them in order to
extract their laws; and finally, the third lecture will be practical
and clinical; I shall devote it to the collection of anthropological
data from human subjects, and little by little I shall try to work
toward the individual study of pupils, until we reach the compila-
tion of biographic charts. At the lectures of the third type, we
shall have present subjects who will be, for the most part, normal,
but some of them will be abnormal, and all will be drawn from the
elementary schools of Rome.
Finally, in further illustration of our course, we shall make
excursions, visiting certain schools that offer some particular in-
terest from our scientific point of view; to the end that we may
supply what is lacking and what is needed to complete a University
Course in Scientific Pedagogy, namely a ''Pedagogical Clinic,"
where pupils of the widest variety of types might be educated,
INTRODUCTION 31
and where it might be possible to lay practical foundations of a
faiw-eaching reform in our schools,
' Accordingly, I shall repeat myself three times, in these lectures;
first, by setting forth the scientific content, secondly, by expound-
* ing the methods of investigation, and thirdly, by applying in prac-
tice what I have already taught in theory. The didactic method
of repeating the same instruction under different forms, is also a
feature of scientific pedagogy, because it represents the method
by which positive science must be taught and acquired; and
furthermore, it is the method that deserves to be applied wherever
induction of any sort is to be given.
Hitherto, we have not learned how to study; we know only,
or at least the majority of us do, how to absorb the contents of
books. The only true student is the scientist, who knows how to
advance slowly; we educators on the contrary plunge in a dizzy,
headlong rush, through all acquirable knowledge. To study is to
look steadily, to stand still, to assimilate and to wait. We should
study for the sake of creating, since the whole object of taking
is to be able to give again; but in this giving and taking we ought
not to be mere instruments, like high-pressure suction pumps; in
work of this sort we ought to be creators, and when we give back,
to add that part which has been horn and developed within us from
what we acquired. It is wise to give our acquired knowledge time
not only to be assimilated but also to develop freely in that fertile
psychic ground that constitutes our innermost personality. In
other words: assimilate by every possible means, and then waitj
In order to start from a point of established knowledge, let us
consider what is meant by meditation: to meditate means to isolate
one's thoughts within the limits of some definite subject, and wait
to see what that subject of its own accord may reveal to us, in the
course of assimilation. The Jesuits succeeded in winning souls
merely by encouraging the people to meditate; meditation opened
up an unsuspected inner world, which fascinated the type of person
accustomed to flit lightly in thought across a multitude of diverse
matters; and under the spell of such fascination, their consciences
could attribute to nothing less than some occult power, what was
really the application of a great pedagogic principle.
' There is a great difference between reading and meditating: we
may read a voluminous novel in a single night; we may meditate
upon a verse of Scripture for an entire hour. | Anyone who reads
32 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
a novel in a night undoubtedly squanders his physical powers, like
a wind that passes over arid ground; but one who meditates assimi-
lates in a special manner that surprises the meditator himself,
because he feels something unforeseen coming to life within him,
just as though a seed had been planted in fertile soil and, while
remaining motionless, had begun to germinate. Accordingly, the
act of holding acquired knowledge within ourselves for a period of
time results in self-development; superficial learning, on the con-
trary, means the exhaustion of our personal resources. We become
steadily more exhausted and more inefficient, through too much
study; and instead, we ought to become all the time more flourish-
ing and more robust, if we studied in the proper way: and this is
because we squander our psychic powers, instead of acquiring new
energy. The consequence of this mistaken method is that we
rapidly forget all that we have learned. Everything is acquired
at the cost of effort; what we need is to labor patiently, in order
to acquire in the real sense. To-day it is the fashion to study in
order to enter upon that particular business or profession that is
destined to be our life's work; what we ought to do instead, is to
devote our energies to the conquest of thought and the elevation
of the spirit.
The didactic method that I am trying to illustrate is not a new
one; it dates back to the first precursors of scientific pedagogy.
Half a century ago, a marvellous work on pedagogy, based on
similar principles, was issued from the press; it was the method
elaborated by Seguin, based on thirty years of practical experi-
ence in the education of idiotic children. Such a system cannot
be foreign to the interests of schools intended for average, normal
children, because it is not a specialised method, like that for deaf-
mutes or for the blind. Being designed for the mentally deficient,
this method applies to any class of undeveloped beings who are
striving to grow bigger; we may even apply it to ourselves, and
thereby increase our own mental stature. In short, pedagogically
considered, it is a rational method.
Perhaps it is already familiar to a good many of you; but an
example or two will serve to illustrate it. Let us suppose that we
have to impart a lesson in history to a deficient pupil : first of all,
a picture is shown him, representing an historic fact; then the
same fact v/ill be shown him in as many different ways as possible —
through the cinematograph, for example. Finally it will be acted
INTRODUCTION 33
on the stage; and in this case, it is the children themselves who
prepare the setting and endeavor, to the best of their ability, to
impersonate the historic figures. Now, it is precisely at ijie
moment when they are reproducing the scene that these children
feel it, and it is only then that they learn. But this is ^ot peculiar
to deficient children: the same path is the common path for all; it
is necessary for all of us to assimilate mentally and to feel, before
we can say: I have learned. If there is a latent tendency in the
mind of a normal child to love historic happenings, then he will
love them, and thus reveal to his teacher_^ne of his intimate and
secret tendencies; in other words, we shall have developed a taste,
of which the hidden germs already existed. Perhaps it was in some
such way that Sabatier succeeded in realising the environment and
the life of St. Francis of Assisi.
Let us suppose, again, that we have to teach a child what is
meant, in geography, by a mountain, a lake, or an island. Accord-
ing to Seguin's method, we should take the child out into the
garden, and make him construct a miniature mountain with
earth, a lake with water, etc., than make him trace their geograph-
ical outline with chalk, then make him paint them in oils or water-
colours, so that in the end he will have, as the result of his handi-
work, a little monument, so to speak, of the acquired lesson. It is
only after a child has worked that he begins to learn and to be in-
terested. Does not everyone know that, as between the one who
receives, and the one who confers a favor, it is the latter who
cares the more, because he has done something? The next step
is to take the pupil to the top of some hill, so that he may see with
his own eyes the things that we have taught him in the garden
and through the medium of work; and in the silent contemplation
of nature, it may happen that a normal child will hear the call of
her mysterious voice, and reveal a dormant tendency to become
some day, perhaps, a geographer, or an explorer, like the Duke of
the Abruzzi; or perhaps he will feel that lure of nature which,
some day or other, when he reaches maturity, will lead him to
investigate the secrets of the earth and of meteorological phenom-
ena, even to the point of such heroic sacrifice as was exemplified
by Professor Matteucci, during the eruption of Vesuvius.
Repeating the same things over and over, keeping the mind
fixed upon the selfsame lesson, teaching how to reproduce objects
by the work of the hands, bringing the pupil into direct contact
34 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
with the object that he is desired to study, such is the true way to
enable him to learn. The man who has been educated according
to this method has not fruitlessly expended his energy in fatiguing
study; he has preserved his forces unimpaired; indeed, if anything,
they are all the sounder and more flourishing. By such a system
of education, we launch upon the world a sturdy generation,
imbued with that living energy, that constitutes the one and only
mainspring that really makes the world move.
Accordingly this is the method that we shall follow: studying,
repeating, working experimentally: the subject of our study is
humanity; our pupose is to become teachers. Now, what really
makes a teacher is love for the human child; for it is love that
transforms the social duty of the educator into the higher con-
sciousness of a mission.
The Limits of Pedagogical Anthropology
In concluding this preamble, it may be well to define the form
of study and the purposes of pedagogical anthropology; in order
to distinguish it clearly from general anthropology and from the
allied branches of applied anthropology (criminal and medical
anthropology) .
Pedagogical anthropology, like all the other branches of anthro-
pology, studies man from the naturalistic point of view ; but, unlike
general anthropology, it does not concern itself with the philo-
sophic problems related to it, such, for instance, as the origin of
man, the theories of monism or polygenism, of emigration, and
classification according to race; problems which, as everyone knows,
are difficult of solution, and which constitute the pivot on which
biological anthropology revolves. Thus, for example, bacteri-
ology has its origin in biology, in so far as it has certain orders of
living organisms for the subject of its research; but it well nigh
ignores the problems of biological philosophy associated with
them, such as the origin of living matter and of the primitive cell;
the fixity or variability of monocellular species; the possibility
of life in the isolated nucleus (the microbe), or in the isolated
protoplasm (the monera), but it devotes itself to the direct study
of microscopic organisms, both in themselves alone and in their
influence upon their environment; in short, bacteriology has for
its purpose the acquirement of that practical knowledge necessary
INTRODUCTION 35
for a successful campaign against the causes of infective maladies,
and for rendering infected districts sanitary. In much the same
way, pedagogical anthropology, considered as a form of study,
departs from general anthropology. It studies man from two
different points of view: his development (ontogenesis), and his
variations.
Since many causes concur in producing variations in the indi-
vidual during his development (social causes, pathological causes,
etc.), we have to take into consideration, and frequently invoke the
aid of subsidiary sciences (sociology, pathology, hygiene). Varia-
tions constitute the most important subject of inquiry in pedagogic
anthropology, just as iixed characteristics constitute the essential
matter of research in general anthropology: because the latter
endeavours, by the help of fixed characteristics, to trace back to
the origin of species, while the former tries, through the help of
variable characteristics, to discover a way for the future perfec-
tionment of the human species and the individual: indeed, this is
precisely what constitutes the practical purpose of its application
to pedagogy.
In comparison with criminal and medical anthropology, peda-
gogic anthropology differs substantially in its declared intentions.
These other two kindred branches endeavour to diagnose the per-
sonality of the individual; we must admit that both psychiatry
and general medical practice profit by the application of anthro-
pology to the extent of securing greater accuracy in diagnosis and
prognosis; but whenever the study of a patient's 'personality sheds
light upon decisions of this sort, it generally follows that the
personality is fixed and unalterable. For instance, when, in
medical practice an individual constitution is shown to be fatally pre-
disposed to certain definite diseases, that is precisely one of the cases
where medical treatment is most impotent; and the same may be
said when, in the practice of criminal law we find a defendant
whose personality is profoundly degenerate. It follows that the
application of these new anthropological methods is substantially
diagnostic; furthermore, they are limited to special classes of
human beings, to those who are physiologically the most impover-
ished, such as criminals and the diseased. Pedagogic anthropology,
on the contrary, embraces all humanity; but it pays special atten-
tion to that part of it which is psychologically superior : the normal
human being. Its purpose is none the less diagnostic; but it
36 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
regards diagnosis as constituting a means, and not merely indicat-
ing an end; because the end projected by pedagogic anthropology
is a far-reaching and rational system of hygiene.
More than that, the proposed system is the one true one, a
hygiene that pays more attention to the man himself than to
his environment; striving to perfect him in his physiological
functions, or to correct any tendency to abnormal and patho-
logical deviations.
It follows that, in pedagogic anthropology, the direction taken
by the naturalistic study of man is predominantly physiological.
In the same manner as the other two kindred branches of anthro-
pology, this branch which has joined forces with pedagogy has
severed connection with the original parent stock of general
anthropology, and abandoned its dogmatisms and to a large extent
its phraseology.
Criminal anthropology, for example, shows great daring and
scant accuracy in its affirmations and its researches; and to a large
extent it has acquired a nomenclature of its own; and medical
anthropology lays down laws that general anthropology never
took into consideration, and neglects to bestow particular attention
upon the head, which formed the object of fundamental research in
general anthropology.
In the same way, pedagogic anthropology has had to emancipate
itself from the general science from which it has sprung, in order to
proceed unhampered along the practical line of research, which
consists essentially in a study of the pupil and the compilation of
biographic charts, from which a fund of material will result,
destined to enrich the scientific content of this branch of learning.
But since the study of the pupil must not be morphological
alone, but psychological as well, it is necessary for anthropology to
invoke the aid of experimental psychology, in order to achieve
its purpose. Now it is essential to psychology, no less than to
pedagogic anthropology, to study the reactions of the physiological
and psychical personality of the child in the environment which we
call school. Consequently it is reserved for the teacher to make a
large contribution to these two parallel sciences, which are coming
to assume the highest social importance.
It follows further that pedagogic anthropology differs from the
other two allied branches in its practical applications; the progress
of criminal and medical anthropology requires, as a matter of fact,
INTRODUCTION 37
only the labors of medical specialists; in the case of pedagogic
anthropology there is equally a need of medical specialists, to
whom the diagnosis and the treatment of abnormal pupils must be
entrusted, as well as the hygiene of their development ; but in addi-
tion to these, the teachers also are summoned to a vast task of
observation, which, by its continuity, will supplement and com-
plete the periodic observations of the physician.
Furthermore, the teacher will acquire under the guidance of
anthropology certain practical rules in the art of educating the
child; and it is this especially that makes the anthropological and
psychological training of the modern teacher so necessary.
The school constitutes an immense field for research; it is a
''pedagogical clinic," which, in view of its importance, can be
compared to no other gathering of subjects for study. Thanks to
the system of compulsory education, it gathers to itself every
living human being of both sexes and of every social caste, normal
and abnormal; and it retains them there, throughout a most
important period of their growth. This is the field, therefore,
in which the culture of the human race can really and practically
be undertaken; and the joint labour of physician and teacher
will sow the seed of a future human hygiene, adapted to achieve
perfection in man, both as a species and as a social unit.
CHAPTER I
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY
In order to understand the practical researches that must be
conducted for anthropological purposes, it is necessary to have
an adequate preparation in the science of biology. The inter-
pretation of the data that have to be gathered according to tech-
nical procedure, demands a training; and this training will form our
subject in the theoretic part of the present volume. The limits,
however, not only of the book itself, but' of pedagogic anthropology
as well, preclude anything more than a simple general outline;
but this can be supplemented by those other branches of study
which are either collateral to it or constitute its necessary basis
(i.e., general biology, human anatomy and physiology, hygiene of
environment, general anthropology, etc.).
The Mateeial Substeatum of Life
The Synthetic Concept of the Individual in Biology
According to the materialistic theories of life, of which Haeckel
is the most noted supporter, life was derived from a form of matter,
protoplasm, which not only has a special chemical composition,
but possesses further the property of a constant molecular move-
ment of scission and redintegration; vital metabolism or inter-
change of matter, by which the molecules are constantly renewed
at the expense of the environment.
It was Huxley who defined protoplasm as the physical basis of
life; and, as a matter of fact, life does not exist without protoplasm.
But Schultze and Haeckel carried this doctrine further, to the
point of maintaining that a minute particle of protoplasm was all
that was needed to constitute life; and that such a particle could
be formed naturally, whenever the surrounding conditions were
favorable, like any other inorganic chemical substance; and in
this way the materialists endeavoured, with great ingenuousness,
to maintain the spontaneous origin of life. And when Haeckel
38
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 39
thought that he had discovered the monerce or living cells composed
of a single particle of protoplasm, he held that these were the first
species to have appeared on earth.
But the further researches of physiologists and the improve-
ments in the technique of the microscope proved that protoplasm
does not exist independently in nature; because living cells are
always a combination of protoplasm and a nucleus. If the nucleus
is extracted from a radiolarium, the latter mortifies, and the proto-
plasm also dies; if an amoeba is severed in such a manner that one
part contains nucleus and protoplasm and the other protoplasm
alone, it will be found that the latter part mortifies and dies,
while the first part continues to live. If an infusorium is divided
in such a way that each of the separate sections contains a part of
the nucleus and a part of the protoplasm, two living infusoria are
developed similar to the original one. Experiments of this kind,
to which Verworn has given high authority, serve to prove that
life does not exist except in cells divisible into protoplasm and
nucleus. Further discoveries confirm this theory, as for instance
the presence of a nucleus in hemacytes or red blood corpuscles,
which were formerly believed to be instances of anuclear cells;
and the discovery of protoplasm in microbes, which had formerly
been considered free nuclei.
Now, when we have an independent living cell, it represents an
individual, which not only has, as a general feature, this primitive
complexity of parts, but also certain special characteristics of
form, of reaction to environment, etc., that mark the species to
which this particular living creature belongs.
Accordingly, we cannot assert, without committing the error
of confining ourselves to a generic detail, that life originates in pro-
toplasm or in a combination divisible into protoplasm and nucleus;
we should say that life originates in living individuals; since, aside
from abstract speculation, there can be no other material substra-
tum of life.
Such a doctrine is eminently synthetic, and opens the mind to
new conceptions regarding the properties that characterise life.
Formerly when life was defined as a form of matter (proto-
plasm) subject to constant movement (metabolism), only a single
general property had been stated; for that matter, even the stars
consist of matter and movement; and, according to the modern
theory of electrons, atoms are composed of little particles strongly
40 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
charged with electricity and endowed with perennial motion.
Accordingly, these are universal characteristics, and not peculiar
to life; and metabolism may be regarded as a variation of such
a property, which is provoked by, or at least associated with the
phenomenon of life.
The properties which are really characteristic of life have been
summed up by Laloy in two essential groups; final causes and
limitations of mass, or, to use a term more appropriate to living
organisms, limitations of form and size.
The term final causes refers to a series of phenomena that are
met with only where there is life, and that tend toward a definite
purpose or end. Living organisms take nutriment from their
environment, to the end of assimilating it, that is, transforming it
from an inert, indifferent substance into a substance that is a
living part of themselves.
This phenomenon is undoubtedly one of the most characteristic.
But there are still other forms of final cause, such for example as
the transformation of the fertilised ovum into the fully developed
individual, predetermined in its essential characteristics, such as
form, dimensions, colour, activities, etc. There are ova that to all
appearances are exactly alike; the human ovum itself is nothing
more than a simple cell composed of protoplasm and nucleus,
measuring only a tenth of a millimeter ( = -^-q inch) ; yet all
these ovum cells produce living organisms of the utmost diversity;
yet so definitely predetermined that, if we know to what species
the ovum belongs, we are able to predict how many bones will
compose the skeleton of the animal destined to develop from it,
and whether this animal will fly or creep upon the ground, or rise
to take a place among those who have made themselves the lords
,of the earth. Furthermore, knowing the phases of development,
we may predetermine at what periods the successive transforma-
tions that lead step by step to the complete development of the
individual will take place.
Another form of final cause is seen in the actions of living
creatures, which reveal a self -consciousness; a consciousness that
even in its most obscure forms guides them toward a destined end.
Thus, for example, even the infusoria that may be seen through
a microscope in a drop of water, chasing hither and thither in
great numbers, avoiding collision with one another, or contending
over some particle of food, or rushing in a mass toward an un-
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 41
expected ray of light, give us a keen impression of their possession
of consciousness, a dim ghmmering of self-will, which is the most
elementary form of that phenomenon that manifests itself more
and more clearly, from the metazoa upward, through the whole
zoologic scale : the final cause of psychic action.
Again, in multicellular organisms there are certain continuous
and so-called vital phenomena, which some physiologists attribute
to cellular consciousness: for example, the leucocytes in the blood
seem to obey a sort of glimmering consciousness when they rush
to the encounter of any danger threatening the organism, and
ingest microbes or other substances foreign to the blood; and it is
also due to a phenomenon that cannot be explained by the phys-
ical laws of osmosis, that the erythrocytes or red blood corpuscles
and the plasma in the blood never interchange sodium salts for
those of potassium; and lastly the cells of each separate gland seem
to select from the blood the special substances that are needed for
the formation of their specific products : saliva, milk, the pancreatic
juice, etc.
Still another manifestation of iinal cause is the tendency ex-
hibited by each living individual to make a constant struggle for
life, a struggle that depends upon a minimum expenditure of force
for a maximum realisation of life, thanks to which life multiplies,
invades its environment, adapts itself to it, and is transformed.
Another fundamental synthetic characteristic of life is the
limitation of form and size that is a fixed and constant factor in
the characteristics of each species ; the body of the living individual
cannot grow indefinitely.
Living creatures do not increase in quantity by the successive
accumulation of matter, as is the case with inorganic bodies, but
by reproduction, that is, the multiplication of individuals.
Through the phenomenon of reproduction, life has a share in
the eternity of matter and of force, that is, in a universal phenom-
enon. But what distinguishes it is that the individual creatures
produced by other living individuals form, each one of them, an
indivisible element in which life manifests itself; and this element
is morphologically fixed in the limits of its form and size.
The peculiarities which are attributed to the chemical action
of protoplasm are of an analytic character, so far as they concern
the fundamental characteristics of life. The constant inter-
change of matter, namely, metabolism, constitutes undoubtedly a
42 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
phenomeDon peculiar to living matter, protoplasm; but protoplasm
does not exist apart from living organisms. And what constitutes
its chief characteristic is that, when brought into contact with it,
inert substances are assimilated, i. e., they become like it, or
rather, are transformed into protoplasm; mineral salts such as the
nitrates or nitrites of sodium and potassium are transformed in the
case of plants into living plasma capable of germinating either into
a rose bush or a plane tree or a palm, and inert organic substances
such as bread or wine are transformed into human flesh and blood.
So that the phenomenon of assimilation outweighs, as a character-
istic of life, the molecular chemical action through which it is
accomplished. Since metabolism does not occur in nature as a
chemical phenomenon, and cannot be produced artificially, but
is found only in the matter composing living organisms, it follows
that life is the cause of this form of dynamic action, and not that
this dynamic action is the cause of life.*
Even the latest theory, developed especially by Ludwig in
Germany — that protoplasm contains a separate enzyme for each
separate function appointed to a particular task — amounts to
nothing more than an analysis of the living organism.
The Formation of Multicellular Organisms
We cannot say that the cell is the element of life, because, in
an absolute sense, it is not alive; it lives only when it constitutes
an individual. Even the brain cells, the muscular fibres, the leuco-
cytes, etc., are cells; but they do not live independently; their life
depends upon the living individual that contains them. We may,
however, define the cell as the means, the morphological material,
out of which all living organisms are formed: because, from the
algse to the orchids, from the coelenterata up to man, all complex
organisms are composed of an accumulation of those microscopic
little bodies that we call cells.
The manner of union between the cells in the most primitive
living colonies, whether vegetable or animal, is analogous to that
followed in the segmentation of the ovum in its ontogenetic {i.e.,
individual) development.
*See further, as to these fundamental ideas: Laloy, L' Evolution de la Vie. Petite En-
cyclopedie dii XX Sihcle; Claude Bernard, Legons sur les Phenomhnes de la Vie; Le
Dentu, in La Matihre Vivante, et Theorie nouvelle de la Vie; Luciani, Fisiologia Umana,
in the first chapter: "Material Substratum of Vital Phenomena."
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 43
But the manner of construction differs notably, as between
animal and vegetable cells.
Vegetable cells, on the one hand, have a resistant and strongly
protective membrane; animal cells, on the contrary, have either
a very thin membrane or none at all. Vegetable cells, as though
made venturesome by their natural protection, proceed to invade
their environment in colonies — in other words, the cells dispose
themselves in series of linear ramifications — witness the formation
of primitive algae; and analogously the expansion of the higher
types of vegetation into their environment, with branches, leaves,
etc. And just as though the vegetable cell acquired self-confi-
dence because it is so well protected, it becomes stationary and
strikes its roots into the soil.
To this same fact of cellular protection must be attributed the
inferior sensibility and hence the permanent state of obscured
consciousness in vegetable life.
This protection against the assaults of environment, and the con-
sequent lack of sensibility, constitute from the outset an inferior
stage of evolution.
Animal cells have an entirely different manner of forming
themselves into colonies; acting as though they were afraid, they
group themselves in the form of a little sphere, enclosing their
environment within themselves, instead of reaching out to invade
it; and subsequent developments of the animal cell consist in suc-
cessive and complex invaginations, or formations of layers, one
within another — instead of ramifications, after the manner of
vegetable cells.
Accordingly, if we advance from that primitive animal type, the
volvox, consisting of a simple group of cells arranged spherically,
like an elastic rubber ball, to the coelenterata, we meet with the
phenomenon of the first invagination, producing an animal body
consisting of two layers of cells and an internal cavity, communicating
with the exterior by means of a pore or mouth. The two layers
of cells promptly divide their task, the outer layer becoming pro-
tective and the inner nutritive; and in consequence of their different
functions, the cells themselves alter, the outer layer acquiring a
tougher consistency, while the inner remains soft in order to absorb
whatever nutriment is brought by the water as it passes through
the mouth. In this way, there is a division of labor, such that all
the external cells protect not only themselves, but the whole
44
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
organism; while the internal cells absorb nutriment not only for
themselves but for the others. This is the simplest example of a
process that becomes more and more complex in the formation of
higher organisms; in adapting themselves to their work, the cells
become greatly modified (formation of tissues) and perform
services that are useful to the entire organism. And at the same
time, because of the very fact that they have been differentiated,
they become dependent upon the labors of others, for obtaining
the means of subsistence. Similar laws seem to
persist even at the present day in the formation
of social organisms, in human society.
During the development of the embryo, all
animals pass through similar phases; and to this
man is no exception.
He traces his origin to an ovum-cell formed
of protoplasm, nucleus and membrane, measur-
ing only a tenth of a millimetre, yet vastly large
in comparison with the spermatic cell destined
to fertilise it by passing through one of the innumerable pores
that render the dense membrane penetrable.
After the ovum-cell is fertilised, it consti-
tutes the first cell of the new being; that is, it
contains potentially a man. But as seen through
the microscope, it is really not materially any-
FiG. 1. — Human
Ovum, Magnified.
a. Vitelline mem-
brane; b. Vitellus; c.
Germinal Vesicle.
Fig. 2. — First
Segmentation of a
Fertilised Ovum.
Fig. 3.— a Morula
as seen from the
Outside.
Fig. 4. — An Egg and
Spermatozoon of the
same Species, about to
Fertilise It. Note the
difference in the pro-
portional size of the
two cells.
thing more than a microscopic cell, undifferentiated, and in all
things similar to other independent cells or to fertilised ovarian
cells belonging to other animals. That which it contains, namely,
man, often already predetermined not only in species, but in
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 45
individual characteristics — as, for instance, in degenerative in-
feriority— is certainly not there in material form.
At an early stage of the embryo's development, it exhibits a
form analogous to that of the volvox; namely, a hollow sphere,
called the morula; and subsequently, by the process of invagi-
nation, two layers of cells, an inner and an outer, are formed,
together with the first body cavity, destined to become the
digestive cavity, and also a pore corresponding to the mouth.
This formation has received the name of gastrula (Fig. 10, facing
page 72), and the two layers of cells are known as the primary
layers, otherwise called the ectoderm and the entoderm. To these a
third intermediate layer is soon added, the mesoderm. These three
layers consist of cells that are not perceptibly differentiated from
one another; but potentially each and every one contains its own
special final cause. In each of the three layers, invaginations take
place, furrows destined to develop into the nervous system, the
lungs, the liver, the various different glands, the generative organs;
and during the progress of such modifications, corresponding
changes take place in the elementary cells, which become differ-
entiated into tissues. From the ectoderm are developed the nerv-
ous system and the skin tissues; from the entoderm, the digestive
system with its associate glands (the liver, pancreas, etc.) ; from
the mesoderm, the supporting tissues (bones and cartilage) and
the muscles. But all these cells, even the most complex and spe-
cialised, as for example those of the cerebral cortex, the fibres of
the striped muscles, the hepatic cells, etc., were orginally em-
bryonic cells — in other words, simple, undifferentiated, all starting
on an equal footing. Yet every one of them had within it a
predestined end that led it to occupy, as it multiplied in number,
a certain appointed portion of the body, in order to perform
the work, to which the profound alterations in its cellular tissues
should ultimately adapt it.
Like children in the same school, these embryonic cells, all
apparently just alike, contain certain dormant activities and des-
tinies that are profoundly different. This unquestionably con-
stitutes one of the properties of life, namely, the final cause; it
is certainly associated intimately with metabolism and nutrition,
considered as a means of development and not as a cause. Upon
metabolism, however, depends the more or less complete attain-
ment of the final cause of life. In man, for example, strength,
46 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
health, beauty, on the one hand, degeneration on the other, stand
in intimate relations with the nutrition of the embryo.*
The Theories of Evolution. — At the present day, there is a
general popular understanding of the fundamental principles
involved in the mechanical or materialistic theories of evolution
which bear the names of Lamarck, Geffroy-Saint-Hilaire, and
more especially the glorious name of Charles Darwin.
According to these theories, the environment is regarded as
the chief cause of the evolution of organic forms. Charles Darwin,
who formulated the best and most detailed theory of evolution,
based it on the two principles of the variability of living organisms,
and heredity, which transmits their characteristics from generation
to generation. And in explanation of the underlying cause of
evolution, he expounded the doctrines of the struggle for existence
and the natural selection of such organic forms as succeeded to a
sufficient degree in adapting themselves to their environment.
Whatever the explanation may be, the substantial fact re-
mains of the variability of species and the successive and gradual
transition from lower to higher forms. In this way, the higher
animals and plants must have had as antecedents other forms of
inferior species, of which they still bear more or less evident traces;
and in applying these theories to the interpretation of the person-
alities of human degenerates, he frequently invoked the so-called
principle of atavism, in order to explain the reappearance of atavis-
tic traits that have been outgrown in the normal human being,
certain anomalies of form more or less analogous to parallel forms
in lower species of animals.
There are other theories of evolution less familiar than that of
Darwin. Naegeli, for instance, attributes the variability of
species to internal, rather than external causes — namely, to a
spontaneous activity, implanted in life itself, and analogous to
that which is witnessed in the development of an individual organ-
ism, from the primitive cell up to the final complete development;
without, however, attributing to the progressive alterations in
species that predestined final goal which heredity determines in
the development of individual organisms.
The internal factor, namely life, is the primary cause of progress
and the perfectionment of living creatures — while environment
* Consult: H aeckel,, Anthropogenie; E. Perkier, Les Colonies animales et la Formation
des Organismes; Richet, L' Effort vers la Vie, et la Theorie des Causes finales.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 47
assumes a secondary importance, such as that of directing evolu-
tion, acting at one time as a stimulus toward certain determined
directions of development; at another, permanently establishing
certain useful characteristics; and still again, effacing such forms
as are unfit.
In this way the external causes are associated with evolution,
but with very different effects from those attributed to them by
Darwin, who endowed them with the creative power to produce
new organs and new forms of life.
Naegeli compared the internal forces to invested capital; it
will draw a higher or lower rate of interest, according as its environ-
ment proves to be more or less favourable to earning a profit.
The most modern theory of evolution is that of De Vries, who,
after having witnessed the spontaneous and unforeseen transfor-
mations of a certain plant, the (Enohtera Lamarckiana, without
the intervention of any external phenomenon, admitted the pos-
sibility of the unexpected occurrence of other new forms, from a
preexistent parent form — and to such phenomena he gave the
name of mutations.
It is these mutations that create new species; the latter, although
apparently unheralded, were already latent in the germ before they
definitely burst into life. Consequently, new species are formed
potentially in the germinating cells, through spontaneous activity.
The characteristics established by mutations are hereditary,
and the species which result from them persist, provided their
environment affords favourable conditions, better suited to them
than to the preexisting parent form.
Accordingly new species are created unexpectedly. De Vries
draws a distinction between mutations and variations, holding
that the latter are dependent upon environment, and that in any
case they constitute simple oscillations of form around the normal
type determined in each species by mutation.
Species, therefore, cannot be transformed by external causes or
environments, and the mechanism of transformation is not that
of a succession of very gradual variations, which have given rise
to the familiar saying: natura non facit saltus. On the contrary,
what produces stable characteristics is a revolution prepared in
a latent state, but unannounced in its final disclosure. A parallel
to this is to be found, for example, in the phenomena of puberty
in its relation to the evolution of the individual.
48 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Now, when a species has once reached a fixed stability as
regards its characteristics, it is immutable, after the analogy of an
individual organism that has completed its development; hence-
forth its further evolution is .ended. In such a case, the oscilla-
tions of variability are exceedingly limited, and adaptation to
new environments is difficult; and while a species may offer the
appearance of great strength (e.g., certain species of gigantic
extinct animals), it runs the risk of dying out, because of a lower
potentiality of adaptability; or, according to the theory of Rosa,
it m.ay even become extinct spontaneously.
Accordingly it is not the fixed species that continue the process
of evolution. If we compare the tree of life to a plant, we may
imagine evolution as soaring upward, sustained by roots far below;
the new branches are not put forth by the old branches, but draw
their sustenance from the original sources, from which the whole
tree draws its life. When a branch matures and flowers, it may
survive or it may wither but it cannot extend the growth of the
tree.
Furthermore, the new branches are always higher up than the
old ones; that which comes last is the highest of all.
Thus, the species which are the latest in acquiring a stable form
are the highest up in the biological scale, because the privilege
of carrying forward the process of evolution belongs to those
species which have not yet become fixed. An apparent weakness,
instability, an active capacity for adaptation, are consequently
so many signs of superiority, as regards a potential power of evolu-
tion— just as the nudity and sensibility of animal cells, for example,
are signs of superiority, as compared with vegetable cells — and of
man, as compared with the lower animals.
In order to show that the inferiority of a species is in propor-
tion to its precocity in attaining fixed characteristics, Rosa con-
ceived the following striking comparison. Two animals are
fleeing, along the same road, before an advancing flood. One of
the two climbs to the top of a neighboring tree, the other continues
in its flight toward a mountain. As the level of the water rises,
it threatens to isolate and engulf the animal now stalled upon the
tree; the other animal, still fleeing toward the heights, reaches, on
the contrary, a higher and more secure position.
The animal on the tree stands for an inferior species that has
earlier attained a fixed form; the other represents a higher species
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 49
that has continued to evolve; but the animal upon the mountain
never was on the tree at all, because, if he had mounted it and
become caught there, he would have lost his chance of continuing
on his way. In other words, the higher species never was the lower
species, since the characteristics of the latter are already fixed.
Some eloquent comparisons might be drawn from the social
life of to-day. We are all of us spurred on to choose as early as
possible some form of employment that will place us in a secure
and definite place at the great banquet of existence. The idea of
continuing to follow an indefinite and uncertain path, leading
upward toward the heights is far less attractive than the safe and
comfortable shelter of the shady tree that rises by the wayside.
The same law of inertia applies to every form of life. Biological
evolution bears witness to it, in the /orms of the different species;
social evolution, in the forms of the professions and trades; the
evolution of thought, in the forms of the different faiths. And
whoever first halts in any path of life, the path of study, for
instance, occupies a lower place than he who continues on his road.
The salaried clerk, armed only with his high-school certificate,
has an assured income and the pleasures of family life, at a time
when the physician, with an independent profession, is still strug-
gling to establish a practice. But the obscure clerk will eventu-
ally hold a social position below that of the physician; his income
will always be limited, while the physician may acquire a fortune.
Now, the clerk, by adapting himself to his bureaucratic environ-
ment, has acquired certain well-defined characteristics; we might
even say that he has become a representative type of the species,
clerk. And the same will be true of the physician in his independ-
ent and brilliant life as high priest of humanity, scientist and man
of wealth. Both men were high-school students, and now they
are two widely different social types; but the physician never
represented the type of clerk; or, in other words, he did not have
to be a clerk before he could be a physician; on the contrary, if he
had been a clerk, he never could have become a physician. It is
somewhat after this fashion that we must conceive of the sequence
of species in evolution. It follows that man never was an anthro-
poid ape, nor any other animal now living around us. Nor was
the man of the white race ever at any time a negroid or a mongo-
lian. Consequently, the theory is untenable which tries to ex-
plain certain morphological or psychic malformations of man, on
50 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the principle of atavism — because no one can inherit if he is not a
descendant.
So, for example, reverting to our previous comparisons, if the
animal on the mountain should climb a tree, or if the physician
should become pedantic, this would not prove that the animal
from the mountain was once upon a time the animal in the tree,
nor that the physician recalled, by his eventual pedantry, certain
by-gone days when he was a clerk.
The theories of evolution seemed for a time to illumine and
definitely indicate the origin of man. But this illusion has so far
resulted only in relegating to still deeper darkness the truth that
the biologists are seeking. We do not know of whom man is the
son.
Even the earlier conceptions regarding the mechanics of evolu-
tion are essentially altered. The mystery of the origin of species,
like that of the mutability of forms, has withdrawn from the forms
that are already developed, and taken refuge in the germinal cells;
these cells in which no differentiation is revealed, yet in which the
future organism, in all its details, exists in a potential state; in
which, we may even say, life exists independent of matter, are the
real laboratorium vitce. The individual, in developing, does noth-
ing more than obey, by fulfilling the potentiality of the germs.
The direction of research has shifted from the individual to its
germs. And just as the early Darwinian theories evolved a
social ethics, seemingly based upon the facts of life, to serve as a
guide in the struggle for existence, so in the same way, to-day,
there has arisen from the modern theories a new sexual ethics,
founded upon a biologic basis.
The Phenomena of Heredity. — The most interesting biological
researches of to-day are in regard to the hereditary transmission
of characteristics.
To-day the phenomena of heredity are no longer absolutely
obscure, thanks to the studies of Mendel, who discovered some
of its laws, which seemed to open up new lines of research prolific
in results. Yet even now, although this field has been invaded
by the most illustrious biologists of our time, among others,
De Vries, Correns, Tschermack, Hurst, Russell, it is still in the
state of investigation. Nevertheless, the general trend of researches
relative to Mendel's laws is too important to permit of their
enlightening first steps being neglected by Anthropology.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 51
The first phenomena observed by Mendel, and the ones which
led him to the discovery of the laws of heredity which bear his
name, were revealed by a series of experiments conducted with
peas.
Exposition of the Phenomena of Hybridism. — If two strains of
peas are crossed, one of them having red flowers and the other
white flowers, the result in the first generation is, that all the
plants will have red flowers, precisely similar to those of one of
the parent plants.
Accordingly, in hybridism, the characteristic of one of the
parents completely hides that which is antagonistic to it in the
other parent. We call this characteristic (in the case cited, the
red flowers), dominant; in distinction to the other characteristic
which is antagonistic to the first and overcome by it; namely, the
recessive characteristic (in the present case, the white flowers).
This is the law of prevalence, and constitutes Mendel's first law,
which is stated as follows:
MendeVs First Law: ''When antagonistic varieties or charac-
teristics are crossed with each other, the products of the first
generation are all uniform and equal to one of the two parents."
This result has been repeatedly reached in a host of researches,
which have experimentally established this phenomenon as a law.
Thus, for example, if we cross a nettle having leaves with an
indented margin, with a nettle having leaves with a smooth margin,
the product of the first generation will all have leaves with in-
dented margins, and apparently identical with the parent plant
having indented margins, in other words, having the character-
istic that has proved itself the dominant one (Russell) .
These phenomena discovered by Mendel have been observed
in many different species of plants, such as wheat, Indian corn,
barley and beans.
They have also been verified in certain animals, such as mice,
rats, rabbits, caveys, poultry, snails, silk-worms, etc. One of the
most typical experiments was that of Cuenot, who, by crossing
ordinary mice with jumping mice, obtained as a result a first
generation composed wholly of normal mice; the characteristic of
jumping was thus shown to be recessive.
Notwithstanding that the first generation is apparently in
every way similar to the parent with the dominant character,
there is in reality a difference.
52 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Because, if we cross these hybrids together, we meet, in the
second generation, with the following phenomenon : to every three
individuals possessing the dominant character, one is born having
the recessive character. To go back to Mendel's first example,
that of the peas with red flowers (dominant) and with white
flowers (recessive), we find, by crossing together the hybrids of
the first generation, that for every three plants with red flowers,
there is one plant with white flowers.
And similarly, the crossing of hybrid nettles with indented
leaves will result in a second generation composed of three plants
with indented leaves to every one with smooth-edged leaves (see
Fig. 5).
Doddrtu+jitkhfera
W^ jL
Gen.
H «il* 1114 ii
Fig. 5.
That is, the characteristics which belonged to the first two
parents all survive, even though in a latent form, in the descen-
dants; and they continue to differentiate themselves in well
established proportions. In one offspring out of four, the charac-
teristics of the grandfather, which have remained dormant in the
father, once more reappear. This intermittent heredity of
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 53
characteristics, that are passed from grandfather to grandson,
overleaping the father, is one of the best-known laws of path-
ological heredity in man; and it is called atavistic heredity, to dis-
tinguish it from direct heredity, which denotes the transmission
from parent to offspring. But no explanation had ever been
found for this sort of phenomenon. Undoubtedly, it must be
connected with the phenomena of Mendelism.
Accordingly, in the second generation Mendel's second law has
been established, the law of disjunction, which is stated as follows :
MendeVs Second Law: "In the second generation obtained by
reciprocal fertilisation of the first hybrids, three quarters of the
offspring will exhibit the dominant character, and one quarter the
recessive"
MendeVs Hypothesis, Designed to Explain the Phenomena of
Heredity. — Mendel's great service is to have conceived a hypoth-
esis that seems to have disclosed the key adapted to unlock all
the secrets of heredity.
While the body of an individual is the resultant of forces so
mutually exclusive that the appearance of one characteristic
means the disappearance of its antagonist; in the development of
the sexual cells the two antagonistic characters are distributed in equal
proportion. That is to say, one-half of the male cells contain the
dominant character, and one-half the recessive; and the same
holds true for the female cells. The characters of the two parents,
in other words, never merge in the reproductive cells, but are
distributed in equal measure, independently of the question
whether they are dominant or recessive. Thus for example: in
the case already cited of the first hybrid generation of the peas
with red flowers, in every one of the plants, without distinction,
half the pollen has potentially the red character and half has the
white; and in the same way the female cells have, half of them a
red potentiality and half of them a white. Such hybrids of the
first generation, therefore, although apparently similar to the
parent with red flowers, differ in their germinative powers, which
are not made apparent in the individual. And the same may
be said of hybrid nettles with indented leaves, etc.
Granting Mendel's hypothesis, we have on the one hand pollen
and on the other seed ready to come together in every manner in-
cluded within the range of possible combinations ; the individual
is, in its characteristics, nothing else than the product of a combi-
54
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
nation which must necessarily manifest itself in accordance with
the well-known mathematical laws of probability.
For instance, let us proceed to diagram the possible disposition
of the sexual cells of the hybrids of peas, all of them having red
flowers. In terms of percentage, they will give, out of every
hundred, fifty red and fifty white.
P = pollen; O = ova; jB = red, dominant; ty = white, recessive:
The possible number of combinations between the pollen
grains and the ova are four; namely, RR, Rw, wR, ww. But where
a dominant characteristic encounters a recessive (Rw, wR), the
recessive disappears, to make way in the individual for the domi-
nant characteristic alone. The definitive result is three individuals
of dominant character, to one of recessive character.
{50 R
{50 W-*^
{50 R ^
{50 W
RR R
RW R
Fig. 6.
Nevertheless, the hybrids of dominant character are not all
equal among themselves. Those belonging to the combination
RR, indeed, are permanent in character and in all respects alike,
and they reproduce the original red-flower progenitor. The
other red-flower hybrids, belonging to the groups Rw and wR are,
on the contrary, similar to the hybrids of the first generation and
contain reproductive cells differentiated in character; such hybrids,
if reciprocally fertilised, will again give three dominant offspring
to every one recessive; that is, they will obey the law of disjunction.
The hybrids belonging to the fourth group, on the contrary, are
constant, like those of the first group, and are permanently of
recessive character; and they will reproduce the original pro-
genitor with white flowers.
The same results may be attained with nettles with smooth
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 55
and indented leaves, and with all other types of plant and animal
life that obey the laws of Mendelism.
The figure given actually represents the third generation of
nettles; from a combination corresponding to RR, there result
only indented leaves, and from another combination corresponding
to our WW there result only smooth-edged leaves, and from the two
mixed groups there come three offspring with indented leaves to
every one with smooth leaves.
It is possible to represent, by means of a general diagram, the
mathematical succession of characteristics in hybrids, after the
following manner; denoting the dominant character by D, and the
recessive by r.
In each successive generation, provided the fertilisation takes
place only between uniform individuals, as indicated in the
diagram, and as may be effected by actual experiment with plants,
^^^
v/
-/^
l.D. 2.D. r
JJ). 2.D.r l.r
r First crossing of individuals with antagonistic
characters.
First generation of hybrids, all alike, and simi-
lar to the progenitor D (dominant).
Second generation: for each recessive there are
three dominant: but of these only one is
permanent.
Third generation: disjunction of
the hybrid groups takes place
and new permanent groups are
formed.
Fig. 7.
groups identical with the original progenitors will continue to be
formed, through successive disjunction of the hybrids; the sexual
phenomenon operating in obedience to the laws of probability.
An effective experiment, that anyone may repeat for himself,
is the one originated by Darbishire. He took two boxes, typifying
respectively the male and female organ, and placed in them black
and white disks of equal size, so distributed that each box contained
fifty disks of each colour. After mixing these disks very carefully,
he proceeded to take at random one disk at a time alternately
from each box; and he piled up each pair of disks in such a manner
56 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
that the black ones should be on top and the white underneath.
The result was that for every three black disks on top of the piles
there was one white disk; but of the black groups one consisted of
two black disks, while in the other two the lower disk was white.
This is simply one of the many games dependent on the laws of
probability.
Now, supposing that instead of one, there are two character-
istics that are in antagonism; in that case, we have the occurrence
of double hybridism (dihybridism).
Let us take the strains of peas already considered, but let us
choose for observation the character of their seed. One of the
plants has round seed and yellow cotyledons; and the other
angular seed and green cotyledons. These two characteristics,
therefore, are both inherent in the seed; condition of surface
(rough, smooth), and colour (green, and yellow).
After fertihsation, Mendel's first law, that of the prevalence
of the dominant character, will operate, and all the plants of the
first generation will have round seed and yellow cotyledons.
Hence these are the dominant characteristics, which we will
represent by capital letters: R (round), Y (yellow), to distinguish
them from the recessive characteristics, which we will designate
with small letters: q, (angular), and g (green).
According to Mendel's hypothesis, all these hybrids with round
seed and yellow cotyledons, contain sexual cells of opposite poten-
tialities, numerically equal and corresponding to the antagonistic
characters of the parent plants. That is, they must have in their
pollen grains and their ovarian cells all the possible combinations
of their different potentialities.
They should produce in equal quantities:
pollen grains (P) with round seed and yellow cotyledons: R Y
a n
green
R g
angular "
yellow
a Y
ii ii
green
a g
ovarian cells (0) with round "
yellow
R Y
11 ii
green
R g
angular
yellow
a Y
a it
green
' a g
The total number of combinations that may result is sixteen;
that is, each one of the four combinations of pollen may unite
with any one of the ovarian cells; thus constituting four groups
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 57
of four. And these groups represent the combinations (of pollen
and ova) capable of producing individuals:
R Y -
- RY = RY
aY -
RY = RY
R Y -
- R g = RY
aY-
R g = RY
R Y -
- a Y = RY
aY -
a Y = a Y
R Y -
-a g = RY
aY -
a g = a Y
R g -
- RY = RY
a g -
RY = RY
R g -
- R g = R g
a g -
R g = R g
R g -
-a Y = RY
a g —
a Y = a Y
R g -
-a g = R g
a g -
a g = a g
[JdV
Fig. 8.
Every time that a dominant characteristic encounters a reces-
sive one (R with a or F with g), it overpowers and hides it: conse-
quently the results of the different combinations are quite definitely
limited as determining forms of different individuals. In fact,
the results of the sixteen combinations are as follows :
R Y
R Y
R Y
R Y
R Y
a Y
R Y
a Y
R Y
R Y
R g
R g
R Y
a Y
R g
a g
58 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
That is to say, the only forms which occur are the following:
RY,Rg
a Y, a g
whose relative probability of occurrence is :
RY 9 times in 16 = 56.25%
R g 3 times in 16 = 18.75%
a Y 3 times in 16 = 18.75%
a g 1 time in 16 = 6.25%
Now, as a result of actual experiment, the forms obtained show
the following relative percentage:
Results of experimenta according to the combinations
with plants and laws of probability
R Y 56.5% 56.25%
R g 19.75% 18.75%
a Y 18.2% 18.75%
a g 5.8% 6.25%
The correspondence between these figures is close enough to
warrant the acceptance of Mendel's hypothesis as the true inter-
pretation of the phenomena that are shown to take place within ths
sexual cells; the germinal cells of the hybrid contain potentialities
belonging to one or the other only of the parents, and not to both;
one-half of the cells contain one of these potentialities, and the
other half the other potentiality.
But in the phenomena of hybridism, we have seen the results
of another fact which determines Mendel's third law; the Law of
the Independence of Characteristics.
That is, that while the original progenitors had angular seed
and green cotyledons, and round seed and yellow cotyledons,
certain hybrid plants inherited the round seed of the one and the
green colour of the other; or the angular seed of the one and the
yellow colour of the other. In the same way, it may happen, for
example, that the colour of one plant may combine with the height
of another, etc. That is, that each separate characteristic of the
progenitor is independent and may combine with the characteris-
tics of the other progenitor — even to the point of separating the
colour from the form, as in the case cited.
What we find in hybrids, then, is not a separation into two
types of generative cells, considered as united and complex entities;
but every separate germ cell may break up into as many different
potentialities as there are separate characteristics in the individual;
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 59
and that, too, not only as regards the separate minute parts of the
individual body, but, within the same organ, as regards the shape,
colour, character of the surface, etc.
Such phenomena of Mendelism cannot as yet be generalised;
yet it has already been established by a host of experiments that
a great number of characteristics obey the laws of Mendel, such,
for example, as the character of the hair or plumage; the gra-
dations of colour, the abundance or absence of hair; physical
malformations, such as cerebral hernia in poultry; the character
of locomotion, as in the jumping mice: and even normal physio-
logical attributes connected with the epoch of maturity in certain
plants.
But the manner in which the dominant character asserts itself
is not always uniform. There are times when a fusion of antago-
nistic characters takes place. Thus, for example, when two varie-
ties of the mirabilis jalapa are crossed, one having red flowers and
the other white, a fusion of the colours takes place in the first
generation, and all the plants have pink flowers. In the second
generation we get, for every plant with red flowers, two with pink
flowers and one with white. That is, the law of disjunction has
again asserted itself, but the individual hybrids merge their antago-
nistic attributes, which remain, nevertheless (as their differentiation
proves), separate one from the other in the sexual cells.
Another phenomenon observed in individual hybrids is the in-
termingling of characteristics. For instance, there are cases where
the flowers of a hybrid produced by a plant with red flowers and
another with white are variegated with red and white stripes.
Accordingly, the transmission of antagonistic attributes through
the individual may be divided into three different methods :
[ Exclusive.
Transmission ^ By fusion.
[ By intermingling.
In the first case, the character of one of the parents is trans-
mitted intact; in the second, the formation of a new characteristic
results, constituting a form more or less nearly midway between
those from which it comes and whose fusion it represents; in the
third case (which is very rare and seems to obey Mendel's laws in
quite an uncertain way), the result is a mosaic of the fundamental
attributes.
60 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Of special interest to us are the two first methods of hereditary
transmission of characteristics. Even before Mendel's discoveries,
anthropologists had observed that in the intermixture of races
certain human attributes remained distinct while others merged.
In the first case they called the individuals hybrids, and in the
second case they called them metics. Take, for example, the colour
of the skin when black and white merge in the so-called mulatto.
Other characteristics, instead of merging, intermingle, as for
instance those that are internal or related to the skeleton, and those
that are external or related to the soft tissues and the skin. It
may happen, for example, that where one race has an elongated
head and black hair and another has a round head and blond
hair, the result of their union will be hybrids with elongated heads
and blond hair or vice versa. Similarly, if one of the parents is
tall of stature and fair complexioned, and the other of short stature
with a dark skin, these characteristics may be interchanged in the
hybrids. A very common occurrence, as regards the colour of the
hair, is the fusion of blond and brunette into chestnut; while
parents with chestnut hair may have either fair-haired or dark-
haired children. In his book entitled Human Races and Varieties,
Sergi says in regard to hybridism: '^It is impossible to ignore
human hybridism, which, for that matter, has been demonstrated
under various forms by all the anthropologists; America, in itself
alone, offers us a true example of experimental anthropology in
regard to this phenomenon. Already the result of investigations
shows that human hybridism is multiform among all the peoples
of the earth; but what is best known of all is the exchange of
external characteristics and their intermingling with the internal;
that is, the combination of external characteristics of one type
with internal characteristics of another type. It is easy, for in-
stance, to find cases in which a certain colour of skin and hair, with
the special qualities proper to them, are found combined with pe-
culiarities of the skeleton that do not rightfully belong to types of
that particular colouring, and vice versa; and this same phenom-
enon may be observed regarding certain separate attributes, and
not all of them — such as the stature, or the face with its outer
covering of soft tissues, or the shape of the skull alone.
''If we observe our European populations, that call themselves
a white-skinned race, but whose whiteness has many different gra-
dations, we are convinced of the great intermixture of characters,
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 61
and, what is more, a varied mixture resulting in a great variety of
individual types, consisting of characters differing widely from
one another. It requires a very accurate and very minute analysis
to distinguish the different elements that are found in the compo-
sition of ethnic characters in individuals and peoples. Undoubt-
edly these intermixtures and combinations of character differ in
their constituent elements and in the number of such elements in
the different nations, according to whether we study those of the
south, or the centre, or the north of Europe; and this results from
different degrees of association with mongrel races.
''But a more important fact, and one that seems to have
escaped the attention of anthropologists, is the absence of fusion
of internal and external characteristics in the product of such inter-
mixture. We find only a positional relationship between the dif-
ferent ethnic elements, a syncretism or superposition of characteris-
tics, and a consequent readiness to disunite and form other unions.
This phenomenon has already been demonstrated in America, on
a mass of evidence; but it is apparent also in Europe, among the
peoples that are seemingly most homogeneous, if by careful obser-
vation we separate the characteristics that constitute the ethnic
types; and not only the types, but the individuals belonging to
the different peoples."
And in the following passage, Sergi expresses himself still more
clearly :
''From my many observations, it follows, further, that human
hybridism, or meticism, as others choose to call it, is a syncretism
of distinct characteristics of great variety, and that these do not
modify the skelital structure or the internal characteristics, ex-
cepting by way of individual variation; it may happen that sepa-
rate parts of the skeleton itself acquire characteristics peculiar to
themselves. The stature, the chest formation, the proportion of
the limbs, may all be in perfect correlation and be united with
external characteristics of diverse forms, as for instance with differ-
ent forms of cranium, or the cranium may be associated with differ-
ent facial forms, and conversely. Furthermore, the forms adapted
separately and in part in hybrid composition remain unvaried in
their typical formation. The face retains its typical characteristics
in spite of its union with different forms of cranium; and similarly
the cranium preserves its architectural structure when combined
with different types of face. The stature maintains its propor-
62 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
tions in spite of combinations with diverse cranial and facial types,
and in spite of varied colours of skin and hair."
The foregoing page, that I have borrowed from this masterly-
investigator, is most eloquent testimony that, in regard to the
phenomena of hybridism, man also comes within the scope of
Mendel's laws. There is something wonderful in the power of
observation and intuition shown by Sergi, who, running counter
to the convictions of the majority of anthropologists, arrived
through these conclusions at a truth the key to which was destined
to be discovered later on through studies, very far removed from
anthropology, such as were pursued by the botanists Mendel and
De Vries. While Mendel was led by his experiments to the dis-
covery of the laws based upon his ingenious hypothesis, Sergi was
drawn simply by observation to conclusions that to-day are con-
firmed by experience. And from difficult observations of single
characteristics taken separately, Sergi demonstrated, in his ingenious
studies, their persistence through innumerable generations; while,
through the identification of separate characteristics, he achieved
that brilliant analysis of the races which revealed to his anthro-
pological insight that the European varieties of man originated
among the peoples of Africa and Asia. Unquestionably, the laws
of Mendel confirm what hitherto were considered, in the scientific
world of Europe, simply as the individual hypotheses of Sergi,
but which American anthropologists recognise and welcome as a
scientific truth, brilliantly observed and expounded by the Italian
anthropologist.
Thus, through single characteristics, through particularities,
we may read the origins of races; and recognise which are the con-
stant characteristics and which the transitory ones.
Accordingly, let us keep these principles in mind, as we pro-
ceed further in our investigation of the phenomena of heredity.
Mendel's laws, however much they may be discredited or illumi-
nated by further experience, serve in the meanwhile to give an
absolutely new conception of the individual and to shed light upon
many obscure problems relating to heredity.
The individual is the product of a combination of germ poten-
tiahties, which, in the case of hybrids (and consequently always in
the case of man, who is the product of racial intermixture) , meet
in accordance with the mathematical laws of probability. One
might almost conceive of a formula, or, better yet, a calculation,
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 63
in accordance with which the individual resulting from any given
germs might be predetermined; if it were not for the fact that
the calculations would become infinitely complicated through
the multiplication of characteristics. With only ten pairs
of characteristics it is already possible to form upward of 1024
kinds of germinal cells and these give rise to 1,000,000 different
combinations.
Furthermore, through the law of dominant characteristics, the
combinations of germs would produce in the descendants 1000
varieties distinguishable by their external appearance, and 60,000
differing only internally, that is, in their germinal cells.
There remains, however, one general principle: the individual
contains not only his personal attributes, but also other attributes
which belonged to his ancestors, and which are latent in him, and
may reappear in his descendants. Consequently, if the individual
is a hybrid, he must be interpreted not only through himself alone,
but through the history of his family; and the characteristics which
he may transmit are not those of his own body, but those of his
origin.
The individual body is nothing more than a "temporary ex-
pression" of those germinal characteristics which have united to
give it consistency; but the complex transmission of character-
istics rests wholly with the germinal cells. The problem of heredity
is transferred from the individual and from the series of individ-
uals, who are simple and transitory products of combinations, to
the sexual cells and their potentialities. And this is unquestionably
an absolutely new scientific concept, and a revolutionary one as well,
capable of drawing in its wake a lengthy evolution of thought.
Since the germinal potentialities determine the single character-
istics, they may be considered as the atoms of the biologist. ''The
field of investigation," says Bateson, "does not appear to differ
greatly from that which was opened to the students of chemistry
at the beginning of the discovery that chemical combinations are
governed by definite laws In the same way that the
chemist studies the properties of every chemical substance, the
characteristics of organisms ought to be studied, and their com-
position determined." {First Report, p. 159).
This brings us to two widely diverse facts that demand con-
sideration: first, the subdivision of antagonistic characteristics in
the germinal cells that form, so to speak, the atomic and chaotic
64 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
substratum of characteristics — characteristics that combine accord-
ing to the mathematical laws of probability; and, secondly, the
dominance of characteristics, or else their fusion, which, independ-
ently of anything that may happen in the germinal cells, serves to
determine and define the individual.
What sort of characteristics are the dominant ones?
According to the latest researches of Mendelism, the domi-
nant characteristics are those acquired latest in the course of evolu-
tion, in other words, the youngest, or, if you prefer, the most highly
evolved. Accordingly, in hybrids, the most perfected character-
istics and forms are the ones that triumph in the end.
This is quite a new principle. Hitherto it was held that the
pure species or race was the most perfect; and the hybrid or bastard
was under a cloud of contempt. And, as a matter of fact, the first
crossings of different races may result in some combinations lack-
ing in harmony, and calculated to sanction the old-time conception
of the aesthetic inferiority of the bastard.
But it is necessary to leave time for new generations and further
crossings, in order that all of the more highly evolved characteristics
may unite and end by triumphing in reciprocal harmony. This
the followers of Mendel cannot yet give us, because it would require
decades or centuries, according to the species, to produce experi-
mentally such aesthetic forms of hybridism.
But in the human race we have an experiment already. accom-
plished, which actually shows us the (Esthetic triumph achieved
in the region where the races have for the greatest length of time
been crossed and recrossed, through the agency of the most an-
cient civilisation: the Europeans surpass in physical beauty the
people of any other continent; and the Neo-Latin races, the most
ancient hybrids of all, seem to be nearing the attainment of the
greatest aesthetic perfection. In fact, when I was engaged in
compiling an anthropological study of the population of Latium,
in accordance with Sergi's principles, and was making a most
minute examination of all the different characteristics and their
prevalence, as a possible basis for a delineation of the fundamental
racial types, I found that complete beauty is never granted to
any one race, but distributed among different races: ''as a result
of my labours, I find perfect artistic proportion as to certain facial
features, in a race having inferior hands and feet; and, vice versa,
I find facial irregularities in the race having the smallest ex-
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 65
tremities, and the most artistically proportioned hands. What we
now consider as standards of human beauty, and delight in
bringing together artificially in a single figure in a work of art,
are found in nature scattered and distributed among different
races." (See Physical Characteristics of Young Women of Latium,
p. 69.)
Upon the combination of all the different points of beauty in
a single individual depend Quetelet's biological theories of the
medial man (I'homme moyen), lately revived and extensively
developed by Viola. The new importance acquired by the recon-
struction of the medial man is due precisely to the fact that the
new method of reconstructing him is by bringing together all the
single characteristics taken separately and worked out mathemat-
ically according to the laws of individual variations that behave
precisely like those of probability. (See Biometry and the Theory
of the Medial Man.)
Viola considers, in its relation to the physiological laws of
health, the combination in a single individual of the maximum
number of average characteristics, which at the same time are the
characteristics numerically prevalent in individuals (dominant
characteristics?). The man who accumulates the greater number
of average characteristics, escapes diseases and predisposition to
disease; he is consequently sounder and more robust and hand-
somer. De Giovanni, on the contrary, through an ingenious
conceit, bestows the name of morphological combination upon the
union in a single individual, of parts that are mutually inharmonic
and incapable of performing their normal functions together, in
consequence of which such an individual's morphological person-
ality is predisposed to special maladies.
Accordingly the meeting and union of germinative poten-
tialities may be either more or less propitious; as for instance the
result sometimes produced by the combination of a platyopic
(broad) face and an aquiline and extremely leptorrhine (narrow)
nose; in other words, combinations that are discordant from the
aesthetic standpoint, but harmless as regards health; or again, there
may be a lack of harmony between the internal organs, incom-
patible with a healthy constitution. There may even exist mal-
formations due to the meeting of forms that clash violently; each
of which parts may be quite normal, when considered by itself,
but cannot adapt itself to the other parts with which it is united.
66 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
It is as though the dominant characteristic in respect to an
organ had been overpowered by another, which ought on the
contrary, in this special case, to have been recessive.
It is precisely on this question of the dominance of charac-
teristics that the researches of the Mendelists are at present being
expended. It has been observed in the course of experiments
that there exist certain special correlations between potentialities,
in consequence of which certain characteristics must always go
together; as, for example, when two characteristics, having once
been united, must continue to recur together, although they each
exist separately. These laws, which are not yet clearly deter-
mined, may serve to explain the final harmony of the sum total
of individual attributes.
But in general the dominance of characteristics is not absolute,
but subject to many causes of variation, associated with environ-
ment. Thus, for example, just as a change in nutrition of a
young plant will result in a different height, it is also possible in
the mechanics of reproduction that the original relations of germs
may be altered by external causes, and the dominant character-
istics be made recessive.* Many deviations are attributable to the
influences that act upon the germinative cells of hybrids, after
the latter have already been determined in their potentiality;
thus for example when certain germinal cells are less resistant
during maturation; or again when combinations between poten-
tialities are difficult to achieve. That is to say, there may exist
certain phenomena associated with environment, thanks to which
Mendel's natural laws concerning the dominance of character-
istics may become inverted.
Another fact of great significance is this : that, in the course of
extensive experimental plantings, for the purpose of verifying the
laws of Mendel, a widespread sickliness and mortality occurred
among cryptograms, at the expense of the plants of recessive
character; which would go to prove that a lower power of resist-
ance accompanies the appearance of recessive characteristics.
The dominant characteristics accordingly are not only the most
highly evolved, but they also possess a greater power of resist-
ance. So that, to-day, the dominance of the strong tends through
the workings of the phenomena of Mendelism, to do away, little
by little, in the course of generations, with characteristics that are
* CoKBENS: Concerning the Laws of Heredity.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 67
weak or antiquated. This has an important bearing upon human
pathology, because it opens the way to hope for a possible regener-
ation in families branded with hereditary disease.
The germinal potentialities that contain beauty and strength
seem predestined to that predominance which will achieve the
triumph of life in the individual. To learn the laws of the union,
in one individual and definitive unity, of the infinite dominant
and recessive potentialities that must encounter one another in
the mysterious labyrinth in which life is prepared — therein lies
the greatest problem of the present day.
It is that which should constitute our guiding purpose.
Form and Types of Stature
The Form. — Fundamental Cannons regarding the Form. — Types of Stature, Macroscelia
and Brachyscelia; their physiological Significance. — Types of Stature in relation to
Race, Sex, and Age.
A few years ago, when anthropology first began to be studied,
the skull was taken as the point of departure ; because in the ana-
lytical study of the human body it represents the principal part.
Indeed, the same thing was done by Lombroso, when he applied
anthropology to the practice of psychiatry and later to the study
of criminals. It is a matter of fact that degenerative stigmata of
the gravest significance are to be found associated with the skull;
and this he could not fail to take into account, because of its bear-
ings upon criminal anthropology.
But to-day anthropology is reaching out into vaster fields of
science and striving to develop in diverse directions, such as those
of physiology and pathology; and revolting from the collection of
degenerative details, it undertakes to study normal man in regard
to his external form as related to his functional capacity, or else
the man of abnormal constitution, who in his outward form
reveals certain predispositions to illness; and starting on these
lines, it proposes to investigate principally the metamorphoses of
growth, through the successive periods of life.
From this new point of view, it is not any single malformation,
but the individual as a whole in the exercise of his functions, who
assumes first importance. The study of the cranium (formerly
so important as to be the basis of a special science, craniology),
becomes only one detail of the whole. As a matter of fact, the
68 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
brain, which is what gives the cranium its importance, is not only
the immediate organ of inteUigence, but it is also the psychomotor
organ; and as such exercises control over all the striped muscles,
and is morphologically associated with the development and the
functional powers of the whole body.
It follows that, the larger the body, the bigger brain it needs to
control it, independently of the question of intelligence. There-
fore the first point of departure should be eminently synthetic,
and should include the morphological personality considered as a
whole.
One of the properties of living bodies is that of attaining a
determinate development, whose limits, both in regard to the
quantity of its mass and the harmony of its form, are defined by
that biological final cause which is implanted in the race and trans-
mitted by heredity. Consequently every living creature has
determinate limits: and these constitute a fundamental biological
property.
The causality of such limits has not yet been determined by
scientific research ; nevertheless it is a phenomenon over which we
must pause to meditate. If the philosopher pauses to contem-
plate the immensity of the ocean from the sea shore, marvelling
that the interminable and impetuous movement of the waves
should have such exact and definite limits that it cannot overpass
by so much as a metre the extreme high-water line upon the
beach, we may similarly pause to meditate upon the material
limits that life assumes in its infinitely varied manifestations.
From the microbe to the mammal, from the lichen to the palm,
all living creatures have inherited these limits, which permit the
zoologist and the botanist to assign to each a measure as one of its
descriptive attributes.
This is the first attribute which we must take into consideration
in the study of anthropology: namely, the mass of the body, and
together with the mass, its morphological entirety. The Italian
vocabulary lacks any one word which quite expresses this idea,
[and in this respect English is scarcely more fortunate*]. The
stature which represents to us the most synthetic measure of the
body in its entirety (a measure determined by the vertical linear
distance between the level on which the individual's feet are
placed, up to the top of his head as he stands erect), does not
* Translator's note.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 69
represent the entire body in the sense above indicated. It may
rather be considered as a linear index of this entirety. The French
language, on the contrary, possesses the word taille, which may be
rendered in ItaUan by the word taglia [and in Enghsh by the word
form *], provided that we understand it to signify the conception of
the whole morphological personality.
No single measurement can express the form; the weight of
the body, indeed, may give us a conception of the mass but not
of the shape; and the latter, if it needs to be determined in all its
limits, requires a series of measurements, mutually related, and
signifying the reciprocal connection and harmony of the parts
with the whole; in other words, a law. We may establish the
following measurements as adapted to determine the form, in
other words, as fundamental laws: the total stature, the sitting
stature, the total spread of the arms, the circumference of the thorax,
and the weight. Of these measures, the two of chief importance
are the stature and the weight, because they express the linear
index and the volumetric measure of the entire body. The other
measurements, on the contrary, analyse this entirety in a sweeping
way: thus, the sitting stature, in its relation to the total stature,
indicates the reciprocal proportions between the bust and the
lower limbs; the perimeter of the chest records the transverse and
volumetric development of the bust; and the total spread of the
arms denotes a detail that is highly characteristic in the case of
man: the development of the upper limbs, which, while they
correspond to organs of locomotion in the lower animals, assume
in the case of man higher functions, as organs of labour and of
mimic speech.
Such measurements constitute a law, because they are in con-
stant mutual relationship, when the normal human organism has
reached complete development. The stature, in fact, is equal to
the total spread of the arms; the circumference of the thorax is
equal to one-half the stature, and the sitting stature is slightly
greater than the perimeter of the chest. As regards the weight,
it cannot be in direct proportion to any linear measure; neverthe-
less, an empirical correspondence in figures has been noted that
may be recorded solely for the purpose of aiding the memory:
the normal adult man usually weighs as many kilograms as there
are centimetres in his stature, over and above one metre (for
* Translator's note.
70 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
instance, a man whose height is L60 metres will weigh 60 kilo-
grams, etc.)-
To make these laws easier to understand, we may resort to
signs and formulae. Thus, if we denote the stature by St, the total
spread of the arms by Ts, the circumference of the thorax by Ct,
the essential or sitting stature by Ss, and the weight by W, we
may set down the following formulae, which will result in practice
in more or less obvious approximations :
Of
St=Ts; Ct = ^; Ct = Ss
And for the weight, the following wholly empirical formula:
W = Kg{St-lm.).
Stature. — Among all the measurements relating to the form,
the principal one is the stature. It has certain characteristics that
are essentially human. What we understand by stature is the
height of a living animal, when standing on its feet. Let us com-
pare the stature of one of the higher mammals, a dog for instance,
with that of man. The stature of the dog is determined essen-
tially by the length of its legs, while the spinal column is supported
in a horizontal position by the legs themselves. Such is the atti-
tude of all the higher mammals, including the greater number of
monkeys, notwithstanding that these latter are steadily tending
to raise their spinal column in an oblique direction, in proportion
to the lengthening of their fore-limbs, which serve them as a
support in walking — a form of locomotion half way between that
of quadrupeds and of man. Man alone has permanently acquired
an erect position, that renders the bust ( = sum of head and trunk)
vertical, and leaves the upper limbs definitely free from any
duty connected with locomotion, thus attaining the full measure
of the human stature, which is the sum of the bust and the lower
limbs. Thus, we may assert that one fundamental difference
between man and animals consists in this : that in animals the spinal
column does not enter into the computation of stature; while in
man, on the contrary, it is included in its entirety. Consequently,
in man the stature assumes a characteristic and fundamental im-
portance, because part of it (that part relating to the bust) rep-
resents, as a linear index, all the organs of vegetative life and of
life in its external relations.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 71
If we examine the human skeleton in an erect position (Fig. 9),
it shows us the varying importance of the different parts of its
structure, according as they are destined to protect, or simply to
sustain. At the top is the skull, an enclosed bony cavity; and this
arrangement indicates that it is designed to contain and protect
an organ of the highest
importance. By means
of the occipital foramen,
this cavity communicates
with the vertebral canal,
also rigourously closed,
that is formed by the
successive juxtaposition
of the vertebrae. Such
protective formation is
in accord with the high
physiological significance
and the delicate structure
of the organs of the cen-
tral nervous system,
which represent the su-
preme control over physi-
ological life and over the
psychic activities of life
in its external relations.
Below the skull, the struc-
ture of the skeleton is
profoundly altered; in
fact, the framework of
the thorax is a sort of
bony cage open at the
bottom; still, the external
arrangement of the bones
renders them highly protective to the organs they enclose, namely,
the lungs and the heart — physiological centres, whose perpetual
motion seems to symbolise the rhythm and consequently the con-
tinuity of life.
Continuing to descend, we come to a sort of hollow basin, the
pelvis, which seems merely to contain, rather than protect, the
abdominal organs: the intestines, kidneys, etc. Such a structure
Fig. 9.
72 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
seems to be in accord with the minor physiological importance
of these organs, whose function (digestion) is periodic and may be
temporarily suspended, in defiance of physiological stimuli,
without suspension of life. In the lower part of the skeleton, on
the contrary, the arrangement between the soft and bony tissues
is inverted: the long bones of the limbs constitute the inner part;
and they are covered over with thick, striped muscles, organs of
mechanical movement for the purpose of locomotion. Here the
function of the skeleton is exclusively that of support, and in its
mechanism it represents a series of levers.
Accordingly, the structure of the skeleton also shows us how
the stature is composed of parts that differ profoundly in their
physiological significance; life as a complete whole, the living man,
is contained within the bust, which holds the organs of the individ-
ual, vegetative life; those of life in relation to its environment,
and those of life in relation to the race, namely, the organs of
reproduction.
Deprived of arms and legs, man could still live; the limbs are
nothing more than appendages at the service of the bust, in all
animals; they serve to transport the bust, that is, the part which
constitutes the real living animal, which without the limbs would
be as motionless as a vegetable, unable to go in pursuit of nourish-
ment or to exercise sexual selection.
The embryos of different animals, of a dog, a bat, a rabbit and
of man (as maybe seen in Fig. 11) show that the fundamental
part of the body is the spinal column, which limits and includes
the whole animal in the process of formation.
If we next examine the embryonic development of man, as
shown in Fig. 13, we may easily see how the limbs develop, at first
as almost insignificant appendages of the trunk, remaining hidden
within the curve of the spinal column; and even in an advanced
stage of development (15th week), they still remain quite accessory
parts in their relation to the whole.
Having established these very obvious principles, we may ask
ourselves : of two men of equal stature, which is physiologically the
more efficient? Evidently, that one of the two who has the
shorter legs.
In other words, it is of fundamental importance to determine
the reciprocal relation, in the stature, between the bust and the
Fig. 10. — Gastrula of a sponge.
External surface. Internal section.
(Showing the inner and outer primary
layers, and the mouth orifice.)
Fig. 11.
Dog. Bat. Rabbit.
(From the work by E. Haeckel: Anthropogeny.)
Man.
Fig. 12.
Four skeletons of anthropoid apes.
Man.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 73
lower limbs, that is, between the height of the bust and the total
height of the body.
The height of the bust was called by Collignon the essential
stature, a name that indicates the biological significance of this
measurement. It may, however, also be called the sitting stature,
from the method of taking the measure, which equals the vertical
distance from the level on which the individual is seated to the top
of his head. The other is the total stature.
Accordingly, in anthropology we may define the physiological
efficiency of a man by the relation existing between his two statures,
Fig. 13.
14 days, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, etc. (natural size).
the total and the essential. If we reduce the total stature (which
for the sake of brevity we will call simply the stature) to a scale
of 100, we find that the essential stature very slightly exceeds 50,
oscillating between 53-54; yet it may fall to 47 and even lower, or
it may rise above 56. In such cases we have individuals of pro-
foundly diverse types, whose diversity is essentially connected with
the proportional differences between the several parts of their
stature.
Hence, we may distinguish the type of stature; understanding
by this, not a measure, but a, ratio between measures, expressed by
74 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
a number; that is, "the type of stature is the name given to the ratio
between the essential stature and the total stature reduced to a scale
of 100." The number resulting from this ratio, since it indicates
the ratio itself, is called the index of stature (See ''Technical Les-
sons: on the Manner of Obtaining and Calculating the Indexes").
Manouvrier has distinguished the type with short limbs and pre-
ponderant trunk, by the name of brachyscelous; and those of the
opposite type, that is, with long legs, by the name of macroscelous;
reserving the term mesatiscelous to designate the intermediate type.
These types differ not only in the reciprocal relation between
the two statures, but in all the recognised laws of the form. The
brachyscelous type has a circumference of chest in excess of half
the stature, because the trunk is more greatly developed in all its
dimensions; and the total weight of the body exceeds the normal
proportion in relation to the stature. The contrary holds true of
the macroscelous type; their trunk, being shorter, is also narrower,
and the circumference of the chest can never equal one-half the
stature, while the total weight of the body is below the normal.
Canons of Form
Passing next to a consideration of the total spread of the arms,
since there is an evident correspondence between the upper and
lower limbs, it follows that in the brachyscelous type the total
spread is less than the stature, while in the macroscelous it sur-
passes it to a greater or less degree, according to the grade of
type; the two types consequently differ in the level reached by
the wrist, when the arms are allowed to hang along the sides of
the body.
This is a very interesting fact to establish, since at one time
it was held that excessive length of arm was an atavistic feature,
in other words, an anthropoid reminder. To-day, since the old
interpretation of the direct descent from species to species has
been abandoned in the light of modern theories of biological evo-
lution, we can no longer speak of atavistic revivals. It is true that
the anthropoid apes, as may be seen in Fig. 13, have extremely
long forelimbs, and that man is characterised by the shortness
of his arms, free to perform work and obedient instruments of
his brain. But if it happens that certain individual men have
excessively long arms, even if they should coincide with an inferior
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 75
capacity for work and social adaptation, such a simple coincidence
must not be interpreted by the laws of cause and effect. The
modern theories of evolution tend to admit between the anthro-
poid apes and man, only a common origin from lower animals not
yet fixed in a determined species. So that in phylogenesis men
are not considered as the children or grandchildren of apes, but
rather their brothers or cousins of a more or less distant degree;
and their resemblance must be attributed to a parallel evolution.
Consequently, it is not possible to speak of direct transmission
of characters.
Therefore, we must interpret an excessive length of arm, or
an excessive shortness, after the same fashion, namely, in its rela-
tion to the type of stature, or to the established canons of the form —
in other words, as a detail of individual human types.
Let us sum up the three canons in the following table:
Mesatisceles
Brachysceles
Macrosceles
St = Ts
W = K(St -1 m.)
St > Ts
Ss>|
Ct>|
W > K(St -Im.)
St < Ts
Ss<|
W < K(Sr - 1 m.)
From these measurements are derived certain types of individ-
uality which we may now describe in detail.
The brachyscelous type has an excess of bust, consequently a
preponderance of vegetative life; the great development of the
abdominal organs tends to make a person of this type a hearty
eater, a man addicted to all the pleasures of the table; his big heart,
abundantly irrigating the body, keeps his complexion constantly
highly coloured, if not plethoric. We can almost see this man of
big paunch, corpulent, with an ample chest, fat, ruddy, coarse,
and jolly; an excess of nutrinient and of blood-supply are favour-
able to the ready accumulation of adipose tissue, and as the body
constantly grows heavier it steadily becomes more difficult for the
undersized legs to support it ; so that inevitably this man will tend
to become sedentary, and he will select a well-spread table as his
favourite spot for lingering. Whatever elements of the ideal the
76 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
world contains, will escape the attention of this type of man, who is
far more ready to understand and engage in commerce, which leads
by a practical way to the solution of the material problems of life.
In the other type, on the contrary, the macroscelous, the organs
of vegetative life are insufficient and the central nervous system
is defective. Such a man feels, even though unconsciously, that
the abdominal organs are incapable of assimilating sufficient
nutriment, and that his lungs, unable to take in the needed quan-
tity of oxygen, render his breathing labourious. His small heart
is inadequate for circulating the blood through the whole body,
which consequently retains an habitual pallor; while the nervous
system is in a constant state of excitation. We can almost see
this man, so tall and thin that he seems to be walking on stilts,
with pallid, hollow cheeks and narrow chest, suffering from lack
of appetite and from melancholia; nervous, incapable of steady
productive work and prone to dream over empty visions of poetry
and art. The man of this type is quite likely to devote his entire
life to a platonic love, or to conceive the idea of crowning an ideal
love by committing suicide; and so long as he lives he will never
succeed in escaping from the anxieties of a life that has been an
economic failure.
It is interesting to examine the types of stature from different
points of view : such, for example, as the height of stature, the race,
the sex, the age, the social conditions, the pathological deviations, etc.
The Types of Stature According to the Height of the Total Stature.
— There exists between the bust and the limbs a primary relation
of a mechanical nature, already well known, even before Manouvrier
directed the attention of anthropologists to the types of stature.
When one individual is very tall and another is very short, the
consequence of this fact alone is that the taller of the two has much
longer limbs as compared with the shorter. This is because,
according to the general laws of mechanics, the bust grows less
than the limbs and is subject to less variation.
But notwithstanding this general fact, other conditions intervene
to determine the comparative relations between the two portions of
the stature. Indeed, Manouvrier exhibits, within his own school,
specimens of equal stature but of different types; and further-
more, he notes that the inhabitants of Polynesia are of tall stature
and have a long bust, while negroes, who are also of tall stature,
have a short bust.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 77
Types of Stature According to Race. — Among the character-
istics of racial types, present-day anthropology has included the
reciprocal proportions between the two statures. This means
that the medium type in the different races is not always contained
within the same limits of fluctuation in regard to stature : but some
races are brachyscelous, others are macroscelous, and still again
others are mesatiscelous. The most brachyscelous race is the Mon-
golian, prevalent in the population of China; the most macroscel-
ous is the Australian type that once peopled Tasmania. Other
races, as for example the negroid, while in a measure macroscelous,
approach nearer to the mesatiscelous type, characteristic of the
population of Europe. Let us examine the psycho-ethnic charac-
ters of these various peoples. The Chinese are the founders of
the most ancient of all oriental civilisations, and have established
themselves in a vast empire, solid and stable in its proportions,
as well as in the level of its civilisation. It would seem as though
the Chinese people, having accomplished the enormous effort of
raising themselves to a determined civic level, were no longer
capable of advancement. Individually, they have a singularly
developed spirit of discipline, and are the most enduring and
faithful workers; it is well known that in America the Chinese
Mongolian does not fear the competition of labourers of any other
race, because no others can compete with him in parsimony, in
simple living, and in unremitting toil.
The Tasmanians constituted a people that was considered as
having the lowest grade of civilisation among all the races on earth.
Even English domination failed to adapt them to a more advanced
environment, and their race was consequently scattered and
destroyed.
Accordingly, we find associated with extreme macroscelia
(Tasmanians) an incapacity for civic evolution; and with the
corresponding extreme of brachyscelia an insuperable limitation
to civic progress. Consequently, the triumph of man upon
earth cannot bear a direct relation to the volume of the bust,
or in other words, we cannot assume that the man most favour-
ably endowed on the physiological side is the one who has the
largest proportion of viscera. As a matter of fact, the con-
quering race, the race which has set no limit to the territory of
its empire nor to the progress of its civilisation, is composed of
white men, whose type of stature is mesatiscelous, that is to say.
78 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
representative of harmony between its parts. This conception
will serve us in establishing a fundamental principle in morpho-
logical biology: namely, that perfectibility revolves around a
centre, which represents a perfect equilibrium between the various
parts constituting an organism. Hence, in order to determine the
deviations of the individual type, we must always start from
those central data, which represent, as the case may be, normality
or perfection.
Even among the populations of Europe, and within the Italian
people themselves, fluctuations occur in the degree of mesati-
scelia, approaching to a greater or less degree the eccentric forms of
brachyscelia or macroscelia; and such fluctuations are an attribute
of race.
We should draw a distinction between a people and a race.
The term race refers exclusively to a biological classification, and
corresponds to the zoological species. On the other hand, we mean
by a people a group of human individuals bound together by
political ties. Peoples are always made up of a more or less pro-
found intermixture of races. It is well known that one of the most
interesting and difficult problems of ethnology is that of tracing
out the original types of races in peoples that represent an inter-
mixture centuries old. Without entering too deeply into this
question, which lies outside of our present purpose, it will suffice to
point out that in the people of Italy it is possible to trace types of
races differing from one another, yet so closely related as to render
them apparently so similar that they might almost be regarded
as a single race.
Now, in an anthropological study of mine on the young women
of Latium, I succeeded in tracing, within the confines of that
region, different racial types that show corresponding differences
in degrees of mesatiscelia. Thus, for example, in Castelli Romani
there exists in an almost pure state a dark-haired race, short of
stature, slender, elegantly modelled in figure and in profile, and
showing within the limits of mesatiscelia a brachyscelous tendency,
in contrast with another race, tall, fair, massive, of coarse build,
which within the limits of mesatiscelia shows a macroscelous
tendency, and which is found in almost pure groups around the
locality of Orte, that is, on the boundaries of Umbria. It is
interesting to note the importance of researches in ethnological
anthropology conducted in small centres of habitation. If it is
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 79
still possible to trace out groups even approaching racial purity,
they will be found only in localities offering little facility to emigra-
tion and to the consequent intermixture of races. The fact that
we still find in Castelli Romani types so nearly pure, is due to the
isolation of this region, which up to yesterday was still in such primi-
tive and rare communication with the capital as to permit of the
survival of brigandage. On the contrary, in localities that have
attained a higher civic advancement, and in which the inhabitants
are placed in favourable economic and intellectual conditions, the
facilities of travel and emigration will very soon effect an altera-
tion in the anthropological characters of the race. Hence it
would be impossible, in a cosmopolitan city like Rome, to accom-
plish any useful studies of the sort that I accomplished in the
district of Latium, and which led me to conclude that in the small
and slender race of Castelli Romani we may trace the descendants
of the ancient conquerors of the world: descendants that belong
to one variety of the great Mediterranean race, to whom we owe
the historic civilisations of Egypt, Greece and Rome.
It would seem that this race, disembarking on the coast of
Latium, must have driven back, among the Apennines, the other
race, blond and massive, whose pure-blooded descendants are still
found in numerical prevalence at Orte, an ancient mediaeval town
and a natural fortress from the remotest times, through its fortu-
nate situation on the crown of a rocky height, that easily isolates
it from the surrounding country (see the ancient history of the
town of Orte).
Accordingly, within the limits of mesatiscelia, it appears that
the race which in early times won the victory was the more brachy-
scelous, i.e., the one which had the larger bust, and consequently
the larger brain and vital organs. In other words, within the
limits of normality, brachyscelia is a physiologically favourable
condition.
Variations of Type of Stature According to Social Conditions. —
Independently of race, and from such a radically different point of
view as that of the social condition, or adaptation to environment,
we may still distinguish brachyscelous and macroscelous types.
Brachysceles may readily be met with among the labouring classes,
habituated from childhood to hard toil in a standing position,
thus interfering with a free development of the long bones of the
lower limbs ; while the macroscelous type will be found among the
80 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
aristocratic classes, whose members, spending much time sitting
or reclining, give the long bones an opportunity to attain their
growth (mechanical theories of stature). Without stopping to
discuss the suggested causes of such differentiation in types, we
may nevertheless point out that the brachyscelous type is emi-
nently useful to society, constituting, one may say, the principal
source of economic production, while the macroscelous and unpro-
ductive type settles comfortably down upon the other like a
parasite. But the progress of the world is not due to the labour-
ing class, but to the men of intellect, among whom the prevailing
type is the medium, harmonic type, with mesatiscelous stature.
Types of Stature in Art. — The existence of these different
individual types, which combine a definite relationship of the
parts of stature with the complete image of a well-defined indi-
viduality, was long ago perceived by the eye, or rather by the
delicate intuition of certain eminent artists. These immor-
talised their several ideals, investing now the one type and
now the other with the genius of their art. Thus, for example,
Rubens embodies in his Flemish canvases the brachyscelous type,
robust and jovial, and usually represents him as a man of mighty
appetite revelling in the pleasures of the table.
Botticelli, on the contrary, has idealised the macroscelous
type, in frail, diaphanous, almost superhuman forms, that seem,
as they approach, to walk, shadow-like, upon the heads of flowers,
without bending them beneath their feet and without leaving any
trace of their passage. Accordingly, these two great artists have
admirably realised, not only the two opposite types of stature,
but also the psychic and moral attributes that respectively belong
to them. But it was not granted to these artists to achieve the
supreme glory of representing perfect human beauty in unsur-
passed and classic masterpieces. The art of Greece alone succeeded
in embodying in statues which posterity must admire but cannot
duplicate, the medial, normal type of the perfect man.
Variations of Stature According to Sex. — It is not always neces-
sary to interpret the type of stature in the same sense. Even
from an exclusively biological standpoint, it may lend itself to
profoundly different interpretations.
Thus, for example, the type of stature varies normally
according to the sex. Woman is more brachyscelous than man;
but the degree of brachyscelia corresponds to a larger development
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 81
of the lumbar segment of the spinal column, which corresponds
to the functions of maternity.
In fact all the various segments of the spinal column show different propor-
tions in the two sexes.
As we know,. the spinal column consists of three parts ; the cervical (correspond-
ing to the neck), the thoracic (corresponding to the ribs), and the abdominal,
including the os sacrum and the coccyx.
Now, Manouvrier, reducing the height of the spinal column to a scale of 100,
expresses the relations of these different parts in the two sexes as follows :
Segments
Men
Women
Cervical
22.1
58.5
11.4
7.9
23.9
Thoracic
55.4
Lumbar
Sacro-coccygeal
23.7
6.7
In woman the thoracic segment is shorter and the abdominal is longer than in
man; but the total sum in woman is relatively greater in proportion to the whole
stature.
In a case like this we have no right to speak of a morphological
or psychosocial superiority of type; nor would a fact of this sort
have any weight, for example, in establishing the anthropological
superiority of woman. Nevertheless, it may be asserted that, if
the day comes when woman, having entered the ranks of social
workers, shall prove that she is socially as useful as man, she will
still be, in addition, the mother of the species, and for that reason
preeminently the greater producer.
Now, it is beyond question that this indisputable superiority
is in direct relation with the type of stature. But without insist-
ing unduly on a point Uke this, we should note the connection
between the brachyscelous type and the tendency shown by
women to accumulate nutritive substances, adipose tissue; con-
sequently, as compared with man, she is the more corpulent — as
are all brachysceles as compared with macrosceles.
Types of Stature at Different Ages. — Another factor that influ-
ences the types of stature is the age; or rather, that biological
force which we call growth.
Growth is not an augmentation of volume, but an alteration
in form; it constitutes the ontogenetic evolution, the development
82
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
of the individual. The child, as it grows, is transformed. If we
compare the skeleton of a new-born child with that of an adult,
we discover profound differences between the relative proportions
of the different parts. The child's head is enormously larger
than that of the adult in proportion to its stature; and similarly,
the chest measure is notably greater in the child. If we wish to
compare the fundamental measurements of the new-born infant
with those of the adult, we get the following figures, on a basis of
100 for the total stature :
Adult
Child at birth
Total stature
= 100
Essential stature
Perimeter of thorax. . . .
Height of head
52
50
10
68
70
20
0
z
e
e
JO
2
6
8
20
2
4
6
8
50
2
*
6
8
z
If
6
8
SO
2
A-
6
6
60
2
4-
6
6
4-
6
8
80
6
6
6
JOO
S 3 -^ e 6 7 8 9 ^O // 72 J<3 /■f /ff /S /r
Fig. 14.
Accordingly, the
child has to acquire,
in the course of its
growth, not only the
dimensions of the
adult, but the har-
mony of his forms;
that is, it must reach
not only certain de-
termined limits of
dimension, but also a
certain type of beauty.
Among the funda-
mental differences be-
tween the new-born
child and the adult
one of the first to be
noted is the reciprocal
difference of propor-
tion between the two
statures. The child
is ultrabrachyscelous,
that is, he presents a
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 83
type of exaggerated brachyscelia, calling to mind the form of the
human foetus, in which the limbs appear as little appendages of
the trunk. In the course of growth, a successive alteration takes
place between the reciprocal proportions of the two parts, so
that the lower limbs, growing faster than the bust, tend to ap-
proach the total length of the latter. Godin has noted that
during the years before puberty the lower limbs acquire greater
dimensions, as compared with the bust, than are found in the
fully developed individual ; in other words, at this period a rapid
growth takes place in the long bones of the lower limbs, and
accordingly at this period of his life the individual passes through
a stage of the macroscelous type. Immediately after puberty,
there begins, in turn, an increase in the size of the bust, which
regains its normal excess over the lower limbs, thus attaining the
definite normal type of the adult individual. After the age of
17 years, by which time these metamorphoses have been com-
pleted, the individual may increase in stature, but the propor-
tions between the parts will remain unaltered. In Fig. 14 we
have a graphic representation of the relative proportions between
the height of the bust and the length of limbs at different ages,
the total stature being in every case reduced to 100. The upper
portion of the lines represents the bust, and the lower portion
the limbs, while the transverse line corresponding to the number
50 indicates one-half of the total stature. From such a table, it
is easy to see how the bust, enormously in excess of the limbs at
birth, gradually loses its preponderance.
It was drawn up from the following figures calculated by me:
TYPES OF STATURE ACCORDING TO AGE IN YEARS
At birth
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12 13
14
15
16
17
68
65
63
62
60
59
57
56
55
55
54
53
53
52
52
51
51
52
Godin furnishes the following figures, relating to the type of
stature at the period preceding and following puberty:
84
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
RATIO OF SITTING STATURE TO TOTAL STATURE REDUCED TO SCALE
OF 100 (GODIN)
Age
13 1/2
14
14 1/2
15
15 1/2
16
16 1/2
17
17 1/2
Ratio . . .
52
52
51
51
51
52
52
52
52
Hrdlicka has calculated the index of stature for a thousand white
American children and a hundred coloured, of both sexes, and
has obtained the following figures, some of which, based upon an
adequate number of subjects, (10-13 years) are what were to be
expected, while others, owing to the scarcity of subjects (under
6 and above 15 years) are far less satisfactory:
PROPORTION BETWEEN THE SITTING STATURE AND THE TOTAL
STATURE
(American Children)
Age in
years
Number of
subjects of
each age
Males,
white
Females,
white
Number of
subjects of
each age
Males,
coloured
Females,
coloured
3
1
60.8
59.5
4
—
• —
—
1
—
58.9
5
2
57.4
57.3
3
57.3
57.9
6
15
56.6
57.4
5
55.9
55.6
7
38
56.3
57.2
5
54.9
55.4
8
56
55.9
56.2
13
55.1
53.3
9
62
55.2
55.9
25
54.2
54.1
10
98
54.6
54.2
12
54.9
53.7
11
99
54.0
55.0
12
52.8
63.8
12
93
53.5
54.1
10
57.7
54.0
13
86
52.9
63.8
13
62.9
51.9
14
53
52.7
54.1
7
62.3
51.8
15
20
53.1
53.7
6
51.7
53.0
16
9
52.0
55.0
2
53.0
—
17
3
52.2
54.7
—
—
—
Which goes to prove (in spite of the inaccuracies due to the
numerical scarcity of coloured subjects of any age) that the females
are more brachyscelous than the males; and that the blacks are
more macroscelous than the whites.
The above table of indices of stature was worked out by
Hrdlicka from the following measurements :
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 85
SITTING STATURE
Age in
Males,
Females,
Males,
Females,
years
white
white
coloured
coloured
3
476
476
4
—
—
—
534
5
551
576
597
571
6
595
608
616
607
7
631
621
630
625
8
644
635
659
671
9
672
663
679
680
10
684
687
697
695
11
711
718
718
703
12
728
734
797
792
13
751
770
737
767
14
764
809
787
808
15
777
825
753
819
16
839
824
795
—
17
864
850
TOTAL STATURE
Age in
Males,
Females,
Males,
Females,
years
white
white
coloured
coloured
3
783
839
4
—
—
—
906
5
961
1004
1044
985
6
1051
1060
1101
1091
7
1120
1086
1147
1127
8
1152
1130
1196
1260
9
1212
1187
1251
1257
10
1248
1267
1271
1295
11
1315
1304
1360
1307
12
1362
1357
1381
1467
13
1420
1431
1392
1477
14
1449
1495
1505
1559
15
1462
1535
1455
1545
16
1615
1498
1500
—
17
1654
—
—
—
18
—
1554
—
"
The following chart, prepared by MacDonald, on the growth
of the total stature and the sitting stature of male white children,
86
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
born in America, gives a very clear idea of the rhythm of each of
the two statures. The sitting stature increases quite slowly,
and its greatest rate of growth is immediately after puberty
(from 15 to 17 years) (Fig. 15)
Mac Donald.
m
m
VI
7Si-
751
128
111
em
612
SU
631
595
m
m?
/
/
■ /
/
k
/
/
/
/
/
^t
y
/
/
s
€'
y
/
J'
y
/
/
r
b^
P
y
/
y
/
^^
^'
1
/
1359
1327
1282
1227
mo
1112
10^6
/
/
J
'
/
/
i
/
4
'
A
\
}
<$
1
1
y
V
/
A^e 6 7 8 9 W J1 12 13 n 15 16 17
Fig. 15.
Lastly, in order to make this phenomenon still more clear, I
have reproduced an illustration given by Stratz, consisting of a
series of outlined bodies of children representing the proportions
of the body at different stages of growth; and not only the pro-
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 87
portions between the bust and the lower Hmbs, but also between
the various component parts of the bust, as for instance the head
and trunk. The transverse lines indicate the changes in the prin-
cipal levels: the head, the mammary glands, and the bust
(Fig. 16).
The different types of stature at different ages deserve our
most careful consideration, yet not from the point of view already
set forth regarding the different types in the fully developed
individual. In the present case for instance, we cannot say of a
Fig. 16.
youth of sixteen that, because he is macroscelous he is a weakling
as compared with a boy of ten who is brachyscelous ; nor that a
new-born child represents the maximum physical potentiality,
because he is ultra-brachyscelous. Our standards must be com-
pletely altered, when we come to consider the various types as
stages of transition between two normal forms, representing the
evolution from one to the other. At each age we observe not
only different proportions between the two fundamental parts of
the stature, but physiological characteristics as well, biological
signs of predispositions to certain determined maladies, and
psychological characteristics differing from one another, and each
88 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
typical of a particular age. From the purely physical and mor-
phological point of view, for example, a child from its birth up to
its second year, the period of maximum brachyscelia and con-
sequent visceral predominance, is essentially a feeding animal.
After this begins the development of psychic life, until finally,
just before the attainment of full normal proportions, the function
of reproduction is established, entailing certain definite character-
istics upon the adult man or woman. In accordance with its
type of stature, we see that the child from its birth to the end of
the first year shows a maximum development of the adipose system
together with a preponderance of the digestive organs; while the
adolescent, in the period preceding puberty, shows in accordance
with his macroscelous type of stature, and reduction in the
relative proportion of his visceral organs, a characteristic loss of
flesh.
These evolutionary changes in the course of growth having
been once established, it remains for us to consider the individual
variations. The alterations observed at the various ages, or
rather, the notable characteristics of each age, s'erve as so many
fundamental charts of the normal average child; and we may con-
sider each successive type of stature, from the new-born infant to the
adult man, in the same light as we do the average type of the
mature mesatiscelous type. In the case of the latter, we found
that both above and below the medium stature, there were a
host of individual types departing more or less widely from it,
and tending toward brachyscelia on the one hand and toward
macroscelia on the other, thus constituting the oscillations of
type in the individual varieties. Similarly, in the case of the
medium type of each successive age we may find brachyscelous
or macroscelous individuals whose complex personal character-
istics may be compared to those already observed in the adult,
and may be summed up as follows : that the macroscele is a weak-
ling; and that the brachyscele may be, according to the
degree of variation, either a robust individual or an individual that
has been arrested in his morphological development, and retained
the type of a younger age.
Pedagogic Considerations. — From the above conclusion, we
may deduce certain principles that can be profitably applied to
pedagogy, especially in regard to some of the methods suited to
our guidance in the physical education of children. Let us begin
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 89
with the happy comparison drawn by Manouvrier, who describes
an imaginary duel with swords between a macroscelous and a
brachyscelous type. The duel, according to social conventions,
must take place under equal conditions: hence the seconds take
rigorous care in measuring the ground, the length of the swords,
and determine the number of paces permitted to the duelists.
But since they have forgotten the anthropologic side, the con-
ditions are not entirely equal : by having a longer arm, the macro-
scele is in the same position as though he had a longer sword; and
because he has a greater development of the lower limbs, the
established number of strides will take him over a greater space
of ground than his adversary. Consequently, the conditions as a
matter of fact are so favourable to the macroscele, that is, to the
weaker individual, that the latter has a greater chance of victory.
The brachyscele might, to be sure, offset this by a different
manoeuvre depending on his superior agility; but both he and the
macroscele were trained in the same identical method, which
takes into consideration only the external factor, the arms of
defence, and the immutable laws of chivalry.
Well, something quite similar happens in the duel of life,
which is waged in school and in the outside social environment.
We ignore individual differences, and concern ourselves solely
with the means of education, considering that they are just,
so long as they are equal for all. The fencing-master, if he had
been an anthropologist, might have counteracted the probability
that the stronger pupil would be beaten by the weaker, by advising
the brachyscele always to choose a pistol in place of a sword, or
by teaching him some manoeuvre entirely different from that
which affords the macroscele a favourable preparation for fencing.
And in the same way, it is the duty of the school-teacher to select
the arms best adapted to lead his pupil on to victory.
That is, the teacher ought to make the anthropological study
of the pupil precede his education; he should prepare him for
whatever he is best adapted for, and should indicate to him
the paths that are best for him to follow, in the struggle for
existence.
But, aside from general considerations, we may point out that
something very similar to the above-mentioned duel takes place
in school when, in the course of gymnastic exercises, we make the
children march, arranging them according to their total height.
90 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
We expect them to march evenly and walk, not run, yet we do
not trouble to ask whether their legs are of equal length. When we
wish to know which of our pupils is the swiftest runner, we start
them all together, macrosceles and brachysceles alike, neglecting
to measure their lower limbs, the weight of their bodies, the
circumference of their chests. Then we say "bravo!" to the
macroscele, that is, the pupil who is most agile but at the same time
the weakest, and we encourage him in a pride based upon a physi-
ological inferiority. When we practise exercises of endurance,
we find that certain children weary sooner, suffer from shortness
of breath, and frequently drop out of the contest, in which the
victory is reserved for others. The latter are the brachysceles,
who have big lungs and a robust heart at their disposal. In this
case we say ''bravo!" to the brachysceles. Then we try to arouse
a noble rivalry between the two types, encouraging emulation,
and holding up before the brachyscele the example of the macro-
scele's agility, and before the macroscele the example of the
brachyscele's endurance — and perhaps we reward the two types
with different medals. Such decisions by the teacher evidently
have no such foundation in justice as he supposes; the diverse
abilities of the two types of children are associated with the con-
stitution of their organisms. A modern teacher ought instead to
subject the brachyscelous child to exercises adapted to develop
his length of limb, and the macroscelous to gymnastics that will
increase the development of his chest; and he will abstain from all
praise, reward, exhortation and emulation, that have for their sole
basis the pupil's complete anthropological inefficiency.
'' The judgment passed by the teacher in assigning rewards and
punishments is often an unconscious diagnosis of the child^s
anthropological personality.^'
Similar unconscious judgments are exceedingly widespread.
Manouvrier gives a brilliant exposition of them in the course of
his general considerations regarding the macroscelous and brachy-
scelous types. A brachyscelous ballet-dancer, all grace and endur-
ance in her dancing, thanks to the strength of her lungs, can never
be imitated in her movements by a macroscelous, angular woman,
with legs ungracefully long. The latter, on the contrary, wrapped
in a mantle, may become the incarnation of a stately matron, ex-
tending her long arms in majestic gestures. Yet it often happens
that the stately actress envies and seeks to imitate the grace of
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 91
the dancer, while the latter envies and emulates the grave dignity
of the actress.
In any private drawing-room the same thing occurs, in the
shape of different advantages distributed among persons of differ-
ent types. There are some gestures that are inimitable because they
are associated with a certain anthropologic personality. Every one
in the world ought to do the things for which he is specially
adapted. It is the part of wisdom to recognise what each one of us
is best fitted for, and it is the part of education to perfect and utilise
such predispositions. Because education can direct and aid nature,
but can never transform her.
Manouvrier is constantly observing how the macroscelous and
brachyscelous types are adapted to different kinds of social labour;
thus, for example, the macroscele will make an excellent reaper,
because of the wide sweep of his arms, and he is well adapted to be
a tiller of the soil; while the brachyscele, on the contrary, will
succeed admirably in employment that requires continuous and
energetic effort, such as lifting weights, hammering on an anvil,
or tending the work of a machine.
In the social evolution now taking place, the services of the
macrosceles are steadily becoming less necessary; intensive modern
labour requires the short, robust arm of the brachyscele. Such
considerations ought not to escape the notice of the teacher, who
sees in the boy the future man. He has the high mission of pre-
paring the duelists of life for victory, by now correcting and again
aiding the nature of each. And the first point of departure is
undoubtedly to learn to know, in each case le physique du role.
Abnormal Types of Stature and General Principles of
Biological Ethics
Abnormal types of stature in their relation to moral training. — Macroscelia and brachy-
scelia in pathologic individuals (De Giovanni's hyposthenic and hypersthenic types).—
Types of stature in emotional criminals and in parasites. — Extreme types of stature
among the extrasocial classes: Nanism and gigantism.
Let us start from a picture traced in the course of the preceding
lessons; the types of stature as related to race. The Chinese,
being brachyscelous, ought to be hearty eaters; instead, they are
the most sparing people on earth. Such parsimony, equally with
religion and social morality, may be considered as a racial obli-
gation. The whole life of the Chinese is founded upon duty:
92 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
fidelity to religion, to the laws, to the spirit of discipline, to the
spirit of sacrifice, which always finds the Chinese citizen ready to
die for his ethics and for his country, are strong characteristics
of these invincible men. Their whole education rests solely upon
a mnemonic basis; and their laws, which are highly democratic,
make it possible for anyone to rise to the highest circles, pro-
vided he can pass the competitive examinations. . In other words,
the laws aid in the natural selection of the really strong, and regard
favouritism as a crime against the State. On such individual and
national virtues is founded the survival of the race and of the
massive empire. If tomorrow the Chinese should renounce his
creed, become a glutton, a pleasure-seeker, and follow the instincts
of nature, he would be advancing in mighty strides on the path
that leads to death. Accordingly, what we call virtue may have a
biologic basis, . and represent the active force that tends to correct
the defects of nature.
We can conceive of a type of man, whose life is associated with
sacrifice; and whose path of evolution is necessarily limited, first
because his personality is imperfect, secondly because a part of his
individual energy is necessarily expended in conquering, or if you
prefer, in correcting his own nature. Evolution ought to be free;
but instead, such a type is necessarily in bondage to duty, which
stops its progress. Accordingly, the civilisation of China remains
the civilisation of China; it cannot invade the world.
The European on the contrary has no such racial virtues; what-
ever virtues he has are associated with transitory forms of civili-
sation, and are ready to succeed one another on the pathway of
unlimited progress. The race can permit itself the luxury of not
being virtuous on its own account; its biological conditions are
so perfect, that they have reached the fullness of life. If virtue is
the goal of the Chinese, happiness is the goal of the European.
The race may indulge freely in the joys of living; and dedicate its
efforts solely to the unlimited progress of social civilisation, and to
the conquest of the entire earth.
The Tasmanian, on the other hand, sparing by nature, lacking
sufficient development of the organs of vegetative life, avoids every
form of civilisation, and precipitates himself, an unconscious
victim, upon the road to death. His natural parsimony, the
scantiness of his needs, have prevented him from ever feeling
that spur toward struggle and conquest which has its basis in
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 93
the necessities of life. Neither virtue, nor fehcity, nor civilisation,
nor survival were possible to that race, whose extermination began
with the first contact with European civilisation. Hence we may
draw up a table that will serve to make clear certain fundamental
ideas that may prove useful guides along our pedagogic path :
Biological types
Brachysceles
Mesatisceles
Macrosceles
Races and peoples . . .
Chinese.
Europeans.
Tasmanians.
Civilisation
Stable civilisation,
Changeable civil-
Outside the pale of
but limited.
isation, with un-
limited powers of
evolution.
civilisation.
Psycho-moral types . .
High ideal of virtue
and sacrifice.
Happiness.
Insensibility.
We ought to strive for the supreme result of producing men who
will be happy; always keeping clearly before us the idea that the
happy man is the one who may be spared the effort of thinking
of himself, and dedicate all his energies to the unlimited progress
of human society. The preoccupation of virtue, the voluntary
sacrifice are in any case forces turned back upon themselves,
that expend upon the individual energies that are lost to the
world at large; nevertheless, such standards of virtue are necessary
for certain inferior types. There exist, besides, certain individuals
in rebellion against society, outcasts whose lives depend upon the
succor of the strong, or may be destroyed by their adverse inter-
vention, but in any case have ceased to depend upon the will of
the individuals themselves.
Between two inferior types the one with the better chances is
the one with the larger chest development; apparently, in the case
of biological deviations, melius est abundare quam deficere.
Accordingly, let us draw up a chart. Human perfectionment
tends toward harmony. If we wish to represent this by some
symbolic or intuitive sign, we could not do so by a mere line;
because perfection is not reached by the quantitative increase of
favourable parts; robustness, for instance, cannot be indefinitely
increased by augmenting the degree of brachyscelia ; nor can intel-
ligence be increased by augmenting the volume of the head; but
7
94
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
perfection is approached, in the race and in the individual, through
a central harmony. It is accordingly in the direction of this centre
that progress is made; and whoever departs furthest from this
centre, departs furthest from perfection, becomes more eccentric,
more untypical, and at the same time also loses the psycho-moral
potentiality to attain the highest civic perfection.
In Fig. 17, we have a graphic representation in three con-
centric circles.
Let us begin by considering the middle circle, that of the
abnormals. Here we have inscribed, as psycho-moral and physio-
pathological traits, abstemi-
ousness, anti-social tendency,
predisposition to disease.
Abstemiousness represents a
corrective, without which the
individual tends toward an
anti-social line of action and
contracts diseases. Abstemi-
ousness is present within
the circle of abnormal human
beings, as a more or less at-
tainable ideal; but it must be
regarded as the pedagogic
goal, when the problem arises
of educating an untypical
class of individuals. In
other words, there are certain abnormal individuals who, if they
are not to turn out criminals, must exercise a violent corrective
influence over their psycho-physical personality, and they must be
trained to do so; for it is an influence unknown to the normal
man, who not only has no inclination to commit a crime, but
recoils from doing so, and on the contrary may arise to degrees
of moral perfection that are inconceivable to the abnormal man.
Consequently, in order to maintain a relatively healthy condition,
certain abnormal individuals are constrained to submit themselves
to a severe hygienic regime throughout their entire life; a regime use-
less to the normal man, who indulges naturally in all the pleasures
which are consistent with the full measure of physical health,
and which remain forever unknown, and unattainable, to the ab-
normal individual organically predisposed to disease.
Fig. 17.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 95
Such self-restraint we may call the culte of virtue, a necessity
only to certain categories of men; and we may also call it the
virtue of inferior individuals. It applies and is limited almost
wholly to the individual.
Meanwhile, there is the normal man's high standard of virtue,
which is an indefinite progress toward moral perfection; but the
path it follows lies wholly in the direction of society collectively,
or toward the biological perfectionment of the species. In life's
attainment of such a triumph, man both feels and is happy rather
than virtuous.
The separation between the circles, or rather between the differ-
ent categories of indviduals, the normal and the abnormal, is not
clear-cut. There always exist certain imperceptibly transitional
forms, between normality and abnormality; and furthermore,
since no one of us is ideally normal, no one who is not abnormal
in some one thing, it follows that this ''some one thing" must be
corrected by the humbling practice of self-discipline. At the same
time it is rare for a man to be abnormal in all parts of his personality;
in such a case he would be outside the social pale, a monstrosity;
the high, collective virtues can, therefore, even if in a limited
degree, illuminate the moral life of the abnormals. St. Paul felt
that it "is hard to kick against the pricks"; and the picciotto oi
the Camorra feels that he is obeying a society that protects the
weak.
It is a question of degree. But such a conception must lead to
a separation in school and in method of education, for the two
categories of individuals.
Abnoemal Types According to De Giovanni's Theory
Certain very important pathological types have been distin-
guished and established in Italy by De Giovanni, the Paduan
clinical professor who introduced the anthropological method into
clinical practice. Through his interesting studies, he has to-day
fortunately revived the ancient theory of temperaments, explaining
them on a basis of physio-pathological anthropology.
De Giovanni distinguishes two fundamental types; the one
hyposthenic (weak), the other hypersthenic (over-excitable); these
two types obey the following rules: morphologically considered,
the hyposthenic type has a total spread of arms greater than the
96 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
total stature and a chest circumference of less than half the stature:
these data alone are enough to tell us that the type in question is
macroscelous; as a matter of fact, the chest is narrow and the abdo-
men narrower still. De Giovanni says that, owing to the scant
pulmonary and abdominal capacity the organs of vegetative life
are inadequate; the heart is too small and unequal to its function
of general irrigator of the organism ; the circulation is consequently
sluggish, as shown by the bluish net-work of veins, indicating
some obstacle to the flow of blood.
The type is predominantly lymphatic, the muscles flaccid,
with a tendency to develop fatty tissues, but very little muscular
fibre; there is a predisposition to bronchial catarrh, but above all
to pulmonary tuberculosis. This hyposthenic type, which corre-
sponds to the lymphatic temperament of Greek medicine, is in reality
a macroscelous type somewhat exceeding normal limits and there-
fore physiologically inefficient and feeble.
The following is De Giovanni's description:
Morphologically. — Deficient chest capacity, deficient abdominal
capacity, disproportionate and excessive development of the limbs;
insufficient muscularity.
Physiologically.— Insuffi-cieiit respiration, and consequent scanty
supply of oxygen (a form of chronic asphyxia of internal origin),
insufficient circulation, because the small heart sends the blood
through the arteries at too low a pressure; and this blood, insuffi-
ciently oxygenated, fails to furnish the tissues with their normal
interchange of matter, and therefore the assimilative functions in
general all suffer; finally, the venous blood is under an excessive
pressure in the veins, the return flow to the heart is rendered
difficult and there results a tendency to venous hyperemia (con-
gestion of the veins), even in the internal organs. This is accom-
panied by what De Giovanni calls nervous erethism (in contradis-
tinction to torpor), which amounts to an abnormal state of the
central nervous system, causing predisposition to insanity and to
various forms of neurasthenia (rapid exhaustion, irritability).
This type is especially predisposed to maladies of the respira-
tory system, subject to bronchial catarrh recuning annually, liable
to attacks of bronchitis, pleurisy, and pneumonia, and easily falls
victim to pulmonary tuberculosis.
Here are a few cases recorded by De Giovanni.* (It must be
* De Giovanni, Op. cit., p. 236. Cases referring to the first morpliologic combination.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 97
borne in mind that the total spread of the arms, Ts, ought to equal
the total stature, St. The measurements are given in centimetres.)
F. M. — St 147; Ts 151. — Extremely frail; frequent attacks of
hemorrhage of the nose; habitually pale and thin. Certain
disproportions of the skeleton, hands and feet greatly en-
larged; extreme development of the subcutaneous veins.
Pulmonary tuberculosis.
A. M. — St 161; Ts 193. — Nervous erethism; from the age of
twelve subject to laryngo-bronchial catarrh; every slight ill-
ness accompanied by fever; habitually thin. Pulmonary
tuberculosis.
F. M. — St 150; Ts 150; Ct 67. — Lymphatic, torpid, almost chronic
bloating of the abdomen. Enlargement of the glands; scars
from chilblains on hands and feet. Primary tuberculosis of
the glands, secondary tuberculosis of the lungs.
A. M. — St 172; Ts 179. — Extreme emaciation, heart singularly
small. Chronic bronchial catarrh.
If it is important for us, as educators, to be acquainted with
this type in the adult state, it ought to interest us far more
during its ontogenesis, that is, during the course of its individual
evolution.
Since, in the process of growth, man passes through different
stages, due to alteration in the relative proportions of the different
organs and parts, it follows that this hyposthenic type corre-
spondingly alters its predisposition to disease. Its final state,
manifested by various defects of development, gave unmistakable
forewarnings at every period of growth.
In early infancy symptoms of rickets presented themselves,
and then disappeared, like an unfulfilled threat: dentition was
tardy or irregular; the head was large and with persistent nodules.
This class, as a type, is weak, sickly, easily attacked by infec-
tious diseases, tracoma, purulent otitis.
When the first period of growth is passed, glandular symptoms
begin, with liability to sluggishness of the lymphatic glands (scrof-
ula) or persistent swelling of the lymphatic ganglia of the neck.
This is supplemented by bronchial catarrh, recurring year after
year; finally intestinal catarrh follows, accompanied in most cases
by loss of appetite.
98 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Such conditions are influenced very slightly or not at all by
medical treatment.
During the period of puberty, cardiopalmus (palpitation of the
heart) is very likely to occur, often accompanied by frequent and
abundant epistasis, or by the occurrence of slight fever in the
evening, and by blood-stained expectorations, suggestive of tuber-
culosis. The patient is pale (oligohsemic), very thin, and shoots
up rapidly (preponderant growth of the limbs) ; he is subject to
muscular asthenia (weakness, exhaustibility of the muscles) and to
various forms of nervous excitability.
These symptoms also (some of them so serious as to arouse
fears, at one time of rickets and at another of tuberculosis), are all
of them quite beyond the reach of medical treatment (tonics, etc.).
Now, a fact of the highest importance, discovered by De
Giovanni, is that of spontaneous corrections, that is, the develop-
ment of compensations within the organism, suited to mitigate
the anamolous conditions of this type, and hence the possibility of
an artificial intervention capable of calling forth such compensations.
Such intervention cannot be other then pedagogic; and it should
consist in a rational system of gymnastics, designed in one case
to develop the heart, in another the chest, in another to modify
the intestinal functions or to stimulate the material renewal of
the body; while every form of over-exertion must be rigorously
avoided.
''I think that we should regard as an error not without conse-
quences what may be seen any day in the gymnasiums of the public
schools, where pupils differing in bodily aptitude, and with differ-
ent gymnastic capacity and different needs are with little dis-
cernment subjected to the same identical exercises, for the same
length of time.
''And day by day we see the results : there are some children who
rebel outright against the required exercise which they fear and
from which they cannot hope to profit, because it demands an
effort beyond their strength. Some have even been greatly
harmed; so that one after another they abandon these bodily exer-
cises, which if they had been more wisely directed would assuredly
have bettered their lot.
''Experience also teaches that one pupil may be adapted to
one kind of exercise and another to another kind. Accordingly
a really physiological system of gymnastics requires that those
Fig. 18. Fig. 19.
Brachyscelous type (from Viola).
Fig. 20. Fig. 21.
Macroscelous type (from Viola).
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 99
movements and those exercises which are least easily performed should
be practised according to special methods, until they have strength-
ened the less developed functions, without ever causing illness or
producing harmful reactions.*"
So that the final results are an improvement in the morpho-
logical proportions of the organism, and consequently a correction
and improvement in the relative liability to disease.
The other fundamental pathological type described by De
Giovanni is the hypersthenic (second morphological combination),
corresponding in part to the sanguine temperament of Greek
medicine, and in part to the bilious temperament. In this type
the total spread of the arms is generally less than the stature, and
the perimeter of the chest notably exceeds one-half the stature.
Consequently we are dealing with the brachyscelous type.
This type has a greatly developed thorax, a large heart, an
excessive development of the intestines ; hence he is a hearty eater,
subject to an over-abundance of blood; he is over-nourished, the
ruddy skin reveals an abundant circulation, there is an excess of
adipose tissue and a good development of the striped muscles.
Such a constitution accompanies an excitable, impulsive, violent
disposition, and conduces to diseases of the heart. ''This type is
characterised in general by robustness and a liability to disorders
of the central circulatory system," f
But there are still other forms of disease that await the in-
dividuals of this class, such for example as disorders affecting
the interchange of organic matter (diabetes, gout, polysarcia =
obesity) and attacks of an apoplectic nature. In the case of acute
illness individuals of this class suffer from excess of blood and may
be relieved by being bled. They are readily liable to bloody
excretions.
Here are a few cases illustrating this morphological combination,
which is characterised by an exorbitant chest development (it
must be borne in mind that the circumference of the thorax, Ct,
should equal one-half the stature, St).
P. A. — St 156; Ct 93.— Endocarditis; insufficient heart-action.
Z. C. — St 168; Ct 95. — Cerebral hyperemia of an apoplectic nature.
Hypertrophy of the left ventricle of the heart. Polysarcous
(gluttonous) eater.
* De Giovanni, Op. cit.
t De Giovanni, Op. cit.
100 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
B. G. — St 166; Ct 104. — Diabetic, obese, subject to diabetic
ischialgia (neuralgia), frequent recurrence of gravel in the
urine. Tendency to excesses of the table.
D. G. — St 160; Ct 96. — Polysarcia, the first symptoms of which
appeared in early youth. At the age of sixteen, suffered from
all the discomforts of obesity. Shows atheroma (fatty degen-
eration) of the aorta, irregular heart-action, hypertrophy
and enlargement of the heart.
In this brachyscelous type it may happen either that the whole
trunk (that is, both the thoracic and abdominal cavities) is in
excess, or else that the excessive development is confined to the
abdomen. This latter case is very frequent, and may easily be
found even in early childhood. Such children are hearty eaters,
are very active and, for this reason, the pride and joy of their
parents. Nevertheless, there are many signs that should give
warning of constitutional defects; constant digestive disturbances
(diarrhoea), frequent headaches, pains in the joints, apparently
of a rheumatic character, tendency to pains in the liver which is
excessively enlarged; excess of adipose tissue; a tendency to fall
ill very easily, of maladies that are almost always happily overcome
(but the truly robust person is not the one who recovers from ill-
ness, but the one who does not become ill), and finally an excessively
lively disposition, irritability and above all, impulsiveness.
Such individuals ought, like the macrosceles, to live under the
necessary and perpetual tyranny of a hygienic regime, adapted to
correct or to diminish the morbid predispositions associated with
the organism. A special dietetic, a regular hydrotherapic treat-
ment, a moderate gymnastic exercise designed to direct the child's
motive powers, and thus to prepare the man for that form of
existence to which it is necessary for him to subject himself, if he
does not wish to shorten his own life, or at least his' period of
activity — all these things are so many duties which the school
ought in great part to assume.
In this way we have briefly considered the abnormal types of
brachyscelia and macroscelia, which by their very constitution
are predisposed to incur special and characteristic forms of disease,
which may be avoided only by subjecting the organism to a special
hygienic regimen. Men cannot all live according to the same rules.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 101
Types of Stature in Criminals
In these latter times, some very recent researches have been
made by applying De Giovanni's method to the anthropological
study of criminals, especially through the labours of Dr. Boxich.
He has found that the great majority of parasitic criminals,
thieves for example, are macrosceles. They exhibit the stigmata
already revealed by Lombroso : great length of the upper limbs,
with elongated hands; furthermore, a narrow chest and a small
heart, insufficient for its vital function; such individuals are
singularly predisposed to pulmonary tuberculosis, and hence in
their physical constitution they are already stamped as organisms
of inferior biological value — having little endurance and almost no
ability as producers — consequently they are forced to live as they
can, that is like parasites, profiting by the work of others. On
the contrary, the great majority of criminals of a violent character
present the brachyscelous type: the thorax is greatly developed,
the heart hypertrophic, the arterial circulation superabundant.
This class of criminals, including a large proportion of murderers,
have a special tendency to act from impulse, corresponding to
their large heart which sends an excess of blood pulsing violently
to the brain, obscuring the psychic functions; or, in the speech
of the people, such a man has '4ost his reason," ''the light goes
from the eyes when the blood goes to the brain."
Here are some notes regarding these two different types: we
will select as measures of comparison the stature and the weight,
bearing in mind that in the macrosceles the weight is scanty and
that the opposite is true of the brachysceles, while normally there
ought to be a pretty close correspondence betwen the weight in
kilograms and the centimetres of stature over and above one
metre.
Types of Non-violent Criminals (Parasites)
Case No. 24. — St. 168; Wt. 56. Farm steward, three years'
sentence for theft. Pallid complexion, visible veins, scant
muscles. Heart small and weak, pulse feeble and slow.
Case No. 34. — St. 175; Wt. 61. Baker, comfortable financial
circumstances, has received a number of sentences for theft,
amounting altogether to ten years. Is twenty-four years of
age. Cyanosis of the extremities (bluish tinge, due to
102 PEDAGOGICAI. ANTHROPOLOGY
excessive venous circulation). Cardiac action feeble. Scant
muscles.
Case No. 43. — St. 156; Wt. 51. Peasant. Straitened circum-
stances. Four years' sentence for theft. Rejected by the
army board for defective chest measurement. Dark com-
plexion. Extensive acne. Scant muscles. Bronchial catarrh.
Has had hemoptysis (spitting of blood). Cardiac action
weak. Pulse very feeble.
Case No. 52.— St. 173; Wt. 66. Book-binder. Prosperous cir-
cumstances. Four years' sentence or thereabouts, for theft;
age, twenty-four. Conjunctivitis and blepharitis from early
childhood. Frontal and parietal nodules prominent. Muscles
scant; cardiac action weak; lymphatic glands of the neck
enlarged.
The following is an example of the typical thief :*
St. 162; Wt. 46. — Exceedingly small heart, feeble cardiac action.
Suffers from chronic bronchial catarrh. Cranial nodules
very prominent. Began as a small child to steal in his own
home, and since then has received sentence after sentence
for theft, up to his present age of twenty-nine.
Types of Violent Criminals {Assault, Mayhem, Homicide)
Case No. 54. — St. 157; Wt. 62. Peasant. Good financial circum-
stances. Condemned to thirty years in prison for homicide.
Well-developed muscles. Blood vessels congested. Strong
heart action; the pulsation extends as far down as the epi-
gastrium. Ample pulse.
Case No. 60. — St. 156; Wt. 70. Shoemaker. Bad financial cir-
cumstances. Condemned to fifteen years' imprisonment for
homicide, after having been previously convicted three times
for theft. The chest circumference exceeds one-half the
stature by 11 centimetres. Subject to frequent pains in the
head. Good muscles. Corpulent. Full pulse. (It should
be noticed that the florid complexion, accompanying this
type of stature, persists in spite of straitened circumstances!)
Case No. 85. —St. 168; Wt. 70. Turner in iron. Comfortable
circumstances. Sentenced to thirty years in prison after one
previous conviction for criminal assault. Ruddy complexion.
Veins not visible. Abdomen very prominent. Gastrectasia
*Boxich, Contribution to the Morphological, Clinical and Anthropological Study of
delinquents.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 103
(dilation of the stomach). Entire cardiac region protuberant.
Laboured breathing. Cardiac action abundant.
Hence we perceive, in the etiology of crime, the importance
of the organic factor, connected directly with the lack of harmony
in the viscera and their functions, and consequently accompanied
by special morbid predispositions.
As a result of this line of research, criminality and pathology
are coming to be studied more and more in conjunction. For
that matter, it was already observed by Lombroso that in addition
to the various external malformations found in criminals, there
were also certain anomalies of the internal organs, and a wide-
spread and varied predisposition to disease. In short, his statis-
tics reveal a prevalence of cardiac maladies and of tuberculosis
in criminals, as well as a great frequency of diseases of the liver
and the intestines.
Extreme or Infantile Types, Nanism and Gigantism, Extra-
social Types
Whenever the disproportion between the bust and the limbs
surpasses the extreme normal limits, the whole individual reveals
a complex departure from type. Thus, for example, in connection
with extreme brachyscelia, there exists a characteristic form of
nanism (dwarfishness), called achondroplastic nanism, in which,
although the bust is developed very nearly within normal limits,
the limbs on the contrary are arrested in their growth so as to
remain permanently nothing more than little appendages of the
'trunk. This calls to mind the foetal form of the new-born child,
and the resulting type, because of this morphological coincidence,
is classed among the infantile types.
Achondroplastic nanism is associated with a pathological
deformity due to foetal rickets. It is not only the child after
birth, but the foetus also which, during its intrauterine life, may
be subject to diseases. Rickets (always a localised disease,
usually attacking some part of the skeleton) in this case fastens
upon the enchondral cartilages of the long bones. As we know, the
long bones are composed of a body or diaphysis and of extremities
or articular heads, the epiphyses. Now, these different parts,
which form in the adult a continuous whole, remain separate
throughout the foetal and the immediate post-natal period : so that
104 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the heads of the humerus and the femur, for example, in the case
of the new-born child, are found to be joined to the diaphysis by-
cartilages (destined to ossify later on), which are the chief seat of
growth of the bones in the direction of length. Well, in these
cases of pre-natal rickets, the union of the bony segments takes
place prematurely, and since the bones can hardly grow at all
in length, they develop in thickness, and the result is that the
limbs remain very short and stocky. Meanwhile the bust,
the bones of which have in no way lost their power of growth,
develops normally.
Now, these dwarfs, who have abundant intelligence, because
they have the essential parts of stature in their favour, constituted
the famous jesters of the mediaeval courts, whose misfortune served
to solace the leisure hours of royalty. Paolo Veronese went so
far as to introduce a dwarf buffoon, of the achondroplastic type,
into his famous painting. The Wedding at Carta.
Conversely, in connection with an exaggerated macroscelia, we
have gigantism.
Ordinarily, a giant has a bust that is not greatly in excess of
normal dimensions. The limbs, on the contrary, depart ex-
tremely from the normal limits, in an exaggerated growth in the
direction of length : so much so that the bodies of giants present
the appearance of small busts moving around on stilts.
Nevertheless, many different forms of gigantism occur. The
pathology of this phenomenon is quite complex; but we can
not concern ourselves with it here. It is a scientific problem
of no immediate utility to our pedagogic problems. Dwarfs
and giants, whatever their type and their pathological etiology,
constitute extra-social individuals, who have been at all times
excluded from any possibility of adaptation to useful labour,
and employed, whether in the middle ages or in the twentieth
century, to a greater or less extent as a source of amusement to
normal beings, because of their grotesque appearance, either at
court or in the theatres, or in moving pictures, or (in the case of
giants) as figures suited to adorn princely or imperial gateways.
These individuals are as completely independent of the social
conditions of the environment in which they were born as if they
were extraneous to humanity. In relation to the species, they are
sterile.
From the biological side, a consideration of these types serves
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 105
merely as an illustration of an important law: the essential part
of the organism (the vertebral column) is less variable than the
accessory parts (the limbs).
Summary of the Types of Stature
According to the relative development of bust and limbs we
have distinguished three types, the macrosceles, the brachysceles
and the mesatisceles, within their respective limits of oscillation.
Since the type of stature gives us a proportion between the
different parts of an individual, it constitutes a fundamental criter-
ion for a morphological judgment of the personality. That is, it
leads to a diagnosis of the individual constitution, with which are
associated not only the "character" but also certain predisposi-
tions to disease.
A knowledge of these types shows us the necessity we educators
are under of taking into consideration the individual pupils, each
of whom may have separate needs, tendencies and forms of develop-
ment; and of demanding separate schools, in which even the methods
of moral education must differ. Because men are not only not all
adapted to the same forms of work, but they are not even all
adapted to the same standards of morality. And since it is our
duty to assume the task of aiding the biological development and
the social adaptation of the new generations, it will also be part of
our task to correct defective organisms, and at the same time to
correct the types of mental and moral inferiority.
In the following chart we may summarise the points of view
from which we have studied the types of stature :
SYNOPTIC CHART
Types of stature
Macroscele
Brachyscel
s
es
Race
Variations in
types of
Normal ,
stature
Sex
Age
long legs, short bust.
short legs, long bust.
Mongols (brachysceles) .
Tasmanians (macrosceles).
Dark Mediterranean race (mesatis-
celes tending toward brachyoscelia).
Blond race (mesatisceles tending to-
ward macroscelia).
Woman more brachyscelous.
\ Man more macroscelous.
/ Childhood brachyscelous.
\ Old age macroscelous.
106
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
SYNOPTIC CUAnT— Continued
Variations in
types of
stature
Pathologically
abnormal.
Criminals.
Infantile types
De Giovanni's f Macrosceles pre-
hyposthenic disposed to tu-
types. berculosis.
De Giovanni's -j Brachysceles pre-
hypersthenic disposed to dis-
types. eases of the
heart.
Macrosceles parasites.
Brachysceles violent.
Achondroplastic nanism.
Gigantism.
Summary of the Scientific Principles Illustrated in the
Course of our Discussion
Biological Laws. — a. Growth is not only an augmentation in
volume, but also an evolution in form.
b. The more essential parts vary less than the accessory parts
in the course of their transformations.
The Index. — The index is the mathematical relation between the
measurements belonging to the same individual, and as such it
gives us an idea of the form; since the form is determined by the
relations between the various parts constituting the whole.
The Stature
While the figure and the type of stature tend to delineate the
individual considered by himself, the different measurements con-
sidered separately may guide us in our study of individuals in their
relation to the race and the environment.
Among the measurements of the form, we will limit ourselves
to a study of the stature and the weight, which serve to give us
respectively the linear index of development and the volumetric
estimate of the body taken as a whole. We shall reserve the study
of the other measurements, such as the total spread of the arms
and the perimeter of the thorax, until we come to the analytical
investigation of the separate parts of the body (limbs, thorax).
The stature is expressed by a linear measure determined by the
distance intervening in a vertical direction between the plane on
which the individual is standing in an erect position and the top
of his head.
It follows that the stature is a measurement determined by the
erect position; on the other hand, when a man is in a recumbent
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 107
position, what we could determine would be the length of body,
which is not identical with the stature.
In fact, a man on foot, resting his weight upon articulations
that are elastic, and therefore compressible, is a little shorter than
when he is recumbent.
If we examine the skeleton (see Fig. 9), we discover that the
single synthetic measure that constitutes the stature results from
a sum of parts that differ greatly from one another. To be spe-
cific, it is composed of the long and short bones of the lower limbs;
of flat bones, such as the pelvis and the skull; of little spongy
bones, such as the vertebrae; all of which bones and parts obey
different laws in the course of their growth. Furthermore, inter-
vening between these various bones are soft, elastic parts, known
as the articulations, which, starting from below, succeed each other
in the following order:
1. Calcaneo-astragaloid, between the calcaneus and the superimposed astraga-
lus.
2. Tibio-astragaloid, between the astragalus and the superimposed tibia.
3. Of the knee, between the tibia and the femur.
4. Of the hip, between the femur and the os innominatum.
5. Sacro-iliac, between the os iliacum and the sacrum.
6. Sacro-vertebral, between the sacrum and the last lumbar vertebra.
7. Of the vertebrce, consisting of 23 intervertebral disks, that is to say inter-
posed between the vertebrae, which include the following: 5 lumbar,
12 thoracic, 7 cervical.
8. Occipito-atloid, between the first cervical vertebra, called the atlas and the
OS occipitale of the cranium.
Accordingly, there are thirty articulations in all; and of these,
23 are the intervertebral disks, which constitute, taken together, a
fourth part of the complex height of the vertebral column.
Furthermore, the height of the body cannot be considered sim-
ply the sum of the component parts, since these are not superim-
posed in a straight line. As a matter of fact, if we examine the
vertebral column, we see that it is not straight as in the case of
animals, but exhibits certain curves that are characteristic of the
human species, and must be taken into consideration in their rela-
tion to the erect position. In fact, the vertebral column presents
two curvatures, the one lumbar, and the other cervical, which
together give it the form of an S. These curvatures are acquired
along with the erect position, and are not innate; one of the points
of difference between the skeleton of the new-born child and that
108 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
of the adult is precisely this, that the former has a straight vertebral
column.
A fact of no small importance to note, since in the course of
growth a certain determined form of normal curve, and no other,
ought to establish itself; otherwise, abnormal deviations in the
vertebral column will become established. And for the very
reason that it is plastic and destined to assume a curve, the vertebral
column may very easily be forced into exaggerating or departing
from its morphological destiny. In such a case, the resulting
stature would be inferior to what it should normally have been.
Accordingly, the stature is the resultant of the sum of anatom-
ical parts and of morphological conditions.
Hence it is a linear index not only of biological man, that is, of
man considered in relation to his racial limitations; but also of
social man, that is, of man as he has developed in the struggle for
adaptation to his environment.
The limits of stature, according to race. Stature is an anthro-
pological datum of great biological value, since it is a definite racial
characteristic and is preserved from generation to generation by
heredity. The first distinguishing trait of a race is the height of
the body in its natural erect position. It is also the first charac-
teristic that strikes us when a stranger comes toward us for the
first time. And that is why we make it the leading descriptive
trait: a person of tall, or of low stature. If, for a moment, we
should picture to ourselves the legend of Noah's Ark — quite incred-
ible, because emigration and embarkation of all the known species
would have required more than a century of time (it is enough
merely to think of the embarkation of the tortoises and the
sloths!), and the necessity of an ark as big as a nation, what must
inevitably have struck Noah and his sons would have been the
stature of the individuals belonging to each separate species.
The stature is the linear index of the limit of mass.
Among the human races the variations in stature are included
between fairly wide oscillations: coming down to facts, the
average stature of the Akkas is L387 m. (4 ft. 6 1/2 in.) for the
males; and that of the Scotchmen of Galloway is 1.792 m. (5 ft.
10 1/2 in.). Accordingly between the average heights of the two
races that are considered as the extremes, there is a difference of
40 cm. (15 3/4 in.) ; but since the averages are obtained from a com-
plex mass of normal measurements, some of which are above and
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 109
others necessarily below the average itself, we may assert that the
'^ normal human individuals" may differ in stature to an extent of
more than half a metre; the oscillations of normal individuals on
each side of the racial average being estimated at about 10 cm.
(3.937 in.).
If we should see a httle Akka 4 ft. 4 in. (1.33 m.) in height
alongside of a Scotchman 6 ft. (1.83 m.) high we should say "a.
dwarf beside a giant." But such terms are pathological and should
never be employed to indicate normal individualities. As a matter
of fact dwarfs and giants are as a class extra-social and sterile;
normal individuals, on the contrary, represent the physiopsychic
characteristics of their respective races. Consequently we may say
that normal people have a low stature, or a high stature; or if it is
a question of extremely low stature (such as that of the Akkas)
we may make use of the term pigmies or of the pigmy race, in speak-
ing of such individuals. Sergi has proved the existence, among
the prehistoric inhabitants of Europe, of various pigmy races.
In the field of anthropology the scientific terminology ought
always to be based upon certain determined limits. The author-
ities indicate the normal extremes of individual stature, beyond
which we pass over the into realm of pathology, incompatible with
the survival of the species; and even in the pathological cases they
determine the extreme limits, obtained from the individual mon-
strosities that have actually existed in the course of the centuries,
and that seem to indicate the furthest limits attained by the human
race.
Deniker, in summing up the principal authorities, assigns the
following limits:
Normal statures, range of oscillations among the races
Statures
less
than
1.25 m.
Lowest
indi-
vidual
extreme
Excep-
tionally
low in-
dividual
stature
Extreme
low
racial
average
Extreme
high
racial
average
Excep-
tionally
high in-
dividual
stature
Highest
indi-
vidual
extreme
Statures
from
2 m.
upward
Nanism
1.25 m.
1.35 m.
Akkas
1.387 m.
Scotch-
men of
Galloway
1.792 m.
1.90 m.
1.99 m.
Gigant-
ism
no
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The pathological extremes that would seem to indicate the
limits of stature compatible with human life would seem to be on
the one hand the little female dwarf, Hilany Agyba of Sinai,
described by Jaest and cited by Deniker,* 15 inches high (0.38 m. —
the average length of the Italian child at birth is 0.50 m. = 19 1/2
in.), and on the other, the giant Finlander, Caianus, cited by
Topinardf, 9 ft. 3 1/2 in. in height (2.83); the two extremes of
human stature would accordingly bear a ratio of 1:7. On the
other hand, QueteletJ gives the two extremes as being relatively
1 :6 — namely, the Swedish giant who was one of the guardsmen
of Frederick the Great, and was 2.523 m. tall (8 ft. 3 in.); and
the dwarf cited by Buffon, 0.43 m. in height (16 3/4 in.).
When there is occasion for applying the terms tall or low
stature to individuals of our own race, it is necessary at the
same time to establish hmits that will determine the precise
meaning of such terms. Livi§ gives as the average stature for
Italians 1.65 m. (5 ft. 5 in.), and speaking authoritatively as
the leading statistician in Anthropology, establishes the following
limits :
STATURE OF ITALIANS (LIVI)
Averages Determining The Terminology of Stature
1.60 m. and below, low I 1.65 m. and all between
statures. 1.60-1.70, mean statures
1.70 m. and above, tall
statures.
The individual extremes among the low statures tend to ap-
proach the average stature of the Japanese race (1.55 m.), and those
among the high statures approach the Anglo-Saxon average (the
Scotch = 1.79 m.)
There is much to interest us in studying the distribution of
statures in Italy.
In Livi's great charts, he has marked in blue those regions
where the prevailing percentage of stature is high (1.70 m. and
upward), and in red those where the low statures prevail (1.60 m.
and below; and the varying intensity of colouration indicates
the greater or lesser prevalence of the high or low statures.
* Deniker, Races et peuples de la terre.
t TopiNARD, Elevienti di Antropologia.
% QuET^LET, Proporzioni medie {mean Proportions) .
§ l^TVi, Antropometria Militare {Military Anthropometry).
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 111
Thus it becomes evident in one glance of the eye that tall stat-
ures prevail in northern Italy and low statures in the south; while
the maximum of low stature (indicated by the most intense red)
is found in the islands, and especially in Sardinia.
In the vicinity of the central districts of Italy (the Marches,
Umbria, Latium) the two colours fade out ; this indicates that here
all notable prevalence of stature, either tall or low, ceases ; conse-
quently we have here, as the prevailing norm, the mean stature
(1.65 m.).
Anyone wishing to analyse the natural distribution of stature,
has only to study these charts by Livi, which are worked out with
great minuteness. If a study of this sort, extending over the entire
peninsula, seems too great an undertaking, it is at least advisable
for a teacher to acquaint himself with the local distribution of
stature; in order that when it becomes his duty to judge of the
stature of pupils in his school he will have the necessary idea
regarding the biological (racial) basis on which so important an
anthropological datum can oscillate.
Livi's charts, based upon the male stature, correspond almost
perfectly with my own regional charts based upon the average
statures of the women of Latium. Both Livi and I find that in
the region of Latium the tall statures prevail north of the Tiber,
especially toward the confines of Umbria; while the lowest statures
are found in the neighbourhood of the valley of the Tiber, toward
the sea (Castelli Romani). That is to say, the stature becomes
lower from north to south, and from the mountains toward the
sea. Furthermore, there exist certain nuclei of pure race, such as
at Orte and in Castelli Romani, where we may find the extremes
of average stature, which for women are found to be 1.61 m. at
Orte, and 1.47 m. at Castelli Romani; while the extreme individual
statures, according to my figures, oscillate between 1.42 m (Castelli)
and 1.70 m (Orte). It would be helpful to the teachers of Rome and
Latium, if they would acquire some idea regarding the racial types
of the district, by studying my work on the Physical Characteristics
of the young Women of Latium, which is the only work on regional
anthropology taken directly from life that so far exists in anthro-
pologic literature.*
The Stature in Relation to Sex. — It is sufficient to point out that
the stature varies normally between the sexes, so that the average
* MoNTESsoRi, Caratteri fisici delle giovani donne del Lazio.
112 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
figures differ by about 10 centimetres (nearly 4 in.) in the direction
of a lower stature for woman.
Vaeiations in Stature Through the Different Ages
Nothwithstanding that growth is an evolution, it manifests
itself also by an absolute augmentation of mass; and the linear index
of such augmentation is given by the growth in stature, or by its
variations at different ages.
This exceedingly important measurement ought to be taken
in the case of all pupils; and undoubtedly in the course of time
anthropometry will form a part of our school equipment; because,
by following the increase of stature in a child, we follow his phys-
ical development.
In Chapter VII, in which the technique of the stature is dis-
cussed, there is a graphic representation of the annual increase of
stature in the two sexes; the upper parabolic line refers to the
male sex, and the lower one to the female. On the vertical line
are marked the measures of growth, from the base upward, and
on the horisontal line the ages. All the dotted vertical lines
which rise from the horizontal, each corresponding to a successive
year of life, and stop at the parabolic line, represent the relative
proportion of stature from year to year; while the parabola
which unites the extremities of such lines may be regarded as a line
drawn tangent to the top of the head of an individual through the
successive periods of his life.
If we analyse this table, we find that the greatest increase in
stature takes place during the first year; in fact, a child which at
birth has an average length of body of 0.50 m. for males, and
0.48 m. for females (the new-born child does not have stature,
but only length of body, since it has not yet acquired an erect
position) has by the end of the first year augmented the length
of body by 20 centimetres, which gives an average length of 0.70 m.
In no other year of life will the stature acquire so notable an
increase; it is very important for mothers to watch the growth
of the child during this first year of its life; and the following
figures may be useful for comparison:
It will be seen that the maximum increase takes place during .
the first four months — especially in the first month (4 cm. =
1.57 in.) the rate diminishing from this point up to the fourth
month (2 cm. = 0.78 in.), after which the monthly increase remains
steadily at one centimetre (0.39 in.).
Fig. 22. — New-born child, seen from in front and from behind. (Stratz.)
1 year. 8 months. 4 months. at birth.
Fig. 23. — Skeleton of a child from birth to the age of one year.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 113
GROWTH IN LENGTH OF BODY DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE
(From Figueira)
Age in months
Length of body in
metres
Monthly increase
0
0.50
0
1
0.54
4
2
0.57
3
3
0.60
3
4
0.62
2
5
0.63
6
0.64
7
0.65
8
0.66
9
0.67
10
0.68
11
■ 0.69
12
0.70
The same facts appear from the combination picture given
by Stratz, showing an infant's skeleton at four-month intervals
from birth to the end of the first year.
During the second year of life, the increase in stature is about
one-half that of the preceding year, that is, about 10 cm. (4 in.),
so that at the end of the second year the child attains a height of
about 80 cm. (31 1/2 in.). After this, the annual increase dimin-
ishes in intensity (see "Figures of the increase of stature according
to Quetelet and other authors," in the technical part. Chapter VII),
as is shown by the horizontal dotted lines, which, starting from a
vertical line at points corresponding to the height of various
statures, represent by the intervals of space between them the
successive growth from year to year.
This increase is not regular, but proceeds by periodic impulses
that in early childhood seem to recur at intervals of three years.
Thus for example the increase
between 0- 3 years of age is successively 20, 10, 6 cm.
. between 3- 6 years of age is successively 7, 6, 5 cm.
between 6- 9 years of age is successively 7, 6, 5 cm.
between 9-12 years of age is successively 6, 4, 3 cm.
Accordingly we have a triennial rhythm, decreasing throughout
the whole period of childhood; the maximum increase is in the
first triennium, the second and third periods of three years cor-
114 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
respond exactly, while the last period shows a lowered rate of
increase.
At this point the period of approaching puberty begins (13
years for boys), after which the rate of increase becomes more
rapid than it had been during the second or third period, attaining
its maximum during the years 13-15; to be specific, the rate from
13 to 18 is successively 4, 8, 7, 5, 6, 3 cm.
When the period of puberty is ended (18 years), the rate of
growth is much slower; in fact, during the two following years
(18 to 20) it hardly attains one centimetre.
Nevertheless, the stature continues to increase up to the
twenty-fifth year; according to Quetelet's figures, the average
male stature at the age of eighteen is 1.70 m. (in Belgium) and at
twenty-one it is 1.72 m.
From twenty-five to thirty-five the stature remains stable;
this is the adult age, the full attainment of maturity; at the age of
forty the period of involution insensibly begins, and after fifty
in the case of women, and sixty in the case of men, the stature
begins insensibly to decrease; a decrease which becomes more
marked with the advance of age, corresponding to an anatomical
diminution of the soft parts interposed between the bones in the
sum of parts that make up the stature; more especially the inter-
vertebral disks; and in connection with this phenomenon the
vertebral column tends to become more curved.
According to Quetelet's figures, at the age of eighty the average
male stature is 1.61 m. (5 ft. 3 2/5 in.), a stature corresponding to
that of the age of sixteen.
Accordingly, the variations in stature throughout the different
periods of life are neither a growth nor an evolution, but a 'parabolic
curve, including evolution and involution. This curve represents
the true human stature; the measurements taken successively
from year to year representing nothing more than transitory
episodes in the individual life.
Man, as he really is, we may represent by portraits taken
successively from time to time, from his birth until his death:
the occasional photograph which it is the custom to have taken
represents nothing; following no rule, it seizes a fugitive instant
in the life of an individual, who is never a fixed quantity but is
constantly in transition during the whole course of his existence.
So that the habit of taking a picture annually on a child's birthday
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 115
is an excellent one if we wish to preserve a true likeness; and this
practice is recommended in pedagogic anthropology, when it is
desired to preserve the biographic history of the pupil.
It is interesting to study, side by side with the growth of
stature and the marked rhythms and periods that constitute its
laws, the phenomenon of general mortality in its relation to age.
Lexis gives the following curve of general mortality : the hori-
zontal line marks the years and the vertical line the corresponding
number of deaths, while the curved line shows the progress of mor-
tality, and the highest points in the curve indicate the maximum
mortality. It is highest of all during the first year and in general
during early childhood, and is steadily lowered to a point corre-
sponding to the ages from ten to thirteen, after which it rises again.
Let us examine the curve up to this point, since it has a bearing
upon our school work. We can prove that the maximum mortality
J
1st year 10-13 years 70 years
Fig. 24. — Curve of general mortality (Lexis).
corresponds to the maximum individual growth; in other words,
an organism in rapid evolution is exposed to death, its powers of
immunity to infective diseases are weakened; it constitutes what
in medical parlance is known as a locus minoris resistentice.
In that period of calm in growth, which would seem to be a
repose preceding the evolution of puberty, mortality is at the
lowest; only to rise again rapidly during the period of puberty;
while the rise becomes less rapid after the eighteenth year, not-
withstanding that after that age mankind in general are exposed,
in their struggle for existence, to many causes of death that did
not exist during the preceding years. Toward the age of seventy
the line of mortality attains another apex, because the age of
normal death is reached; after which it drops precipitously because
of the lack of survivers.
116 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
From these facts we may deduce certain very important prin-
ciples that throw useful light upon pedagogy: there are certain
ages at which even the strong are weak; and their weakness is of such
a nature that it exposes the individual to death.
Now, whenever the phenomenon of mortality occurs it is always
an indication of impoverishment in the survivors. For example, of
every one person that dies, many persons have been ill who have
recovered from their illness; but there are still many others who,
although they did not actually fall ill, were weakened even though
they passed through the peril unharmed.
In short, for each death, which represents a final disaster, there
are many victims. And whenever there is a rise in the phenomenon
of mortality in connection with any one age, it is our duty to give
special attention to those individuals who are not only weak in
themselves, but whom the social causes affecting them tend to
weaken still more and push onward toward illness and death.
Whenever there are many deaths, there are undoubtedly also
many sufferers.
Now, in pedagogy we have no criterion to guide us in this
matter of respecting the weaknesses characteristic of the various ages,
as, for example, that of early infancy and of the age of puberty.
With the most cruel blindness we punish and discourage the
lad who, having reached the age of puberty, no longer makes the
progress in his studies that rendered him the brilliant champion
during the period of physiological repose in his growth ; and instead
of regarding this as a psychic indication of a great physiological
transformation that it is necessary to protect, we urge on the
organism to enforced effort, without even suspecting that, in pro-
portion to the degree of resistance of our pupil, we may be doing
our share to induce in him a permanent weakness, or an arrest of
development, or disease and death.
Our responsibility as educators is great, because we have the
threads of life entrusted to our care; man represents a continuous
transition through successive forms, and each following period has
been prepared for by the one preceding.
Whenever we have the misfortune to concur in weakening a
child, we touch that parabolic line traced in the graphic chart of
stature, and standing as an index of the life of the body, and we
give it a shock throughout its whole length; it may either be shat-
tered or be brought down to a lower grade.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 117
But the life of an individual does not contain merely that
individual alone; the cycle of the stature with its violent period of
puberty and the perfect physiological repose corresponding to the
years from 25 to 36, or even 45, indicates the eternity of the in-
dividual in the species: his maturity for reproduction. Man in his
progress through the different levels of height, as indicated on the
graphic chart of stature, does not pass through them without re-
producing himself, save in exceptional cases; he commences the
ascent alone, but in his descent he attains the majesty of a creator
who leaves behind him the immortal works of his own creation.
Well, even the capacity of normal reproduction, and of begetting
a strong species, is related to the normal cycle of life: whoever
weakens a child and puts a strain upon the threads of its existence,
starts a vibration that will be felt throughout posterity.
The parabolic cycle of stature shows us which is the most
favourable period for the reproduction of the species; it is undoubt-
edly that period that stands at the highest apex of the curve, and
at which the organism has reached an almost absolute peace, as if
forgetful of itself, in order to provide for its eternity. When it
has completed its period of evolution, during which the organism
shows that it has not yet matured; and before the commencement
of involution, in which period the organism is slowly preparing for
departure — that is the moment when man may or rather ought to
procreate his species.
Careful forethought not to produce immature or feeble fruit,
will form part of the coming man's regard for his posterity. A
new moral era is maturing, that is giving birth to a solidarity,
not only between all living beings, but including also those future
beings who are as yet unborn; but for whose existence the living
man of to-day is preparing through his care of his own strength and
his own virtue. To have intentionally begotten a son better than
himself will be a proud victory for the man who has attained the
higher sexual morality; and such pride will be no less keen than
that of the artist, who by perfecting his marvelous talents has
created a masterpiece.
The statistics collected by Quetelet demonstrate that 'Hoo pre-
cocious marriages either occasion sterility or produce children that
have a smaller probability of living."
They prove furthermore that the number of children who die
is largest in marriages contracted at the age of sixteen or earlier,
118
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
and becomes lowest among the children born of marriages con-
tracted between the years of 29 and 32. During these years
also the parents are most fertile: as is shown by the following
tables :
SANDLER'S FIGURES BASED ON THE FAMILIES OF ENGLISH PEERS
Age of parents at
marriage
Percentage of
deaths of children
before attaining
marriageable age
Average births to
each marriage
Percentage of
births to each
death
15 years
35
20
19
12
4.40
4.63
5.21
5.43
0.283
16-19 years-
20-23 years
24-27 years
0.208
0.188
1.171
Age at the time of
child's birth
Percentage of deaths to
each birth
Average number of births
in one year of marriage
16 years
17-20 years
21-24 years
25-28 years
29-32 years
0.44
0.43
0.42
0.41
0.40
0.46
0.50
0 . 52
0.55
0.59
The results of a recent research show that famous men have
hardly ever been the first-born, and that the great majority were
begotten of parents who were at the time between the ages of 25
and 36 years.
Variations of Stature with Age, According to the Sexes. — The
general laws of the growth and involution of stature are pretty
nearly the same for the two sexes. The female stature, beginning
at birth, averages throughout life somewhat less than the male.
But since the development of puberty takes place earlier in
woman than in man, the female child manifests the characteristic
increase in stature at an earlier age than the male; consequently
at that age (about eleven) she overtakes him, and for the time
being both boy and girl are equal in stature. But as soon as the
boy enters upon the period of puberty, he rapidly surpasses the
girl, and his stature henceforth steadily maintains a superiority of
about ten centimetres (nearly four inches), as is shown by the
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 119
deviations between the two parabolic curves, representing the
variations of stature in the two sexes. Even the involution of
stature occurs precociously in women, as compared with man.
Variations in Stature due to Mechanical Causes of
Adaptation to Environment
Variations due to Mechanical Causes. Transitory and Permanent
Variations. Deformations. — The individual stature is not a fixed
quantity at all hours of the day; but it varies by several millimetres
under the influence of mechanical causes connected with the habits
of daily life. In the morning we are slightly taller than at night
(by a fraction of a centimetre) : in consequence of remaining on
foot a good deal of the time during the day, our stature is gradually
lowered. This is contrary to the popular belief that ''while we
stand up our stature grows."
As a matter of fact, in the erect position the soft tissues that
form part of the total stature are under constant pressure; but
being elastic, they resume their previous proportions after prolonged
rest in a horizontal position.
Consequently at night, especially if we have taken a long walk,
or danced, we are shorter than in the morning after a long sleep;
the act of stretching the limbs in the morning completes the work
of restoring the articular cartilages to their proper limits of elas-
ticity. Nevertheless, according to the mechanical theory accepted
by Manouvrier, persons who are habituated from childhood to
stand on foot much of the time (labourers) interfere with the free
growth of the long bones in the direction of length and at the same
time augment the growth in thickness; hence the skeleton is
rendered definitely shorter in its segments as well as in its bones
{i.e., a shallower pelvis, shorter limbs, etc.). The result is a stocky
type with robust muscles: the europlastic type, which is found
among labourers. On the contrary, a person who spends much time
reclining on sofas among cushions, and taking abundant nutriment,
is likely to tend toward the opposite extreme; bones long and slen-
der, the skeleton tall in all its segments, the muscular system
delicate; this is the macroplastic or aristocratic type. According
to Manouvrier, when a person has a long, slow convalescence after
a protracted infectious malady such as typhoid, recumbent much
of the time and subjected to a highly nutritive diet, it may happen,
especially if he has reached the period of puberty at which a rapid
120 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
osteogenesis naturally takes place in the cartilages of the long
bones, that he will not only become notably taller, but will even
acquire the macroplastic type.
The macroplastic type is artistically more beautiful, but the
europlastic type is physiologically more useful.
It is not only the erect position that tends to reduce the stature,
but the sitting posture as well. In fact, whether the pelvis is sup-
ported by the lower limbs or by a chair, the intervertebral disks
are in either case compressed by the weight of the bust as a whole.
If, for example, children are obliged, during the period of growth,
to remain long at a time in a sitting posture, the limbs may freely
lengthen, while the bust is impeded in its free growth, and the
result may be an artificial tendency toward macroscelia. This is
why children are more inclined than adults to throw themselves
upon the ground, to lie down, to cut capers, in other words to
restore the elasticity of their joints, and overcome the compression
of bones and cartilages. Accordingly, such variations of stature
recur habitually and are transitory, and since they are associated
with the customary attitudes of daily life, they are physiological.
But if special causes should aggravate such physiological condi-
tions, and should recur so often as not to permit the cartilages to
return completely to their original condition, in such a case per-
manent variations of stature might result, and even morphological
deviations of the skeleton. For example, a porter who habitually
carries heavy weights on his head, may definitely lower his stature;
and in the case of a young boy, the interference with the growth of
the long bones through compression exerted from above down-
ward, may produce an actual arrest of development of the limbs
and spinal column, presenting all the symptoms of rickets. Wit-
ness certain consequences of "child-labour" chief among which must
be mentioned the deformities of the carusi [victims of child-labour,
who from an early age toil up the succession of ladders, bearing
heavy burdens of sulphur from the mines below.*] in the Sicil-
ian sulphur mines, t As a general rule, all cramped positions that
are a necessary condition of labour, if they surpass the limits of resist-
ance and elasticity of the human frame, and especially if they op-
erate during periods of life when the skeleton is in process of forma-
tion, result in deformities, and when the skeleton is deformed, the
* Translator's note.
t Fig. 25 and those following it, dealing with deformities resulting from labour, are taken
from Pieraccini's great work, The Pathology of Labour.
Fig. 25. — Vincenzo Militella of Lercara, a Fig. 26 — Aged field labourer.
Sicilian caruso.
Fig. 27. Fig. 28.
Attitude of woman working in the rice fields as seen from the right and left sides.
Fig. 29. — A gang of eight workers in the rice fields.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 121
internal organs and hence the general functional powers of the
whole organism, suffer even greater alteration.
Consider the postures that miners must endure, or as Pierac-
cini phrases it, their "disastrous attitudes."
The transport galleries are ordinarily too low to permit a man
of average height to walk erect; along these galleries little trans-
port-wagons are run by hand, excepting where the carrying is
done on the backs of the men themselves.
''Even in the front of the advance tunnels and in the galleries
that are being worked, miners are to be seen in the most incon-
gruous attitudes. These anomalous positions of the body main-
tained throughout long hours of toil react upon the functional ac-
tion of the heart and lungs, upon the stomach and intestines in
the proper performance of their tasks, and result in producing
hernia, varicose veins and eventually deformities of the skeleton
(vertebral column, thorax)."*
Field labourers also (Fig. 26) become permanently deformed,
with diminution of stature, from remaining too long bent over in
the act of hoeing or reaping. But a still more painful labour is that
of the women in the rice fields during the period when the weeding
is done.
The position necessitated by this work requires a strained and
prolonged dorsal flexion of the vertebral column, accompanied by
a strain on the lower dorsal nerves; great elasticity is required to
endure a position so painful and so apt to induce lumbago; only
young women can endure it, and even they become deformed, and
suffer seriously from anemia, intestinal maladies and diseases of
the uterus, which predispose them to abortion or sterility (Figs.
27, 28, 29).
Stone breakers also contract painful diseases and deformities
from their work. They are constantly bowed over their task,
performing a rhythmic, alternating movement of flexion, ex-
tension and torsion of the trunk upon itself, while at the same
time there is a slight undulation in a backward and forward direc-
tion, accompanying the rising and falling of the arm holding the
hammer. These movements of extension and flexion of the trunk
involve the whole vertebral column, while the pelvis remains prac-
tically motionless. ''At the end of the day they rise from their
task bowed over and they walk home bowed over, holding the ver-
* PlERACCINI, Op. Cit.
122 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
tebral column rigid; any attempt to force the trunk into an erect
position is extremely painful. In the morning they return to
their work with their loins still aching." And among these stone
breakers there are young men, some of them mere boys ! And when
we think that these injurious attitudes are coupled with malnutri-
tion, we must realise the extent of the organic disaster that accom-
panies diminution of stature as a result of adaptation to labour.
We are naturally horrified at such conditions enforced upon a
certain portion of humanity; and we pray for a time to come when
machinery will have universally replaced human labour, in trans-
portation, in stone-breaking, and in reaping, and when children
will be spared from hard arid deforming toil.
But how is it that while we are so sympathetic regarding con-
ditions at a distance from us, we remain unconscious of similar
conditions, that are close beside us, and of which we are the direct-
ors, the cruel enforcers, the masters?
In the near future, I hope that people will tell with amaze-
ment, as if citing a condition of inferior civilisation, how the
school children, up to the opening of the twentieth century repre-
sented one category of those ''deformed by prolonged and enforced
labour in injurious positions!"
Such studies in school hygiene as deal with the type of school
benches, designed to minimise the danger of deformities of the
vertebral column in children — will, I hope, be regarded by the
coming generations with the most utter amazement ! And the
school benches of to-day will find their place in museums, and
people will go to look at them as if they were relics of bygone
barbarism, just as we now visit the collections from old-time
insane asylums, of series of complicated instruments of wood and
iron that in bygone centuries were considered necessary for main-
taining discipline among the insane.
What in the world would we say, if somebody should propose,
in order to obviate the deformities and physiological injuries of
labourers, that certain mechanisms should be applied to them in-
dividually for the purpose of diminishing the harm? Imagine a
law being proposed, to the effect that all miners should be obliged
to wear trusses, to keep their viscera from breaking loose, as a
result of prolonged compression! What would we think of such
reforms and such a path toward an orthopedic state of society?
Our way toward progress and higher civilisation is a very
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 123
different one. To remove man from torturing toil that twists
the bones and undermines the health — such is the goal that it is
our duty to set before us!
For the deformed vertebral column is the extreme sign of a
great accumulation of evils; the internal organs are correspond-
ingly affected with disorders fatal to the entire organism; but
even greater is the corresponding harm done to the human soul!
What we want is not only that the bones shall not be thrown out
of their eurhythmic harmony, but that the souls of the labourers
shall be freed from the inhuman yoke of slavery (progress can con-
sist solely in a radical alteration of the form of labour).
So far as concerns the school, which is not limited to a few
categories of human beings, but is extended to all, hy requirements
of law, is it not possible for us to adopt a different attitude of mind?
The established fact that the pupils may even deform their
skeletons in the course of their work, goes to prove that this work
contains some error in principle that is fatal to successive gener-
ations; and so long as this principle is maintained, we may assert
a priori that even if, with the help of school benches as compli-
cated and as costly as orthopedic machines, we should succeed
in checking the deformation of the vertebral column, we should
fail to check the deformation of the soul. Because whoever is
condemned to labour that deforms is a slave.
And as a matter of fact we employ coercive means, "rewards
and punishments," to enforce upon children a condition that in
their eyes amounts to serving their first sentence.
It is not the school bench, but the method that needs reforming;
it is not the ligaments of the spinal column, but human life in
evolution that we ought to respect, and lead toward the attainment
of perfection! Amid the many banners of liberty that have been
raised in these latter times, one is still missing — one which we
ought to seize upon as the standard of our cause: the liberty of
the new generation, which is groaning in the slavery of compulsory
education, upon iron-bound benches, emblematic of chains!
I foresee, in a radical reform of pedagogic methods, the practi-
cal possibility of taking as guiding principles the individual liberty
of the pupil and a reverential regard for life. And I affirm this all
the more loudly, because I have applied such a method with indis-
putable success in the ''Children's Houses," obtaining prodigious
results in the health and happiness of the children, perfect dis-
124 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
cipline in the classes, marvelously rapid progress in studies, and.
a surprising awakening of souls, a passionate love for the work.
Variations Due to Adaptation in Connection with Causes
OF Various Kinds — Social, Physiological, Physical,
Psychic, Pathological, Etc.
Physiology and Social Conditions. — Nutrition. — One of the
effects of environment, of the highest importance in its relation
to the development of stature, is nutrition. In order to attain
the maximum development as biologically determined by hered-
ity in a race, sufficient nutriment is the first necessity. It is
a familiar fact that material or physiological life consists essen-
tially in the exchange and renewal of matter, or in metabolism,
which is also a renewal of vital force.
The living molecules are continually breaking up, thus express-
ing in an active form forces that had accumulated in a potential
form, and eliminating the rejected matter; only to form again by
means of new matter, containing potential forces. This break-
ing up and renewal constitutes the material of life, that never
pauses in its molecular movement; the cessation of renewal of
matter is death, that is, scission without reparation; consumption
without renewal; and consequently a rapid disintegration of the
body. Living matter consists in metabolism, and is consequently
directly related to the nutritive substances which renew the ele-
ments necessary for continual redintegration.
We may disregard certain individual potentialities, of a purely
biological nature, and that are capable of manifesting vital forces
of varying degrees of intensity: but it may be asserted as beyond
question that every living being, if he is to live according to his
biological destiny, has need of sufficient nutrition. This is not
the same as saying that the food determines the life of an individual
in its final development, in the sense that by eating in excess one
may attain the stature of a giant, or an imbecile become intelligent
or a man of talent become a genius. We all bear within us, in
that fertilised germ that constituted the first cell of our organism,
predetermined biological conditions, on which depend the physical
limits of our body, as well as those of our psychic individu-
ality. But in order that this germ may develop in accordance
with its potentiality, it is necessary that it shall obtain the requisite
material from its environment. Because otherwise — and here
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 125
the relation is direct — neither the volumetric development nor
the morphological development can be accomplished, nor the
psychic potentiality express itself; in other words, the stature
will be undersized, in a body defrauded of the degree of beauty
potential in the germ, and the muscular forces, in common with
those of the brain, will remain at a level of development below
that which nature had intended. Consequently, to deprive
children of their requisite nutriment is stealing from life, it is a
biological crime.
While we live, we must eat; and while we labour, that is, while
we expend the vital forces, it is necessary to repair them. The
schools should establish a system of luncheons for the pupils;
this is a principle that has already been generally recognised and
is already bearing fruit.
There was a time when a good appetite was regarded as a low
material instinct; it was also the time when people sang the praises
of spirituality, but actually indulged in banquets of Lucullian
lavishness. The vice of the palate and the physiological need of
nourishment were included under one and the same disdain.
To-day science has shed its light upon the true conception of
nutrition and holds it to be the first necessity of life, and conse-
quently the first social problem to be solved.
From this point of view, food is not a vulgar material thing,
nor the dinner-table a place of debauchery. Indeed, there is
nothing which affords better proof of immateriality than the act
of eating. In fact, the necessity of eating is itself a proof that
the matter of which our body is composed does not endure but
passes like the fleeting moment. And if the substance of our
bodies passes in this manner, if life itself is only a continual passing
away of matter, what greater symbol of its immateriality and its
spirituality is there than the dinner-table?
*' . . . the bread is my flesh and the wine is my blood; do
this in remembrance of what life really is."
Something similar to this is being accomplished to-day by science
in regard to the sexual relations. We are accustomed to consider
the sexual instincts as something contemptible, material and low,
praising abstinence, and leaving these instincts wholly out of con-
sideration in the course of education, as though they were some-
thing degrading, or even shameful. And undoubtedly our sexual
abuses are shameful, and shameful also is the barbaric tolerance of
126 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the masses regarding prostitution, seduction, illegitimacy and the
abandonment of new-born children. It is criminal abuse that
makes us despise sexual relations, just as at one time excesses of
the table made us despise nutrition. But the day will come when
science will raise to the dignity of a new sexual morality the
physiological function which to-day is considered material and
shameful — and that comprehends the most sublime of human
conceptions. In it are to be found the words which ancient races
deposited in their religious tabernacles : creation, eternity, mystery.
And in it are also to be found the most sublime conceptions of
modern races : the destiny of humanity, the perf ectionment of the
human species.
Accordingly, we must to-day regard the serving of food in the
schools as a necessity of the first order; but it is well, in introducing
it into the schools, to surround it with that halo of gladness and
of high moral significance that ought to accompany all manifes-
tations of life. The hymn to bread, which is a human creation and
a means of preserving the substance of the human body, ought to
accompany the meals of our new generations of children. The
child develops because the substance of his body passes away, and
the meals that he eats symbolise all this: furthermore, they teach
him to think of the vast labour accomplished by men who, un-
known as individuals, cultivate the earth, reap the grain, grind the
flour, and provide for all men and for all children. Where they
are and who they are, we do not know; the bread bears neither
their name nor their picture. Like an impersonal entity, like a
god, humanity provides for all the needs of humanity: and this
god is labour. If the child is destined some day to become him-
self a labourer, who produces and casts his products to humanity
without knowing who is to receive his contribution toward pro-
viding for humanity, it is well that as he lifts his food to his lips
he should realise that he is contracting a debt toward society at
large, and that he must give because he takes; he must "forgive
debts as his have been forgiven"; and since life is gladness, let
him send forth a salutation to the universal producing power:
''Our Father, give us our daily bread!"
The Providence of human labour rules over our entire life; it
gives us everything that is necessary. The God of the Universe,
in whose train come cataclysms, is not more terrible than the god,
Humanity, that can give us War and Famine. While we give
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 127
bread to the child, let us remember that man does not live by bread
alone : because bread is only the material of his fleeting substance.
The system of furnishing meals in school constitutes a chapter
of School Hygiene that cannot directly concern us. Nevertheless,
there are three rules of this hygiene which should be borne in
mind: Children should never, in any case, drink wine, alcoholic
liquors, tea or coffee — in other words, stimulants, which are
poisons to their childish organisms. On the other hand, children
need sugar, because sugar has a great formative and plastic power;
all young animals have sweetish flesh because their muscles, in
the course of development, are extremely rich in sugar. The
method of giving sugar to children should be as simple as possible,
such, for instance, as is endorsed by the very successful English
system of hygiene for children, which recommends freshly cooked
fruits, sprinkled with sugar or served with a little syrup. But the
substantial nourishment for young children should consist of soup
or broth served hot, since heat is as essential as sugar for organisms
in the course of evolution.
The English recommend soups made of cereals and gluten, in
which it is never necessary to use soup stock, just as it is never
necessary to use meat iu children's diet.
That nutrition has a noteworthy influence upon growth, and
therefore upon the definitive limits of stature, is exhaustively
proved by statistics.
In his brilliant studies of the poorer classes, Niceforo has col-
lected the following average statures :*
Stature (in
centimetres)
Age
Children
Rich
Poor
7 years
8 years
9 years
10 years
1 1 years
12 years
13 years
14 years
120
126
129
134
135
140
144
150
116
122
123
128
134
138
140
146
*Alfredo Niceforo, Lts classes pauvres (the poorer classes).
128
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
from which it appears that, in spite of the strong biological im-
pulse given by the attainment of puberty, the children of the poor
continue to show a stature lower than that of the well-to-do.
Ale§ Hrdlicka has compiled the following comparative table of
the poor or orphaned children received into the asylums, and the
pupils of the public schools in Boston:
Stature of American children: (1) In asylums; (2) in Boston public schools
Boys
Age in
years
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15 16
(1)
(2)
971
1060
1088
1120
1172
1176
1163
1223
1234
1272
1261
1326
1315
1372
1367
1417
1424
1477
1452
1551
1518
1599
1665
Girls
(1)
(2)
1101
1158
1204
1289
1290
1398
1052
1109
1167
1221
1260
1315
1366
1452
1492
1532
1559
1567
Even after reaching the adult age these differences are main-
tained, as may be shown by the following statistics taken from
various authorities:
Average statures obtained from soldiers (in centimetres)
Italians
Enghsh
French
Students and profes-
sional men
Tradesmen
Peasants
167
165
164
Professional men. .
Merchants
Peasants
City employees. . .
. 175
. 172
. 171
. 169
Students
Domestics
Day labourers
.. 169
. . 166
. . 165
from which it appears that while in Italy the class of labourers
having the lowest stature is the peasant class, which lives under
the most deplorable economic conditions, in England on the
contrary it is the workers in the cities who live under worse eco-
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 129
nomic conditions than the peasantry, it being well known that the
English peasant is the most prosperous in the agricultural world.
According to Livi, it is nutrition which causes the differences
of average stature that are usually to be found between different
social classes, and those between the inhabitants of mountains
and of plains, or between the dwellers on the mainland and on the
islands. In general the mountain-bred peasants have a lower
stature than those of the plains; and this is because the means of
procuring food are fewer and harder in mountainous regions.
Similarly, the islanders, because of less ready means of com-
munication, have less likelihood than those on the mainland of
obtaining adequate nutrition.
The same may be said regarding the differences found between
the statures of cultured persons and of the illiterate, to the dis-
advantage of the latter (the poorer classes).
Students show the tallest stature of all, because they have in
their favour the joint effect of the two chief factors of environment
that influence this anthropological datum: mechanical causes and
nutrition. A sedentary life, and above all a hearty diet both
contribute to the tall stature of students, doctors, and members
of the liberal professions. In this respect, the average figures of
all the authorities agree, as appears from the following tables:*
LIVI: 256,166 ITALIAN SOLDIERS
Professions and callings
Average stature in
centimetres
Students and professional men.
Small shopkeepers and the like.
Peasants
Blacksmiths
Carpenters
Masons
Tailors and shoemakers
Barbers
Butchers
Carters
Bakers
Day labourers in general
166.9
165.0
164.3
165.0
165.1
164.8
164.5
164.3
165.7
164.4
164.7
164.4
* Taken from Livi: On the Development of the Body in relation to the profession and the
social condition. Rome, Voghera, 1897.
130 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
ROBERT AND RAWSON: 1935 ADULT ENGLISHMEN
Professions and employments
Average stature in
centimetres
Professional men
Merchants and tradesmen
Peasants and miners
City labourers
Sedentary workmen
Prisoners
Insane
175.6
172.6
171.5
169.2
167.4
168.0
166.8
OLORIZ: 1798 CONSCRIPTS FROM THE CITY OF MADRID
Professions and employments
Liberal professions
Including:
Students
Other professions
Workmen employed in the open air.
Workmen employed in closed rooms
Including:
Tailors, hatters and the like
Shoemakers
Average stature in
centimetres
163.9
164.0
161.1
160.7
159.8
159.0
158.9
Conditions of nutrition, which are always accompanied by a
combination of other hygienic conditions all tending toward the
same effects, have also an influence upon the development of
puberty.
Puberty is retarded by malnutrition. As a result of an inquiry
made among the inmates of the Pia Barolo Society, which offers an
asylum to reformed prostitutes, Marro* records that out of ninety
rescued girls only those above the age of fourteen had begun to
menstruate : notwithstanding that the normal period for the devel-
opment of puberty in Italian women is between the years of
twelve and thirteen. Furthermore, among the girls above the
age of fourteen, menstruation had not yet begun in all cases; on
the contrary, a large proportion of them still failed to show the
phenomena of puberty :
* Marro, Puberty.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 131
Age in years
Whole number
Number menstruating
14-15
15-16
16-17
17-18
11
11
11
8
4
7
8
7
All the rest (thirty in number) menstruated for the first time
after the age of eighteen.
Among those in whom menstruation had appeared earlier,
the order of appearance was as follows :
Years
...10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Number
.... 1
3
4
5
12
17
9
5
When we consider that we are dealing with rescued girls, we may
conclude that direct sexual stimulus does not facilitate the normal
development of puberty, but on the contrary, in conjunction with
other causes, retards it. Accordingly, we must not confound
the normal development of the organism with its disorders : whatever
aids the natural development of life is useful and healthy. There
may be conditions unfavourable to the development of puberty,
which are favourable to the development of sexual vices (see,
further on, the other causes influencing puberty, and moral con-
ditions in colleges).
In his work above cited, Marro compares his figures obtained
from the Pia Barolo Society with those of Dr. Bianco* taken from
78 young girls in city institutes representing young women in
easy circumstances:
Date of first menstruation
Girls in the Pia Barolo
Society.
Percentage
Girls in city institutes for
the wealthy classes.
Percentage
10 years
11 years
12 years
13 years
14 years
15 years
16 years
17 years
1.7
5.3
7.1
8.9
21.4
30.3
16.0
8.9
1.3
13.3
18.7
29.3
20.0
8.0
4.0
* Cited by Pagliani, Human Development, according to age, sex, etc.
132 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
It should be noted that the cold climate of Turin retards
puberty (see below) : but the above table clearly shows the preco-
cious puberty of young women in easy circumstances ; in the great
majority, in fact, it occurs between the ages of twelve and fourteen,
with thirteen for the average; on the other hand, the majority for
reformed prostitutes is between fourteen and sixteen, with fifteen
for the average.
Besides labour and nutrition, there are other factors that, con-
tribute to the development of stature (which we regard as an
index to the entire mass of the body). Such factors are:
Physical Conditions — Heat, Light, Electricity
Thermic Conditions. — Among the physical conditions which
may have an influence upon the stature, the thermic conditions
ought to receive first consideration.
It is a principle demonstrated by nature that organisms in
the course of evolution have need of heat. Even the invertebrates,
as for example the insects, develop during the heat of summer; and
the eggs of the higher vertebrates such as the birds, develop their
embryo by means of the maternal warmth. In placental animals
the development throughout the whole embryonic period takes
place within the maternal womb, in the full tide of animal heat.
In order to preserve life in premature babies, that is, in those
born before the expiration of the physiological term of nine months,
incubators have been constructed, an oven-like arrangement in
which the child may be maintained at a temperature considerably
higher than would be possible in the outside air; the term is also
specifically used of the structures in which fertilised hens' eggs are
kept during the required period of time until the chickens are
hatched.
Accordingly it is a principle taught us by nature that organisms
in the course of evolution have need of heat. The most luxuriant
vegetation, the most gigantic animals, the most variegated birds
belong to the fauna and flora of the tropics.
How is this physiological law, which nature expresses in such
broad, general lines, to be interpreted by us in the environment of
the school? It is well known that in this regard there are two
conflicting opinions. There are some who would go to excessive
lengths in protecting small children from the cold, by dressing
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 133
them entirely in woolen garments and keeping their apartments
well heated; others on the contrary assert that the physiological
struggle of adaptation to the cold invigorates the infant organism,
and they advise that the child's body should never be completely
protected, as for example that the legs should always be left bare,
that the child should be lightly clad, that his apartments should
not be heated, etc.
Furthermore, it used to be held in the pietistic schools, and still
is to some extent, that warmth had a demoralising influence, inas-
much as it tended to enervate both mind and body.
We educators cannot fail to be interested in such a discussion.
As often happens in physiological arguments, the two opposite
contentions each contain a part of the truth. In order to get at
the truth of the matter, it is necessary to distinguish two widely
separated facts : on the one hand, physiological exercise in the form
of thermal gymnastics, and on the other, the development of organ-
isms in a constantly cold environment.
To live constantly warm, protected either by clothes or by arti-
ficial heat, so that the organism remains always at a constant
temperature, is not favourable to growth, because it deprives the
organism of the physiological exercise of adapting itself to varia-
tions in external temperature, an exercise which stimulates useful
functions. By perspiring in summer, we cleanse our system of
poisonous secretions, and by shivering in winter we give tone to our
striped muscles and to our internal organs, as is proved by our gain
in appetite. Anyone who wishes to be kept on ice in summer and
to transform his apartment into a hot-house in winter, robs him-
self of these advantages and enfeebles his system.
The apparent comfort is not in this case a real physiological
enjoyment but a weakness of habit that is accompanied by a loss
of physiological energy. What makes us robust is a rational
exercise of all our energies. Thermal gymnastics is consequently
useful. It consists in exposing a healthy, resistant organism to
changes in temperature, trusting to our physiological resources
for the means of defense. Thus, for example, a child who is well
fed and well protected from the cold for many hours of the day in
the well-heated family apartment, can go out with bare legs into
the snow; and doing so will make him more robust. In the same
way, the ancient Romans exposed themselves in their hot baths
to the steadily increasing temperature of the calidarium, up to
134 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the point of 60 degrees (140 Fahrenheit), and then still perspiring
flung themselves into a cold plunge. And it is a familiar fact that
afterward they held lavish banquets in these same baths. Such
exercise which in classic times gave vigour to the race that made
itself master of the world may be summed up as follows: " Thermic
gymnastics" of organisms "well nourished and strong."
Our own boatmen also throw themselves into the river in mid-
winter, half nude, and half nude they ply their long poles. They
expose themselves to the cold, in the same way that they might
raise a weight of many pounds with their robust arms, for gymnas-
tic exercise.
But all this differs radically from living continually in a cold
temperature. It is a very different thing from the life of a child
of the lower classes, who goes bare-foot in winter, clad in a few
scant rags, half frozen in his wretched tenement, and unable to
obtain sufficient nourishment to develop the needed heat-units.
He is already deficient in bodily heat because of malnutrition, and
the effects of cold are cumulative. In this case it is not a ques-
tion of thermic exercise but of a permanent deprivation of heat, in indi-
viduals who are already suffering from an inswfflcient development
of heat-units. Consequently the organism is enfeebled — it grows
under unfavorable conditions — and the result is a permanent
diminution of development. Whoever grows up, exposed to cold
after this fashion, has, in the average case, a lower stature than
those who grow up in the midst of warmth, or in the practice of
that healthful exercise which constitutes the ideal: thermic
gymnastics.
The contradictory ideas that are held as to the efficacy of heat
in regard to growth, are due to a large extent to a prejudice which
amounts to this: heat is effective in promoting the evolution of
life as a whole, and consequently the development of that part
of life that is centred in the organs of reproduction; from which
comes the well-nigh antiquated theory that artificial heat should
be banished from the schools, as one of the factors leading to
immorality! It is true that warmth accelerates the development
of puberty; but who is there in this twentieth century who can
still conceive the idea that it is a moral act to silence the forces of
nature? Good nourishment also leads to a more precocious
puberty; and the same is true of the repeated psychic stimulus
produced by various forms of intellectual enjoyment, by conver-
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 135
sation, and by social intercourse with individuals of the opposite
sex. Accordingly, if it were a moral act to retard the development
of puberty and to produce a general impoverishment of sexual
life, the moral measures to be taken in education would be cold,
malnutrition, and the isolation of the sexes in the schools, which, as
a matter of fact, form the stumbling-block of environment in our
colleges. But it is well known that all this leads on the contrary
to moral and physical degeneration! As has already been said,
the normal physiological development stands in counterdistinc-
tion to immoral habits; consequently, whatever is an aid to
physiological development is in its very nature moral.
In warm climates the first manifestations of puberty occur
precociously in man as well as in woman; and with them come all
the transformations that are associated with puberty, among
others the rapid increase of stature. In cold climates, on the
contrary, such manifestations are more tardy. The women of
Lapland are latest of all to develop. With them, menstruation
begins only at eighteen, and they are incapable of conceiving
under the age of twenty, while the period of the menopause (in-
volution of sexual life) is correspondingly early; in other words,
the entire period of sexual life is shortened. Furthermore, the
fertility of the women of Lapland is low; they cannot conceive
more than three children. But if these same women leave Lap-
land and make their home in civilised countries, as for example
in Sweden, they have a more precocious sexual life, as well as
longer and more fertile, and altogether quite similar to that of the
Swedish women.*
Cabanisf notes that even in cold climates, when young girls
spend much of their time in the vicinity of stoves, menstruation
begins at about the same age as in women who live on the banks
of the Ganges — as is the case with the daughters of wealthy
Russians, whose development is quite precocious. In Arabia,
in Egypt, and in Abyssinia the women are frequently mothers at
the age of ten, menstruation having begun at the eighth year.
It is even said that Mahomed married Radeejah when she was only
five and that he took her to his bed at the age of eight. The
religious laws of India permit the marriage of girls when they are
eight years old.
* Raciborski, cited by Mareo, Puberty.
t Idem.
136 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Consequently it is true that heat has an influence upon the
development of the organism independently of other influences;
in fact, heat acts both in the form of climate, that is, in a natural
state, and also in an artificially warmed environment. It is also
one of the causes of the different degrees of growth in stature
through the successive seasons (see below).
In conclusion: it is enjoined upon us, as a hygienic necessity,
to heat the schools in winter, especially the schools for the poorer
classes; it means more than increased vigour, it may even mean
giving life to some who otherwise would pine away from depriva-
tion of heat-units, a condition most unfavourable to organisms in
the course of evolution.
Photogenic Conditions. — Light also has a perceptible influence
upon growth : it is a great physiological stimulant. At the present
day, physical therapy employs light baths for certain forms of
neurasthenia and partial enfeeblement of certain organs; and some
biological manifestations, such as the pigments — and similarly
the chlorophyl in plants and the variegated colouring of birds —
receive a creative stimulus from light.
Light contains in its spectrum many different colours, which
act quite differently upon living tissues; the ultra-violet rays, for
instance, kill the bacilli of tuberculosis and sometimes effect cures
in cases of cancer. Psychiatrists and neuropaths have demon-
strated that many colours of light have an exciting effect, while
others, on the contrary, are sedative.
Hence there has arisen in medicine a vast and most interesting
chapter of phototherapy.
In regard to the phenomena of growth, it has been noted that
certain coloured lights are favourable to it, while certain others,
on the contrary, diminish or arrest it, as the red and the green.
Phototherapy ought to concern us as educators, especially
in regard to schools for the benefit of nervous children: a periodic
sojourn in a room lit by calming colours might have a beneficent
effect upon epileptic, irritable, nervous children, in place of the
debilitating hot bath, or, worse yet, the administration of bro-
mides ; while light-baths would be efficacious for weak and torpid
children.
But for normal children we must consider the light of the sun
as the best stimulant for their growth. A sojourn at the sea-shore,
so favourable to the development of children, is now believed to owe
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 137
its beneficial effects to the fact that the child, playing half naked
on the sea-shore, bathes more in the sunlight than he does in the
salt water. Gymnastics in the sun, while the body is still only
half dry, is what the younger generations should practise on a
large scale, if they would bring about the triumph of physiological
life.
We must not forget this great principle when, by planning
home work for the pupils, we practically keep them housed during
the entire day, keeping them for the most part employed in writ-
ing or reading; in other words, using their sense of sight, which,
if it is to be preserved unharmed, demands a moderate light. The
eye ought to rest its muscles of accommodation, and the whole
body be exposed to the full light of the sun during the greater part
of the day. Let us remember that often the children of the poor
live in a home so dark that even in full mid-day they are obliged
to light a lamp! Let us at least leave them the light of the
street, as a recompense for wretchedness that is a disgrace to
civilisation!
According to certain experiments conducted in Rome by
Professor Gosio, the light of the sun has an intensive effect upon
life. Living creatures reared in the solar light grow and mature
earlier, but at the same time their life is shortened; that is, the
cycle of life is more intense and more precocious; conversely, in
the shade the cycle of life is slower, but of longer duration. A
plant matures more quickly in the sun, but its stature is lower
than that of a plant in the dark, which has grown far
more slowly, but has become very tall and slender and lacking in
chlorophyl. Similarly, as is well known, the women in tropical
countries attain a precocious puberty, while conversely those of
the North attain it tardily; and this fact must be considered in
relation to the influence of the sun. A life passed wholly in the
sunlight would be too intense; an organism that is exposed a few
hours each day to the rays of the sun is invigourated; the inter-
change of matter (metabolism) is augmented; all the tissues are
beneficially stimulated. For this reason sun baths are employed for
paralytic and idiot children, and consist in exposing the body of
the child, reclining upon its bed and with its head well protected,
to the direct rays of the sun for several hours a day; this treatment
is found to be most efficacious in giving tone to the tissues and
improving the general condition of the system.
138
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Variations in the Growth of Stature According to the Seasons. —
One proof of the beneficent influence of heat and sunhght upon
the growth of the organism, is afforded by the variations in the
rate of growth according to the seasons. Every individual grows
more in summer than in winter. Daffner gives the following
figures relative to the increase in stature according to the seasons :
Stature
Increase
Number of
Age in
in
centimetres
in
centimetres
subjects
years
October
April
October
Winter
Summer
Entire
year
12
11-12
139.4
141.0
143.3
1.6
2.3
3.9
80
12-13
143.0
144.5
147.4
1.5
2.9
4.4
146
13-14
147.5
149.5
152.5
2.0
3.0
5.0
162
14-15
152.5
155.0
158.5
2.5
3.5
6.0
162
15-16
158.5
160.8
163.8
2.3
3.0
5.3
150
16-17
163.5
165.4
167.7
1.9
2.3
4.2
82
17-18
167.7
168.9
170.4
1.2
1.5
2.7
22
18-19
169.8
170.6
171.5
0.8
0.9
1.7
6
19-20
170.7
171.1
171.5
0.4
0.4
0.8
In the "Children's Houses," I require a record of stature to be
made month by month in the case of every child, the measurement
being taken on the day corresponding to the day on which he was
born in the month of his birth; in addition to which I keep a
record of the total annual increase.
The ages of these children vary between three and four years,
and they all belong to the poorer social classes.
MONTHLY AVERAGE INCREASE IN STATURE
In the "Children's Houses"
(In millimetres)
Cold months
Warm months
December
January
February
May
June
July
4
3
4
7
8
8
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 139
Another factor of growth is
Electricity. — One of the most interesting discoveries of recent
date is that of the influence of terrestrial electricity upon the
growth of living organisms.
A series of experiments were made, by isolating cavies (a
species of small Indian pig) from terrestrial electricity, and
as a result they were found to be retarded in growth and to
develop very imperfectly, much as though they had been suffer-
ing from rickets. In short, they manifested an arrest of organic
development.
If, in electro-therapy, an electric current is applied to the
cartilages of the long bones in children whose limbs have ap-
parently been arrested in development, the result is a rapid in-
crease in length, amounting to a luxuriant osteogenesis.
Since we know that the electric current can stimulate the
nerve filaments and the fibres of the striped muscles when they
have been rendered inactive from the effects of paresis or even of
paralysis, we realise that electricity can exert an influence over the
entire physiological life of an organism. We live not only upon
nutriment, air, heat, and light, but also upon a mysterious, imper-
ceptible force, that comes to us from the mother earth.
In addition to the biological potentialities which control the
development of every individual, all living creatures owe some-
thing of themselves to their environment.
Space. — An empirical contention, without scientific value,
but nevertheless of some interest, is that there is an ultimate
relationship between the dimensions of living bodies and the
territorial space, that is, the environment in which they are destined
to live. In view of the innumerable varieties of living creatures,
such an assertion would seem to be utterly unfounded. But
as a matter of fact we see that while inorganic bodies can increase
indefinitely in dimension, living creatures are limited in form and
size. This fact undoubtedly has some primal connection with
properties innate in corporeal life itself; in fact, in order to attain
its appointed end, life requires the services of certain very small
microscopic particles called cells. But the aggregations and
combinations of cells in living organisms are also limited in their
turn, and no matter how willingly we would attribute the greatest
share of causation to biological facts, nevertheless, as always
happens in life, we cannot wholly exclude environment.
140 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Both animals and men that are bred on vast continents (Chi-
nese, Russians) have tended to produce races of powerful and
giant build: in islands, on the contrary, the men and the animals
are of small size; it is sufficient merely to cite the men and the
little donkeys of Sardinia, the small Irishmen who furnish jockeys
for the race-track, and the small Irish horses or ponies that serve
as saddle-horses for the children of the aristocracy the world over.
There is a harmony of associations, as between the container and
the contained, between environment and life, notwithstanding that
as yet science has not made serious investigations in regard to it.
Voltaire, in his Micr omega, avails himself of this intuitive con-
ception to create the material needed for his satire; he talks amus-
ingly of the inhabitant of the planet Sirius, who was eight leagues
in height and at four hundred years of age was still in school,
while the inhabitant of Saturn was a mere pigmy in comparison,
being scarcely a thousand rods tall — in fact, the inhabitants of
Saturn could not be otherwise than pigmies in comparison, since
Saturn is barely nine hundred times larger than the earth.
Gulliver makes use of similar standards in his Travels, which
are read with so much delight by children.
Psychic Conditions. — Psychic Stimuli. — Accordingly many
chemical and physical factors associated with the environment
concur in aiding life in its development. From the light of the
sun to the electricity of the earth, the whole environment offers
its tribute to life, in order to cooperate in life's triumph. But, in
the case of man, in addition to these widely different factors, there
is still another distinctly human factor that we must take into
consideration and that we may call the psychic stimulus of life:
We may scientifically affirm the Bible statement that "man does
not live by bread alone."
Without reverting to the basic physiological explanations of
the emotions, as given by Lange and James, we may nevertheless
assert that sensations of pleasure stimulate the renewal of bodily
tissues and consequently promote health, happiness, and strength;
while, on the contrary, painful events produce physiological effects
depressing to the tone of the nervous system and to the metabolic
activity of the tissues.
But it is precisely these metabolic phenomena that hold the
key of life, and an organism in the course ot evolution depends
directly upon them. This problem concerns pedagogy in a very
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 141
special way: when we have given food to the children in our schools,
we have not yet completed our task of nourishing these children;
for the phenomena of nutrition which take place in the hidden
recesses of their tissues are very different from a simple intestinal
transformation of ahments, and are influenced by the psychic
conditions of the individual pupil.
Great workers not only need abundant nutriment, but they
require at the same time a series of stimuli designed to produce
''pleasure." The pleasures of life, necessary to human existence,
include more than bread. In the history of social evolution there
exist, side by side with the productions of labour, an entire series of
enjoyments, more or less elevated, that constitute the stimului to
production, and hence to evolution, and more profoundly still, to
life itself.
The further man evolves and the more he produces, the more
he ought to multiply and perfect his means of enjoyment.
Without stimuli, nutrition would grow less and less till it ended
in death. E very-day experience in the punishment of criminals
gives us proof of this. Confinement to a solitary cell is nothing
else than a complete deprivation of psychic stimuli. The prisoner
does not lack bread, nor air, nor shelter from the elements, nor
sleep; his whole physiological life is provided for, in the strict
material sense of the word. But the bare walls, the silence, the
isolation from his fellow men in utter solitude, deprive the prisoner
of every stimulus, visual, oral and moral.
The consequences are not merely a state of hopelessness, but
a real and actual malnutrition leading to tuberculosis, to anemia,
to death from atrophy. We may affirm that such a prisoner dies
slowly of hunger due to defective assimilation; the solitary cell is the
modern donjon, and far more cruel than the one in which Ugolino
died within a few days, so much so that solitary confinement,
being incompatible with life, is only of short duration.
Labour, love, and sensations apt to stimulate ideas, that is, to
nourish the intelligence, are necessities of human life.
This is further proved by observations made regarding the
development of puberty. Psychic stimuli may render such de-
velopment precocious, and, on the contrary, their absence may
retard it. Jean Jacques Rousseau relates in Emile that at Friuli
he encountered young people of both sexes who were still unde-
veloped, although they were past the usual age and were strong
10
142 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
and robust, and this he attributed to the fact that ''owing to the
simpUcity of their customs, their imagination remained calm and
tranquil for a longer time, causing the ferment in their blood to
occur later, and consequently rendering their temperament less
precocious."*
Recent statistical research confirms the intuitive observation
of that great pedagogist; the women in the environs of Paris
attain puberty nearly a year later than those who live in the city;
and the same difference is observed between the country districts
around Turin and those of the city itself.
All this goes to prove the fact of psychic influence upon
physiological life: psychic excitation, experienced with pleasure,
by developing healthy activities, aids the development of physical
life.t
These principles must be taken under deep consideration when
it comes to a question of directing the 'physiological growth of chil-
dren. Fenelon relates a fable about a female bear who, having
brought into the world ah exceedingly ugly son, took the advice
of a crow and licked and smoothed her cub so constantly that he
finally became attractive and good-looking. This fable embodies
the idea that maternal love may modify the body of the child, aiding
its evolution toward a harmony of form by means of the first
psychic stimuli of caresses and counsel.
Nature has implanted in the mother not only her milk, the
material nourishment of her child, but also that absolutely al-
truistic love which transforms the soul of a woman, and creates in
it moral forces hitherto unknown and unsuspected by the woman
herself — just as the sweet and nourishing corpuscles of the milk
were unknown to the red corpuscles of her blood. Accordingly,
the nature of the human kind protects the species through the
mother in two ways, which together form the complete nutrition
of man: aliment and love. After a child is weaned, it obtains its
aliment from its environment in more varied forms; and it also
obtains from its environment a great variety of psychic stimuli,
calculated not only to mould its psychic personality, but also to
bring its physiological personality to its full development.
* Rousseau, Emile, cited by Marro.
t It should be noted that sexual precocity or vice retards the development of puberty,
while healthful psychic stimuli are favourable to it. Hence it was a right instinct that led
us to give the name of sin and vice to what retards the normal development of life, and
virtue and honour to what is favourable to it. — Author's note.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 143
I have had most eloquent experience of this in the "Children's Houses" in
the San Lorenzo quarter of Rome. This is the poorest quarter in the city, and
the children are the sons and daughters of day labourers, who consequently are
often out of work; illiteracy is even yet incredibly frequent among the adults,
so much so that in a very high percentage of cases at least one of the parents is
unable to read. In these "Children's Houses" we receive little children between
the ages of three and seven, on a time schedule that varies between summer, from
nine to five, and winter, from nine to four.
We have never served food in the school; the little ones, all of whom live in
their own homes, with their parents, have a half hour's recess in which to go home
to luncheon. Consequently we have not in any way iniiuenced their diet.
The pedagogic methods employed, however, are of such sort as to constitute
a gradual series of psychic stimuli perfectly adapted to the needs of childhood;
the environment stimulates each pupil individually to his rightful psychic
development according to his subjective potentiality. The children are free in all
their manifestations and are treated with much cordial affection. I believe that
this is the first time that this extremely interesting pedagogic experiment has ever
been made: namely, to sow the seed in the consciousness of the child, leaving free
opportunity, in the most rigourous sense, for the spontaneous expansion of
its personality, in an environment that is calm, and warm with a sentiment of
affection and peace.
The results achieved were surprising: we were obliged to remodel our ideas
regarding child psychology, because many of the so-called instincts of childhood
did not develop at all, while in place of them unforeseen sentiments and intellectual
passions made their appearance in the primordial consciousness of these children;
true revelations of the sublime greatness of the human soul! The intellectual
activity of these little children was like a spring of water gushing from beneath
the rocks that had been erroneously piled upon their budding souls ; we saw them
accomplishing the incredible feat of despising playthings, through their insatiable
thirst for knowledge; carefully preserving the most fragile objects of the lesson,
the tenderest plants sprouting from the earth — these children that are reputed
to be vandals by instinct! In short, they seemed to us to represent the childhood
of a human race more highly evolved than our own; and yet they are really the
same humanity, marvelously guided and stimulated through its own natural and
free development!
But what is still more marvelous is the astonishing fact that all these children
are so much improved in their general nutrition as to present a notably different
appearance from their former state, and from the condition in which their brothers
still remain. Many weakly ones have been organically strengthened; a great
many who were lymphatic have been cured; and in general the children have
gained flesh and become ruddy to such an extent that they look like the children
of wealthy parents living in the country. No one seeing them would behove that
these were the offspring of the illiterate lower classes!
Well, let us glance over the notes taken upon these children at the time when
they first entered the school; for the great majority, the same note was made:
need of tonics. Yet not one of them took medicine, not one of them had a change
of diet; the renewed vigour of these children was due solely to the complete satisfac-
144 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Hon of their 'psychic life. And yet they remain in school continually from nine
till five through eleven months out of the year! One would say that this was an
excessively long schedule; yet what is still more surprising is that during all this
period the children are continually busy; and even more remarkable is the report
made by many of the mothers to the effect that after their little ones have
returned home they continue to busy themselves up to the hour of going to bed;
and lastly — and this seems almost incredible — many of the little ones are back
again at school by half past eight in the morning, tranquil, smiling, as though
blissfully anticipating the enjoyment that awaits them during the long day!
We have seen small boys become profoundly observant of their environment,
finding a spontaneous delight in new sensations. Their stature, which we
measure month by month, shows how vigourous the physiological growth is in
every one of them, but particularly in certain ones, whose blood-supply has
become excellent.
Such results of our experiments have amazed us as an unexpected revelation
of nature, or, to phrase it differently, as a scientific discovery. Yet we might have
foreseen some part of all this had we stopped to think how our own physical
health depends far more upon happiness and a peaceful conscience than upon
that material substance, bread!
Let us learn to know man, sublime in his true reality! let us learn to know him
in the tenderest little child; we have shown by experiment that he develops
through work, through liberty, and through love; hitherto, in place of these, we have
stifled the splendid possibilities of his nature with irrational toys, with the slavery
of discipline, with contempt for his spontaneous manifestations. Man lives for
the purpose of learning, loving and producing, from his earliest years upward;
it is from this that even his bones get their growth and from this that his blood
draws its vitality!
Now, all such factors of physiological development are suffocated by our
antiquated pedagogic methods. We prevent, more or less completely, the devel-
opment of the separate personalities, in order to keep all the pupils within the
selfsame limits. The perfectionment of each is impeded by the common level
which it is expected that all shall attain and make their limit, while the pupils
are forced to receive from us, instead of producing of their own accord; and they
are obhged to sit motionless with their minds in bondage to an iron programme,
as their bodies are to the iron benches.
We wish to look upon them as machines, to be driven and guided by us, when
in reality they are the most sensitive and the most superb creation of nature.
We destroy divine forces by slavery. Rewards and punishments furnish us
with the needed scourge to enforce submission from these marvelously active
minds; we encourage them with rewards! to what end? to winning the prize!
Well, by doing so we make the child lose sight of his real goal, which is knowledge,
liberty and work, in order to dazzle him with a prize which, considered morally,
is vanity, and considered materially is a few grains of metal. We inflict punish-
ments in order to conquer nature, which is in rebellion, not against what is good
and beautiful, not against the purpose of life, but against us, because we are
tyrants instead of guides.
If only we did not also punish sickness, misfortune and poverty!
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 145
We are breakers-in of free human beings, not educators of men.
Our faith in rewards and punishments as a necessary means to the progress of
the children and to the maintainence of discipline, is a fallacy already exploded
by experiment. It is not the material and vain reward, bestowed upon a few
individual children, that constitutes the psychic stimulus which spurs on the
multifold expansions of human life to greater heights; rewards degrade the gran-
deur of human consciousness into vanity and confine it within the limits of egotism,
which means perdition. The stimulus worthy of man is the joy which he feels
in the consciousness of his own growth; and he grows only through the conquest
of his own spirit and the spread of universal brotherhood. It is not true that the
child is incapable of feeling a spiritual stimulus far greater than the wretched
prize that gives him an egotistical and illusory superiority over his companions;
it is rather that we ourselves, because already degraded by egotism, judge these
new forces of nascent human life after our own low standards.
The small boys and girls in our "Children's Houses" are of their own accord
distrustful of rewards; they despise the little medals, intended to be pinned upon
the breast as marks of distinction, and instead they actively search for objects
of study through which, without any guidance from the teacher, they may model
and judge and correct themselves, and thus work toward perfection.
As to punishments, they are depressing in effect, and they are inflicted upon
children who are already depressed!
Even in the case of those who are adult and strong, we know that it is neces-
sary to encourage those who have fallen, to aid the weak, to comfort those who
are discouraged. And if this method serves for the strong, how much more
necessary it is for lives in the course of evolution!
This is a great reform which the world awaits at our hands: we must shatter
the iron chains with which we have kept the intelligence of the new generations
in bondage!*
Pathological Variations. — Among the factors that may have a
notable influence upon the stature are the pathological causes.
Aside from those very rare occurrences that produce gigantism,
it may be affirmed that pathological variations result in general
in an arrest of development. In such a case it may follow that
an individual of a given age will show the various characteristics
of an individual of a younger age; that is, he will seem younger
or more childish.
In such a case the stature has remained on a lower level than
that which is normal for the given age; and this in general is the
most obvious characteristic, because it is the index of the whole
inclusive arrest of the physical personality. But together with
the diminution of stature, various other characteristics may exist
* Compare The method of Scientific Pedagogy applied to infantile education in the " Chil-
dren's Houses," MoNTESsoRi: Casa Editr. Lapi, 1909.
146 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
that also suggest a younger age; that is, the entire personality
has been arrested in its development.
It follows, in school for example, that such pathological cases
may escape the master's attention; he sees among his scholars
a type that is apparently not abnormal, because it does not deviate
from the common type, in fact is quite like other children; but
when we inquire into its age, then the anomaly becomes evident,
because the actual age of this small child is greater than his appar-
ent age.
A principle of this sort announced in these terms is perhaps
too schematic; but it will serve to establish a clear general rule
that will guide us in our separate observations of a great variety
of individual cases.
This form of arrested development was for the first time
explained by Lasegue, who introduced into the literature of
medicine or rather into nosographism, the comparative term of
infantilism.
Infantilism has been extensively studied in Italy by Professor
Sante de Sanctis, who has written notable treatises upon it. I
have taken from his work Gli Infantilismi, the following table of
fundamental characteristics necessary to constitute the infantile
type,
1. Stature and physical development in general below that
required by the age of the patient.
2. Retarded development or incomplete development of the
sexual organs and of their functions.
3. Incomplete development of intelligence and character.
In order to recognise infantilism, it is necessary to know the
dimensions and morphology of the body in their relation to the
various ages, and to bear in mind that in young children sexual
development either has not begun or is still incomplete.
Dimensions and Morphology of the Body at the Various AgesJ —
What we have already learned regarding stature will give us one
test in our diagnosis of infantilism: the increase of stature and the
transformations of type of stature concur in establishing the di-
mensions and the morphology of the body (See Stature, Types of
Stature, Diagrams).
A sufferer from infantilism will have, for example at the age
of eleven, a stature of 113 centimetres and a statural index of 56,
while the average figures give:
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 147
Age
Stature
Index
7 years
8 years
9 years
10 years
11 years
111
56
117
55
122
55
128
54
132
53
Consequently, in such a case the eleven-year-old patient would
have the appearance of a child of seven, not only in stature but
also in the relative proportions of his body. (And if we examined
him psychically, we should probably find his speech was not yet
perfected, that he showed a tendency toward childish games, a
mental level corresponding to the age of seven or thereabouts;
in school the child would be placed in the first or second elementary
grade.)
Accordingly the anthropological verdict of infantilism must
not be based upon limits of measurement alone, but also upon
the proportions of the body. Every age has its own morphology.
Now, such changes are found not only in the reciprocal relations
between the bust and the limbs, but also between the various
parts of the bust, as we shall see when we come to an analytical
study of the morphology of the head, the thorax and the abdomen;
the detailed anthropological examination of the individual patient
will furnish us with further accompanying symptoms helpful in
establishing a diagnosis. Further on we shall give a summarised
table of the morphology of the body from year to year (laws of
growth); and of the most notable and fundamental psychological
characteristics of the different years of childhood ; so that a teacher
may easily derive from it at a glance a comprehensive picture
that will aid in a diagnosis of the age, and hence of the arrest of
development, in subjects suffering from infantilism.
Before entering upon the important question of pathogenesis
in its relation to infantilism, I will reproduce a few biographic
notes of infantile types, taken from various authorities :
Giulio B. was brought to the clinic because of his continued
love for toys, notwithstanding his age. At seventeen and a half he
retained the manners, the games and the language of a child of
between ten and twelve. In appearance, he gave the impression
148 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
of being between thirteen and fourteen, and was as well pro-
portioned as a lad of that age. His stature was 1.45 meters
(at thirteen the average stature is 1.40 m. and at fourteen it is
1.48 m.; while at seventeen it ought to be 1.67 m.) and his weight
was 39 kilograms (at fourteen the weight is 40 k. and at seventeen
it is 57 k.) . His appearance was lively, intelligent, but on the whole
childish. His genital organs were like those of a boy of twelve
(Fig. 30). The patient understood all that was said to him, he
could read, write and sing, but could not apply himself to any
serious occupation; he did not read the papers, but would amuse
himself by looking at pictures in illustrated books; he could play
draughts, but was equally pleased when playing with children's
toys. During his stay at the clinic he was several times punished
for childish pranks: he filled his neighbour's chamber vessel with
stones, and amused himself by making little paper boats and sailing
them in the urine, etc. He was employed as a page at an all-
night cafe; his age permitted him to perform this work forbidden
to children, while his appearance rendered him fitted for the task.
When questioned discreetly regarding his sexual functions, or
rather his sexual incapacity, he understood at once, and expressed
in a childish way his deep regret, because he had heard it said that
''that was why they wouldn't let him serve in the army."
Vittorio Ch. Is twenty-two years old and looks about eight
or ten. Stature 1.15 metres (average stature for the age of seven
being 1.11 m. ; for eight, 1.17 m.). Has no beard, nor any signs of
virility; genital organs like those of a child. His intelligence is
alert, but does not surpass that of a boy of ten. He speaks
correctly, can read, write and sing; plays draughts, but does not
disdain children's toys, and prefers looking at pictures in illus-
trated books to reading the daily papers. After the death of the
patient, it was found, as a result of the autopsy, that the epiphyses
of the long bones had not yet united with the diaphyses, and that
the bones of the skull were still as soft as those of a child (Fig. 31).
Here is another case, taken from Moige:*
It is the case of a young working girl, presenting all the appear-
ance of a child of twelve or fourteen; she had not yet attained
puberty, although she was thirty years of age. No external sign
gave evidence that she was undergoing the sexual transition that
should give her womanhood. Her breasts were reduced to the
* Moige, Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpitriere, 1894.
Fig. 30. — Boy, seventeen and
one-half years old.
Fig. 31. — Young man, Fig. 32. — Idiotic cretin,
twenty-two years old. age 20 years, stature
1.095 m.
Fig. 33. — An example of
myxedematous infantil-
ism.
Fig. 34. — A group of cretins in the valley of Aosta (Pied-
mont). The alteration of the thyroid gland is of endemic
origin.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 149
mere nipple, as in infancy. Her voice was weak. This woman
was hysterical and subject to frequent attacks of convulsions.
Her mental condition remained infantile. She was gentle, docile,
timid and apprehensive; she was destitute of coquetry or sense of
shame.
"Renato L.,* age twenty-niae; stature 1.30 m. (average stature
at the age of ten, 1.28 m. ; at eleven, 1.32 m.) weight, 32 kilograms
(average weight, age of twelve, 31 k.). It appears from his history
that he developed normally up to the age of nine, after which
period an arrest of development occurred, both physical and psy-
chic. An arrest of the genital organs dates back also to early
childhood. His intelligence is that of a backward child; he has
never been able to read or write, but can count up to 1000. He
has never been able to learn a trade, but shows some talent for
drawing.
His criminal instincts seem to be especially developed. He
spends whole hours, turning over the leaves of popular illustrated
novels, and whenever he comes across a picture representing a
homicide or an assassination, he utters loud exclamations of
delight. He has only one passion, tobacco, and only one object
of adoration, Ravachol. Very violent, extremely irritable; when
he is angry, he would kill someone, if, as he says, "he had the
strength for it." Although, as a rule, he docilely obeys the
orders given him, it is because he is ''afraid of being scolded."
His ideal is to be able some time to obtain refuge in the Hospice
de Bicetre.
From De Sanctis's work, Gli Infantilismi, I obtain the following
data, that are very suggestive on the anthropological side, regarding
a case of infantilism observed by the professor in his asylum-
school for defective children, in Rome.
Vincenzo P., seven years of age. Father in good health and
of good character. Mother small, thin, weak, underfed; has had
nine children, of which five are living, all feeble. Vincenzo was
born in due time, birth regular; had five wet-nurses ; cut his teeth
at the normal intervals; began to walk at the end of the second
year and to speak at the end of the first. According to his mother,
all went well until the fourth year. At this period, Vincenzo
became very troublesome and ceased to "grow taller." Later on
he was sent to the communal school, but the director of the school
* Apeet, Op. cit.
150
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
in the Via Ricasoli, seeing how undersized and backward he was,
sent him to the Asylum-School for defective children.
In appearance the child is eurhythmic, excepting that the head
appears a little too big in proportion to the rest of his body; but it
is not of the hydrocephalic type (an infantile characteristic). He
is slightly asymmetric, the postero-inferior portion of the right
parietal bone being more depressed than that of the left (infantile
plagiocephaly).
Measurements
Of the child
Normal measurements
at the age of seven
Age at which the measure-
ments of Vincenzo would
be normal
Stature, 0.870 m
Weight, 12.400 kg
Circumference of chest,
0.507 m.
Vital index, 59
1.10 m.
20.16 kg.
0.55 m
Vital index, 54
Three years, stature, 0.864 m.
Two years, weight, 12 kg.
Four years, circumference of
chest, 0.505 m.
Two years, vital index, 59.
The bust is greatly developed in comparison with the lower
limbs, which are unquestionably short. (The sitting stature was
not taken, but this note, recorded from simple observation, reminds
us of the enormous difference between the indices of stature at the
age of two or three and at the age of seven: Index at two years
= 63; at three = 62; at seven = 56.)
But although we lack the index of stature, we may make use
of the vital index, which is given by the proportion between the
circumference of the chest and the stature, and consequently gives
us an index of the morphology of the bust in its relation to the
whole personality; thus we find that the vital index corresponds
in the present case to that of a child of two, as is also true of the
weight, so that we may deduce that the index of stature was
probably about 62-63.
He shows no impairment as to external sensations; on the other
hand, internal sensations, such as satiety, illness, etc., are blunted.
His power of attention seems sufficient, both at play and in school
and when questioned. Neither does his memory show anything
abnormal. Emotionally, he is below the normal level; he says
that he is afraid of thunder; occasionally he shows annoyance
when disturbed; but it is equally certain that he never becomes
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 151
angry, never turns pale and never blushes, as the result of any
excitement. He is of an indifferent disposition and is passive in
manner; he is good natured, or rather, a certain degree of apathy
makes him appear so.
All things considered, his mental development may be de-
scribed as that of a three-year-old child; only that he differs from
children of that age in his lack of vivacity and in his complete
development of articulate speech (it should be noted, in regard to
the diagnosis of age made by so distinguished a psychologist as
De Sanctis, that he judged the child to have a psychic development
corresponding to the age of three years; while we, studying the
general measurements of the body, determined that they corre-
spond to three different ages, namely, two, three and four the aver-
age of which is precisely three; while the stature, which is the index
of development of the body as a whole, corresponds almost exactly
to that average of three years (0.870 m., 0.864 m.).
Pathogenesis of Infantilism. — At this point it might be asked :
Why do we grow? We hide the mechanism of growth under very
vague expressions: biological final causes, ontogenetic evolution,
heredity. But, if we stop to think, such expressions are not
greatly different from those which they have replaced: the divine
purpose, creation.
In other words, a causal explanation is lacking. But positive
science refuses to lose itself in the search after final causes, in which
case it would become metaphysical philosophy. Nevertheless, it
may pursue its investigations into the genesis of phenomena,
whenever the results of experiments permit it to advance.
So it is in the case of growth; certain relatively recent dis-
coveries in physiology have made it possible to establish relations
between the development of the individual and the functions of
certain little glands of ^^ internal secretion." Now, the discovery
of these relations is certainly not a causal explanation of the
phenomenon of growth, but only a profounder analysis of it.
Hitherto, we have considered the organism in regard to its
chief visceral functions: in speaking of macroscelia and of brachy-
scelia, we considered the different types in relation to the develop-
ment of the organs of vegetative life and the organs of external
relations: the central nervous system, the lungs, the heart, the
digestive system. Our next step is to enter upon the study of
certain little organs, which were still almost ignored by the ana-
152 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
tomy and physiology of yesterday. These organs are glands
which, unlike other glands (the salivary glands, the pancreas, the
sudoriferous glands, etc.), are lacking in an excretory duct, through
which the juices prepared for an immediate physiological purpose
might be given forth; and in the absence of such excretory tubes,
their product must be distributed through the lymphatic system,
and hence imperceptibly conveyed throughout the whole organism.
One of these glands, the one best known, is the thyroid; but
there are others, such, for example, as the thymus, situated
beneath the sternum, or breast-bone, and much reduced in size
in the adult; the pineal gland or hypophysis cerebri, situated at
the base of the encephalon; the suprarenal capsules, little ear-
shaped organs located above the kidneys. Up to a short time
ago, it was not known what the functions of such glands were;
some of them were regarded as atavistic survivals, because they
are more developed in the lower animals than in man, and con-
sequently were classed with the vermiform appendix as relics of
organs which had served their functions in a bygone phylogenetic
epoch and remain in man without any function, but on the con-
trary represent a danger through the local diseases that they may
develop. The cerebral hypophysis was in ancient times regarded
as the seat of the soul.
These glands are very small; the largest is the thyroid, which
weighs between thirty and forty grams (1 to 1 f oz.); the supra-
renal glands weigh four grams each (about 60 grains) ; the hypophy-
sis hardly attains the weight of one gram.
The importance of these glands began to be revealed when
antiseptic methods rendered surgery venturesome, and the attempt
was made (in 1882) to remove the thyroid gland. After a few
weeks the patient operated on began to feel the effects of the
absence of an organ necessary to normal life: effects that may be
summed up as, extreme general debility; pains in the bones and
in the head; an elastic swelling of the entire skin; enfeebled heart
action, and anemia; and on the psychic side, loss of memory,
taciturnity, melancholy. After the lapse of some time the patient
showed such further symptoms as the shedding of the cuticle of
the skin, whitening of the hair and fades cretinica.
But when Sick undertook to operate upon the thyroid of a
child of ten, the deleterious effects of interrupting the above-
mentioned function of the gland manifested itself in an arrest of
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 153
development; at the age of twenty-eight the patient operated on by
Sick was a cretin (idiotic dwarf) 1.27 metres tall (average stature at
age of ten = 1.28 m.). Since that time certain diseases have been
recognised that call to mind the condition of patients who have
undergone an operation for removal of the thyroid glands, and
in which the subjects have suffered from hypothyroidea, or insuffi-
cient development of the thyroid.
Such individuals were characterised by nanism, solid edema
of the skin, arrest of psychic development, and absence of develop-
ment of puberty; this malady has taken its place in medical
treatises under the name of myxedema; and, when serious, is ac-
companied by nanism and myxedematous idiocy. But in mild
cases it may result in a simple myxedematous infantilism.
The other glands of internal secretion are also associated with
the phenomena of growth. First in importance is the thymus
which is found highly developed in the embryo and in the child
at birth, and thereafter diminishes in volume, until it almost
disappears after the attainment of puberty. In the psychological
laboratories of Luciani, at Rome, the first experiments were con-
ducted upon dogs, for the purpose of determining what alterations
in growth would result as a consequence of the removal of the
thymus. The dogs thus operated on were weak; furthermore
they became atrophied, accompanied by roughness of the skin
and changes in pigmentation. After this, experiments were
made in the Pediatric Clinic at Padua, under the direction of
Professor Cervesato, in the application of thymic organotherapy
(that is, the use of animal thymus as medicine) with notable
success in the case of atrophic children (infantile atrophy occurs
in early infancy; this form is known popularly in Italy as the
''monkey sickness." Nursing children become extremely thin,
cease to grow in length, the little face becomes elongated and
skeleton-like, and is frequently covered with a thick down).
Stoppato also obtained analogous results in infantile atrophy
and anemia. Hence it is evident that the very rapid growth in
the embryo is associated with the functional action of the thymus.
And this is also true of the very rapid growth during the first
years of a child's life.
The pituitary gland, or cerebral hypophysis, has also functions
associated with the general nervous tone and trophism (or nourish-
ment) of the tissues, and especially of the osseous system. There
154 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
is a disease known as acromegalia (Marie's disease) which is
characterised by an abnormal and inharmonic growth of the
skeleton, especially in the limbs and the jaw; the hands and feet
become enormously enlarged, while the jaw lengthens and thickens
(an unhealthy formation on which the common people of Italy
have bestowed the name of ''horse sickness," because of the
appearance assumed by the face). Such patients complain of
general and progressive debility of their psychic activities. In
such cases, an autopsy shows an alteration of the pituitary gland,
often due to malignant tumors (sarcoma).
The suprarenal capsules also bear a relation to general trophism
and particularly to the pigmentation of the skin. It was already
noted by Cassan and Meckel that the negro races show a greater
volumetric development of the suprarenal capsules; when in 1885
Addison for the first time discovered a form of disease associated
with alterations of the suprarenal capsules, characterised by an
intensely brown colouration of the skin (bronzed-skin disease),
general debility of the nervous and muscular systems, progressive
anemia and mental torpor; the malady ends in death. In the
case of animals operated on for physiological experiments, not
one of them has been able to survive.
Some interesting observations have been made by Zander
on the connection between the development of the nervous system
and the suprarenal glands. He found that there was an insuffi-
cient development of these glands in individuals having terato-
logical (monstrous) misshapements of the brain, as in the case of
hemicephalus (absence of one-half the brain), cyclops, etc.
There exists between all the ductless glands, or those of
internal secretion, an organic sympathy: in other words, if one
of them is injured the others react, frequently to the extent of
assuming a vicarious (compensating) functional action.
What their functional mechanism is, that is, whether the
secretions act as formative stimulants or enzymes, ferments of
growth, or whether as antitoxines to the toxines elaborated by
various organs in the process of regression, is a question still
controverted and in anj^ case cannot enter within the limits of our
field.
It is enough for us to know that the general growth of the
organism and its morphological harmony, depend not only as
regards the skeleton, but equally in relation to the cutaneous
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 155
system and its pigmentation, the development of the muscles,
the heart, the blood, the brain, and the trophic functions of the
nervous system, upon some formative and protective action of
all these little glands of '^ internal secretion," with which are
associated the psychic activities and even the life itself of each
individual, as though within the embryonic crucible there must
have been certain substances that acted by stimulating the
genetic forces and directing the trophism of the tissues toward a
predetermined morphology.
To-day it is held that even the mother's milk contains these for-
mative principles, or enzymes, suited to stimulate the tissues of her
own child in the course of their formation; consequently, it pro-
duces results which no other milk in all nature can replace.
Alterations in these glands of ''internal secretion" may there-
fore produce an arrest of development — and, in mild cases, forms
of infantilism. But the gland which in this connection is of first
importance is the thyroid.
Now there is one form of arrest of the trophic rhythm of growth
which may be due to hereditary causes effecting the formative
glands (myxedematous infantilism), or to exceptional causes occur-
ring in the individual himself in the course of formation, either at
the moment of conception, or at some later moment, as may hap-
pen even during the period of infancy (dystrophic infantilism of
various origin).
In all these cases, however, according to Hertoghe, the excep-
tional causes, deleterious to growth, would first of all exercise their
influence upon the glands of internal secretion and especially upon
the thyroid.
In order to make clear, in connection with such complex patho-
logical problems, the cases which are important from the point of
view of pedagogy and the school, let us divide them into :
Myxedematous infantilism, due to congenital insufficiency of
the thyroid gland from hereditary causes, and,
Dystrophic infantilism, associated with various causes dele-
terious to individual development — and acting secondarily upon
the glands of internal secretion (syphilis, tuberculosis, alcoholism,
malaria, pellagra, etc.).
Myxedematous infantilism is characterised by short stature, by
excessive development of the adipose system, and by arrest of
mental development (including speech). Such infantiles very
156 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
frequently have a special morphology of the face, that suggests the
mongol type, and characteristic malformations of the hands (little
fingers atrophied). When treated with extracts of the thyroid
glands of animals, they improve notably; they become thinner,
they gain in stature, their mentality develops to the extent of.
permitting them to study and to work. Certain mongoloids
treated by De Sanctis in the Asylum-School at Rome were im-
proved to the point of being able to attend the high-school and
therefore were restored to their family and to society as useful
individuals — all of which are facts that are of singular importance
to us as educators ! Medical care working hand in hand with peda-
gogy may save from parasitism individual human beings who
otherwise would be lost. We ought to be convinced from such
evidence of the necessity of special schools for deficients, wholly
separated from the elementary schools, and where medical care
combined with a specially adapted pedagogic treatment may trans-
form the school into a true ''home of health and education."
The plan of a ''school with a prolonged schedule of hours," includ-
ing two meals and a medical office, as was conceived and organised
by Prof. Sante de Sanctis in Rome, has been proved to answer
admirably to this social need; because without wholly removing
the children from their families, and therefore without exposing
them to the disadvantages of a boarding school, it provides them
with all the assistance necessary to their special needs.
Dystrophic Infantilism. — Given a case of infantilism, discover-
able by the teacher through the general measurements of the body
and psychic examination, it is interesting to investigate the dele-
terious causes.
It may be the result of poisoning, as for example from alcohol.
Alcohol has such a direct influence upon the arrest of development
that in England jockeys are produced by making the lads drink
a great deal of alcohol. Children who drink alcohol do not grow in
stature, and similarly the embryo grows in a less degree when the
mother indulges in alcohol during pregnancy; some Swiss women
deliberately resort to this means, in order that a smaller child may
lessen the pain of child-birth. But alcohol not only diminishes
the stature, but destroys the harmony of the different parts; that
is, in the development of the body it arrests both the volumetric
and the morphological growth. Furthermore, alcohol produces in
children an arrest of mental development. An acquaintance
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 157
with this principle of hygiene should be looked upon by the teacher
less as a piece of special knowledge than as a social duty. From
the point of view of the educator, the fight against alcoholism
should have no assignable limits! It would be vain for him to
perfect his didactic methods in order to educate a child that drank
wine or other still worse alcoholic liquors. It would be better if
the efforts which he meant to dedicate to such educative work
could be all turned to a propaganda directed toward the parents
of such children, or toward the children themselves, to induce them
to abstain from so pernicious a habit!
We may also consider in the category oi > poisonings certain
chronic maladies which act upon the organism with special toxic
(poisonous) effects. In the foremost rank of such maladies
belongs
Syphilis. — This disease is ranked among the principal causes
of abortion; in other words, the foetus which results from a syphilitic
conception lacks vitality, and often fails to complete the cycle of
intrauterine life. But even granting that the foetus survives and
attains its complete development, the child after birth grows
tardily, and very often remains an infantile. It is well known that
syphilis has been transmitted to new-born infants at the time of
birth, in consequence of which these infants may in turn transmit
syphilis to their wet-nurses. In such cases they are really sick
and need medical treatment from the hour of their birth. Just
as in the adult patient, syphilis has several successive stages, an
acute primary stage, with plain manifestations of hard ulcers,
erythema diffused over the skin of the entire body, glandular
infiltrations, etc., and then secondary and tertiary manifestations
that eventually become chronic and exhibit almost imperceptible
symptoms; so in the case of children, syphilis may be transmitted
in various degrees of virulence. In the acute stage the result will
be abortion or the child will be still-born, or else the new-born
child will plainly exhibit ulcerations and erythema, but at other
periods of the disease, the child may bear far less evident signs
of its affliction, as for instance a special form of corrosion in the
enamel of its teeth; the cervical pleiades or enlargement of certain
little lymphatic glands like the beads of a rosary, distinguishable
by touch in the posterior region of the neck; certain cranial mal-
formations (prominent nodules on the parietal bones. Parrot's
nodes) ; and in the child's whole personality an under-development
158 • PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
in respect to its age. In cases like these the teacher's observations
may be of real social value, because the child has shown no symp-
toms of such a nature as to cause the parents to have recourse to a
physician, and it is the child's scholarship (using the word in the
broad sense of the way in which the child reacts in the environment
of school, the profit he derives from study, etc.) that may reveal
an abnormal development to an intelligent teacher.
The first indication is a stature helow what is normal at a given
age. Such observations ought to be obligatory upon teachers
who are in sympathy with the new ideas, for they alone can be the
arbiters of the rising generations. It is being said on all sides, to
be sure, with optimistic assurance that argues a deficiency of
critical insight and common sense, that an adequate education of
the mothers ought to enlighten all women in regard to the laws of
growth in children and the abnormalities that are remediable.
But of what class of mothers are we supposed to be speaking?
Certainly not of the great mass of working women and illiterates!
certainly not of the women who have been constrained to hard
toil from childhood up, and later on condemned to abortion because
of such unjust labor, while their spirit is brutalized and their
memory loses even the last lingering notion of an alphabet ! It
will always be easier and more practical, in every way, to enlighten
twenty-five thousand teachers regarding these principles than to
enlighten many millions of mothers; not to mention that if we
wished to enlighten these mothers in a practical way regarding the
principles of the hygiene of generation, we should still have to in-
voke the services of that very class whose assigned task in society
is precisely that of educating the masses!
The teacher can and should learn at least how to suspect the
presence of hereditary syphilis in his pupils, in order to be able to
invoke the aid of the physician, leaving to the latter the completion
of the task, namely, the eventual cure. It is well known that iodide
of potassium and its substitutes, especially if used at an early stage,
can cure syphilitic children and therefore save innocent boys and
girls from eventual definite arrest of development and from all
the resultant human and social misery.
Another cause that is deleterious to development is
Tuberculosis. — Although it has now been demonstrated that
tuberculosis is not hereditary, as an active disease — that is, we
cannot inherit in our organism localised colonies of the tuberculo-
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 159
sis bacillus, because the bacilli cannot pass through the placenta
into the foetus during the period of gestation — nevertheless a predis-
position to infection from the bacillus can be inherited.
A predisposition which consists in a special form of weakened
resistance of the tissues, rendering them incapable of immunity, and
a skeletal formation which is distinguished by a narrowness of
the chest, and a consequent smallness of lungs, which, being unable
to take in sufficient air, constitute a locus minoris resistentice
(locality of less resistance) to localisation of the bacilli. Now,
since our environment is highly infected by the bacilli of tuberculo-
sis, we must all necessarily meet with it, we must all have repeat-
edly received into our mouths and air passages Koch's bacilli, alive
and virulent ; and yet the strong organism remains immune, while
the weak succumbs. Consequently those who are predisposed by
heredity are almost fated to become tuberculous, and in this sense
the malady presents the appearance of being truly hereditary.
But such organic weakness in a child predisposed to tuberculosis
is manifested not only by possible attacks of various forms of the
disease localised in the glands (scrofula) or the bones, but also
by a delayed development of the whole personality.
Now, the environment of school and the educative methods
still in vogue in our schools, not only are not adapted to correct
such a predisposition, but what is more, the school itself creates
this predisposition! In fact, the sitting posture — or rather, that
of stooping over the desk, to write — and the prolonged confine-
ment in a closed environment, impede the normal development of
the thorax and of all the physical powers in general. Many a
work on pedagogic anthropology has already shown that the most
studious scholars, the prize-winners, etc., have a wretched chest
measure, and a muscular force so low as to threaten ruin to their
constitutions.
Consequently, children who are predisposed to tuberculosis
ought unquestionably to be removed from our schools and cared
for and educated in favourable environments. While we are still
impotent in the face of fatalities due to this deplorable disease,
we are not ignorant of the means needed to save a predisposed
child and transform him into a robust and resistant lad. Such
knowledge, to be sure, was applied to mankind only as a second
thought ; for the first men to apply and then to teach such means
of defence were the owners of cattle and the veterinaries. The
160 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
owners of cattle discovered that if a calf was born of a tuber-
culous cow, it could be saved and become an excellent head of
cattle, if only it was subjected to a very simple procedure; the
calf must be removed from its mother and given over to be nursed
by another cow in the open country; and it must remain in the
open pastures for some time after it its weaned.
By taking similar precautions in the case of children, it has
been shown that the son of a tuberculous woman, if entrusted to
a wet-nurse in the open country, and brought up on an abundance
of nourishing food until his sixth year in the freedom of the fields,
can be made as robust as any naturally sound child. From this we
get the principle of schools in the open air, or of schools in the woods,
or on the sea-shore, for the benefit of weak, anemic children, pre-
disposed to tuberculosis. Such a sojourn constitutes the '^ School-
Sanatorium," the lack of which is so grievously felt by the parents
of feeble children, and that might so easily be instituted in our mild
and luxuriant peninsula, so rich in hillsides and. sea-coast!
Malaria. — One of the chief causes of mortality and of biological
pauperism in many regions of Italy is malaria. This scourge
rages even to the very gates of Rome. The country folk of these
abandoned tracts pine away in misery and at the same time in
illiteracy, while their blood is impoverished by disease, and a
notable percentage of the children are victims of arrested development.
These unfortunates, forgotten by civilisation, are destined to
roam the fields, bearing with them, till the day of their death, a
deceptive appearance of youth, and an infantile incapacity for
work, an object-lesson of misery and barbarity! Among the
means of fighting malaria, the spread of civilisation and the school
ought to find a place. Even the quinine given freely by the govern-
ment is distributed with difficulty among these unhappy people,
brutalised by hunger and fever; and some message from civil-
isation ought to precede the remedy for the material ill. A far-
sighted institution is that of Sunday classes founded by Signor
Celli and his wife in the abandoned malarial districts. In these
classes, the teachers from elementary schools give lessons every
Sunday, spreading the principles of civic life, at the same time that
they distribute quinine to the children.
If we stop to think that wherever malaria is beaten back, it
means a direct conquest of fertile lands and of robust men, and
hence of wealth, we must reahse at once the immense importance
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 161
of this sort of school and this sort of struggle, which may be com-
pared to the ancient wars of conquest, when new territories and
strong men constituted the prize of battles won, and the grandeur
of the victorious nations.
Pellagra.— FellsigTa, is still another scourge diffused over many
regions of Italy. It is well known that this disease, whose patho-
logical etiology is still obscure, has some connection with a diet
of mouldy grain. Pellagra runs a slow course, beginning almost
unnoticed in the first year, with a simple cutaneous eruption,
which the peasants sometimes attribute to the sun. The second
year disturbances of the stomach and intestines begin, aggravated
by a diet of spoiled corn; but it is usually not until the third
year that pellagra reveals itself through its symptoms of great
nervous derangements, with depression of muscular, psychic and
sexual powers, together with melancholia, amounting to a true
and special form of psychosis (insanity) leading to homicide, even
of those nearest and dearest (mothers murdering their children)
and to suicide.
This established cycle of the disease is not invariable. Instead
of representing successive stages, these symptoms may often be
regarded merely as representing the prevailing phenomena in various
forms of pellagra; in any case, it constitutes a malady that runs a
slow course during which the same patient is liable to many relapses.
While the malady is running its course, the patients may continue
their usual physiological and social life, and even reproduce them-
selves. So that it is not an infrequent case when we find mothers,
suffering from pellagra, nursing an offspring generated in sickness
and condemned to manifold forms of arrested development, both
physical and mental.
Against a disease so terrible that it strikes the individual and
the species, it is now a matter of common knowledge that there
is an exceedingly simple remedy: it consists in a strongly nitrog-
enous diet (^. e. meat) and that, too, only temporarily. In fact,
in the districts where the pellagra rages, various charitable organ-
isations have been established, among others the economic kitchens
for mothers, which by distributing big rations of meat effect a cure,
within a few months, not only of the sick mothers but of their
children as well.
The real battle against pellagra must be won through agrarian
reforms: but in the meantime the local authorities could in no
162 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
small degree aid the unhappy population with their counsel, by-
enlightening the peasants regarding the risks they run, as well as
by informing them of the various forms of organised aid actually
established in the neighbourhood and often unknown to the public
or feared by them, because of the ignorance and prejudice with
which they are profoundly imbued!
Pauperism, Denutrition, Hypertrophy. — We may define all the
causes hitherto considered that are deleterious to growth, as tox-
ical dystrophies, since not only alcohol, but the several diseases
above discussed — syphilis, tuberculosis, malaria, pellagra — produce
forms of chronic intoxication. But besides all these various forms
of dystrophies, we may also cite cases of infantilism due purely
to defective nutrition, and family poverty. Physiological misery
may produce an arrest of growth in children.
But just as denutrition associated with pauperism (social
misery, economic poverty, lack of nourishment) may cause an
organism in course of development to arrest its processes of evolu-
tion through lack of material, the same result is equally apt to
be produced by any one of a great variety of causes liable to
produce organic denutrition, physiological poverty.
For example, too frequent pregnancies of the child's mother,
which have resulted in impoverishing the maternal organism,
causing deficiency of milk, etc.
Infant Illnesses. — In the same way, organic impoverishment
is caused by certain maladies of the digestive system which impede
the normal assimilation of nutritive matter: dysentery, for in-
stance; and the effects may be still more disastrous if symptoms
of this kind are accompanied by feverish conditions, as in typhus.
There are cases, however, in which the arrest of development is
not to be attributed to some wasting disease, or to the denutrition
resulting from it; but rather to some acute illness occurring in early
childhood (pneumonia, etc.), after which the child ceased to pro-
gress in accordance with his former obviously normal development.
Anangioplastic Infantilism. — Another form of infantilism is
associated with a malformation of the heart and blood-vessels,
that is to say, the heart and aorta together with the entire circu-
latory system are of small dimensions; the calibre of the arteries
is less than normal. In such a case the restriction of the entire
vascular system and the scantiness of circulation of the blood
constitute an impediment to the normal growth of the organism.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 163
Although in such cases the explanation of the cause of the phenom-
enon is purely mechanical, nevertheless such abnormality of the
heart and veins is to be classed as a teratological (monstrous)
malformation, determined by original anomalies of the ductless
glands, similar to what is found in cases of cephalic and cerebral
monstrosities.
In this form of infantilism the patient shows not only the usual
fundamental characteristics already noted, but also symptoms of
anemia as obstinate to all methods of treatment as chlorosis is;
in addition to which they often show congenital malformations
of the heart, in every way similar in their effects to valvular
affections such as may result from pathological causes (chief of
which are mitral and aortic stenosis, which consist of a stricture
of the valves connected with the left ventricle of the heart).
Accordingly, children who show forms of mitral infantilism are
inferior to their actual age not only in their whole psychosomatic
appearance, but they are noticeably weak, pale and suffering from
shortness of breath and disturbances of the circulation. In such
cases, neither pedagogy nor hygiene can counteract the arrest of
development; but it is well that the attention of teachers should be
called to such cases, in order that cruel errors may be prevented,
which would unconsciously do additional harm to individuals al-
ready burdened by nature with physiological wretchedness.
In conclusion: The normal growth of the organism is asso-
ciated with the functional action of certain glands known as glands
''of internal secretion, " such as the thymus and thyroid, first of all,
as well as the suprarenal capsules and the cerebral hypophysis.
This group of formative glands presides not only over the entire
growth of the body, but also over the intimate modeling of its
structure; so that a lesion or deficiency in any of them results not
only in nanism and an arrest of mental development, but in various
forms of general dystrophy.
That the organism is associated in the course of its trans-
formations with the functional action of specific glands is shown
by the development of puberty, which consists in a series of trans-
formations of the entire organism, but is associated with the es-
tablishment of funQtional activity of glands that were hitherto
immature: the genital glands (ovaries, testicles). These glands
also are functionally in close sympathy with the entire group
of formative glands: so much so that, if the glands of in-
164 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
ternal secretion are injured, the genital glands usually fail to
attain normal development (infantilism). Now, the transfor-
mations which take place in the organism at the period of puberty-
might be produced at other periods if the functional action of the
generative glands should show itself at a different epoch. That
is, these transformations are not associated with the age of the
organism, but with the development of specific glands. There are
cases of the genital glands maturing at abnormal ages; or of local
maladies that have hastened the appearance of the phenomena of
puberty in children of tender years. A notable case is that de-
scribed by Dr. Sacchi, * of a nine-year old boy, who had grown
normally up to the age of five and a half, both in his physiological
organism and in his psychic personality. At the age of five and a
half, the child's father noticed a physical and moral alteration;
the child's voice grew deeper, his character more serious, and the
skeletal and muscular systems grew rapidly, while on certain
portions of the body, as for example on the face, a fine down
appeared. At the age of seven the child had attained a stature
that was gigantic for his age; he was very diligent and studious
and did not care to play with his comrades. At nine, he had a
stature of 1,45 metres (the normal stature being 1.22), a
weight of 44 kilograms (normal = 24); his muscles were highly
developed, his powers of traction and compression being equal to
those of a man; his chin was covered with a thick beard five centi-
metres long. When he was examined by a physician, the latter
discovered a tumor in the left testicle. After an operation, the
child lost his beard and regained his childish voice; his character
became more timid and sensitive; he began once more to enjoy his
comrades and take part in boyish games. His muscular force
underwent a notable diminution.
Rickets. — It is important not to confound any of the various
forms of infantilism with rickets. Rickets is a well-defined malady
whose special point of attack is the osseous system in course of
formation; but it leaves the nervous system and the genital system
unimpaired. The sufferer from rickets may be a person of in-
telligence, capable of attaining the highest distinctions in art or in
politics; he is normal in his genital powers, so that he is capable of
normal reproduction, without, in many cases, transmitting any
taint of rickets to his descendants.
* Cited by Marro.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 165
Nevertheless this disease, like all constitutional maladies, occurs
only in individuals who are weakly.
Among the characteristics of rickets, the one which assumes
first importance is inferiority of stature in comparison with the
normal man. In this connection I quote the following figures
from Bonnifay:*
Age
11 months
2 years. . .
2-3 years.
3-4 years .
5-6 years.
6-7 years.
7-8 years.
8-9 years.
9-10 years
But together with diminution of stature there exist in rickets
various deformities of the skeleton, especially in the bones of the
cranium, in the vertebral column and in the frame of the thorax;
although even the pelvis and the limbs have been known to show
the characteristic deformities.
An objective knowledge of the first symptoms of rickets ought
to be regarded as indispensable on the part of mistresses in chil-
dren's asylums, and in any case to form an important chapter in
pedagogic anthropology. For it is well known that in the early
stages of rickets the child may be so guided in its growth as to save
it from deformities of the skeleton, even though a definite limita-
tion of the stature may not be prevented.
That is to say, that through the intervention of hygiene and
pedagogy the rachitic child may be saved from becoming a cripple
or a hunchback, and will simply remain an individual of low stature;
with certain signs and proportions of the skeleton indicative of the
attack through which he has passed. Even in very severe cases
it is at least possible to minimize the deformity of the thorax and
the curvature of the vertebral column.
* Cited by Figueira, Semejotica Infantile, p. 121.
» Stature in centimetres
Rachitic children
Normal children
66.5
69.4
70.7
74.8
75.8
83.0
76.8
91.9
91-93
101.25
105.0
106.8
110.6
115.3
118.4
119.0
121.6
124.4
.....2..
166 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The precursory signs of rickets in a child are: a characteristic
muscular weakness, frequently accompanied by excessive develop-
ment of adipose tissue, giving an illusory impression of abundant
nutrition; delay in the development of the teeth and in locomo-
tion, which from the very beginning may be accompanied by curva-
ture of the long bones of the legs. The bregmatic fontanelle of the
cranium closes later than at the normal period, and is larger than
in normal cases, just as the entire cerebral cranium is abnormally
developed in volume, while the facial portion remains small,
especially in regard to the jaw bones.
One of the most salient characteristics, however, is the peculiar
enlargement of the articular heads of the long bones, easily recog-
nizable in the size of the wrists: the enlargement is also found in the
extremities of the ribs, which at their points of union on each side
of the sternum form a succession of little lumps, like the beads of a
rosary. In conjunction with these characteristics, it is to be noted,
at all ages, as appears from the figures given by Bonnifay, that
there is a notable diminution of stature.
The treatment of rickets is medical and pedagogical combined.
Children of this type should be removed from the public school,
where the school routine might have a fatally aggravating effect
upon the pathological condition of such children. In fact, gym-
nastics based upon marching and exercising in an erect position,
together with a prolonged sitting posture, are likely to produce
weaknesses of the skeleton and deformities, even where there are
no symptoms of rickets!
The establishment of infant asylums for rachitic children is
one of the most enlightened movements of the modern school.
We Italians are certainly not the last to found such institutions,
and Padua possesses one of the oldest and most perfect asylums
of this sort of which Europe can boast. Asylums for rachitic chil-
dren ought to have a special school equipment, so far as concerns
the benches and the apparatus for medical and orthopedic gymnastics;
furthermore they should be provided with a pharmaceutical stock
of remedies suited to building up the osseous system and the organ-
ism in general; and a school refectory should be provided, adapted
to the condition of the children. The methods of instruction
should rigorously avoid any form of fatigue, and instead provide
the child with psychic stimuli designed to overcome a sluggishness
due to the mental prostration to which he is for the most part
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 167
subject. As regards their situation, these asylums for rachitic
children may be advantageously located upon the sea-coast.
The Stature of Abnormals. — The name of abnormals is applied
to the entire series of individuals who are not normal : hence the
categories already considered (infantilism, gigantism, rachitis) are
included by implication. The group of abnormals, however, in-
cludes besides a long series of other classes, neuropathies, epileptics,
and degenerates.
Under the head of abnormals may also be included those who
are abnormal in character, such as criminals, etc. It is not irra-
tional to group together the different types of abnormals, for the
purpose of anthropological research, in contrast with those who are
normal. In America, for instance, such studies are conducted on
a large scale, precisely for the purpose of showing the deviation of
abnormal dimensions of the body from normal dimensions, not
only in the definitive development of the body, but also during
growth. The abnormals depart from the mean measurements,
now rising above and again falling below, as though they were
intermittently impelled by the biological impulse of their organ-
ism, which at one time manifests a hypergenesis and at another a
hypogenesis. A clear illustration of these facts is afforded by
MacDonald's diagram (see page 168) : the solid line which rises
regularly represents the growth in stature of normal individuals;
the dotted line which forms a zig-zag, now rising rapidly above the
normal line and then falling very much below it, represents the
growth in stature of the abnormals. Naturally such a chart
must be interpreted by comparison with the standards of mean
measurements gathered at successive ages from a large number
of different children. It shows that normal children are nearly
uniform among themselves, and in relation to the years of
their growth: while abnormal children differ greatly one from
another and do not accord with the mean stature of the age they
represent.
Regarding the stature of criminals there can be nothing special
to say : criminals do not represent an anthropological entity. They
belong to a large extent, whenever the criminal act has a psycho-
physiological basis, to various categories of abnormals. From the
victim of rickets to the infantile, to the submicrocephalic, to the
ultra-macroscele or ultra-brachyscele, all abnormal organisms may
contribute to the number of those predisposed to the social phenom-
168
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Xac-Dortald
enon of criminality. And it is for this reason that we may say
in general that the stature of abnormals is sometimes above and
sometimes below the normal, but with a prevailing tendency to
fall below.
Moral and Pedagogic Considerations. — The objection may be
raised that a medico-pedagogic system of treatment, designed to
prevent a threatened arrest of development or to minimise its
progressive symptoms, demands on the part of society an excessive
effort, out of proportion to the end
in view. To cure or ameliorate
the condition of the weak may
even be regarded as a principle of
social ethics that is contrary to
nature, whose laws lead inexorably
to the selection of the strong and
to the elimination of all those who
are unfitted for the struggle for
life. Sparta has furnished us with
a practical example that is very
far from the principles which
scientific pedagogy is to-day seek-
ing to formulate as a new neces-
sity of social progress.
But we are too far removed
from the triumphant civilisation
of Greece, to recur to the author-
ity of her example: the principle
sanctioned to-day by modern
civilisation, that of ''respect for
human life," forbids the violent
elimination of the weak: Mount
Taygetus is no longer a possible fate for innocent babes in a social
environment the civic spirit of which has abolished the death
penalty for criminals. Consequently, since the weak have a right
to live, as many of them as naturally survive are destined to be-
come a burden, as parasites, upon the social body of normal
citizens; and they furnish a living picture of physiological wretch-
edness, a spectacle of admonitory misery, inasmuch as it repre-
sents an effect of social causes constituting the collective errors of
human ethics. Ignorance of the hygiene of generation, maladies
/
/
-'
/
/
1 1
/
L'
\l
'/
/
L'^
/
/
i
/
/;
/
/
,'7
L-
■'
/
/
//
/■
'/
1
_
u
- stature vf noTTTial persons
Stature of abnormal persons
Fig. 35.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 169
due to the vices and the ignorance of men, such as syphilis, other
maladies such as tuberculosis, malaria and pellagra, representing
so many scourges raging unchecked among the people, are the
actual causes that are undermining the social structure, and mani-
festing themselves visibly through their pernicious fruit : the birth
of weaklings. To forget the innocent results of such causes, as
we forget the causes themselves, would be to run the risk of plung-
ing precipitously into an abyss of perdition. It is precisely these
disastrous effects upon posterity that ought to warn us and shed
light upon the errors through which we are passing lightly and
unconsciously. Accordingly, to gather in all the weaklings is
equivalent to erecting a barrier against the social causes which
are enfeebling posterity: since it is impossible to conceive that if
the existence of such a danger were once demonstrated, society
would rest until every effort had been made to guard against the
possibility of its recurrence.
In addition to such motives for human prophylaxis, a more
immediate interest should lead us to the pedagogic protection of
weak children. The establishment of special schools for defective
children, sanatarium-schools for tuberculous children, rural schools
for those afflicted with malaria and pellagra, infant asylums for
rachitic children, is a work of many-sided utility. They constitute
a fundamental and radical purification of the schools for normal
children : in fact, so long as intellectual and moral defectives and
children suffering from infantilism and rachitis intermingle with
healthy pupils, we cannot say that there really exist any schools
for normal children, in which pedagogy may be allowed a free
progress in the art of developing the best forces in the human
race.
Still another useful side to the question is that of putting a stop
to the physiological ruin of individual weaklings. Very small
would be the cost of schools for defective children, asylums for the
rachitic, tonics, quinine, the iodide treatment, school refectories for
little children afflicted with hereditary taints and organic disease:
very small indeed, in comparison to the disastrous losses that society
must one day suffer at the hands of these future criminals and
parasites gathered into prisons, insane asylums and hospitals, in
comparison to the harm that may be done by one single victim
of tuberculosis by spreading the homicidal bacilli around him. It
is a principal of humanity as well as of economy to utilise all human
170 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
forces, even when they are represented by beings who are appar-
ently neghgible. To every man, no matter how physiologically
wretched, society should stretch a helping hand, to raise him.
In North America the following principle has the sanction
of social custom: that the task of improving physiological condi-
tions and at the same time of instiUing hope and developing
inferior mentalities to the highest possible limit constitutes an
inevitable human duty.
Accordingly it remains for the science of pedagogy to accom-
plish the high task of human redemption, which must take its
start from those miracles that the twentieth century has already
initiated in almost every civilised country: straightening the
crippled, giving health to the sick, awakening the intelligence in
the weak-minded — much as hearing is restored to the deaf and
speech to the mutes — such is the work which modern progress
demands of the teacher. Because such straightening of mind and
body naturally lies within the province of those who have the
opportunity to give succor to the human being still in the
course of development; while after a defect has reached its
complete development in an individual, no manner of help can
ever modify the harm that has resulted from lack of intelligent
treatment.
The prevention of the irremediable constitutes a large part of
the work which is incumbent upon us as educators.
Summary of Stature
We have been considering stature as the linear index of the
whole complex development of the body, taking it in relation
to two other factors, the one internal or biological, and the
other external or social. These two factors, indeed, unite in
forming the character of the individual in his final develop-
ment; and in each of them education may exert its influence,
both in connection with the hygiene of generation and through
reforms instituted in the school.
In the following table are summed up the different points of
view from which we have studied stature in its biological character-
istics and in its variations:
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 171
>
>
Ethnic varieties
and limits of
oscillation
Biological
varieties
Variations
due to
adaptation
Pathological
variations
Stature in different races; extreme limits.
Stature of the Italian people; and its geographical
distribution.
Limits of stature: medium, tall, low.
Difference of stature in the sexes.
Stature at different ages (growth).
Transitory or physiological.
Permanent, often accompanied by
deformities. (Causes: the atti-
tudes required by the work.)
Nutrition,
Heat.
Light.
Electricity.
Psychic stimuli.
Myxedematous.
( from alcohol.
Mechanical
Physiological
Physical
Psychic
Infantilism
Rachitis
Dystrophic
Hypotrophic {
Anangioplastic
from syphilis,
from tuberculosis,
from malaria,
from pellagra.
Denutrition.
Summary of the Scientific Principles Illustrated in the
Course of the Exposition of our Subject
When an anthropological datum is of such fundamental im-
portance as the stature, its limits of oscillation must be established,
and its terminology must be founded upon such limits expressed
in figures that have been measured and established by scientists
(medium, tall, low).
The stature is the most important datum in pedagogic anthro-
pology, because it represents the linear index of the development of
the body, and for us educators is also the index of the child's
normal growth.
Bio-pathological Laws. — In cases of total arrest of development
of the personality (infantilism) the first characteristic symptom
usually consists in a diminution of stature in relation to age; the
morphological evolution, as well as the psychic, fails to progress in
proportion to the age of the subject; but it corresponds to the mean
bodily proportions belonging to the age which would be normal
for the actual stature of the subject.
172 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
WEIGHT
The weight is a measure which should be taken in conjunction
with the stature; because, while the stature is a linear index of the
development of the body, the weight represents a total measure
of its mass; and the two taken together give the most complete
expression of the bio-physiological development of the organism.
Furthermore the weight permits us to follow the oscillations of
development; it provides educators with an index, a level of ex-
cellence, or the reverse, of their methods as educators, and of the
hygienic conditions of the school or of the pedagogic methods in
use.
The fact is, that if a child is ill, or languid, etc., his stature re-
mains unchanged; it may grow more slowly, or be arrested in
growth; but it can never diminish. The weight, on the contrary,
can be lost and regained in a short time, in response to the most
varied conditions of fatigue, of malnutrition, of illness, of mental
anxiety. We might even call it the experimental datum of the
excellence of the child's development.
Another advantage which the measure of weight has over that
of stature is that it may serve as an exponent of health from the very
hour of the child's birth; while stature does not exist in the new-
born child, and begins to be formed (according to the definition
given) only after the first year of its life, that is, when the child
has acquired an erect position and the ability to walk steadily.
Variations. — Weight is one of the measures that have been
most thoroughly studied, because it is not a fruit of the recently
founded science of pedagogic anthropology; but it enters into the
practice of pediatricians (specialists in children's diseases) and of
obstetricians (specialists in child-birth), while even the general
practitioner can offer precious contributions from his experience.
According to Winckel, and practically all pediatricians agree
with him, ''the weight of a child, if taken regularly, is the best
thermometer of its health; it easily expresses in terms of figures
what the nursing child cannot express in words."*
The new-born child weighs from three to four kilograms; but
oscillations in weight from 2,500 to 5,000 grams are considered
normal. Some obstetricians have noted weights in new-born chil-
* Cited by Figtjeiba (Rio Janeiro) in his volume, Elementi di Semejotica infantile, 1906.
From this volume, which contains the result of the most modern investigations in pediatry,
I have taken a number of data regarding the .weight of children.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 173
dren that are enormous, true gigantism, which, however, while pos-
sible, are altogether exceptional; nine and even eleven kilograms.
The oscillations in weight of the child at birth, within normal
limits, may have been determined by general biological factors, as
for example the sex (the female child weighing less than the male),
and the race (especially in regard to the stature of the parents) :
but the factors which influence the weight of the new-born child
in a decisive manner are those regarding the hygiene of generation.
1. ''The children which have the greater weight are those born
of mothers between the ages of twenty-five and thirty. ' ' (Mathews
Duncan.) Let us recall what we have said regarding stature; at
the end of the twenty-fifth year, that is, at the end of the period
of growth, man is admirably ripe for the function of reproduction;
and we ought further to recall the views cited regarding the mortal-
ity of children conceived at this age which is so favourable to
parenthood; and finally the note in regard to celebrated men,
almost always begotten at this age.
2. ''First-born children have in general a weight inferior to that
of those born later (1,729 first-born children gave an average of
3,254 grams: while 1,727 born of the second or subsequent
conceptions gave an average of 3,412 gr." (Ingerslevs). Let us
remember that celebrated men are scarcely ever the fiirst-horn.
3. "Very short intervals between successive pregnancies
interfere with this progression in weight; long intervals on the
contrary do not interfere with it" (Wernicke). In other words,
too frequent pregnancy is unfavourable to the result of the
conception.
4. "Mothers who, at the birth of their first child weigh less
than fifty-five kilograms and are under twenty years of age, have
children of inferior weight, who are less predisposed to normal
growth" (Schafer).
Let us recall what we have said regarding the form and the
scanty weight in the case of macrosceles; and also in regard to the
age of procreation in its relation to stature.
5. "Women who toil at wearisome work up to the final hour
give birth to children inferior in weight to those born of mothers
who have given themselves up to rest and quiet for some time
before the expected birth" (Pinard).
All these considerations which refer to normal individuals,
represent a series of hygienic laws regarding maternity, which may
12
174 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
be summed up as follows: excellence in procreation belongs to
those mothers who have already attained the age at which the
individual organism has completed its development, and before it
has entered upon its involutive period; the mother must herself
have a normal weight; the pregnancies must be separated by long
intervals; and during the last weeks of pregnancy it is necessary
that the mother should have the opportunity of complete rest.
The increase in weight of the new-born child during the first
days of its life, may constitute a valuable prognostic of the child's
life. That is to say, through its successive gains it reveals the
vitality, the state of health of this new human being.
Here also the pediatrists can furnish us with valuable experi-
mental data, which serve to formulate the ^'laws of growth."
These are:
1. From the moment of a child's birth, throughout the first
two days, it suffers a loss in weight of about 200 grams, due to
various causes, such as the emission of substances accumulated
in the intestines during the intrauterine life (meconium), and the
difficulties of adaptation to a new environment and to nutrition.
But by the end of the first week a normal child should have regained
its original weight; so that after the seventh day the normal
child weighs the same as at the moment of birth.
On the contrary, children born prematurely, or those having
at the time of birth a weight below the average, or those that are
affected with latent syphilis, or are weak from any other cause
whatever, regain their original weight only by the end of the second
week.
Accordingly, in one or two weeks the family may form a prog-
nosis regarding future life of the new-born child : a matter of funda-
mental and evident importance.
Furthermore, an antecedent detail of this sort may be valuable
in the progressive history of subjects who, having attained the age
for attendance at school, come to be passed upon by the teachers.
To this end, in the more progressive countries, the carnet
maternel, or mother's note-book, has begun to come into fashion,
for the use of mothers belonging to the upper social classes (as, for
instance, in England) : it consists of a book of suitable design, in
the form of an album, and more or less de luxe in quality, in which
the most minute notes are to be registered regarding the lives of
the children from the moment of their birth onward. Various
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 175
authors, especially in France, now give models for the maternal
registration of the child's physiological progress; true biographic
volumes that would form a precious supplement to the biographic
charts of the schools : and the efforts of the family would round out
and complete those of the school for the protection of the lives of
the new generations. Such assistance, however, is only an ideal,
because nothing short of a great and far distant social progress
could place all mothers (the working women, and the illiterate of
Italy) in a position to compile
their carnet maternel. Auvard
advocates, for registering the
weight of the child during the
first days of its life, a table in
which the successive days from
the first to the forty-fifth are
marked along a horizontal line,
while a vertical column gives a
series of weights, with 25-gram
intervals, covering a range of
700 grams, the multiples of a
hundred being left blank, to be
determined by the actual weight
of the child and filled in by the
mother or whoever takes her
place.
In such a table, the graphic
■■■■■■■iaBaBni
!■■■■■■
IB— I—
■■■■■I
hiBmaii
■iBBIBSBSBI
■■■■■■■■■■Bbi
■■I
in
■ff
■■■■■■■■■■■n
nflHHBnBHiBii
y>' 2' J'^-" 6'6' T' a- 9W0'
Fig. 36.
sign indicating the changes in
weight ought to fall rapidly and rise again to the point of departure
by the seventh day, if the child is robust.
Another law of growth which may serve as a prognostic docu-
ment in the child's physiological history is the following :
2. ''Children nourished at their mother's breast double their
weight at the fifth month and triple it at the twelfth." In other
words, before the middle of its first year a healthy child, normally
nourished, will have doubled its weight.
On the contrary, ''Artificial feeding retards this doubling of
weight in children, which is attained only by the end of the first
year; so that the weight is not tripled until some time in the course
of the second year."
And this gives us pretty safe principles on which to judge of the
176 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
personality in the course of formation, at an epoch when stature
does not yet exist.
Undoubtedly a great moral and social progress would be accom-
plished through a wide dissemination of very simple and economical
carnets maternels; which should contain not only tables designed
to facilitate the keeping of the required records, but also a state-
ment of the laws of infant hygiene; or at least, simple and clear
explanations of the significance of such phenomena, in relation to
the life and health of the child; and also as to the causes which
produce weakness in new-born children; or in other words, advice
regarding the fundamental laws of the hygiene of generation.
All that would be needed, in such case, would be a progressive
exposition by means of the carnets, through lessons made as
simple and as objective as possible, such as the weighing of small
babies, to make the much desired ''education of the mothers"
both possible and practical.
But without this practical means; without this new sort of
syllabarium on hand, to serve as a constant and luminous guide
for married women, I do not believe that we shall have much
success with the scattered lectures, obscure and soon forgotten,
that at present are being multiplied in an attempt to reach the
mothers of the lower classes.
In conclusion, I note this last contribution that comes to us
from the pediatrists :
3. ^' There are certain maladies that cause a daily and very
notable loss in weight"; they are the intestinal maladies; there
may be an average loss of from 180 to 200 grams a day; but even
in cases of simple loss of appetite (dyspepsia) the weight may
decrease by about 35 grams a day. But when a child suffering
from acute febrile intestinal trouble (cholera infantum), loses a
tenth of his weight in twenty-four hours, the illness is mortal.
Now from the point of view of the educator this fact ought to
be of serious interest, because we very frequently find among the
recorded details of sickly children, or those suffering from arrested
or retarded development, a mention of some intestinal malady
incurred in early infancy.
Still one further observation: Meunier has noted a fact of
extreme importance: that while children are passing through the
period of incubation of an infectious disease, and before they show
any symptoms likely to cause a suspicion of the latent illness, they
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 177
sustain a daily loss in weight, from the fourth or fifth day after
exposure to contagion until the appearance of decisive symptoms.
In children between one and four years old, the daily loss is about
fifty grams, and the total about 300; but such a loss may rise as
high as 700 gr. The most numerous observations were taken in
cases of measles.
Now, there is no need of explaining the prophylactic impor-
ance of observations such as these! A child who for a period of
twenty days is in a state of incubation, is called upon to struggle,
with all the forces of immunity that his organism possesses, against
a cause of disease which has already invaded him ; yet no external
sign betrays this state of physical conflict. Consequently, the
child's organism continues to sustain the customary loss of energy
due to the activities of its daily life, and by doing so lessens its
own powers of immunity. To prescribe rest, if nothing more,
for a child suspected of passing through the period of incubation
would in many cases mean the saving of a life, and at the same
time would protect his companions from infection, which is com-
municable even during the period of incubation.
In our biographic records of defective children, which include
the great majority of the weakly ones, we find in many cases a
characteristic tendency to relapses in all kinds of infective diseases,
from which they regularly recovered. Such organisms, feeble
by predisposition, yet sufficiently strong to recover from a long
series of illnesses, were exhausted in respect to those biological forces
on which the normal growth of the individual depends, by this sort
of internal struggle between the organic tissues and the invading
microbes. No scheme of special hygiene for children of this type
can help us, either in the home or at school; the daily variations
in weight, on the contrary, inight constitute a valuable guide for
the protection of such feeble organisms ; at the first signs of a dimi-
nution in weight, such children ought to be subjected to absolute
repose.
The use of the weighing-machine, both at home and in school
cannot be too strongly recommended. In America the pedagogic
custom has already been established of recording the weight of
the pupils regularly once a month; but instead of once a month,
the weight ought to be taken every day. The children might be
taught to take their own weight by means of self-registering scales,
and to compare it with that of the preceding day, thus learning
178
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
to keep watch of themselves: and this would constitute both a
physical exercise and an exercise in practical living.
The weight may be considered by itself, as a measurement of
the body; and it may be considered in its relation to comparative
mean measurements given by the authorities; just as it may also
be considered, in the case of the individual, in its relation to the
stature.
a. The weight, taken by itself, is not a homogeneous or rigor-
ously scientific measurement. In the same manner as the stature,
it represents a sum of parts differing from one another, the differ-
ence in this instance being that of specific gravity. As a matter
of fact, it makes a great difference whether a large proportion of
the weight of an individual is adipose tissue, or brain, or striped
muscles. Each of the various organs has its own special specific
gravity, as appears from the following table:
Specific Gravity-
Tubular bones
Spongy bones :
Cartilage
Muscles < ^
(to
Tendons
_, . , . / from
Eipidermis <,
TT . f from
Hair< ^
(^ to
Liver
Kidneys
Brain
Cerebrum
Cerebellum . .
Adipose tissue.
93
24
10
10
.30
16
10
19
1.28
1.34
1.07
1.04
1.039
1.036
1.032
0.97
All these specific gravities are low; we weigh but little more
than water; and for that reason it is easy for us to swim. But
because of the difference in their composition, the total weight of
the body gives us no idea of its constituent parts.
Take for example the question of increase in weight. We can
compare the mean figures given by the authorities with the ascer-
tained weight of some particular child of a given age, so as to keep
an empirical check upon the normality of its growth. But since
we know that an individual in the course of evolution undergoes
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 179
profound alterations in the volumetric proportions of the different
organs in respect to one another, we cannot obtain from the total
weight any light upon this extremely important alteration in pro-
portions. Thus, for example, Quetelet gives the following figures
of increase in weight for the two sexes:
Weight
Weight
Age
Males
Females
Age
Males
Females
9
3.20
2.91
15
46.41
41.30
1
10.0
9.30
16
53.39
44.44
2
12.0
11.40
17
57.40
49.08
3
13.21
12.45
18
61.26
53.10
4
15.07
14.18
19
63.32
—
5
16.70
15.50
20
65.0
54.46
6
18.04
16.74
—
—
—
7
20.16
18.45
25
68.29
55.08
8
22.26
19.82
30
68.90
55.14
9
24.09
22.44
40
68.81
56.65
10
26.12
24.24
50
67.45
58.45
11
27.85
26.25
60
65.50
56.73
12
31.0
30.54
70
63.03
53.72
13
35.32
34.65
80
61.22
51.52
14
40.50
38.10
—
INCREASE IN WEIGHT OF BODY
ACCOKDING TO SUTILS
Age
Weight of body
in grams
Increase
At birth
3000
3750
4450
5100
5700
6250
6750
7200
7600
8000
8350
8700
9000
1 inonth ,
750
2 months .
700
3 months
650
4 months
600
5 months
550
6 months
500
7 months
450
8 months
400
9 months
400
10 months
350
1 1 months
350
12 months
300
180 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
But these figures give no idea of the laws of growth that govern
each separate organ, and that have been studied by Vierordt. Ac-
cording to this authority, the total weight of the body increases
nineteen-fold from birth to complete development. Certain duct-
less glands, on the contrary, diminish in weight in the course of
growth; the thymus, for instance, is reduced to half what it v/eighed
originally.
Furthermore, the various organs all differ in such varying de-
grees, as compared with their respective weights at birth, that it
facilitates comparison to reduce the weight of each separate organ
to a scale of L On this basis we find that when complete develop-
ment is attained, the eyes weigh L7; the brain 3.7; the medulla
oblongata (spinal marrow) 7; the liver 13; the heart 15; the spleen
18; the intestines, stomach and lungs 20; the skeleton 26; the
system of striped muscles 48.
And these widely different augmentations are not uniform in
their progress, nor is the complete development of each organ at-
tained at the same epoch. As a matter of fact, the brain acquires
one-half its final weight at the end of the first year of age; the
organs of vegetative life attain half their weight at the beginning
of the period preceding puberty (eleventh year). To offset the
lack of indications regarding such increases in weight, we have a
guide in the morphology of growth, which reveals how differently
the various parts of the body develop.
However empirical it may be from an analytical point of view,
the datum of weight is a valuable index, and represents, taken hy
itself, a synthetic anthropological measure of prime importance.
It obeys certain laws of growth which are themselves of great
interest ; namely, there exist two periods of rapid growth : at birth
and during puberty; while at various periods in childhood, between
the ages of three and nine, there are alternations of greater and
lesser growth analogous to those already noted in relation to
stature.
Accordingly, the weight confirms the fact that the organism does
not proceed uniformly in its evolution, but passes through crises
of development during which the forces of the organism are all de-
voted to its rapid transformation; such periods represent epochs
at which the organism is more predisposed to maladies, more sub-
ject to mortality and less capable of performing work (compare
the observations already made in relation to stature).
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 181
Index of Weight. — Accordingly, weight and stature stand in a
certain mutual relationship, but the correspondence between
them is not perfect. In the study of individual physiological de-
velopment it is necessary to know the anthropological relation be-
tween weight and stature; in other words, the ponderal index.
Without this, we cannot get a true idea of the weight of an in-
dividual. For instance, if two persons have the same weight, 65
kilograms for example, and one of them has a stature of 1.85 metres
and the other of 1.55 m. ; it is evident that the first of these two
will be very thin, because his weight is insufficient, while the second,
on the contrary, will have an excessive weight.
A stout, robust child will weigh less, in an absolute sense, than
an adult man who is extremely thin and emaciated; but relatively
to the mass of his body, he will weigh more. Now this relative
weight or index of weight, the ponderal index, gives us precisely
this idea of relative embonpoint, of the more or less flourishing
state of nutrition that any given individual is enjoying. Hence it
is a relation of great physiological importance, especially when we
are dealing with children.
The calculation of the ponderal index ought to be analogous to
that of other indexes; what has to be found is its relation to the
stature reduced to a scale of 100. In this case, however, we find
ourselves facing a mathematical difficulty, because volumetric meas-
urements are not comparable to linear measurements. Conse-
quently it is necessary to reduce the measurement of weight by
extracting its cube root, and to establish the following equation:
St: -^PT^lOO : X _
„. lOO^TF
whence ri = — •
S
The application of this formula necessitates a troublesomely
complicated calculation, which it would be impracticable to work
out in the case of a large number of subjects. But as it happens,
tables of calculations in relation to the ponderal index already ex-
ist, thanks to the labours of Livi* and it remains only to consult
them, as one would a table of logarithms, by finding the figure cor-
responding to the required stature, as indicated above in the hori-
zontal line, and the weight as indicated in the vertical column.
Some authors have thought that they were greatly simplifying
* Livi : Antropometria.
182
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
B
the relation between weight and stature by calculating the pro-
portional weight of a single centimetre of stature and assuming
that they had thus reduced the relation itself to a ratio based
upon a single linear measurement (one centimetre), analogous to
the ratio established by the reduction of the total stature to a scale
of 100. But evidently such a calculation is based upon two fun-
damental errors, namely : first, no comparison is ever possible be-
tween a linear measure and a measure of volume; and secondly, the
relation which we are trying to determine is that between synthetic
measurements, i.e., measurements of the whole, and not of parts.
In the aforesaid method of computing (which is accepted by
such weighty authorities as Godin and Niceforo), the number ex-
_ pressing the weight in grams is divided by the stature
expressed in centimetres, and the quotient gives the
average weight of one centimetre of stature ex-
pressed in grams. This method, which sounds
plausible, may easily be proved to be fallacious, by
the following illustration, given by Livi in his
treatise already cited (Fig. 37). The two rectangles
A and B represent longitudinal sections of two cylin-
ders, which are supposed to represent respectively
(in A) the body of a child so fat that he is as broad
as he is long (the rectangle A is very nearly square),
and (in B) that of a man of tall stature and so ex-
tremely thin that he very slightly surpasses the child
in the dimensions of width and thickness (note the
length and narrowness of rectangle B). Evidently
the ponderal index of A is very high and that of B is very low.
But if we calculate the proportional weight of one centimetre of
stature, it will always be greater in the man than in the child,
and consequently we obtain a relation contrary to that of the
ponderal index.
Let us make still another counterproof by means of figures ; let
us take an adult with a stature of 1.70 metres and a weight of 19
kilograms; and a three-year-old child 0.90 m. tall and weighing 55
kg, (the normal weight of a child of four). In the case of the adult
one centimetre of stature will weigh grams = 382 grams;
^170
while one centimetre of the child's height will weigh =166
^ 90
Fig. 37.
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 183
grams. In other words, one average centimetre of the child's stat-
ure weighs less than one centimetre of the adult, as it naturally
should, while the ponderal index on the contrary is 23.6 in the case
of the adult, and 27.4 in that of the child.
The reciprocal relations between stature and weight vary from
year to year. In babyhood, the child is so plump that the fat forms
the familiar dimpled '' chubbiness, " and Bichat's adipose "fat-pads"
give the characteristic rotundity to the childish face ; while the adult
is much more slender. A new-born syphilitic child which, with a
normal length of 50 centimetres, weighed only two kg. — and
consequently would be extremely thin — would have the same
identical ponderal index as an adult who, with a stature of 1.65
m., weighed 100 kg.
The evolution of the ponderal index forms a very essential part
in the transformations of growth; and it shows interesting character-
istics in relation to the different epochs in the life of the individual.
In this connection, Livi gives the following figures, for males
and for females; from which it appears that at some periods of
life we are stouter, and at others more slender; and that men and
women do not have the same proportional relation between mass
and stature.
Indices
Indices
Age in
Males
Females
Age in
Males
Females
years
years
0
29.7
29.6
15
23.1
23.4
1
30.9
30.5
16
23.4
23.6
2
28.7
28.9
17
23.1
23.7
3
27.5
27.3
18
23.2
24.1
4
26.5
26.6
19
23.4
24.1
5
25.8
25.6
20
23.5
24.1
6
25.1
24.8
—
—
—
7
24.4
24.1
25
23.7
24.1
8
24.0
23.8
30
23.8
24.1
9
23.5
23.5
40
23.9
24.7
10
23.1
23.2
50
24.3
25.3
11
22.8
23.3
60
24.6
25.3
12
23.1
23.6
70
24.5
24.9
13
23.4
23,5
80
24.4
24.7
14
23.1
23.3
■ — •
—
184
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
It may be said in general, so far as regards the age, that the
following is the established law of individual evolution : during the
first year the ponderal index increases, after which it diminishes
up to the period immediately preceding puberty (eleventh year
for males, tenth year for females), the period at which boys and
girls are exceedingly slender. After this, throughout the entire
period of puberty, the ponderal index seems to remain remarkably
constant, oscillating around a fixed figure. At the close of this pe-
riod (seventeenth year for males, fourteenth for females), the pon-
deral index resumes its upward course (corresponding to the period
in which the transverse dimensions of the skeleton increase, and
in which the individual, as the phrase goes. Mis out), and it con-
tinues to rise well into mature life (the individual takes on Hesh);
until in old age, the ponderal index begins to fall again (the soft
tissues shrink, the cartilages ossify, the whole person is shrunken
and wasted.)
J0
m;, 0/23^i6/89/0 // /;? /J /4 /f /a ^7 /S /^ 2/:' 2J J^ 4a sa ^a
Age
Fig. 38.
Women, during their younger years are on a par with men in
respect to the ponderal index, but in later life surpass them, be-
cause of woman's greater tendency toward embonpoint, since she
is naturally stouter and plumper than man, who is correspondingly
leaner and more wiry.
The following diagram indicates the progressive evolution and
involution of the ponderal index throughout the successive stages
of life:
The ponderal index has revealed certain physiological condi-
tions in pupils that are extremely interesting. Some authors had
already noted that the ponderal index was higher in well-nourished
children (Binet, Niceforo, Montessori); but last year one of my
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 185
own students, Signorina Massa, in a noteworthy study of children,
all taken from the same social class and quite poor, and who did
not attend the school refectory or have the advantage of any other
physiological assistance, established the fact that the more studious
children, the prize winners, have a lower ponderal index and a mus-
cular force inferior to that of the non-studious (negligent) pupils.
That the development of the ponderal index stands in some re-
lation to the muscular force, might already have been deduced
from the fact that the greatest increase of weight is due, in the evo-
lution of the individual, to the system of striped muscles. Studi-
ous children, accordingly, are sufferers from denutrition through
cerebral consumption; furthermore, they are weakened through-
out their whole organism; in fact, I discovered, in the course of re-
searches made among the pupils in the elementary schools of
Rome, that the studious children, those who received prizes, had a
scantier chest measurement than the non-studious. This goes to
prove that school prizes are given at the cost of a useless holo-
caust of the physiological forces of the younger generations!
That the ponderal index has an eminently physiological sig-
nificance, is further shown by the following comparative figures
between normal and weak-minded children. The stature, which is
biologically significant, is lower in the weak-minded; but their pon-
deral index is greater when they are well fed, as in the asylums in
Paris.
Accordingly, the sole cause of the physical' inferiority of studi-
ous children is study, cerebral fatigue.
BIO-PHYSIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NORMALAND
WEAK-MINDED CHILDREN
(Simon and Montessori: Based on Children from 9 to 11)
Age
Weight in kilograms
Average stature
Ponderal index
Weak-minded Normal
Weak-minded
Normal
Weak-minded
Normal
9
10
11
21.0
26.5
27.0
25.5
28.5
30.5
1.15
1.25
1.25
1.24
1.30
1.33
24
24
24
23.9
23.6
23.6
It should be noted that in the foregoing table the normal chil-
dren include both the studious and the non-studious.
CHAPTER II
CRANIOLOGY
Having finished the study of general biological questions and
of the body considered in its entirety, we may now pass on to analyse
its separate parts, treating in connection with each of such parts
the social and pedagogic questions which may pertain to it.
The parts of the body which we shall take under consideration
are : the head, the thorax, the pelvis and the limbs.
The Head. — When we pass from the body as a whole to a more
particularised study of the separate parts, it is proper to begin
with the head because it is the most important part of the whole
body. The older anthropology, and biological and criminal anthro-
pology as well were very largely built up from a study of the head;
a study so vast and important that it has come to constitute a
separate branch of science: craniology.
The fact is that the characteristics manifested by the cranium
are chiefly in the nature of mutations rather than variations, and
consequently the anthropological data relating to the cranium
correspond more directly to the characteristics of the species, or in
the case of man, to the characteristics of race. Hence they are of
special interest to the general study of anthropology. But when
these mutative characteristics, which are naturally constant and
have a purely biological origin, undergo alterations, they are to be
explained, not as variations, but as pathological deviations; and for
this reason criminal anthropology has drawn a very large part of
its means of diagnosis of anomalies and of degeneration from mal-
formations of the cranium.
Furthermore, the cranium together with the vertebral column
represents not only the characteristics of species, but also those
of the genus; in fact, it corresponds to the cerebro-spinal axis,
which is the least variable part of the body throughout the whole
series of vertebrates; just as, on the contrary, the limbs represent
the most variable part. Indeed, if we study separately the cranio-
vertebral system and the limbs, through the whole series of verte-
brates, we shall discover gradual alterations in the former, and
186
CRANIOLOGY 187
sudden wide alterations in the latter. The eerebro-spinal axis
(and hence the cranio-vertebral system) shows from species to
species certain progressive differences that suggest the idea of
a gradual sequence of modifications (from the amphioxus to man)
to which we could apply the principle, Natura non facit saltus:
while the limbs on the contrary, even though they preserve cer-
tain obvious analogies to the fundamental anatomic formation of
the skeleton, undergo profound modifications — being reduced in
certain reptiles to mere rudimentary organs, developing into the
wing of the bird, the flying membrane of the bat, and the hand
of man.
Since it is not only a characteristic of species and race, but
of genus as well, the cranium constitutes one of the most constant
anatomical features. For the same reason it is less subject to
variations due to environment, and from this point of view offers
slight interest to pedagogic anthropology. But since the cranium
contains the organ on which the psychic manifestations depend,
we have a deep interest in knowing its human characteristics,
its phases of development, and its normal limits.
Head and Cranium
The term Head is applied to the living man; the Cranium, from
which this branch of science takes its name, is the skeleton of the
head. The cranium is composed of two parts, which may be
virtually separated, in the lateral projection, by a straight line
passing through the external orbital apophysis and extending to
the auricular foramen, thus separating the facial from the cerebral
portion of the cranium. Hence the cranium is the skeleton of
the head in its entirety, and is divisible into the cerebral cranium
and the facial cranium.
The Cranium. — The cranium is a complex union of a number
of flat, curved bones united together by means of certain very
complicated arborescent sutures, and forming a hollow osseous
cavity of rounded form. I will briefly indicate the bones which
form its external contour. On the anterior part is the frontal
bone, terminated by the suture which unites it to the two parietal
bones: the coronal suture; while the two parietal bones are joined
together by the median or sagittal suture, which forms a sort of
T with the other suture.
188
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
On the posterior side is the occipital bone, which is also joined to
the two parietal bones, by means of the occipital or lambdoidal
suture. Below the two parietal bones, in a lateral direction, are
the two temporal bones; and between the temporal and parietal
bones are situated the great wings of the sphenoid. The main
body of the sphenoid is at the base of the cranium. Besides these
there is another, internal bone, the ethmoid.
The Face. — The skeleton of the face is composed of fourteen
bones; some of these are external and lend themselves to measure-
ment; others which are in-
ternal and hidden con-
tribute to the completion
of the delicate scaffolding
of this most important
portion of the skeleton.
The principal bones of the
face are : the two zygomatic
bones (articulating with the
temporal, frontal and max-
illary bones) ; the two nasal
bones (articulating with the
frontal and with the as-
FiG. 39.— Note the line of ceudlug brauch of the
division between the eercbral .,, ■, ...
and facial cranium; in addi- maXlUary, aud UUltmg
above to form the bridge
of the nose; this is a bone
of great importance in
anthropology, because it determines the naso-frontal angle and
the formation of the nose); the two upper maxillary bones,
or upper jaw (articulating together in front to form the sub-
nasal region; laterally with the zygomatic bones; above with
the nasal bones; internally with each other, to form the palate,
and posteriorly with the palatine bones); the mandible or lower
jaw (a single bone, and the only movable bone in the cranium),
articulating with the temporal bones by means of a condyle, and
the separate parts of which are distinguished as the body of the man-
dible and the ascendant branches, which are united to the cranium.
The bones of lesser importance, which are interior and hidden
are: the two lacrymal bones (situated at the inner angle of the
orbitary cavity), the vomer or osseous septum of the nose; the two
tion to this the sutures are
shown which divide the frontal,
parietal, occipital and temporal bones. PD. Coronal Su-
ture; DL. Sagittal Suture: AL. Lambdoidal Suture.
CRANIOLOGY
189
bones in the nose which he on each side of the vomer and are
known as the turbinated bones (concha nasalis) ; and the two palate
bones (which form the backward continuation of the palatine
vault constituted by the maxillary bones).
Human Cranium and Animal Cranium. — The dividing line
between the cerebral and facial cranium is of great importance in
anthropology, because the relative proportions between these two
parts of the cranium form a human characteristic, contrasting
widely with the animal char-
acteristics; and they offer a
simple criterion for determin-
ing the higher or lower type
of the human cranium.
(Compare in this connection
Fig. 40, skulls of the higher
mammals and of man.)
The illustration represents
a number of different animal
skulls; and at the top are two
human skulls, the one of an
Australian and the other of a
European. It will be seen
that the proportions between
the facial and cerebral por-
tions are very different; in
the animals, even in the
higher orders such as the
primates (orang-utan, gorilla,
etc.), the facial and mastica-
tory parts predominate over
the cerebral.
One might even say that the skeleton gives us at a glance the
characteristic psychological difference; the animal eats, man
thinks; that is, the animal is destined only to vegetate, to feed
itself; man is an entirely different species; he has a very different
task before him; he is the creative being, who, through thought
and labour, is destined to subjugate and transform the world.
There are still other characteristic differences between the
animal and the human skull. The cerebral cranium of the ape
is not only smaller but it is furnished with strong bony ridges, to
13
Cynocephalus
Fig. 40.
190 PEDAGOGICAI. ANTHROPOLOGY
serve as points of attachment for powerful muscles intended to
protect the cranial cavity. The human skull is completely devoid of
such ridges; it is perfectly smooth, with delicate contours; it might
be described as ''frail and naked"; for the word nakedness pre-
cisely expresses the absence of those defences with which the
cranium of the anthropoid ape is so abundantly provided. Accord-
ingly, the human cranium is undefended by soft tissues; and even the
bony walls themselves are far from thick. If we take a transverse
section of the bones of the cranium, we find that they are formed
of two very thin layers of bone united by a porous, osseous sub-
stance; the external layer is in direct contact with the muscles
of the scalp, and the internal layer with the brain. These two
layers differ widely in their degree of elasticity : the external layer is
so elastic that if it receives a bruising blow (provided this is not so
heavy as to surpass its limits of elasticity) it will yield even to the
point of touching the inner layer and then spring back to its origi-
nal position without leaving any perceptible trace of the blow re-
ceived (this is especially true in the case of infants),* while the
inner layer is so unelastic as to appear almost as brittle as glass: so
much so, for example, that the indirect shock of the same contusion
may cause it to splinter into fragments, which may either penetrate
the substance of the brain, or produce hemorrhages, or inflamma-
tory reactions in the meninges — and sometimes may constitute
the sole cause of epilepsy, and various forms of inflammation of the
brain (even resulting in idiocy), and sometimes of meningitis and
death.
Contusions on the heads of children, and in general blows
resulting from falls or other causes, must be taken into serious
consideration, in the history of the individual, even though they
have left no profound traces externally.
This human characteristic of nakedness, of the absence of
powerful bodily defences, is not limited to the head alone, but is
diffused over the entire morphological organism. Man, con-
sidered as an animal, is weak ; he is born naked and he remains naked,
and destitute of those natural defences which explain the endur-
ance and the survival of other species; neither the fur nor the plum-
age of mammals and of birds nor the bony shields of reptiles
and scales of fishes serve as defences for this vertebrate, who has
* See the application to pathological surgery of this anatomo-physiological condition
of the cranium, as given by Tillaux, Anatomia topografica.
CRANIOLOGY 191
raised himself to the highest eminence in the zoological scale;
neither the muscular strength and powerful teeth of the felines,
nor the talons of the birds of prey have been his arms of conquest.
Nevertheless, man who has conquered the earth and overcome
all his powerful biological enemies, owes his survival, equally with
all other living creatures, to his victory over other animals and
over his environment. Wherein lies the special strength of this
little, feeble being, who has become the lord of the earth? It
lies in his brain. The arms of this conqueror are wholly psychic.
It is his intelligence which has prevailed over the might of other
animals and enabled him to acquire the means of adapting him-
self to his environment, or else of adapting his environment to
himself. His intelligence, which sufficed him as a weapon with
which to achieve victory in the struggle for existence, is also the
means which still permits him to continue on the road toward
self-perfectionment.
The morphological importance attached by anthropologists
to the cerebral cranium depends precisely upon this: that it is the
envelope of the brain. If we examine the interior of the human
cerebral cranium, we find that it has adapted its bony contours
so faithfully to those of the soft tissues that it bears the imprint
of the various parts of the brain (cerebrum, cerebellum), the con-
volutions, and even the blood-vessels of the meninges. Accord-
ingly, a study of the cerebral cranium amounts to an indirect
study of the brain itself.
Characteristics of the Human Cranium. — The characteristics
of the human cranium are all associated with the great develop-
ment of the volume of the brain. Let us assume that we have an
elastic vessel, representing in form an animal cranium, open at
the base through an orifice corresponding to the occipital foramen.
If we inflate this vessel, it will not only begin to enlarge at the
expense of its folds (ridges), and to stretch and distend its walls
(thinness and fragility of the cranial bones); but furthermore it
will undergo a change in form, acquiring a more pronounced,
rotundity and pushing upward in its anterior part above the face.
This part, rising erect above the face, and determined by the volume
of the brain, is theforehead. Animals do not have an erect forehead ;
their orbits continue backward in an almost horizontal line, giving
them an extremely receding brow. Corresponding to this prepon-
derance of the cerebral portion, the facial portion retires below the
192 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
brow, the mandibles do not extend beyond the anterior axis of the
brain, and are so far diminished in volume that they assume, as
compared with animals, a new function; in short, the mouth is no
longer merely the organ of mastication, but also the organ of
speech; its animal part has been spiritualised.
The Evolution of the Forehead. — Inferior Skull Caps; the Skull
of the Pithecanthropus; the Skull of the Neanderthal Man. The
forehead is so distinctly a human characteristic that mankind
has not needed the help of anthropology in order to realise its
importance — and as a sign of superiority, nobility or sovereignty,
has placed upon the forehead the crown of laurel, or the crown of
nobility or kingship.
Has the forehead always been a human characteristic, or have
we acquired it little by little? Such a problem is associated with
the evolution of the brain. There are in existence certain remains
of the skeletons of primitive men, which show them to have
possessed a cerebral cranium inferior in volume to that now attained
by the human species; and in these remains the forehead is also
profoundly different from that of to-day, in that it is much lower
and slants backward, while the supraorbital arches are very promi-
nent. Such is the evidence of the "cranial caps," discovered
in the early geological strata.
In the tertiary strata of the island of Java, which in that remote
epoch of the earth's history must, together with Sumatra, have
formed part of the continent of Asia, which is considered as the
"laboratory of races," a skull was found by Dubois which raised
the problem whether it should be classed as that of an ape supe-
rior to those now existing, or of a primitive man. Prior to this
discovery, it had been maintained that man did not make his
appearance until the quaternary period. This supposed primitive
man was called by his discoverer the Pithecanthropus, pithecan-
thropus erectus.
Remains that are unquestionably human occur in the quater-
nary period, in which however skeletons are very rare, as compared
with relics of human labour or social life, relics which are found
scattered everywhere throughout Asia and Europe as well (chipped
flints). The various remains of skeletons show us skulls much
inferior to those of modern man, but superior to that of the pithe-
canthropus. In treatises of general anthropology reproductions
are given of human crania known as the Spy or Neanderthal type,
CRANIOLOGY 193
belonging to the epoch when the gigantic mammoth still roamed
the earth. The forehead is very low and receding and the orbital
arches are enormously developed; while the cerebral capacity
calculated from the cranial dimensions is inferior to that of mod-
ern man.
Consequently, as the brain increases in volume in the course of
the revolution of the race, the cranium not only shows a corre-
sponding volumetric increase, but at the same time alters its form,
thus producing the forehead which little by little rises from a re-
ceding to an erect position, and becomes high where it was for-
merly low, while at the same time the prominent orbital arches
disappear. Accordingly, we may consider the forehead as the skele-
tal index of the cerebral volume, and hence of the relative anthro-
pological and intellectual superiority.
In addition to its above-mentioned value, it also furnishes us
with a biological principle of much importance: the relation be-
tween the volume and form of the cranium.
While the volume has a significance that is relative to the mass
of the body, the significance of the form is absolute.
Let us examine these two skulls: normal human skulls of our
own epoch; one of the Celtic race (Fig. 46) and the other Sardinian
(Fig. 43) ; that of the Celtic race is much larger and rounder; that
of the Sardinian is very much smaller and more elongated.
If we were considering only the volume, we might say that it
was simply a case of a microcephalic and a macrocephalic: two terms
(microcephaly and macrocephaly) that fall within the province of
pathology. On the contrary, these two skulls are normal, but they
belonged to individuals characterized by differences of race; the
one (small skull) having a low stature; the other (large skull) hav-
ing a tall stature.
The volume of the head therefore bears a relation to that of the
body; the volume has a relative significance. But the form in both
of them reveals a state of normality; the two skulls have a high
and erect forehead, and exhibit in their whole contour a fine and
regular development. Therefore the form has an absolute signi-
ficance. It even proves to us the normality of the volume, a fact
which could not be determined by the volume alone.
Another mechanical correspondence between volume and form
is disclosed when we compare the skull of a new-born child with
that of an adult. The skull of the new-born child is much smaller
194 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
in volume; but the form shows the relatively enormous volumetric
development of the brain; in fact the skull is protuberant and the
forehead bulges forward above the face (front bomhe), while cor-
responding to this index of cerebral development is the enormous
preponderance of the cerebral cranium over the facial cranium,
which is so small as to be almost reduced to a simple rudiment.
Hence the form by itself alone reveals the infantile character
of the cerebral volume, which, in relation to the bulk of the body
is of far greater dimensions than in the adult. In fact, if a child
simply increased in volume and its growth was not the sum total
of a morphological evolution, the adult man would become a mon-
ster; his macrocephaly would be so exaggerated that his neck could
not sustain the weight of the head (If the relations between the pro-
portions in infancy were maintained through life the adult man
would have a head with a perimeter of 130 centimetres, = 4ft. 3in.).
Aside from its mechanical relations to the volume, the form has
characteristics dependent upon biological factors, such as the sex
and the race. The female cranium in fact has a straighter forehead
than the male and the orbital arches are absolutely wanting, while
the entire surface of the cranium is smoother and more rounded.
Similarly, the different races exhibit forms determined by bio-
logical factors and not by mechanical causes — for instance, the
degree of dolichocephaly (elongated cranium) and of brachyceph-
aly (short cranium).
Hence the form is life's manifestation not only of the character-
istics proper to the species, but also of the mechanical adaptations
demanded by the material composing the body.
It may be said that the volume and the form of the cranium are
dependent upon two different biological potentialities : the volume
is mainly determined by the cerebral mass; the form, on the con-
trary, is mainly determined by the bony structure — no matter how
completely form and volume coincide in their reciprocal mechan-
ical relations.
That is, the attainment of a given volume of head depends upon
the development of the brain; the bone follows this development
passively, is the index of it, the skeletal representation of it, but
never the determining factor.
At one time it was thought, on the contrary, that a precocious
ossification of the cranial cavity would arrest the development of
the brain; microcephaly was believed to be caused by a precocious
Fig. 41. Fig. 42.
Dividing line in human skull, as compared with that of gorilla.
Fig. 43. — Rounded ellipsoidal cranium.
Fig. 44. — Brachycephalic cranium
(vertical norm)
Fig. 45. — Remains of spy cranium.
Fig. 46. — Brachycephalic
cranium.
1
Fig. 47. — Egyptian cranium, 21st dynasty, Fig. 48. — Dolichocephalic cranium,
ovoid type. from lateral norm.
CRANIOLOGY 195
closing of the sutures of the cranial bones; and there was a certain
period when the surgical treatment of microcephaly consisted in
the removal of a portion of the cranial bone, in order to allow the
brain to develop freely.
But the failure of such attempts afforded additional proof of
the fact that the volumetric development of the cranium depends
upon the brain alone.
If a precocious or abnormal suture occurs in the cranial bones,
there does not follow an arrest of development, but simply a mal-
formation; which is precisely in proportion to the potentiality of the
brain, which grows less where the suture has been formed, and in
compensation grows more than normally where the conditions of
the bones permit of cerebral expansion; and a deformity results.
Microcephaly on the contrary shows inferiority of form (smallness,
receding forehead, etc.), but not malformation.
Anomaly of form, therefore, results only from anomaly of skele-
tal development, and is frequently found in conjunction with a
normal development of the brain.
Consequently malformations of the cranium do not have the
grave significance of biological inferiority or of degeneration that
they were at one time believed to have; but frequently they must
be considered in connection with pathological conditions resulting
for the most part in delayed development in the embryo or in early
infancy, producing a thickening of the bone, or a partial suturation
of the points, or parts, or of the entire suture (punctiform synos-
tosis, partial or total) ; sometimes the sutures remain unaltered, and
the deformation must be attributed to various disturbances con-
nected with the nutrition of the skeleton in the course of intra-
uterine evolution (hereditary syphilis, denutrition of the mother
during pregnancy, etc.). In short, a cranium that is abnormal in
form is an indication of pathological occurrences or of physio-
logical errors that have resulted in altering the normal growth
of the individual.
There are many anomalies in the form of the cranium, but here
we will cite only the two principal ones, because they are the most
frequent and most likely to be encountered in individuals whose
growth has been retarded (from lack of nutrition) and conse-
quently constitute signs of physiological inferiority often asso-
ciated with social caste. These two forms are : scaphocephaly and
plagiocephaly.
196 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The scaphocephalic cranium (Figs. 51, 52), is characterised by
being very narrow and flattened laterally; while the forehead and
the occiput project in front and behind, the two parietal bones
meet above almost in an angle, so that, if it were turned upside
down, the vault of the cranium would have the appearance of the
hull of a ship.
The plagiocephalic cranium is a cranium which is unsymmetri-
cal in respect to its longitudinal axis; that is, it is not equally
developed on the right and on the left.
As a matter of fact, our bilateral symmetry is an ideal standard
rather than an absolutely attainable reality; we are all of us a
little larger on one side and a little smaller on the other, but to so
slight a degree as to escape superficial observation, so that in
general we have apparently a bilateral symmetry — that is, we
appear to be symmetrical according to the testimony of our senses;
but a more delicate examination proves that this is not true.
Plagiocephaly therefore represents an exaggerated case of a normal
fact. Plagiocephaly may be simple or compound; it is simple
when the asymmetry is partial; namely, when it is confined to
the anterior or posterior portion; it is compound when it is total;
and in such case we find a complete diagonal correspondence: for
instance, if the right nodule in the frontal region is more promi-
nent, the left nodule is more prominent in the left occipital region,
or vice versa. In general it may be said that the various forms of
plagiocephaly are produced by asymmetry of the nodules or of the
flattened surfaces of the cranium. Even in the case of microcephaly
and of macrocephaly, which are substantially anomalies of volume,
we find corresponding characteristic abnormalities of form. The
microcephalic cranium is of inferior type, suggesting that of the ape
— in other words, it is a cranium which has mechanically adapted
itself to a brain of inferior volume: the macrocephalic cranium,
especially if the abnormality is due to rickets or to hydrocephaly,
calls to mind the infantile type of cranium; it has the character-
istic bulging forehead, while mechanical adaptation frequently
renders it very round (pathological brachycephaly) . We will
take up this question again when we come to speak in particular
of malformations and to describe the technical methods of cran-
ioscopy. What more particularly concerns us now is a considera-
tion of the normal form of the cranium and its morphological
evolution.
Fig. 49. — Cranium of new-born child (lat- Fig. 50. — Cranium of new-born child
eral norm). (vertical norm).
Fig. 51. Fig. 52.
Scaphocephalic cranium.
Fig. 53. — Cranium of new-born child
seen from above, showing polyhedric con-
tour due to nodules of ossification; fonta-
nelle of the bregma; and suture dividing
the two frontal bones.
Fig. 54. — EUipsoides (classified by Sergi)
CRANIOLOGY
197
The Morphological Evolution of the Cranium through the
Different Periods of Life. Embryogeny. Order of Appearance of
the Points of Ossification and of Synostosis of the Sutures. — In its
successive transitions through the different periods of Hfe, the
cranium not only acquires successively greater volume, but it
assumes forms corresponding to the different grades of morpho-
logical evolution. We may group its transformation under five
different periods: 1. from conception until birth (embryonic
evolution); 2. from birth until the end of the third year (infan-
tile evolution); 3. from three years old until twenty (youthful
evolution) ; 4. from twenty to forty (adult age) ; 5. from forty to
the end of life (involution).
First Period. — In the earliest stages of intrauterine life the
cranium consists of a membranous skin, enclosing the primitive
cells of nerve tissue constituting the brain ; it has a cartilaginous
fontanelle of Breoma /v, . ,
Fqniane/le
'oj Lambda,
(occipitalFj
"lelleof Asierion
lontane/le of Pierm (kasfo/'d Ji")
Fig. 55. — Cranium of new-born child. Showing nodules and fontanelles.
basal part, destined later to form the hase of the skull (basioccipital
and basisphenoid bones). But all the rest (the vault or cap of the
cranium) remains in a membranous state, so that at this period
the head of the embryo has not yet acquired a definite form.
In the second month of intrauterine life the phenomena of
ossification have already begun to take place; that is, a fine net-
work has formed, spreading over almost the entire surface, which
proceeds to fill up its interstices with calcareous salts. This process,
198 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
however, is more rapid and more intense at certain points (points
of ossification), from which it cannot properly be said that the
ossification radiates, but rather that at these points the general
process is intensified and concentrated. There are five principal
points of ossification: two frontal, two parietal and one occipital,
which appear clearly defined and projecting like nodules, imparting
to the cranium, when seen from above, a pentagonal form, which
is the normal form of the infant cranium.
Second Period. — At birth the cranium has not yet completed
the process of ossification, nor are the normal number of bones
that will eventually compose the adult cranium, as yet definitely
determined. Therefore the cranium of the new-born child has
three distinct characteristics :
1. It is not yet uniformly rounded, but polyhedral because of
the noticeable prominence of the five primitive nodules or centres
of ossification (2 frontal, 2 parietal, 1 occipital, Figs. 53, 55).
2. Since the process of ossification of the bones is not yet
completed, certain membranous portions or cranial fontanelles
still remain, which are especially wide at the points where several
bones meet. The principal fontanelle is that of the bregma (at
the juncture of the two frontal with the two parietal bones, quad-
rangular). Next comes that of the lambda, which is much smaller
(juncture of the two parietal bones with the occipital, triangular),
and lastly the fontanelles of the asterion and the pterion, on oppo-
site sides of the temporal bones, the former being situated behind
and the latter in front.
3. Since the process of ossification is incomplete, the fusion of
bony portions into entire bones, such as they are destined to be
when complete development is reached, has not yet been accom-
plished; that is to say, certain bones of the cranium are still divided
into several portions. For example, the frontal bone in the new-
born child is composed of two bones, separated by a longitudinal
suture that is destined to disappear, and the occipital bone is
composed of four parts, namely, the base, the squama and the
two condyles (basioccipital, exoccipital and superoccipital bones).
During the first period of three years, while the brain is increas-
ing notably and rapidly in volume, the cranium undergoes various
and interesting transformations. The pentagonal form of the
cranium tends steadily to become rounder, because the primitive
nodules are diminishing, or even disappear, although in this
CRANIOLOGY
199
regard many individual varieties result; and the processes of ossifi-
cation reach their completion. This is the most important period
of growth, during which the individual development of the perfect
cranial form may be attained, provided the rhythm of growth
between the brain and its envelope remains harmonious; or again,
certain deformations may be definitely established, owing to the
intervention of some pathological condition or a disturbance of
nutrition, altering either the internal volume or the normal process
of ossification of the bony covering.
The first closing of the fontanelles takes place, in our race, in
those of the asterion (posterior to the temporal bones) , and next in
those of the pterion; and it some-
times happens, as an anomaly
of growth that leaves no ex-
ternal trace in the living man,
that a little bone is formed,
duplicating the shape of the
fontanelle itself; such little
bones, very common in abnor-
mal crania, are called Wormian
bones. They may occur in con-
nection with any of the fonta-
nelles, but especially with that
of the bregma.
The fontanelle of the lambda
generally closes during the first
year; and the last of all the
fontanelles to close is the largest, which is situated toward the
front of the head, at the bregma, and is well known, even by the
common people, and can easily be felt upon a child's head;
it generally closes toward the end of the second year; and its
characteristics may furnish valuable indications of abnormality
or insufficiency of the child's development. For example, if it
diminishes and disappears ahead of time, this may constitute
the first symptom of microcephaly, or at all events, of sub-
microcephaly (i.e., a case of microcephaly that is not very pro-
nounced). On the contrary, when this fontanelle remains dilated
and delays its normal closing, this is a sign of organic weakness
and debilitating disease (cachexia, rickets, myxedema). Further-
more, the fontanelle in question may alter its characteristic ap-
FiG. 56. — Cranium of adult with abnormal
medio-frontal suture.
200 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
pearance in certain forms of sickness. In the case of hydrocephaly
it becomes distended, while in enteritis, on the contrary, in which
the organism parts with a large proportion of liquid, it becomes
depressed.
The sutures also undergo notable changes during this period of
life. The first to become effaced is the metopic or medio-frontal
suture, which is destined to close and form a single bone; by the
end of the first year it is obliterated throughout the middle third
of its length, and thereafter the process of suturation spreads
upward and downward until it is completed at the end of the
second year (Welcker, Haeckel, Humphry). Sometimes, however,
this suture is not obliterated until very late, and there are anomal-
ous cases where it has remained throughout life, giving the fore-
head a characteristic form (pronounced frontal nodules and a
slight palpable furrow along the medial line of the forehead).
During this same time a fusion has also taken place between the
occipital squama and the two lateral or condyloid portions ; but the
resultant whole still remains separated from the corpus or base of
the occipital bone, which will not become welded into one solid
piece with the rest before the age of seven years.
At the age of three, the ossification of the cranial vault has been
completed. In place of being depressed and protuberant, as it was
at birth, the cranium has grown upward and forward in the frontal
region, assuming an almost definitive form; the volume of the
cranium has at the same time undergone an exceedingly rapid
growth, attaining proportions very near to those of an adult.
From the age of three onward the head grows slowly, and its
transformations are much slighter and fewer. The cranial capac-
ity which at birth is 415 cubic centimetres, becomes at the age of
three, 1,200, at the age of fifteen, 1,393, and in the adult, 1,400
cu. cm. respectively. Accordingly we might say that at the age of
three a sort of repose has been established in the growth both of the
the brain and of the cranium; this is the age at which an awakening
begins in the child of that intelligence which is to put him in touch
with the external world, and it is also the age at which he may begin
his education in school.
Third Period. — There follows a slow and parallel growth of both
brain and cranium. The ossification of the cranium itself reaches
completion. At the age of seven the occipital is definitely solidified
into a single bone and between the years of fifteen and twenty the
CRANIOLOGY 201
body of the sphenoid also becomes welded to the occiput. This
process of synostosis begins from the interior of the cranium, and
only subsequently manifests itself externally. Consequently, the
basilar suture closes at the time when the last large molars, the so-
called "wisdom teeth," appear. After this period, the base of the
cranium can no longer undergo any sort of growth, and in the case
of uneducated persons the complete development of the cranium is
definitely accomplished.
Fourth Period. — But in the case of cultured persons, those who
form the class of brain-workers, the brain continues to grow,
although extremely slowly, up to the age of thirty-five or even
forty, thanks to the sutures which still remain completely intact
and which still make an expansion of the bony envelope possible.
After this comes the beginning of the
Fifth Period. — The period of involution, during which the
synostosis (closing) of all the cranial sutures will successively occur,
until in advanced old age the cranium becomes composed of a
single bone, just as in the embryo it was formed of a single
membrane.
The synostoses which occurred in the early periods had an
evolutive significance and were associated with the growth of the
body and the intelligence. These later synostoses, on the contrary,
have an involutive significance and are associated with the physio-
logical decay of the organism and at the same time with that of the
psychic activities.
The first point at which synostosis takes place is in the region of
the obelion, that is, near the middle of the suture which unites the
two parietal bones; shortly afterward, the fronto-parietal sutures
begin to unite along the pterion. At the age of forty-five, the
obeliac synostosis has progressed as far as the lambda, and that of
the fronto-parietal suture to the bregma; and at fifty the ossifica-
tion is very nearly accomplished, at least on the right-hand side
(according to Broca's series of crania). At seventy the squama of
the temporal bone unites with the parietal, and at eighty the entire
cranium has become a single bone.
These processes are subject to no small number of individual
variations; there have been cases of persons who, although very
old, still preserved many of their cranial sutures intact and their
psychic activities remained correspondingly alert (men of genius).
Conversely, the closing of the sutures sometimes begins as early as
202 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the thirty-fifth year. A diagnosis of age, as determined by the
skeleton, is consequently only approximate.
During the periods of growth the cranium may exhibit transi-
tory anomalies; it is very common to encounter in the heads of
children of the lower social classes, who are consequently subject
to denutrition, malformations which represent various degrees and
forms of plagiocephaly, and which subsequently disappear com-
pletely, as the development of the cranium advances. Anomalies of
form must therefore be judged differently in the case of the child
than in that of the adult.
It may even happen that the five primitive nodules persist for
a long time and even remain as a definitive form of the adult
cranium constituting, according to Sergi, a distinct variety, the
pentagonal cranium. But this is quite rare. From the frequency
with which this form is to be observed in schools attended by
children of the poorer classes, it is better to regard it as due to a
delay in morphological evolution, which will probably disappear
later on.
Normal Forms of the Cranium
We are indebted to Sergi for an exact knowledge of the normal
forms of the cranium. Such forms are racial characteristics and
are invariable, as Sergi has succeeded in proving by a comparison
of the most ancient forms of the cranium with recent forms.
Accordingly this authority takes the cranial formation as the basis
for his classification of races. We have no direct interest, so far
as concerns the special scope of our own science, in the value of
this theory of classification — a theory, by the way, already divined,
although very imperfectly and under a different form, by French
and German anthropologists. Sergi's studies of cranial forms
interest us solely as a diagnostic test of normality as compared with
abnormality. For it is due to these researches that certain forms
that used to be considered pathological, have come to be recognised
as normal.
The normal forms of the cranium may be grouped, according to
Sergi, under nine primary varieties, each of which includes sub-
varieties.
These nine varieties are named as follows :
I. Ellipsoid; II. Ovoid; III. Pentagonoid; IV. Rhomboid;
CRANIOLOGY
203
V. Beloid; VI. Cuboid; VII. Sphenoid; VIII. Spheroid; IX.
PlatycephaUc.
I. Ellipsoid (Fig. 58). — This form is recognised by inspecting
the cranium according to
the vertical norm (see in the
chapter on Technique the
method of cranioscopy).
The cranial contour
recalls an ellipse in which
no trace of the nodules
remains, and in which the
occiput is not in the least
flattened; while the ante-
rior half of the cranium
closely corresponds to the
posterior half.
The sub-varieties are differentiated by their greater breadth
and length, by the form and protrusion of the occiput, and also by
the height of the cranium measured vertically.
Fig. 57. — Elliipsoides depressus cranium.
Fig. 58. — Ellipsoid cranium.
Fig. 59. — Ovoid cranium.
Accordingly, the sub-varieties have a binominal nomenclature
indicating, in addition to the fundamental characteristic (variety)
the qualitative characteristic of the sub-variety (e.g., ellipsoides
depressus; compare Fig. 57, showing a cranium seen laterally).
II. Ovoid. — This form of cranium, seen from above, is that of
204
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
an ovoid, with the broader portion corresponding to the parietal
bones, at the point where the characteristic embryonal nodules are
situated. The protrusions of the parietal bones are apparent
Fig. 60. — Pentagonoid cranium.
Fig. 61. — Rhomboid cranium.
(swellings) but not angular (nodules) .
The occiput protrudes and is broad
(Fig. 59).
II L Pentagonoid. — In this form,
persistent traces of the five primitive
embryonal nodules are still plainly
visible, giving the contour of the
cranium, when seen vertically, the
appearance of a pentagon. The
protuberances, however, are quite
smooth and not pointed, as in the
embryonal cranium.
IV. Rhomboid. — This form is sim-
ilar to the pentagonoid, excepting
that the parietal breadth is much
more notable in proportion to the forehead, which is much nar-
rowed and has lost its nodules.
Fig. 62. — Beloid cranium.
Fig. 63. — Ovoides (classified by Sergi). Fig. 64. — Pentagonoides acutus (Sergi's
collection).
Fig. 65. — Beloides lybicus (classified by Fig. 66. — Platycephalus orbicularis
Sergi). Cclassified by Sergi) .
Fig. 67.- — -Platycephalus ovoidalis (classi- Fig. 68. — Spheroidal cranium, vertical
fied by Sergi). norm (Sergi's collection).
CRANIOLOGY
205
Fig. 69. — Cuboid cranium.
V. Beloid. — The beloid, or arrow-head cranium is hke the
ovoid with the occiput more flattened, so that the widest portion
is further back than in
the ovoid; toward the
front it becomes nar-
rower, constituting al-
together an admirably
shaped type of head.
VI. Cuboid,— Thi^
form is most clearly
perceived when the
cranium is seen either
sidewise or from the
rear. Not only the
face, but the lateral and
occipital walls as well
are flattened; so also is
the forehead, which in
general is quite vertical.
VII. Sphenoid (cu-
neiform).— The broadening between the two parietal bones is
usually far back and very evident, while the cranium narrows
toward the front. The
occiput is flattened.
VIII. Spheroid. — Seen
vertically, it presents the
appearance of a very broad
ellipse ; all the curves tend
to become spherical. The
forehead, however, is not
notably vertical.
IX. Platycephalic. — The
fundamental characteristic
of this type of cranium is
that it is flattened on top,
or rather, since such flat-
tening cannot be absolute,
the arch of its vault is a segment of a circle of very large diameter
(Sergi), with the result that this cranium has the appearance of
being very low vertically and very broad laterally. When seen
14
Fig. 70. — Sphenoid cranium.
206
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Fig. 71. — Spheroid cranium.
vertically it may present a wide variety of contours, ellipsoid,
ovoid, pentagonoid, etc., but its distinguishing characteristic re-
mains that of the flattened vault.
Sub -varieties. — Sphenoides
trapezoides, or trapezoid cranium.
Observed from the vertical norm,
this form appears as a variety
of the sphenoid; and when seen
laterally it is characterised by
the lines of its contour forming
a trapezium. Starting from the
vertex of the cranium one line
slants toward the forehead and
another toward the occiput,
which is very massive. In the
figure given below, the quad-
rangle drawn in solid lines
serves to indicate the correct
position of the cranium, while the trapezium formed of dotted
lines gives us its characteristic form.
Among the forms described by Sergi, are several which were
formerly held to be ab-
normal, such, for in- , r'^-M-^
stance, as the platycepha-
lic cranium and the
pentagonoid. Similarly,
when the surfaces of the
cranium showed a ten-
dency toward flatness, or
when there were cranial
protuberances, even
though these were de-
stined to disappear, they
were regarded as mal-
formations. Before this
high authority offered us
his guidance, there were
certain forms, frequently
encountered, that it was difficult to define, for example,
the trapezoid cranium, which often presents a notable vertico-
FiG. 72. — Trapezoid cranium.
CRANIOLOGY 207
occipital flattening, with the vertex notably higher than the
forehead.
There are also certain forms of cranium having the frontal
region more restricted than the parietal region, or slanting down
from a much elevated vertex, which have been proved to be
normal forms; while still another error previously made was that
of trying to judge the forehead on the criterion of a single model,
deviations from which were much too readily relegated to the
category of abnormalities. The most regular and beautiful
forms, and the ones that are commonest in our racial stocks are
the ellipsoid, ovoid and sphenoid. In my work on the women of
Latium, precisely one of the points that I noted was the frequent
occurrence of certain sub-varieties of the ellipsoid and the sphenoid.
In order to recognise the forms of the cranium, a certain training
is necessary which each one must acquire for himself. Observa-
tions of the cranium will make it easier to judge of the form in
relation to the head, at least, when the latter is not too much
hidden by the hair, as often happens in the case of young children.
A knowledge of the normal forms of the cranium will also guide
us in our judgment of many abnormal forms, which very often
present the appearance of exaggerations of normal types.
Thus, for example, the acrocephalic cranium (much raised in the
parieto-lambdoideal region and sloping forward toward the brow,
while the occipito-lambdoideal region is flattened) recalls the
trapezoid; and the clinocephalic cranium (in which the coronal
suture forms a slight girdle-like indenture and divides the contour
of the cranium, when observed along the vertical norm, in two
curves, a lesser anterior and a greater posterior curve, resembling
a figure of 8) recalls certain varieties of ovoid cranium described
by Sergi. This brings us to a principle that is very interesting
to establish, namely, that frequently anomalies represent exaggera-
tions of the racial or family type.
The Cephalic Index
Retzius was the first to take the cranium under consideration as
a basis for a classification of the human races; and he attempted
to determine a concept of its form by means of a numerical formula
expressing the relation between the length and width of the cranium
(cephalic index). Thus he distinguished the races into brachy-
cephalics, or those having a short head; and dolichocephalics, or
208 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
those having a long head. Following Retzius, who may be regarded
as the founder of craniology, Broca adopted, completed and ex-
panded this method, deriving from the cranium, or rather from the
particular character given by the cephalic index, a key, as it were,
suited to unlocking the intricate mysteries of hybridism among the
human races. Consequently the cephalic index was not confined,
as regards its importance, within the same limits as all the other
indexes, but was raised by the French school, warmly seconded by
Italian anthropologists, to the dignity of a fundamental determinant
of the ethnic type, as definitely as, for example, the vertebral column
serves as basis for a classification including all species of vertebrates.
The Germans refused to accept the cephalic index as determin-
ing the classification of races ; but while seeking to prove themselves
independent of it, they continued to regard the form of the cranium
as a basis of classification (Rtitimeyer, von Holler, and to-day
Virchow), but without ever having identified, as Sergi has now done,
existing forms as normal types of race.
The cephalic index is obtained by the well-known formula ex-
pressing the relation between the maximum transverse diameter of
the skull (see "Technique ") and the maximum longitudinal diameter
lOOd ^ ,
reduced to 100, and is expressed as follows: Ci= -p^ (the cephalic
index is equal to a hundred times the lesser diameter divided by
the greater; in the present ease the lesser diameter is the transverse).
This proportion between linear measurements cannot properly
sum up the form of the cranium. We can, for example, conceive of a
microcephalic cranium having a normal cephalic index, since the
relation between the two maximum diameters necessary for deduc-
ing the index, does not tell us, for example, either the dimension of
the cranium or the form of the forehead.
If, for instance, we should imagine a photograph of a cranium
enlarged a hundred diameters, the reciprocal relations between the
length and the width would still remain unchanged.
In order to demonstrate that the cephalic index does not deter-
mine the form of the cranium, Sergi makes use of a number of
different geometric figures, such as a triangle, an ellipse, a trapezoid
inscribed within equal rectangles, and which consequently have an
equal base and equal altitude, that is, the same proportion between
'length and width.
It follows that skulls corresponding more or less closely in shape,
CRANIOLOGY 209
trapezoidal, trigonocephalic, ellipsoidal, plagiocephalic, and hence
both normal and abnormal, can be expressed by a cephaHc index
having the same identical figures.
But, although the cephalic index is far from being descriptive in
regard to the form of the cranium, it constitutes an anthropological
datum that has two advantages: 1. It depends upon measure-
ments and is therefore accessible to those who, not being anthro-
pologists, lack the trained eye that can distinguish with careful
accuracy the true forms of the cranium in their manifold variety.
Furthermore, since the measurement of maximum diameters is
sure and easy and may be obtained with exactness, regardless of
the thickness of the hair, it may be applied in anthropological re-
search to all subjects. 2. The cephahc index, even if it does not
give us the form, does give us a fact which has a bearing upon the
form, namely, whether the cranium is long or short ; in othe'r words,
it substantially represents the most real and evident difference
between the different types of cranium. And since the cranium
has a visibly spheroid form, that is, with smooth and rounding
surfaces, and constantly adheres to this generic delineation, the
fact of being longer or shorter introduces a definite differentiation
into the general and accepted form, and gives a very simple and
concise indication of it, that conveys the idea more clearly than a
description would.
Granting the practicality of this line of research, the cephalic
index may also be accepted as an index of form, so long as there
is no intention of going deeply into minute differentiations for
systematic purposes. Professor Sergi himself, author of the
system that forms the basis of the study of cranial forms, urged
me to exclude from a practical course in pedagogic anthropology
the classification of forms, limiting the concept of form to that
included in the cephalic index.
The cephahc index has the additional advantage of having
been extensively studied and consequently of having an abundance
of mean averages for comparison that are of great practical use.
Furthermore, the idea it gives regarding the cranium by means
of one simple figure serves to convey certain fundamental prin-
ciples with great clearness.
In dealing with figures that determine an anthropological
datum of such high importance, it is necessary to define its limits
and its nomenclature.
210
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Various authors have introduced their own personal classifica-
tion of the cephalic index, and no small confusion in nomenclature
has resulted; so much so that a need was felt of establishing a
uniformity of numerical limits and of the relative terminology,
in other words, of simplifying the scientific language.
Accordingly, a congress was held at Frankfort in 1885, at
which the following nomenclature was established by international
agreement :
CEPHALIC INDEX. — Nomenclature established at Frankfort
Dolichocephalia = 75 and below
Mesaticephalia=from 75.1 to 79.9
Brachycephalia = from 80 to 85
Hyperbrachycephalia=85.1 and above.
Previous to this, the most widely varied classifications were in
use, and the leading authorities had all introduced into the litera-
ture of the subject their own personal classifications. Here are
some of the more important :
Broca:
Ranke :
KOLLMAN :
Retzius and
Davis :
TOPINARD :
' 64
65 ■
66
67
68
Dolichocephalics •
69 ,
70
71
72
73
74
Dolichocephalics =75 and below
Subdolichocephalics=from 75 to 80
Subbrachycephalics=from 80 to 83.3
Brachycephalics = 83.3 and above.
Dolichocephalics = 74.9
Mesaticephalics = from 75 to 79.9
Brachycephalics = 80 and above.
Dolichocephahcs = 73.9 and below
Mesaticephalics = from 74 to 79.9
Brachycephalics =from 80 to 86.9
Hy perbrachycephaUcs = 87 and above.
Dolichocephalia = 79 and below
Brachycephalia = 80 and above.
and below = UltradohchocephaUcs.
True dolichocephalics.
Subdohchocephalics.
CRANIOLOGY 211
f75\
_ ; True mesaticephalics.
Mesaticephalics \ 77 (Mean average.)
78 1
Q / Submesaticephalics,
80
81
82 \ Subbrachycephalics.
83
Brachycephalics < 85
86
87
True brachycephalics.
89 .
90 and above = UltrabrachycephaUcs.
It remains to determine the extreme limits of oscillation of the
index, both in relation to the normal mean and in relation to the
fluctuations of this important ethnic datum in a given population.
Topinard, as we have seen, gives as his mean figures for the
extreme normal limits among the human races 64 and 90.
Deniker gives, as his mean averages for the human races,
the following figures: For dolichocephaly, 69.4 (natives of the
Caroline Islands; Australia); For brachycephaly, 88.7 (the Ayssori
of the Transcaucasus; Asia).* But we know that a mean is
obtained from figures either greater or smaller than the mean
itself, so that the limits of individual variation must exceed that
of the given figures.
Accordingly the oscillation of the normal cephalic indices
may be given as ranging from 70 to 90.
In regard to abnormalities (extreme human limits of the cephalic
index) the authorities give 58 for dolichocephaly (scapho-cephaly)
and 100 for brachycephaly (in which case the cranium is round
and known as trochocephalic; it is met with among the insane).
Between oscillations of such extremely wide range in the normal
cephalic index, the number chosen as a medial figure to serve
the purpose of dividing the dolichocephalics from the brachy-
cephalics is that of 80, which is included within the division of
brachycephaly. In spite of the nomenclature established at
Frankfort, there is a distinct scholastic advantage, because of the
greater simplicity of memorising and fixing the idea, in reverting
* Broca gives, not as mean averages, but as extreme limits, 70.9 for dolichocephalics
(Tasmanians) and 90 for brachycephalics (natives of the Sandwich Islands).
212 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
to the nomenclature of Retzius, who classes as brachycephalics
all crania from 80 upward, and as dolichocephalic s all those
below 80. It is certainly strange to class all crania from 80 to 90
without distinction as brachycephalics, and then to alter the
name and call a cranium with an index of 79.9 a dolichocephalic.
It has been found that there is always a slight difference between
the index taken from measurements of the cranium and that
obtained from measurements of the head. According to Broca,
it is necessary to subtract two units from the cephalic index taken
from a living person, in order to obtain that of the cranium; thus,
for example, if the cephalic index (taken from life) is 80, the
cranial index (taken from the skeleton) would be 78. Such
differences are due to the disposition of the soft tissues. Con-
sequently, even according to the simple subdivision of Retzius,
a person who was brachycephalic during life, would become
dolichocephalic after he was dead.
But this is what always happens in biology, whenever we try to
establish definite limits. Life undergoes an insensible transition
through successive limits and forms, and this fact constitutes the
grave difficulties and the apparent confusion of biological systems.
In determining degrees of difference, it is necessary to have recourse
constantly to special methods, which teach us to recognise general
properties and to use them as a basis in dividing living creatures
into separate groups (see in the section on Method, ''Mean measure-
ments and formation of series in relation to individual variations")-
Hence, for mnemonic purposes, we need remember only the
single number, 80.
But if we wish to adopt the nomenclature of Frankfort, it is
necessary to keep in mind two figures denoting limits, 75 (inclusive)
for dolichocephaly, and 80 (inclusive) for brachycephaly.
75 B 80
ft>
CO
fo
r+-
85
2-
a
•-i
"Ti
P
n"
cr
o
tr
p
,^
o
B-.
•<
o
n
o
CD
m
CD
V
^3
t^
i^
These constitute, as it were, two centres, beyond which, on this
side and on that, we may picture to ourselves the individual varia-
tions drawn up in martial line. In this case, the space between 75
CRANIOLOGY
213
HAP
OFTHE CEPHALIC INDEX
IN
ITALY
and 80, in other words, the limits of mesaticephaly, may be inter-
preted as due to oscillations between dolicho- and brachycephaly
according to the laws of variability, which is analogous to what
takes place in the case of oscillations in the opposite direction (TO-
TS dolichocephaly; 80-85 brachycephaly). From this point of
view, these two numbers, T5 and 80, constitute median centres of
two different types.
But according to Broca and his school — and this view is
accepted by many anthropologists — mesaticephaly should be re-
garded as constituting a fusion of the two other types, the brachy-
and dohchocephalic, whence
it follows that mesaticephalics
would be hybrids. Other
authorities, on the contrary,
exaggerating the conception
of the fixity of the cephalic
index in a given race, admit
the existence of mesaticeph-
alic races.
But it has been observed
that the greater number of
mesaticephalics are to be
found in regions where doli-
chocephaly prevails; in cer-
tain districts of Africa, as for
example, in Somaliland, not a
single brachycephalic exists,
yet none the less the mesati-
cephalics are numerous. Ac-
cordingly, mesaticephaly may
be classed with dolichocephaly
and regarded as one of its variations, while it seems to be inde-
pendent of brachycephaly. Therefore the nomenclature of
Retzius may for many good reasons be chosen and adopted in
our schools. In conclusion, we shall regard the brachycephalics
and dolichocephalics as the two fundamental types; and shall
adopt the figure 80, included among the brachycephalics, as the
limit of separation. The different grades of dolicho- or brachy-
cephaly are to be determined by mean averages, and the oscillations
due to individual variations, by series. ..
8S-S/-- 81-79
Fig. 73.
214 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Hence it is important to determine the mean average and the
oscillation of the cephalic index for the different races ; and this is of
interest to us as educators, in order to establish the limits of
normality.
The practical method of studying the cephalic index is accord-
ing to geographical distribution.
Here are a few general data of the cephalic index relative to its
distribution :
The most dolichocephalic of all peoples are found in Melanesia,
Australia, India and Africa. In the Fiji Islands the mean cephalic
index is 67 ; in the Caroline Archipelago it is 69 ; in various regions
of India, 71 ; that of the Hottentots, 74; of the Bantus, 73. Belong-
ing to the dolichocephalics or mesaticephalics are the populations
of the extreme south of Europe (Mediterranean race) and at the
extreme north (English, Scotch). On the contrary, the races of
western Europe and of central Asia are brachycephalic (Celts,
Mongols). The most brachycephalic of all these peoples are met
with in the Transcaucasus; their mean average is 88.7. There also
exists a notable brachycephalic type in France (Savoyards, 86.9;
inhabitants of the upper Loire, 87.4) ; also in Dalmatia, 80, while
the Lapps of Scandinavia are also ultrabrachycephalic, 87.4
On very general lines, it may be said that the dolichocephalics
are the Eurafrican races (including the Mediterranean race, with
which the first civilisations are associated: Egyptian, Greek and
Roman) who migrated from the Mediterranean basin into Europe;
and the brachycephalics are the Eurasian races, who on the con-
trary migrated from continental Asia across western Europe (the
Aryans) .
As far as regards Italy, its population is by no means evenly
constituted. The median index given by Livi for Italy, deduced
from observation of more than 29,000 subjects is 80; in regard to
regional distribution, the results are shown in the following table:
Piedmont 85 . 9
Emilia 85.2
Venetia 85.0
Lombardy 84 . 4
Umbria 84 . 1
Marches 84.0
Liguria 82.3
Tuscany 82 . 3
Campania 82 . 1
Abruzzo and Molise 81 . 9
CRANIOLOGY 215
Latium 81.0
Basilicata 80 . 8
Apulia 79.8
Sicily 79.6
Calabria 78.4
Sardinia 77.5
Let us remember that if the cephahc index were measured
directly from the cranium, the result would be one or two units
less, hence the mean average of the cranial index would be about 78.
The accompanying map represents still more clearly the
geographical distribution. The results show that in Piedmont, in
Emilia, and in Northern Italy in general the inhabitants are more
brachycephalic; while in the south and more especially in the island
possessions we find the more dolichocephalic part of the population.
The highest degree of dolichocephaly is found in Sardinia.
But if, instead of the cartographic summary herewith repro-
duced, we could examine the exhaustive one with which Livi has
illustrated his great work on Anthropometry, we should discover
that the distribution does not follow the great regional lines;
but that as a matter of fact certain human groups exist, isolated
like little islands, which have a cephalic index in marked contrast
to that of the remaining population of the same region.
Thus, for example, at Lucca, in the midst of a brachycephalic
population, there is a pronouncedly dolichocephalic group; and
in the midst of the dolichocephalic population of Abruzzo and the
neighbouring provinces, there exists at Chieti a strongly brachy-
cephalic group. Besides these and similar groups contrasting
with the regional type, there exist a multiplicity of differences,
from one successive boundary line to another, so that the limits
of the cephalic index may be determined with great minuteness
in the various regions.
Livi's large charts lend themselves with great clearness to
this sort of analytical study, which would be found to be very
profitable to teachers.
It is also quite instructive to compare the different charts
representing various anthropological data of ethnical importance;
such, for example, as that of the distribution of stature and that
of the distribution of pigmentation. These data are regarded by
anthropologists as attributes of race. Well, in these three charts
it is evident at the first glance that there is a notable resemblance
in distribution, so much so than an eye untrained to observation
216
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
would be likely to confuse them. The cephalic index, the stature,
the colour of the skin are consequently of almost uniform distribu-
tion. Corresponding to the most pronounced brachycephaly, we
have the tallest stature and the fairest complexion; corresponding
to the most pronounced dolichocephaly, we find instead the lowest
stature and the most brunette types. Such an accumulative
coincidence, in certain communities, of characteristics, in contrast
to those that are found combined in certain other communities,
reveal the existence in Italy of two different races. One of these
races seems to have descended from over the Alps; the other, to
have landed on the shores of the Mediterranean. The first
belong to the Eurasians; the second to the Euiafricans.
In my work upon the population of Latium, the mean cephalic
index obtained by me is 78. The distribution according to the
localities studied affords the mean averages noted in the following
table, in which I have also recorded the maximums and minimums,
and the percentage of brachycephalic and dohchocephalic individ-
uals who contributed to the given means :
CEPHALIC INDEX AMONG THE PEOPLE OF LATIUM
(According to Montessori)
Provinces
Mean
Dolicho-
cephalic
Minimum
Maximum
cephalics,
index
per cent.
78
73
89
63
76
70
79
100
80
76
87
59
79.5
75
86
50
80.7
75
87
43
78.5
78
80
65
77
75
80
65
83.6
75
90
11
79.4
76
81
60
Brachy-
cephalics,
per cent.
Rome
Castelli Romani
Tivoli
Velletri
Frosinone
Civitavecchia. .
Bracciano
Orte
Acquapendente
37
41
50
57
35
35
89
40
The results show a preponderance of brachycephalics or of
dolichocephalics in the places where the mean cephalic index is
respectively highest for brachycephaly (Orte) or for dolichocephaly
(Castelli Romani). Furthermore, the extreme maximum and
minimum figures are found to be included in these groups (90 at
Orte and 70 at Castelli).
It should be noted that at Castelli Romani the mean average
is mesaticephalic (76), notwithstanding the absence of brachy-
CRANIOLOGY
217
cephalics; this average is based on figures showing an extremely
pronounced dolichocephaly (ranging to 70!). The groups at Cas-
teUi and at Orte also showed characteristics in respect to stature
(see page 111) ; at Orte the mean stature is 1.61 m., with a maximum
of 1.70 m. (very tall statures for women), and at Castelli the mean
stature is 1.47 m., with a minimum of 1.42 m. (low statures).
Similarly, in regard to pigmentation, I found at Orte a preva-
lence of blonds, and at Castelli of brunettes. Hence the conclusion
may be drawn that at Castelli and at Orte there exist groups of
human beings who are of almost pure race, in the midst of a
population in which racial types have become attenuated or
hidden; but in centres like these we still find persistent testimony
as to the ethnic factors that combined to form the people of
Latium: the one, a blond, tall, brachycephalic race; the other,
dark, small, and dolichocephalic.
The Cephalic Index at Different Ages of Life. — Another quality
that renders the cephalic index of great importance is that it
remains constant in the course of growth, since the two maximum
diameters, the antero-posterior and the transverse, increase at
very nearly the same rate, excepting during the earliest years, at
which time the length of the cranium increases slightly more than
the width. According to some authorities it is in the second year,
according to others it is in the fourth or seventh, that the cephalic
index becomes constant (Binet, Deniker, Pearson, Fawcette,
Ammon, Johannson, and Westermarck) .
The following table is one that I have drawn up on the basis
of Quetelet's figures:
CEPHALIC INDEX
Age
Males
Females
83
83
80
80
80
80
80
80
79
79
79
79
79
79
79
79
79
79
80
79
80
79
Age
At birth
1 year.
2 years
3 years
4 years
6 years
6 years
7 years
8 years
9 years
10 years
11 years
12 years
13 years
14 years
15 years
16 years
17 years
18 years
19 years
20 years
218
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Since it has been observed that the cranium in the course of its
growth may assume forms, amounting even to apparent mal-
formations (due chiefly to "bumps," either symmetrical or asym-
metrical), which disappear during the evolution of the individual,
the cephalic index, for the very reason that it does not represent a
faithful description of the form, gives us precious aid in judging
the cranium of the child, because it accurately determines the pro-
portions between length and breadth which are destined to persist
even in the adult, and hence serve to give, even in infancy, a sure
indication of the ethnic type to which the child belongs.
We owe to Dr. Ales Hrdlicka the extremely important graphic
chart, which I will proceed to summarise, of the cephalic indices
1
s
^^
>
a
3
^
^^
'
-^
^ C
^
s
^
^^
s
^"^
^
J^
>
s
~-
-^
a
^
y
s
^
^
3"^^^
/_
;.
S S
3 S
s fe
3 i
>- 4
5 S
s s S
Per cent.
Negro Children
Children born
in Syria
Fig. 74.
Children born in
Russia
Children born
in Germany
of children of various races: the central dotted line corresponds
to the index 80: consequently the brachycephalics are indicated
on the right, and the dolichocephalics on the left (Fig. 74).
In the case of Italy, the graphic line extends between the two
extreme figures of 70 and 90, which are precisely the extreme
limits that we have already noted for individual adults, in the
case of the women of Latium: moreover, the curve is perceptibly
symmetrical, although the brachycephalics are in the majority;
a fact already established by Livi's mean averages. One might
say that this curve was a graphic representation of Livi's two-
colour method in his map of the cephalic index: one-half of Italy
is brachycephalic and the other half is dolichocephalic; but since
CRANIOLOGY
219
brachycephaly prevails in the northern half, a wider extent of
territory is occupied by brachycephalics.
In America, where emigration brings every variety of humanity,
the curve is even more symmetrical, and rests on a broader basis,
representing widely separated extremes. Ireland also shows a
very perceptible symmetry, the population being a mixture of
Celts (brachycephahcs) and of Scotch (northern blond dolicho-
cephalics) .
In Germany there is a prevalence of brachycephalics; we are
here approaching the eastern regions from which the Eurasian race
came through emigration. Here the Slavs and Celts (brachy-
cephalics who immigrated into Europe at various epochs) are
«
S
«
^
«
«
8
s
8
8
5
3
5>
I
3
a
a
5a
!9
\
§
a
N
a
«
\
£
«
V.^
!4
i«
\
*
«
X.
^
Si
s.
II
_S
^■^
«!
=i
^'**«..^
1
s
a
^^^..^^^
S!
■^1
«
~~^ ^
^^^"
•} 's
-^"
J- A
L s.
\^
»
-J *
.
5
ft
a
^^ —
a
-^i
»
^_^^.-—
£
"
&
^ \
»
^^
. — ""^
^
s
s
ft
ft
j
»
«
s
r'^
q
*
^
^
r
1
s
«
ft
/
1
«
%
%
/
s
$
8
/
1
>
*
Si
/
_J1
s
e
»X
»
i
X
t s
s (
S t
] s
5
S S
Per cent.
Children born in
White Children born
Children born
Ireland
in America
in Italy
Fig. 74.
intermingled with a notable percentage of dolichocephalics
(Teutons) .
But in Russia, a region still further east, and similarly in
Syria, we find an almost pure race: the curves lie wholly within
the field of brachycephaly.
On the contrary, the dark-skinned children given in the last
chart, and belonging to African races and tribes of American
Indians, are all of them dolichocephalic.
According to Binet and other writers, the cephalic index and
the cranial volume are the two anthropological data on which the
criterion of normality of children's heads must be based.
When we observe a child's head which is apparently mal-
220 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
formed, we cannot call it abnormal; it is not abnormal unless it
has a volume notably too small (submicrocephaly, microcephaly)
or too large (rickets, hydrocephaly) ; and a cephalic index exceeding
the normal limits, in other words, exaggerated (scaphocephaly,
trococephaly, pathological brachycephaly occurring in hydro-
cephalics).
The Volume of the Cranium
The volume of the cranium owes its importance, as we have
already seen, to the fact that the cranium represents the envelope
of the brain, and is consequently normally determined, as regards
its dimensions, by the cerebral volume. Accordingly, in normal
cases, when we speak of the cranial volume, we are speaking by
implication of the cerebral volume; and all anthropological ques-
tions regarding the volumetric development of the cranium in
reality have reference to the brain.
In abnormal cases, on the contrary, it may happen that the
bony covering is not a skeletal index of the brain; in fact, patho-
logical cases may occur analogous to those we have already ob-
served in discussing the etiology of cranial malformations, in
which the flat bones of the cranial vault undergo a notable thicken-
ing, so that as a result the greater volume of the cranium is due to
the increased quantity of bony substance, and not of brain tissue,
and is very heavy, so that it readily droops over upon the shoulder:
pachycephalic cranium.
Another cause for lack of correspondence between the cerebral
and the cranial volume may be the abnormal production of
cerebro-spinal fluid within the brain : hydrocephalic cranium.
The Development of the Brain. — In the earhest period of
embryonal life, the brain consists of a single vesicle, the con-
tinuation of which forms the spinal marrow: later on, this vesicle
divides into three superimposed vesicles which represent respec-
tively the embryonal beginnings of the anterior, middle and poste-
rior brain; continuing their development, the anterior and posterior
brains each divide in turn into two other vesicles, so that there
result in all five primitive vesicles of the brain, superimposed one
upon another (see Fig. 75) ; the anterior vesicle which is destined to
grow enormously, dividing into two parts, right and left, with a
longitudinal division, will constitute the cerebral hemispheres;
CRANIOLOGY 221
the second vesicle will constitute the optic thalami; the third
vesicle, the corpora quadrigemina; the fourth vesicle, the cere-
bellum, and the fifth vesicle, the medulla oblongata.
When complete development is attained, the cerebral hemi-
spheres completely cover the other parts of the brain, besides
which they themselves are covered over with .a multiplicity of
folds constituting the con-
volutions. If we take a cross-
section of the hemispheres,
we find that they consist of
an outer layer of gray matter
formed of nerve cells, and of
a central mass of white mat-
ter, formed of fibres.
The study of the convo-
lutions is quite important
(. ,1 ,1 1 • 1 Fig. 75. — Brain of a Human Embryo after
from the anthropological the Fourth Week.
standpoint, because their
number is not identical in
the different branches of the human race, and also because they
differ both in number and in arrangement from the convolutions
in the brain of the anthropoid apes. But however interesting they
may be, considered as differentiating characteristics, we cannot
linger over a study of this kind, which has a purely theoretic im-
portance, and for the present cannot be applied in any practical
and direct way to our problems of pedagogic anthropology. It
will be sufficient to note rapidly that at the present time the study
of the convolutions has received a new impulse through the labours
of certain distinguished investigators, among whom we must once
more include Dr. Sergio Sergi. Instead of studying the surface
convolutions, Dr. Sergi studies the internal folds which are dis-
closed by separating the lips of the cerebral fissures ; and from these
he draws deductions which to a large extent correct those made by
previous scientists, in regard to the eventual ancestry of the dif-
ferent species, the marks of biological superiority or inferiority,
the differences in the brain due to sex, etc.
The surface fissures which divide the cerebral hemispheres into
convolutions are shown in the two accompanying figures (Figs. 76
and 77) , the first of which shows the outer side of the hemispheres,
and the second the inner side.
15
222
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Of chief importance to us is the arrangement of convolutions
and furrows on the outer surface of the hemispheres.
The points to be noted are the following : the two great fissures,
Rolando's, running longitudinally, and Silvius's running trans-
versely, which, together with the perpendicular fissure, divide the
hemisphere into four lobes: the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe,
situated respectively in front and behind Rolando's fissure; the
temporal lobe, situated below Silvius's fissure, and lastly, the occip-
ital lobe at the posterior apex of the hemisphere.
}iola/2do-s fissure
<suicas
/paraiiel sulcus
Temporal lobe
0^<^€
Fig. 76. — Cerebral hemisphere; external face.
In the third frontal convolution are situated Broca's centres,
which are believed to be the seat of articulate speech; while along
Rolando's fissure, in the ascendant convolutions, is the locality
designated by physiologists as the motor centres.
The occipital lobe is the location of the zone of sight; and the
temporal lobe, that of hearing.
It is important for us to observe the volume of the brain, and
therefore that of the head, in relation to the rest of the body; it is
enormous in the embryo; and even at birth and during childhood
the head is quite voluminous as compared with the body, as
CRANIOLOGY
223
appears from the diagram in Fig. 16, in which a new-born child
and an adult man are reduced to the same scale, each retaining his
relative bodily proportions. In Fig. 22 a new-born child is shown
in two positions: from the front and from behind; the head is very-
large and the cranial nodules are plainly visible. Figs. 80 and 81
represent the same child at the age of six months and a year and a
half; in the first picture the head is stUl very large as compared
with the body, and the forehead protrudes (infantile forehead);
in the second, the proportion between head and body has already
altered.
A knowledge of the laws governing the growth of the brain is
of particular importance in relation to pedagogic anthropology.
. . Rolando 'S fissure
/nteradt frontoi
parietal
sulcus
Fig. 77. — Cerebral hemisphere, internal face.
Within the last few years anthropologists have established cer-
tain principles that are well worthy of notice :
1. The child's head is normal when its volume and cephalic index
come within the limits of normality (even if the shape appears
abnormal: Simon, Binet, etc.).
2. When the volume of the head is too small it frequently indi-
cates psychic deficiency; when it is too large, even up to the age of
twenty years, it indicates a predisposition to precocious mortality
(see below).
Very frequently when the size of the head is larger than normal
and is not due to pathological causes (rickets, hydrocephaly, etc.),
224
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
it is associated with an excessive development of the brain, and
also with an intellectual precocity. A high percentage of this type
die before reaching the age of twenty years; and this fact confirms
the popular belief that children who are too intelligent or too good
cannot live long.
This indication alone ought to be sufficient to prove the peda-
gogic importance of the cerebral volume.
The researches made by various authors in regard to the growth
of the brain are not rigorously in accord as to the limits of volume:
but they do agree as to the rhythm of growth.
Welckej gives the following figures :
WEIGHT OF THE BRAIN IN GRAMS
(According to Wblcker)
Age
Males
Females
At birth
400
540
900
1,080
1,360
360
Two months
510
One year
850
Three years
1,010
Ten years
1,250
Accordingly, the weight of the brain is doubled before the end
of the first year; according to Massini it is very nearly doubled at
the end of the first six months :
MASSINI'S FIGURES AS TO THE WEIGHT OF THE BRAIN
Age
Total weight
Increase
At birth
352
420
631
675
694
68 \ o^r.
First month
211 r^^
From first to third month
From third to sixth month
44\^o
From sixth month to 1 year
19 r^
Fig. 78. — Spheroidal cranium lateral norm Fig. 79. — Sphaeroides typicus (from Sergi's
(Sergi's collection). collection).
Fig. 80. — A child six months old. Fig. 81. — The same child a year and a half old.
CRANIOLOGY
225
It follows from these figures that by the end of the sixth month
the weight of the brain is already very nearly doubled; but the
maximum growth takes place between the ages of one month and
three, after which it shows a notable diminution of rate.
But while the weight of the whole body is increased threefold
by the end of the first year, that of the brain is very far from being
tripled, since the rate of growth is still further diminished during
the second six months; in fact even according to Welcker the weight
at the end of the first year has little more than doubled.
Accordingly the rhythm of cerebral growth is not identical with
that of the increase in weight of the body taken as a whole.
According to Massini, the relation between the cerebral weight
and the weight of the body, at the various successive ages, is as
follows :
RELATION BETWEEN WEIGHT OF BRAIN AND TOTAL WEIGHT
(According to Massini)
Age
Brain
Body
Age
Brain
Body
At birth
1
1
1
1
1
8
9
9
10
12
2 years
3 years
1
1
15
First month
From first to third
14
month.
to sixth month. . .
one year
25 years
1
40
In other words, the body grows more rapidly than the brain, and
consequently, than the head: a fact which results in the different
proportions already noted between head and body.
The rhythm of brain growth considered by itself has been set
forth in a most noteworthy and accurate fashion by Boyd, based on
the study of about two thousand cases; from the figures given by
Boyd, I have calculated the amount of increase from period to
period, as well as from year to year, the whole result being set forth
in the following table:
226
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
RHYTHM OF GROWTH OF BRAIN
{Males: According to Boyd)
Proportion
Weight
Difference
Difference
Relative
to maxi-
Age
m
for each
for each
epoch
mum re-
grams
period
year
duced to
100
At birth
331
493
+ 162
—
—
24.2
From birth to 3 months .
36.0
From 3 to 6 months
603
+ 110
—
—
44.1
From 6 months to 1 year
777
+ 174
+446
1st year
56.8
From 1 to 2 years
942
+ 165
+ 165
2d year
69.0
From 2 to 4 years
1,097
+ 155
+ 77
2d- 4th
80.4
From 4 to 7 years
1,140
+ 43
+ 14
4th- 7th
83.4
From 7 to 14 years
1,302
+ 162
+ 23
7th-14th
95.3
From 14 to 20 years
1,374
+ 72
+ 12
14th-20th
100.5
From 20 to 30 years
1,357
—
—
—
99.3
From 30 to 40 years
1,366
+ 9
+ 0.9
30th-40th
99.3
From 40 to 50 years
1,352
- 14
- 1.4
40th-50th
98.9
From 50 to 60 years
1,343
- 9
- 0.9
50th-60th
98.3
From 60 to 70 years
1,315
- 28
- 2.8
60th-70th
96.9
From 70 to 80 years
1,289
- 26
- 2.6
70th-80th
95.3
From 80 to 90 years
1,284
- 5
- 0.5
80th-90th
94.2
In the above table, the first column of figures gives the mean
average weight of the brain, obtained by direct observation of in-
dividual subjects; while from all the others the rhythm of cerebral
growth and involution throughout the successive periods of life may
be computed.
We see that the maximum growth takes place in the first years
of life, the intensity is greater in the first year than in the second,
and greater in the first three months than in those that follow.
Already at the end of the first year the brain has surpassed one-
half of the maximum weight which the individual is destined to
attain in adult life (last column : proportions computed on scale of
100). A notable rate of increase continues up to the age of four,
after which it moderates, but receives a new impulse at about the
fourteenth year (period of puberty) ; hence it appears that at this
important epoch of life the brain not only shares the general rapid
growth of the body, but that by the end of the fourteenth year the
brain has already practically completed its development; in fact,
CRANIOLOGY
227
assuming that 100 represents its complete development, the weight
of the brain is already 95.3; and at thirty it will be only 99.3.
By studying the above table we can obtain a clear analysis
of these phenomena.
For women, Boyd gives the following figures:
THE GROWTH OF THE BRAIN IN WOMEN
(Figures Given by Boyd)
Age
Weight
Proportion to the
maximum reduced
to 100
At birth
283
452
560
728
844
991
1,136
1,155
1,244
1,238
1,218
1,213
1,221
1,207
1,167
1,125
22 8
Three months
36 5
From 3 to 6 months
45 2
From 6 months to 1 year
From 1 to 2 years
From 2 to 4 years
From 4 to 7 years
From 7 to 14 years
From 14 to 20 years
From 20 to 30 years
From 30 to 40 years
From 40 to 50 years
From 50 to 00 years
From 60 to 70 years
From 70 to 80 years
From 80 to 90 years
58.8
68.1
80.8
91.7
93.3
100.4
100.0
98.3
97.9
98.2
97.4
94.2
90.8
The rhythm of growth of the female brain is analogous to that
of the male, except for the more precocious attainment of the
maximum weight, which corresponds to the more precocious
evolution of the female organism.
It should be noted that in the tables above cited the maximum
is actually given as occurring at the age of twenty; and that after
this period the weight diminishes again, subsequently increasing
up to an age that varies according to the sex. But this maximum
at the age of twenty must be considered as one of the false results
of mean averages; and it must be explained on the ground that
after the twentieth year the death rate has eliminated a series of
228
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
individuals whose heads were abnormally large, and that a majority
of the survivors were those whose whose heads had developed
within normal limits.
This fact is further confirmed by Wagner's figures, cited by
Broca :
MEAN WEIGHT OF THE BRAIN
(According to Wagner)
Age
Men
Women
Under 10 years
From 11 to 20 years
From 21 to 30 years
From 31 to 40 years
From 41 to 50 years
From 51 to 60 years
Above 60 years
985
1,033
1,465
1,285
1,341
1,249
1,410
1,262
1,391
1,261
1,341
1,236
1,326
1,203
Here again we have a false maximum at twenty, which nature
subsequently corrects through mortality.
From such knowledge we obtain certain important rules of
hygiene.
The normal brain which exceeds the common limits of volume
is not, in an absolute sense, incompatible with life. We need
only to call to mind certain men of genius who had the brains of a
giant.
Accordingly a brain which exceeds the limits demands of the
individual who possesses it that he shall live according to certain
special rules of hygiene. Children and young people who are
too intelligent, too good, in other words, children of the elite class
demand a special treatment, just as much as any other class
of beings that pass beyond the bounds of average normahty.
Parents and teachers ought to be enlightened in regard to these
scientific principles; the growth of individuals who are exceptional
in regard to their intelligence and their emotions, should be super-
vised as though it were something precious and fragile. Such indi-
viduals are destined to be more subject than others to infective
maladies, which frequently prove fatal, developing symptoms of
CRANIOLOGY
229
meningitis and cerebral affections. Consequently a hygienic life,
psychic repose, an avoidance of emotional excitement, moderate
physical exercise in farm or garden, a prolonged stay in the open
country, might be the salvation of children of this type, who
often are over-praised and over-stimulated by friends and rela-
tives, and consequently subjected to continual excitement and
surmenage to a degree destructive to their health.
Extreme Individual Variations of the Volume of the Brain. —
In regard to individual variations, the authorities give various
figures, from which the following have been selected as most
noteworthy for their accuracy of research :
NORMAL EXTREMES OF INDIVIDUAL VARIATIONS IN THE VOLUME
OF THE BRAIN
Authors
Age: from 20 to 60 years
Maximum
Minimum
From 60 to 90
Maximum
Minimum
Calori . .
Bischoff
Broca. .
1,542
1,678
1,024
1,069
1,485
1,665
1,080
1,080
Without distinction of age:
Maximum Minimum
1,830 1,049
These figures refer to individuals belonging to European
races.
Comparison with the Brains of Apes.— The brain of the great
anthropoid apes (Chimpanzee, Orang-utan, Gorilla), whose
total weight of body is comparable to that of man, weighs on an
average 360 grams, and the greatest weight which it can attain
is 420 gr.
Specific Gravity of the Human Brain. — In normal individuals,
the average specific gravity is 1.03; in insane persons it is slightly
higher: 1.04.
230
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The Relation between the Weight of the Brain and the Cranial
Capacity: Figures given by Lebon:
Weight of the brain
in grams
Cranial capacity in
cubic centimetres
1,450
1,650
1,350
1,550
1,250
1,450
1,150
1,350
Figures given by Manouvrier:
Weight of the brain
in grams
Cranial capacity in
cubic centimetres
1,700
1,949
1,450
1,663
1,250
1,432
1,000
1,147
Increase in the Volume of the Brain. — Studies regarding the
growth of the head, although not yet complete, have gone suffi-
ciently far to give us some useful ideas. In regard to the volume
in a general sense, the cranium in its growth obeys the cerebral
rhythm.
We shall speak in the section on Technique of the methods of
measuring the head: at present it will suffice to point out that
the measurements may be made directly upon the cranium, and
the cranial capacity calculated directly from the head: and that
the maximum linear measurements are sufficient to indicate the
volume — -such measurements being the three maximum diameters,
longitudinal, transverse, and vertical, and the maximum circum-
ference. Even the forehead, as an index of the general volume
of the brain, is of interest in researches relating to the volumetric
growth of the head.
Regarding the growth of the several cranial dimensions, the
most accurate and complete knowledge is furnished by Binet's
researches among the school-children of Paris (1902).
This author has made special investigations into the rhythm
of growth of the cranium and of the face, with special reference
to the period of puberty. The following are the mean averages
obtained by him, relative to the three diameters corresponding
to the three maximum dimensions of the head :
CRANIOLOGY
231
MEAN AVERAGES OF CEPHALIC MEASUREMENTS TAKEN UPON
CHILDREN OF DIFFERENT AGES
(Binet: From the schools of Paris)
Kinder-
gartens
Lower primary schools
Upper pri-
mary schools
Normal
schools
Measurement
4
years
5
years
8
years
10
years
12
years
14
years
14
years
16
years
18
years
Antero-post. diameter
Transverse diameter. .
Vertical diameter. . . .
169.5
140.6
118.8
173.9 174.7
141.7145
121.6 122
177.1181.5 181.5
145.7147.9 150.1
122.8 127.6 129.7
185.3
155.5
128.1
188.3
152.3
131.4
190.4
156.7
130.8
It is evident that these figures contain inaccuracies, especially
in regard to the vertical diameter (where the subsequent two-year
period gives a smaller measurement than the preceding) due to
the fact that the averages were obtained from an insufficient
number of subjects or from subjects differing too widely in intelli-
gence (from schools of different grades). For this reason Binet
summarises the differences in growth, that is, the increase in
relation to the diameters, under broad groups (six year groups,
from four to ten years, and from ten to sixteen), in order to deter-
mine whether puberty exerts a sensible influence upon the cranial
growth. The result is contained in the following table :
INCREASE OF THE THREE MAXIMUM DIAMETERS OF THE HEAD IN
MILLIMETRES FROM FOUR TO EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE
Age in years: from — to —
4-6; 6-8; 8-10
10-12; 12-14; 14-16
16-18
Antero-posterior diameter
5.6;0.8;2.4
4.4; 1.8; 5
2.1
Transverse diameter
8.8
1.1; 3.3;0.7
11.2
2.2; 3.9; 0.5
4 4
Vertical diameter
5.1
2.8;0.4;0.8
6.6
4.8; 2.3; 2.5
0 6
4.0
9.6
232
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
From which it appears that there exists, in regard to the head,
a puberal acceleration of growth.
These conclusions of Binet are indirectly confirmed by the re-
searches of Vitale Vitali regarding the development of the forehead
in school-children; since it is well known that the forehead repre-
sents the index of the general growth of the cerebral cranium.
Vitale Vitali based his observations upon school-children and
students between the ages of ten and twenty. He not only meas-
ured the width of the forehead (frontal diameter; see Technique),
but also measured its height, obtaining the percentage of its rela-
tion to the width (frontal index).
These are his figures:
FRONTAL INDEX AND DIAMETER ACCORDING TO AGE
(Vitale Vitali: Researches Among Scholars and Students
FROM 10 TO 20 Years Old)
Age
Frontal index
Frontal
Amount of
diameter
increase
107.5
112.0
4.5
112.5
0.5
114.4
1.9
116.8
2.4
120.1
3.3
120.6
0.5
121.5
0.9
122.8
1.3
122.1
0.7
11 years
12 years
13 years
14 years
15 years
16 years
17 years
18 years
19 years
20 years
73.05
74.11
74.14
74.80
75.67
77.24
77.02
77.36
77.60
77.15
Accordingly, between the years of fourteen and sixteen there is
a puberal acceleration of growth, accompanied by an elevation of
the forehead (high frontal index).
VitaH gives, as extreme limits of the frontal index, 68 and 83.
But in order to give a better illustration of the author's figures,
his own words may be quoted: "It appears from our observations
that the forehead begins to develop in notable proportions during
the fourteenth year, and that the development of the frontal region
as compared with the parietal region continues to augment up to
the sixteenth year; after this it still increases, but only by a few
millimetres, until the end of the sixteenth year. The cephahc
CRANIOLOGY
233
development is completed between the sixteenth and eighteenth
years. This observed fact is of great importance in relation to the
development of the intellect."
The most complete figures at the present time on the growth
of the brain, are those of Quetelet, which follow its development
from birth until the fortieth year. They are summarised in the
following table:
INCREASE IN THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE BRAIN AND IN ITS
THREE MAXIMUM DIAMETERS
(ACCOKDING TO Qtt6t]^LET)
Maximum diameters
Age
in millimetres
Antero-post.
Transverse
Vertical
At birth
1 year
Men
335
440
471
486
496
503
508
513
519
523
527
531
535
539
543
547
551
555
561
563
564
564
564
564
Women
335
439
469
483
493
500
505
509
512
515
517
518
519
520
521
523
525
528
531
533
535
537
538
538
Men
120
158
168
171
174
176
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
186
187
188
189
190
191
191
191
191
Women
120
157
167
170
173
175
177
178
179
180
180
181
181
182
182
183
183
184
184
185
185
186
186
186
Men
100
127
135
137
138
139
140
142
143
144
145
146
147
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
153
153
153
153
Women
100
126
134
136
137
138
139
140
141
141
142
142
143
143
144
144
145
145
146
146
147
147
147
147
Men
80
105
113
117
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
130
130
131
131
131
131
131
131
Women
80
105
2 years
3 years
4 years
5 years
6 years
7 years
8 years
9 years
10 years
1 1 years
12 years
13 years
14 years
15 years
16 years
17 years
18 years
19 years
20 years
25 years
30 years
40 years
113
115
116
117
117
118
118
119
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
125
126
126
126
127
127
127
It appears from the foregoing table that after the twenty-fifth
year the growth of the cranium practically ceases in all directions.
In regard to the rhythm of growth, the problem is rendered clearer
by the following table, which gives the annual increase :
234
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
ANNUAL INCREASE IN THE MAXIMUM CRANIAL MEASUREMENTS
IN MALES
(From Figures
Given by Quet^let)
Age
Circumference
Antero-post.
diameter
Transverse
diameter
Vertical
diameter
1
105
38
27
25
2
31
10
8
3
15
3
4
4
10
3
2
5
7
2
6
5
2
7
5
8
6
9
4
10
4
11
4
12
4
13
4
14
4
15
4
16
4
17
4
18
4
19
4
20
1
It appears from the above table that the total growth of the
cranium takes place to a notable extent during the early years of
life; as regards the diameters, the longitudinal diameter grows
faster during the first few months than the transverse; but after
the first year, the two maximum diameters which determine the
cephalic index increase in very nearly the same proportion (con-
stancy of the cephalic index throughout life). The vertical diam-
eter on the contrary undergoes a relatively much greater increase
than the two others, since, although much shorter than the trans-
verse, it nevertheless overtakes and surpasses it in its absolute
annual increase.
This corresponds to the fact that the first two diameters are
indexes of growth relative to the base of the cranium, while the
vertical diameter is the index of expansion of the cranial vault,
which more directly follows the growth of the brain and elevates
the forehead as it pushes upward.
CRANIOLOGY
235
Quetelet's figures, however, fail to show in the rhythm of growth
that puberal acceleration which has been observed to take place in
the growth of the brain. This contradicts the researches of Vitali
and also those of Binet.
Similar studies have been made a number of times during the
last few years, especially in America, but with English tables of
measurement, and with little uniformity in the results obtained
by the different investigators.
Among the most recent and most complete figures should be
cited those of Bonnifay* in which however the measurement of
the vertical diameter is lacking, or in other words the third element
needed, in conjunction with the dimensions of length and breadth,
to give the volumetric factors.
CRANIAL MEASUREMENTS AT DIFFERENT AGES
(According to Bonnifay)
Age from — to
Absolute figures
Cir-
cum-
ference
Antero-
posterior
diameter
Trans-
verse
diameter
Amount of increase
Cir-
cum-
ference
Antero-
posterior
diameter
Trans-
verse
diameter
Birth to 15 days
15 days to 2 months. . . .
3 months to 4 months.
6 months to 1 year. .
1 year to 2 years . .
2 years to 3 years. .
3 years to 4 years . .
4 years to 5 years . .
5 years to 6 years . .
6 years to 7 years . .
7 years to 8 years . .
8 years to 9 years. .
9 years to 10 years . .
10 years toll years . .
11 years to 12 years. .
12 years to 13 years. .
13 years to 14 years. .
14 years to 17 years. .
22 years to 27 years. .
343.9
368.7
388.8
429.8
459.7
473.5
487.4
495.7
497.8
504.4
511.6
514.1
514.7
519.8
521.1
529.7
533.1
548.8
549.1
116.3
126.3
132.7
145.4
154.3
161.9
166.2
169.9
171.9
172.8
175.2
176.1
176.4
177.1
177.5
180.1
178.1
182.4
186.6
93.4
99.1
106.0
118.2
129.3
133.3
136.3
138.3
140.4
141.1
143.7
144.3
144.2
146.6
145.7
147.8
148.5
152.2
153.2
24.8
20.1
41.0
29.9
13.8
13.9
8.3
2.1
6.6
7.2
2.5
0.6
5.1
1.3
8.6
3.4
15.7
0.3
10.0
6.4
12.7
8.9
7.6
4.3
3.7
2.0
0.9
2.4
0.9
0.3
0.7
0.4
2.6
2.3
4.2
5.7
6.9
12.2
11.1
4.0
3.0
2.0
2.1
0.7
2.6
0.6
0.9
2.3
0.1
1.2
0.7
3.7
1.0
* Bonnifay, On the development of the H ead from the point of view of cephalometrical
measurements taken after birth. Thesis, Lyons, 1897.
236
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Among the linear measurements of the cranium, the one which
serves to give the most exact index of volume is the maximum
circumference.
This index, nevertheless, is not a perfect one, in the same sense
that the stature, for instance, is a perfect index in respect to the
body, because in the case of the cranium another element enters in:
the form. The cranial circumference of an extremely brachy-
cephalic cranium (almost circular) may contain a larger surface
(and consequently include a larger volume), than a maximum cir-
cumference of the same identical measure, which belongs to an
extremely dolichocephalic cranium (approaching the shape of an
elongated ellipse). This may be easily understood if we imagine a
loop of thread laid out in the form of a circle : if we pull it from two
opposite sides, the enclosed area diminishes until it finally dis-
appears as the two halves of the thread close together, while the
length of the thread itself remains unaltered.
Nevertheless, the maximum circumference still remains the
linear index best adapted to represent the volume) indeed, the
authorities take its proportional relation to the stature as repre-
senting the reciprocal degree of development between head and
body at the different successive ages.
Here are the figures which Daffner gives in this connection:
DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATURE AND OF THE CEPHALIC PERIMETER
FROM BIRTH TO THE AGE OF ELEVEN YEARS
Males
Females
Number
of
subjects
Age
Stature
in
centi-
metres
Cranial
peri-
meter,
centi-
metres
Number
of
subjects
Age
Stature
in
centi-
metres
Cranial
peri-
meter,
centi-
metres
65
11
30
53
112
244
234
30
28
27
21
20
At birth
1.55
2.43
3.34
4.43
5.42
6.41
7.30
8.38
9.40
10.34
11.42
51.17
74.18
85.32
91.88
96.64
103.21
106 . 49
114.47
112.10
128.41
129.12
135.84
34.58
46.74
48.03
49.20
49.55
50.21
50.73
51.66
51.97
52.38
52.24
52.50
65
10
30
49
81
208
179
25
24
30
28
31
At birth
1.39
2.45
3.43
4.50
5.40
6.37
7.36
8.41
9.40
10.40
11.46
50.27
77.20
83.48
89.97
96.07
100.61
104.92
117.36
121.58
126.76
130.00
137.04
34.23
46.45
47.23
47.73
48.37
48.76
49.87
50.38
50.72
51.10
51.08
51.42
CRANIOLOGY
237
DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATURE AND OF THE CEPHALIC PERIMETER
BETWEEN THE YEARS OF 13 AND 22
Number of subjects
Age
Stature in
centimetres
Cephalic peri-
meter in centi-
metres
13
13.39
147.92
52.83
24
14.50
149.21
53.53
20
15.38
163.55
54.34
41
16.43
162.53
53.34
35
17.36
167.93
55.89
26
18.35
171.65
54.91
15
19.40
172.97
55.48
6
20.05
173.97
56.50
342
21.02
168.00
55.37
171
22.22
168.08
55.62
One very important research made by Daffner is in reference
to the maximums and minimums that are normal for each succes-
sive age. This is extremely useful for the purpose of diagnosing
the morphological normality in relation to the age. He naturally
bases his figures upon subjects studied by him personally, who al-
together form an aggregate number of 2,230, and are not always
sufficiently numerous when distributed according to their ages.
Nevertheless, in the great majority of groups, especially those
including the younger children, the number of subjects is sufficient
and even superabundant.
At all events, Daffner' s researches may serve as a valuable
guide in the researches that lay the foundation for diagnosis; and
every future investigator will find it an easier task, under such
guidance, to make his own contribution to it and to correct those
inaccuracies which (for certain epochs) are to be attributed to an
insufficient number of subjects.
Daffner distinguishes, for each year, a maximum and a minimum
both for the stature and for the cephalic perimeter; but since the
person having the maximum stature does not always have the max-
imum cephalic perimeter, and vice versa, the author indicates, in
connection with the maximum and minimum figures, the other of
the two measurements which, as a matter of fact, corresponds to
them in each given case.
16 " • " • ■
238
PEDAGOGICAI. ANTHROPOLOGY
Individual Variations
MAXIMUMS AND MINIMUMS OF STATURE AND OF CRANIAL
CIRCUMFERENCE
Age
Measurements
S. = Stature
Cc. = Cranial
circumference
Maximum (M.)
and
minimum (m.) in
millimetres
Measurements occurring
in combination with
the M. or m.
measurements
Males from birth to the age of eleven years
Note.
At birth
^ . , . . / M.=372
Cranial circumf . . . < „^„
[^ m. =3zD
c,, , / M.=550
Stature < . oi-i
( m. =480
(S. =625).
(S. =500).
(Cc.=369, 365, 354).
(Cc.=343, 341, 337).
1 year
Cranial circumf. . . { ' .-„
[ m. =456
^, , / M.=805
Stature < „„„
\ m. =680
(Cc.=491).
(Cc.=456).
2 years
^ . , . . / M.=506
Cranial circumf .. . < .„„
\ m. =462
Q, , / M.=920
Stature < ^^c
\ m. =785
(S. =855).
(S. =800).
(Cc.=496).
(Cc.=467).
3 years
Cranial circumf .. . < " .„„
1^ m. =462
«, , / M.=995
btature < _„_
\ m. =795
(S. =915).
(Cc. =521, 501).
(Cc.=472).
4 years
Cranial circumf . . . { ' .„_
1 m. =465
e, , ] M.=1090
Stature < „„_
( m. =835
(S. =1035).
(S. =900).
(Cc.=510).
(Cc.=499, 481).
5 years
^ . , . , / M.=527
Cranial circumf. . . < ._,
\ m. =481
o, , / M.=1173
Stature < „_„
\ m. =920
(S. =1070).
(S. =930).
(Cc.=519).
(Cc. =495).
indicates that the number of subjects is abundant.
1 indicates that the number of subjects is sufficient,
indicates that the number of subjects is scarce.
CRANIOLOGY
239
MAXIMUMS AND MINIMUMS OF STATURE AND OF CRANIAL
CIRCUMFERENCE— Coniinwed
Age
Measurements
S. = Stature
Cc. = Cranial
circumference
Maximum (M.)
and
minimum (m.) in
millimetres
Measurements occurring
in combination with
the M. or m.
measurements
6 years
^ . , . , / M.=532
Cranial circumf .. . < .„,
( m. =481
Stature < ' „_„
( m. =950
(S. =1090).
(S. =1045).
(Cc.=517).
(Cc. =495).
7 years
^ . , . , / M.=541
Cranial circumf. . . < _„^
( m. =502
«, , / M.=1276
^^^^^^^ 1 m.=1092
(S. =1232).
(S. =1156, 1223).
(Cc. =527).
(Ca. =514).
8 years
^ . , . f j M.=542
Cranial circumf... j ^.=496
Stature { ' , „ „ „
\ m. =1099
(S. =1207, 1292).
(S. =1158).
(Cc. =537).
(Cc.=497).
9 years
Cranial circumf . . . { ' _„„
1^ m. =507
^, , / M.=1383
Stature < , , „ _
( m. = 1185
(S. =1333).
(S. =1250).
(Cc. =546).
(Cc. =522).
10 years
^ . , . , j M.=553
Cranial circumf. . . < .„_
1^ m. =497
^, , j M. = 1372
Stature < ,^.,0
\ m. =1218
(S. =1303).
(S. =1270).,
(Cc.=538).
(Cc.=534).
11 years
^ . , . f i M.=543
Cranial circumf. . . < _^_
1 m — ^0P\
(S. =1350).
(S. =1307).
(Cc.=542).
(Cc.=513).
Stature
f M.=1466
t m. =1300
240
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
FEMALES FROM BIRTH TO THE AGE OF ELEVEN YEARS
Age.
Measurements
S. = Stature
Cc. = Cranial
circumference
Maximum (M).
and
minimum (m.)
in millimetres
Measurements
found in combina-
tion with the M. or
m. measurements
Observations
At birth
Cranial circumf. . / M.=372..
\ m.=324..
Stature f M.=565..
m. =475..
Cranial circumf. . / M. =486..
\ m.=450..
Stature f M.=810..
m. =705..
Cranial circumf. . J M.=495. .
1 m.=448..
Stature / M.=910..
\ m.=720..
Cranial circumf. . / M.=501..
1 m.=457..
Stature J M. = 1015.
\ m. =810..
Cranial circumf. . / M. =510. .
\ m. =455..
Stature / M. = 1060.
\ m. =860 .
Cranial circumf. . / M.=515..
, , \ m. =462..
Stature / M. =1140.
\ m. =875..
Cranial circumf. . / M. =522.. ,
\ m.=460...
Stature / M.=1221.
\ m. =920...
(S. =500).
(S. =480).
(Cc. =355).
(Cc.=333, 325).
(The most frequent
S. was 550 mm. com-
bined with Cc. =
357, 337).
1 year. .
(S. =
(S. =750, 740).
(Cc.=486).
(Cc.=455).
2 years.
(S. =850).
(S. =810).
(Cc.=491).
(Cc. =464).
3 years.
(S. =865).
(S. =870).
(Cc.=473).
(Cc. =476).
4 years. .
(S. =1050).
(S. =920, 870).
(Cc. =507).
(Cc.=461).
5 years.
(S. =1035).
(S. =905).
(Cc.=492).
(Cc. =481).
6 years . .
(S. =1020).
(S. =965).
(Cc.=516).
(Cc.=489).
(The maximum S.
was found in a child
of 6 years and 11
months; the next
highest stature was
1177 mm., Cc. 512;
another Httle girl of
6 years and 11
months had S. =
1099; Cc.= 507).
7 years.
Cranial circumf.
Stature .
M.=524..
m. =479..
/ M.=1270.
\ m. =1058.
(S. =1215).
(S. =1185).
(Cc.=513).
(Cc.=499).
CRANIOLOGY 241
FEMALES FROM BIRTH TO THE AGE OF ELEVEN YEARS— Continued
Age
Measurements
S. = Stature
Cc. = Cranial
circumference
Maximum (M.)
and
minimum (m.)
in millimetres
Measurements
found in combina-
tion with the M. or
m. measurements
Observations
8 years. .
Cranial circumf. . / M. =542. ..
\ m.=484...
Stature / M. = 1328..
\ m. = 1082..
(S. = ).
(S. = ).
(Cc.=542).
(Cc.=484).
9 years. .
Cranial circumf. . / M. =526. . .
\ m.=493...
Stature / M. = 1325..
\ m. = 1173..
(S. =1272).
(S. =1306).
(Cc. =520).
(Cc.=499).
10 years .
Cranial circumf. . / M. =533 . . .
1 m. =476...
Stature J M. = 1403..
\ m.=1153..
(S. =1291).
(S. =1204).
(Cc.=530).
(Cc.=506).
11 years.
Cranial circumf. . / M. =537. . .
(S. =1420).
(S. =1284).
(Cc.=512).
(Cc.=497).
Stature
i m.=478...
. / M. = 1464..
\ m.=1255..
(The next higher S.
was 1495, with a
Cc. of 529).
EXTREMES BETWEEN THE AGES OF 13 AND 22 YEARS
(The figures here given are less exact, because of the great scarcity of subjects)
Age
13 years.
14 years.
15 years.
Measurements
S. = Stature
Cc. = Cranial
circumference
Maximum (M.)
and
minimum (m.)
in millimetres
Measurements that
occur in conjunction
with M. and m.
measurements
Cranial circumf .. . / M.=554..
1 m. =492..
Stature J M. = 1715.
\ m. = 1345.
Cranial circumf .. . f M.=564..
\ m.=515..
Stature / M. = 1630.
\ M. = 1405.
Cranial circumf .. . f M.=567..
\ m. =526..
Stature / M.=1795.
\ m. = 1450.
(S. = ).
(S. = ).
(Cc.=554).
(Cc.=492).
(S. =1560).
(S. =1555).
(Cc.=537).
(Cc.=526).
(S. =1575).
(S. =1570).
(Cc.=566).
(Cc.=534).
242 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
EXTREMES BETWEEN THE AGES OF 13 AND 22 YEARS— Continued
Age
Measurements
S. = Stature
Cc. = Cranial
circumference
Maximum (M.)
and
minimum (m.)
in millimetres
Measurements that
occur in conjunction
with M. and m.
measurements
16 years.
17 years.
18 years.
19 years.
20 years.
21 years.
22 years.
Cranial circumf . . . f M. =566. .
\ m.=519..
Stature / M. = 1807.
\ m. =1330.
Cranial circumf. . . / M. =582. ,
1 m.=507..
Stature f M.=1759.
I m. =1561.
Cranial circumf.
Stature
/ M.
m.
M.
\ m.
=565..
=522..
=1930.
=1604.
Cranial circumf.
Stature .
/ M.
\ m.
/ M.
\ m.
=578..
=541..
=1823.
=1637.
Cranial circumf.
Stature
/ M.
m.
M.
\ m.
=594..
=551..
=1832.
=1629.
Cranial circumf.
Stature
/
\ m
/ M
M.=
590..
512..
1790.
1570.
Cranial circumf.
Stature
M.
/
\ m
/ M
=595..
=510..
=1790.
=1570.
(S. =1675).
(S. =1460).
(Cc.=561).
(Cc.=532).
(S. =1757).
(S. =1610).
(Cc.=560).
(Cc.=555).
(S.
(S.
(Cc.
(Cc.
= 1785).
=1702).
= 557).
= 536).
(S.
(S.
(Cc.
(Cc.
= 1707).
= 1693).
= 545).
= 549).
(S.
(S.
(Cc.
(Cc.
= 1671).
= 1780).
= 560).
=552).
(S.
(S.
(Cc.
(Cc.
= 1700).
= 1590).
= 581).
= 571).
(S.
(S.
(Cc.
(Cc.
=1730).
= 1650).
= 576).
= 548).
Nomenclature Relating to Cranial Volume. Anomalies. — (In
regard to the method of directly measuring or calculating the cran-
ial capacity, and of taking and estimating the measurements of
the skull, see the section on Technique.)
Limits. — The cranial capacity, according to Deniker, has
normally such a wide range of oscillation that the minimum is
CRANIOLOGY 243
fully doubled by the maximum, the limits being respectively 1,100
and 2,200 cubic centimetres — these figures, however, including
men of genius. Furthermore, the mean average capacity oscillates
between limits that change according to race — not only because
the cerebral volume may of itself constitute an ethnic character-
istic (superior and inferior races) with which the form of the fore-
head is usually associated, but also because the cranial volume
bears a certain relation to the stature, which is another factor that
varies with the race,
Deniker gives the following mean averages of oscillations:
Europeans from 1,500 to 1,600 cu. cm.
Negroes from 1,400 to 1,500 cu. cm.
Australians, Bushmen from 1,250 to 1,350 cu. cm.
The average difference of cranial capacity is 150 cubic centimetres less in woman
than in man.
The following nomenclature for oscillations in cranial capacity
was established by Topinard, based upon the figures and methods
of Broca :
Macrocephalic crania from 1,950 cu. cm. upward
Large crania from 1,950 to 1,650 cu. cm.
Medium or ordinary crania from 1,650 to 1,450 cu. cm.
Small crania from 1,450 to 1,150 cu. cm.
MicrocephaUc crania from 1,150 cu. cm. downward
To-day, however, the terms macrocephalic and microcephalic
have come to be reserved for pathological cases. Virchow has
introduced the term nanocephalic to designate normal crania of
very small dimensions; while Sergi has adopted a binomial
nomenclature, calling them eumetopic microcephalics, which sig-
nifies possessed of a fine forehead: since, as we have seen, it is pre-
cisely the shape of the forehead which determines normality. And
in place of macrocephalic, we have for very large normal crania the
new term megalocephalic.
Pathological terminology includes the following nomenclature :
macrocephaly, sub-macrocephaly, sub-microcephaly, microcephaly
Microcephaly may fall as low as 800 cubic centimetres; macro-
cephaly may rise as high as 3,000 cubic centimetres, and at these
extremes the volume alone is sufficient to denote the anomaly.
But in many cases the volume may fall within the limits of nor-
mality; in such cases it is the pathological form and an examination
of the patient which lead to the use of the term sub-microcephalic
in preference to that of nanocephalic, etc.
244
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The volume, taken by itself, if it is not at one of the extreme
limits, is not sufficient to justify a verdict of abnormality.
The terms macro- and microcephalic are, in any case, quite
generic, and simply indicate a morphological anomaly, which may
include many widely different cases, such, for example, as rickets,
hydrocephaly, pachycephaly, etc., all of which have in common the
morphological characteristic of macrocephaly.
In rickets, for instance, macrocephaly may occur in conjunction
with a normal or even supernormal intelligence (Leopardi).
Microcephaly, on the contrary, could never occur combined with
normal intelligence, since it is a sign indicative of atrophy of the
cerebrospinal axis and diminution
or, as Brugia phrases it, dehuman-
ization of the individuality.
In all the widely varied series
of pathological and degenerate in-
dividuals who are included under
the generic names of 'deficients"
and ''criminals," there is a notable
percentage of crania that are ab-
normal both in volume and in
form; the percentage of crania
with normal dimensions is less than
that of the crania which exceed or
fall below such dimensions, and
among these there is a preponder-
ance of suhmicrocephalic crania: a
morphological characteristic asso-
ciated with a partial arrest of cere-
bral development, due to internal
causes and manifested from the earliest period of infant life.
The accompanying chart (Fig. 82) demonstrates precisely this fact.
It represents the growth of the cranium in normal and in abnormal
children. The abnormal are at one time superior and at another
inferior to the normal children; but their general average shows a
definite inferiority to the normal. Lombroso established the fact
that among adult criminals there is an inferiority of cranial develop-
ment, frequently accompanied by a stature that is normal, or even
in excess of normality.
Quite recently, Binet has called attention to a form of suh->
--
--
...
...
Normal cfiildren
Abnormal "
/
L
.-
If
1
yi
t ■
/j
/<
y
/7
'
^
X
;
/
V
J
r
\/
/
Fig. 82. — Growth of Cranial Circumference.
CRANIOLOGY 245
microcephaly acquired through external causes, which is of great
interest from the pedagogic point of view. Blind children and
those who are deafmutes have, up to the seventh or eighth year, a
cranium of normal dimensions, but by the fourteenth or fifteenth
year the volume is notably below the normal, and this stigma of
inferiority remains permanently in the adults. This fact, which is
of very general occurrence, is attributed by Binet to a deficiency
of sensations, and consequently a deficiency of certain specific
cerebral exercises.
This whole question has a fundamental interest for us as educa-
tors, because it affords an indirect proof that cerebral exercise
develops the brain, or in other words, that education has a physical
and morphological influence as well as a psychic one.
This question, coupled with that of the influence of alimentation
upon the development of the head, leads to the conclusion that a
two-fold nutriment is necessary for the normal development of
man : material nutriment and nutriment of the spirit. ■
It follows that education must be considered from two different
points of view : that of the progress of civilisation, and that of the
perfectionment of the species.
In regard to variations of cranial volume, just as in the case of
variations of stature, there are a number of different factors which
may be summed up in such a way as to afford us certain determin-
ing characteristics of social caste. Delicate questions these, which
we may sum up in a single question equally delicate, that lends
itself to a vast amount of discussion; namely, what is the rela-
tion between the volume of the brain and the development of the
intellect?
Individual Variations of Cerebral (and Cranial) Volume. Rela-
tion between the Development of the Cerebral Volume and the Develop-
ment of the Intelligence. — The series of arguments in reference to
the cerebral volume ought to be considered independently of the
biological and biopathological factors which we have up to this
point been considering; namely, race, sex, age, degeneration and
disease.
That is to say, in normal individuals, other conditions being
equal, volumetric differences of the brain may be met with, analo-
gous to those other infinite individual variations, in which nature
expresses, her creative power, even while preserving unchanged
the general morphology of the species. _ ' ,
246 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
It is due to this fact that the innumerable individuals of a race,
while all bearing a certain resemblance to one another, are never
any two of them identically alike.
Variations of this sort, which might be called biological individ-
ualisations, are in any case subject to the most diverse influences
of environment, which concur in producing individual varieties.
This is in accordance with general laws which are applicable
to any biological question whatever, but that in our case assume a
special interest. There are certain men who have larger or smaller
brains; and there are men of greater or of less intelligence. Is
there a quantitative relation between these two manifestations,
the morphological and the psychic?
Everyone knows that this is one of those complicated, much
discussed questions that spread outside of the purely scientific
circles and become one of the stock themes of debate among
classes incompetent to judge; consequently it has been colored by
popular prejudice, rather than by the light of science. It is well
that persons of education should acquire accurate ideas upon the
subject.
If the volume of the brain should be in proportion to the intel-
lectual development, argues the general public, what sort of a
head must Dante Alighieri have had? He would have had to be
the most monstrous macrocephalic ever seen upon earth. And
on the basis of this superficial observation, they wish to deny any
quantitative relation whatever between brain and intelligence.
And yet it is this same general public that keeps insisting: Woman
has less intelligence than man, because she has a smaller brain.
A single glance up and down the zoological scale suffices to show
that throughout the whole animal series a greater development of
brain is accompanied by a correspondingly greater development
of psychic activity; and that there is a conspicuous difference
between the human brain and that of the higher animals (anthro-
poid apes), corresponding to the difference between the level of
man's psychic development and that of the higher mammals; and
this justifies the assertion that, as a general rule, there is a quantita-
tive relation between the brain and the intellect.
This suggests the thought that the perfect development of this
delicate instrument, the brain, demands a variety of harmonious
material conditions, among others the volume, in order to render
possible the conditions of psychic perfection.
CRANIOLOGY 247
From this premise, we may pass on to a more particularised
study of the material conditions essential to the superior type of
brain. The volume is the quantitative index; but the quality may
be considered from various points of view, which may be grouped
as follows:
I. The General Morphology of the Brain in reference to :
{a) The harmonious, relative volumetric proportions between
the lobes of the brain (namely, the proportion between the frontal,
parietal, temporal and occipital lobes). It was formerly believed
that a superior brain ought to show a prevalence of the frontal
lobes, since a lofty forehead is a sign of intellect; but it was after-
ward established that there is no direct relation between the devel-
opment of the forehead and the development of the frontal lobes;
a higher forehead results from a greater volume of the entire
cranial contents; the superior brain, on the contrary, is that in
which no one lobe prevails over another, but all of them preserve
a reciprocal and perfect harmony of dimensions.
(6) The form, number and disposition of the cerebral convolu-
tions, and of the folds of the internal passage (Sergio Sergi).
(c) The form, number and disposition of the cells in the cortical
strata of the brain, and the proportion between the gray matter
and the white, that is to say, between the cells and fibres; in short,
the histological structure of the brain.
II. The Chemistry of the brain :
(a) The chemical composition of the substances constituting
the brain, which may be more or less complicated. (Recent studies
of the chemical evolution of living organisms have demonstrated
that the atomic composition is far more complex in the higher
organisms.)
(5) The intimate interchange of matter in the cerebral tissues,
in connection with their nutrition.
(c) The chemical stimuli coming from the so-called glands of
internal secretion (thyroid, etc.).
All these conditions concur in determining the quality of the
cerebral tissues. In its ontogenetic evolution, for example, the
brain does not merely increase in volume, and its development is
not limited to attaining a definite morphology; but its intimate
structure and its chemical composition as well must pass through
various stages of transition before attaining their final state. We
know, for example, that the myelination of the nerve fibres takes
248 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
place upward from the spinal marrow toward the brain, and that
the pyramidal tracts (voluntary motor tracts) are the last to
myelinate, and hence the last to perform their functions in the
child.
The consistence of the cerebral mass and its specific gravity
also differ in childhood from that of the adult state. The evolution
of the brain is therefore a very complex process; and this process
may not be fully completed (for instance, it may be completed in
volume, but not in form or chemical composition, etc.).
Consequently, just as in the case of volume, there may be
various qualitative conditions, such as would produce organic
inferiority.
But supposing that qualitatively the evolution has been accom-
plished normally, where there is greater cerebral volume, is there
a correspondingly greater intellect?
At this point it is necessary to take into consideration another
series of questions regarding the brain considered as a material
organ, and having reference to the relation between the volume of
the hrain and that of the stature.
The brain must govern the nerves in all the active parts of the
body, especially the striped muscles, which perform all voluntary
movement. Consequently the cerebral volume must be in pro-
portion, not only to the intellectuality, but also to the physical
activity.
Evidently, a greater mass of body demands a greater nervous
system to give it motive power.
The biological law is of a general nature: if the brain of a rat
weighs 40 centigrams, that of an ox weighs 734 grams, and that of
an elephant 4,896 grams.
^^ The absolute volume of the hrain increases with the total volume
of the body."
But this correspondence is not proportional. There are two
facts that alter the proportions. One of these is that the mass of
the body increases faster than the brain, throughout the biological
series of species, so that the smaller the body the greater the
proportional quantity of brain. Just the opposite from what was
found to hold true for the absolute weight.
. It may be affirmed as a biological law that "the relative volume
of the brain increases as the size of the body diminishes." For in-
atcaiiGe^ the tiny brain of a, rat is a 43d part of the total volume of
CRANIOLOGY 249
its body; the brain of an ox, on the contrary, is a 750th part.
Consequently we may say that the httle rat has relatively a far
larger brain than the huge ox.
And the same thing holds true among men; those of small
build have a proportionately larger brain than those of large
build.
A second fact which alters the absolute proportion between
the volume of brain and the volume of body has reference to the
'Afunctional capacity ^^ of the active parts. The muscles which
are capable of the best activity and the greatest agility are the
ones more abundantly stimulated through their nerves than those
which are capable only of slow and sluggish action. The same may
be said of the organs of sensation; the more highly the sensibility
is developed, the larger are the corresponding nerves, and conse-
quently the greater is the corresponding quantity of cerebral cells.
Accordingly the animal which is nimblest in its movements, and
most capable of sensations has in proportion to this greater
functional activity a greater cerebral volume. In this same way we
may explain the enormous difference in relative brain volume
between the extremely active, sensitive and intelligent little beast
which we call the rat, and the sluggish and stupid animal which
we call the ox. Consequently this functional activity has a corre-
spondingly greater volume of brain, without a correspondingly
greater volume of the various highly sensitized organs. In such
a case it may be stated as a general law that 'Hhe relative volume
of the brain is in direct proportion to the intelligence (or, more broadly,
to the functional activity), while the absolute volume is in direct rela-
tion to the total mass of the body.''
Man has a cerebral volume of 1,500 cubic centimetres, a volume
equal to a fortieth part of the whole body. Consequently he has
a brain twice the actual size of that of the ox, while considered in
its relation to bodily bulk, he has more brain than the smallest rat
(man = ^Vj rat = ^V)- A volume so far exceeding the proportions
found in animals, is beyond doubt directly related to human
intelligence.
Relation between Cerebral and Intellectual Development in Man. —
This ends our examination of the generic question of the relation
between cerebral volume and intellect.
Granting these biological principles, and wishing to apply
them to normal man, let us go back to our first question: "Do
250 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
persons of greater intelligence have a greater cerebral volume, and
consequently a larger head?"
There is an extensive literature upon this question, the tendency
of which is to decide it affirmatively.
Parchappe has made a comparative study between writers of
recognized ability and simple manual workers, and has found that
the former have a development of the head notably in excess of
the latter.
Broca took measurements, in various hospitals, of the heads of
physicians and m.ale nurses, and found a greater development of
head in the case of the physicians.
Lebon made a study of cranial measurements in men of letters,
tradesmen, the nobility and domestic servants, and found the max-
imum development among the men of letters and the minimum
among the servants. The tradesmen, who at all events are per-
forming a work of social utility, stand next to the men of letters;
while the aristocrats show some advantage over the domestics.
Bajenoff took his measurements from famous persons on the
one hand and from convicted assassins on the other, and found a
greater head development among the former.
Enrico Ferri has made similar researches among soldiers who
have had a high-school education and those who are uneducated,
and has found a more developed cranium among the educated
soldiers.
I also have made my own modest contribution to this important
question, by seeking to determine the difference in cranial volume
between the school-children who stand respectively at the head
and foot of their class, and have found among children of
the age of ten a mean cranial circumference of 527 millimetres
for the more intelligent and of only 518 millimetres for the less
intelligent.
Similar results were obtained by Binet in his researches among
the elementary schools of Paris. He found among children of the
age of twelve that the brightest had a mean cranial circumference
of 540 millimetres and those at the foot of their class a mean of
only 530 millimetres. The following table gives a parallel between
these various cranial measurements:
CRANIOLOGY
251
CRANIAL MEASUREMENTS (in MiUimetres)*
Binet Children in the elementary schools of Paris, from 11 to 13 years of age
Montessori. . . . Children in the elementary schools of Rome, from 9 to 11 years of age
Binet's figures
Montessori's figu
res
Measurements
Pupils
chosen
Pupils
chosen
Differ-
Pupils
chosen
Pupils
chosen
Differ-
for intel-
as back-
ence
for intel-
as back-
ence
ligence
ward
ligence
ward
Maximum circum-
540
530
+ 10
527
518
+9
ference of cranium.
Length of cranium. . .
181
177
+4
180
177
+3
Breadth of cranium. .
150.4
146.2
+4.2
143
140
+3
Height of cranium. . .
123.3
124
-0.7
130
127
+3
Minimum frontal
104
102
+2
99
98
+ 1
diameter.
Height of forehead. . .
46
45.5
+0.5
57
56
+ 1
By calculating the cranial capacities according to Broca's
method, I obtained:
Cranial capacity
/ in the best pupils chosen 1557 cu. cm.
\ in the worst pupils chosen 1488 cu. cm.
From all these manifold researches above cited, we can reach
no other conclusion than that individuals of greater intelligence
have a larger quantity of brain; or else that individuals with a
greater quantity of brain are more intelligent.
There is a subtle distortion of this principle, which many soci-
ological anthropologists have taken as their starting-point, espe-
cially in Germany, in their attempt to establish a biological basis
for the Schopenhauerian theories of Friedrich Nietzsche.
According to these, the persons who have acquired high social
positions are biologically superior (possessing a greater cerebral
mass), and the same may be said of conquering races as compared
with the conquered. Differences in caste are to be explained in
the same way, and on this ground nature sanctions the social
inferiority of woman.
This is a question of the greatest importance, which merits a
vast amount of discussion.
*MoNTESSORi, Sui caratteri antropometrici in relazione alle gerarchie del fanciulli nelle
scuole, p. 51. ("Anthropometric characteristics in relation to the grading of children in
schools")-
252 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
What Sort of Man is the Most Intelligent? — Straightway, a
first serious objection suggests itself: What sort of persons are the
most intelligent? Are they really those who have attained the
higher academic degrees and the most eminent social positions?
Consequently, is the Prime Minister more intelligent than the
Assistant Secretary of State, and the latter more intelligent than
the Head of a Department, and he again than the door-keeper?
Are literary productions and the acquisition of laurels reliable
tests of intelligence? Is this man a doctor because he is more
intelligent, and that man a hospital attendant because he is less
intelligent ?
It is evident that there exist in the social world certain priv-
ileges of caste, which may raise to the pinnacle of literary glory or to
a clamorous notoriety certain persons who owe their rise to favor-
itism and trickery; or at least, so-called ''literary fame" must be
dependent upon the possibility of getting writings published,
which another man perhaps would have had no way of bringing
before the public so as to make them known and appreciated; just
as, on the other hand, there are men of genius who are destined
to feel their inborn intelligence suffocating under the cruel tyranny
of existing economic conditions, which punish pauperism with
obscurity and hold protection and favours at a distance.
A thousand various conditions of our social environment hinder
powerful innate activities from finding expression and attaining
elevated social positions. Now, when we start to measure these
different categories of persons, shall we measure the more or the
less fortunate individuals, those more or those less favoured by
economic conditions of birth and environment, or shall we measure
those persons who are actually the more and the less intelligent?
And even in school can we be sure that the child whom we
judge the most intelligent is actually so? Studies in experimental
psychology made in quite recent times of men whose works justify
their being placed in the ranks of geniuses, have shown that these
men of genius were never, in their school-days, either at the head
of their class, or winners of any competitions. Consequently, we
have not yet learned the means of judging intelligence.
If we stop to think of the way in which the intelligence of pupils
was judged up to only a few years ago, according to pedagogic
methods that were a remnant of the pietistic schools, this will
help us to form some idea. The more intelligent ones were those
CRANIOLOGY
253
best able to recite dogmatic truths from memory. And even to-
day we have not advanced very far above that level.
As a general rule that pupil is considered the most intelligent
who best succeeds in echoing his teacher and in modeling his own
personality as closely as possible upon that of his preceptor.
This fact is so well known that it has come to be utilised as
one of the clever tricks for obtaining higher marks even in univer-
sity examinations, and for winning competitions; it is known that
the prize is reserved for the student who can repeat most faith-
fully and proclaim most eloquently the master's own ideas.
Here is precisely one of the most fundamental problems offered
by scientific pedagogy: how to diagnose the human intelligence,
and distinguish the person who is intelligent from the person who
is not. A difficult task, or rather a difficult problem;
The Influence of Economic Conditions upon the Development of
the Brain. — Certain factors, due to environment, exert an influence
upon the development of the cerebral volume; this fact opens up
another whole series of interesting questions.
Among the factors due to environment, the leading place is
held by nutrition, dependent upon economic conditions.
Niceforo contends that among the various social classes, those
who can obtain the best nourishment have the greatest develop-
ment of brain, and consequently of head. He offers in evidence
the figures summarised in the following table :
CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE HEADS OF
Boys of the age of
Rich
Sons of small
tradesmen and
clerks
Poor
11 years
12 years
13 years
14 years
534.9
537.1
537.8
545.4
529.7
530.3
532.4
533.3
524.8
524.9
528.6
528.4
In short, there is a gradation of cranial volume corresponding
to the economic status in society. This is a condition easy to
understand: we simply find repeated in this particular the same
thing that we have already seen happen to the body as a whole;
the organism in its entirety and consequently each separate part
17
254 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
of it — if it is to develop in accordance with its special biological
potentiality and so attain the limits of finality set for it — must
receive nourishment. It is only natural that children who, during
their period of growth, are deprived of sufficient and suitable
nutrition should remain inferior in development to those who had
the advantage of an abundance of the proper kind of food. The
influence of the economic factor is indisputable. Consequently,
reverting once more to the studies above cited, may we not con-
clude that the man of letters, the physician, the person of distinc-
tion have a greater development of head than the manual labourer,
the hospital attendant, the illiterate, simply because it was their
good fortune to obtain better nutriment, through belonging to
the wealthy social classes?
The Influence of Exercise upon Cerebral Development. — The second
interesting question is in reference to the influence which exercise
may have upon the development of the brain. As early as 1861
Broca investigated this question in a classic work: De V influence
de r education sur le volume et la forme de la tete ("The influence of
education on the volume and form of the head), in which he arrived
at the following conclusion: that a suitable exercise (intellectual
culture, education, hygiene) does have an influence on the de-
velopment of the brain, in the same way as with any other organ,
as, for example, the striped muscles, which gain in volume and
strength and beauty of form through gymnastic exercise. '^ Con-
sequently," exclaims Broca enthusiastically, '^ education not only
has the power of rendering mankind better; it has also the marvel-
lous power of rendering man superior to himself, of enlarging his
brain and perfecting his form!"
"Popular education means the betterment of the race.''
Accordingly we might say, relying on the above-mentioned
studies, that the man of letters, the physician, the person of distinc-
tion have a more highly developed head than the manual workman,
the hospital attendant and the illiterate, because they exercised
their brain to a greater extent, and not because they were more
intelligent. This, however, is a question which differs profoundly
from that which we were previously considering, nutrition, be-
cause in this case exercise, in addition to developing the organ,
gives its own actual and personal contribution to the intelligence.
Therefore, we are able to be creators of intelligence and of
brain tissue, which in turn becomes the creative force of our civili-
CRANIOLOGY 255
sation. A system of instruction which, in place of over-straining
the brain, should aid it to develop and perfect itself, stimulating
it to a sort of autocreation, would truly be, as Broca says, ''capa-
ble of rendering man superior to himself." This is what is being
sought by scientific pedagogy, which has already laid the foun-
dation of ''cerebral hygiene."
We are still very far to-day from realising this highest human
ambition ! We do not yet know the basic laws of the economy of
forces that would lead to a stimulation of the human activities
to the point of creation; on the contrary, we are still at a primitive
period, in which many of the environing conditions interfere, to the
point of preventing the human germ to attain its natural biological
finality. In short, we know how to obtain artificially an arrest
of development; but we have not yet learned the art of aiding and
enriching nature!
The Influence of the Biological Factor upon Cerebral Development.
— What conclusion ought we to reach from what has been said
up to this point? Upon what does the cerebral volume depend, in
all its individual variations, resting on the common biological
bases of race, normality and sex? Is individual variation due
solely to causes of environment, such as nutrition and exercise?
And does it follow that it is not dependent upon biological potential-
ities more or less pronounced in separate individuals — in short,
upon different degrees of intelligence?.
In the presence of such a multiplicity of questions we must pro-
ceed, not to a selection but to a sum. Every biological phenom-
enon is the result of a number of factors. The development of the
brain depends in precisely the same way as the development of the
whole body or of a single muscle, upon the combined influence of bio-
logical factors determining the individual variability, and of factors
of environment, principal among which are nutrition and exercise.
A suitable diet aids growth, and so also does a rational exercise;
but underlying all the rest, as a potential cause, is the biological
factor which mysteriously assigns a certain predestination to each
individual. The environment may combat, alter, and impede
what nature "had written upon the fertilised ovum;" but we
cannot forget that this scheme, pre-established by the natural order
of life, is the principal factor among them all, the one which deter-
mines the '' character of the individual.^ ^
Now, on the basis of this influence of the biological factor upon
256 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the cerebral development, we may affirm that: to greater intelli-
gence there corresponds a brain more developed in volume. What
gives us proof of this is the brain of the exceptional man — of men
of genius, who frequently have heads of extraordinary volume.
Persons of high celebrity, and not those, for example, who have
become known through some recent discovery in the field of posi-
tive science — since a piece of good fortune may coincide with a
normal cranial volume — but the true creative geniuses who have
left the deep imprint of themselves upon their immortal works,
have generally had a cerebral volume that was truly gigantic:
the poetic brain of the great Schiller weighed 1,785 grams, that of
Cuvier, the naturalist, 1,829 grams, that of the great statesman,
Cromwell, 2,231 grams, and lastly, that of Byron, 2,238 grams.
The brain of the normal man weighs about 1,400 grams.
Consequently, these are extraordinary volumetric figures that
could not be acquired, either by much eating, or by being educated
according to the scientific means of the most advanced peda-
gogy; they are due to the extraordinary biological potentiality
of the man of genius.
In these extraordinary heads the exceptional volume is com-
bined with a characteristic form: they always have a more than
normal development of the forehead. Even in the course of
biological evolution, as we have already seen, in the higher species
a greater cerebral volume has a correspondingly broader and more
erect forehead. If we examine portraits of men of genius, what
strikes us chiefly in them is the high and spacious brow, as though
men of genius, in comparison with the rest of us, were representa-
tives of a superior race. But if the portrait shows the face taken
in profile, it will be easily observed that the direction of the forehead
is not vertical, but even slightly recessive ; that is, it preserves the
characteristic male form, with the vault slightly inclined backward
and the orbital arches slightly pronounced.
The Pretended Cerebral Inferiority of Woman. — One final argu-
ment, which is of interest to us, is the great question of the relation
between cerebral volume and intelligence in woman. Because, as
you know, there is a very widespread belief of long standing that
is confirmed in the name of science: that woman is biologically,
in other words totally, inferior, that the volume of her brain is
condemned by nature to an inferiority against which nothing can
prevail. Just as our perfected pedagogy, excellent alimentation
CRANIOLOGY 257
and improved hygienic conditions could never endow a normal
man with the brain of a genius, in the same way, so it is said, it is
impossible ever to augment the size of the brain of woman, who is
necessarily condemned to resign herself to remain in that state of
social inferiority to which she is now reduced and from which she
would in vain attempt to emancipate herself.
Names as famous as that of Lombroso* which are associated
with the progress of positive science, lend the weight of their
authority to this form of condemnation ! And it is not easy to do
away with this sort of prejudice, which has slowly been dissemi-
nated among the people under the guise of a scientific theory. But
to-day there are scientists who have been impelled to make certain
extremely minute, impartial and objective studies, without any
preconception on the subject — such men as Messedaglia, Dubois,
Lapique, Zanolli, and Manouvrier — who, by calculating the
cerebral mass, at one time in comparison with the whole body, at
another with the surface of the body, and still again with the
various active or skeletal parts of the organism — have arrived at
an opposite conclusion : namely, that they can demonstrate a greater
development of brain in woman. Among these scientists it gives
me pleasure to name before all others Manouvrier — one of the
most gifted anthropologists of our day — who has devoted twenty
years to an exceedingly minute study of this problem. Here in
brief outline are his method of procedure and his conclusions.
That the cerebral volume should be considered in its relation to
the stature is a familiar principle; but a comparison between man
and woman based solely upon such a proportion, continues to
maintain the cerebral inferiority of woman. Have we, however,
the right to compare a volumetric measure (the cerebral mass)
with a linear measure (the stature)? Such a comparison is a
mathematical error, as we have already technically proved.
Accordingly we find that Manouvrier compares the brain with the
mass of the whole body, its entire bulk; and he analyzes this entire
bulk, considering separately its active parts, without troubling
himself about their functional potentiality. He deduces from them
certain figures and proportions; more than that, he forms a sort
of index, which might be called the ''index of sexual mass," between
woman (minor mass) and man, reduced to a scale of 100 — which
* Lombroso (who died while this book was in press) defended the principle of the innate
inferiority of woman and regarded her, in comparison with man, as a case of infantile arrest
of development.
258 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
may be summed up in an equation: man : 100= woman : the
following percentual analyses:
Stature and weight of body 88 . 5
Weight of brain : 90.0
Weight of skeleton (femur) 62 . 5
CO2 exhaled in twenty-four hours 64 . 5
Vital capacity (at age of eighteen) 72 . 6
Strength of hands 57 . 1
Strength of vertical traction . 52 . 6
Hence it is evident, that, in comparison with her actual organic
mass, woman differs from man far more than is indicated by the
differences in stature and in bodily weight.
Instead of taking all these various separate mean measurements,
let us take one single comprehensive mean resulting from them:
woman: man = 80 : 100; there we have the proportion. Now,
Manouvrier proceeds to reduce all the separate measurements of
man from 100 to 80, and calculates how much brain man would lose
if he were reduced to a mass having feminine limits; he finds that
the loss would be 172 grams. Woman on the contrary has only
150 grams of brain less than man. Consequently the cerebral
volume of woman is superior to that of man!
This is an anthropological superiority which is further revealed
in the more perfected form of the cranium, insomuch as woman has
an absolutely erect forehead and has no remaining traces of the
supra-orbital arches (characteristics of superiority in the species).
Thus, we have a contradiction between existing anthropolog-
ical and social conditions: woman, whom anthropology regards as
a being having the cranium of an almost superior race, continues
to be relegated to an unquestioned social inferiority, from which
it is not easy to raise her.
Who is Socially Superior? — But here again we may ask, as we
did regarding the question of intelligence : What constitutes social
superiority? And in our social environment who is superior and
who is inferior?
Social superiority, like moral superiority, is the product of
evolution. In primitive times when men, in order to live, were
limited like animals to gathering the spontaneous fruit of the earth,
according to the poetry of the biblical legend, and according to
what sociology repeats to-day, the superior man was the one of
largest stature, the giant. People paid him homage because he was
the most imposing, without troubling themselves to ask whether,
Fig. 83. — Leptoprosopic face.
Fig. 84. — Chameprosopic face.
Fig. 85. — Lina Cavalieri.
Fig. 86. — Maria Mancini.
CRANIOLOGY 259
or not, he might be insane. In this way Saul was the first king.
When the time came that men were no longer content to live on
the spontaneous fruit of the earth, but were forced to till the soil,
then a new victory was inaugurated, the victory of the more
active and intelligent man. David killed Goliath. This great
Bible story marks the moment when the superiority of man came
to be considered under a more advanced and spiritual aspect.
When the men who cultivated the earth began to feel the need of
other neighbouring lands and became conquerors, then the soldier
was evolved, until in the middle ages there resulted such a triumph
of militarism that the nobles alone were conquerors in war; and
the persons who to-day would be called superior, the men of intel-
lect, the poets, were considered as feeble folk, despicable and
effeminate. In our own times, now that the great conquests of
the earth have been made and the victorious people consequently
brought into harmony, the moment has come for conquering the
environment itself, in order to wring from it new bread and new
wealth. And this is the proud work of human intelligence which
creates by aiding all the forces of nature and by triumphing over
its environment; thus to-day it is the man of intelligence who is
superior. But it seems as though a new epoch were in preparation,
a truly human epoch, and as though the end had almost come of
those evolutionary periods which sum up the history of the heroic
struggles of humanity; an epoch in which an assured peace will
promote the brotherhood of man, while morality and love will
take their place as the highest form of human superiority. In
such an epoch there will really be superior human beings, there
will really be men strong in morality and in sentiment. Perhaps
in this way the reign of woman is approaching, when the enigma
of her anthropological superiority will be deciphered. Woman
was always the custodian of human sentiment, morality and honour,
and in these respects man always has yielded woman the palm.
Face and Visage
The Limits of the Face. — The face is that part of the head which
remains when the cranial cavity is not considered. To attempt
to separate accurately, in the skeleton, the facial from the cerebral
portion would involve a lengthy anatomical description; for our
purpose it is enough to grasp the general idea that the face is the
portion situated beneath the forehead, bounded in front by the
260 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
curves of the eyebrows, and in profile by a line passing in projec-
tion through the auricular foramen and the external orbital
apophysis (Fig. 39, page 188).
It is customary during life to consider the entire anterior por-
tion of the head as constituting one single whole, bounded above
by the line formed by the roots of the hair, and below by the chin.
This portion includes actually not only the face but a portion of the
cerebral cranium as well, namely, the forehead; it bears the name
of the visage and is considered under this aspect only during life.
Human Characteristics of the Face. — One characteristic of the
human cranium, as we have already seen (Fig. 40), as compared
with animals, is the decrease in size of the face, and especially of
the jaw-bones in inverse proportion to the increase of the cranial
volume.
"Man," says Cuvier, ''is of all living animals the one that has
the largest cranium and the smallest face ; and animals are stupider
and more ferocious as they depart further from the human
proportions."
In man, the cranium, assuming that graceful development
which is characteristic of this superior species, surmounts the face,
which recedes below the extreme frontal limit of the brain.
The different races of mankind, however, do not all of them
attain so perfect a form; in some of them the face protrudes some-
what in advance of the extreme frontal limit, and in such cases we
say that it is prognathous.
Thus the relations in the reciprocal development between cran-
ium and face are different in animals and in man; as they also are
in the various human races. Cuvier gives some idea of these pro-
portions by comparing the European man with animals, by means
of the following formulas which he has obtained by calculating
approximately the square surface of a middle section of the head :
Cranium : face =
European man 4:1
(cranium four times the size of the face)
Orang-utan and chimpanzee 3:1
Lower monkeys 2:1
Carnivora 1:1
Ruminants 1:2
Hippopotamus 1:3
Horse 1:4
(the reverse of man)
Whale 1 :20
Fig. 87. — Portrait of the Fornarina
(Raphael Sanzio) Rome: Barbarini
gallery.
Fig. 88. — Triangular face.
Fig. 89.— Ellipsoidal face.
Fig. 90. — Long ovoid face.
CRANIOLOGY 261
But no general law, no systematic connection can be deduced
from such relative proportions. They serve only to demonstrate
a characteristic.
Upon this characteristic depends preeminently the beauty of
the human visage. If we are considering the visage from its
aesthetic aspect and wish to compare it with the muzzle of animals,
we may say that in regard to its proportions it is as though the
muzzle had been forced backward from its apex, while the cranium
had swelled, through the increase of its vertical diameter. The
muzzle is formed of the two jaws alone, on the upper of which the
nose is located horizontally; there is neither forehead nor chin along
the vertical line of the visage. As the jaws recede and the cranium
augments, the forehead rises, the nose becomes vertical, and when
the mandible has retreated beyond the frontal limit, the wide
yawning mouth has been reduced in size, while a new formation
has appeared below it — the chin. By this, I am trying merely
to draw a comparison which I trust will be of service by suggesting
a didactic method of illustrating the reduction of an animal's
muzzle to human proportions. Whatever forms a part of the
visage bears the morphological stamp of humanity: the forehead,
the erect nose and the entire region of the mandible, which contains
the principal beauty of the human face.
The narrow opening of the lips, mobile because so richly en-
dowed with the muscles that unite in forming it, is quite truly the
charming and gracious doorway of the organs of speech, which by
shaping the internal thought into words are able to give it utter-
ance; while the winning smile allures, captivates and consoles,
thereby accomplishing an eminently social function; and socia-
bility is inseparable from humanity.
The animal mouth, on the contrary, is the organ for seizing
food, the organ of mastication, and, in felines, a weapon of offence
and a means of destruction.
Tarde says: ''The mandibles seem to shape themselves in
accordance to the degree of intelligence; they become more finely
modeled in proportion as the two social functions of speaking and
smiling acquire a greater importance than the two individual
functions of biting and masticating."
And Mantegazza says: ''Cruelty has localised its imprint
around the mouth, perhaps because killing and eating are two
successive moments of the same event."
262 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The Normal Visage
The visage is that part of the body which is preeminently
human; being richly endowed with muscles, it represents the
''mirror of the soul," through the expressions that it assumes
according to the successive sentiments, passions and transitions
of thought. The visage is a true mine of individual character-
istics, by which different persons may be most easily and clearly
distinguished from one another; while at the same time it bears
the stamp of the most general characteristics of race, such as the
form, the expression, the tone of complexion, etc., in consequence
of which the face has hitherto held the first place in the classifica-
tions of the human races.
Even the peoples of ancient times, such as the Egyptians, made
a physiognomical study of individual characteristics, founding a
sort of empirical science that sought to read from the physiognomy
the sentiments of the soul, the tendencies of character and the des-
tiny of man. The visage also contains the greatest degree of
attraction and charm, constituting that physical and spiritual
beauty by which one person arouses in others feelings of sympathy
and love. Oriental women cover their faces with thick veils
through modesty, because the face reveals the entire feminine
individuality, while the rest of the body reveals only the female of
the human species, a quality common to all women.
The visage includes many important parts, which, by develop-
ing differently alter the physiognomy; the forehead, index of
cerebral development, surmounts the face like a crown, revealing
each individual's capacity for thought; furthermore, the visage
contains all the organs of specific sense: sight, hearing, smell and
taste, and hence all the ''gate- ways of intelligence."
The organs of mastication, whose skeleton consists of the maxil-
laries and the zygomata which reinforce and anchor the upper max-
illary, are the parts that constitute by far the greater portion of
the facial mass. In fact, their limits (breadth between the two
zygomata; breadth between the external angles of the mandible,
chin) are the determining factors of the contour and general form
of the face, which is completed by the soft tissues.
Forms of Face. — The first distinction in facial forms is that which
is made between long or leptoprosopic faces and short or chamepro-
sopic faces. Figs. 83 and 84 (facing page 258) represent two faces
Fig. 91. — Tetragonal face (parallelopipe- Fig. 92. — Pentagonal leptoprosopic face,
doidal) .
Fig. 93. — Pentagonal mesoprosopic face. Fig. 94. — Face of inferior type prominence
of the maxillary bones (prognathism).
CRANIOLOGY 263
having the same identical breadth between the zygomata or cheek-
bones; the profound difference between them is due to their differ-
ent height or length of visage.
The precise relation between height and breadth constitutes
the index of visage, which is analogous to the index that we have
already observed for the cranium.
Normally there is a correspondence in form between the cran-
ium and the face; dolichocephalics are also leptoprosopic; and
brachycephalics are chameprosopics; normally, also, mesaticephaly
is found in conjunction with mesoprosopy; but owing to the phe-
nomena of hybridism or pathological causes (rickets), it may also
happen that such correspondence is wanting; and that we have
instead, for instance, a leptoprosopic face with a brachycephalic
cranium or vice versa.
Accordingly, long and short faces are characteristics of race
almost as important as the cephalic index. But leptoprosopy and
chameprosopy are not in themselves sufficient to determine the form
of the face. On the contrary, in the case of living persons it is
necessary also to take into consideration the contour of the visage,
which contains characteristics relating to race, age and sex. The
races which are held to be inferior hsive facial contours that are more
or less angular; those that are held to be superior have, on the con-
trary, a rotundity of contour; men have a more angular facial
contour, in comparison with that of women; while children have a
contour of face that is distinctly rotund.
The angularities of the face are due to certain skeletal promi-
nences, owing either to an excessive development of the zygomata
(cheek-bones), or to a development of the maxillaries, which some-
times produce a salience of the lower corners of the mandible,
and at others a prominence of the maxillary arch (prognathism).
Accordingly, the facial contours may be either rounded or angu-
lar, and that, too, independently of the facial type; because in
either case the visage may be either long or short.
Depending upon the rounded facial contours, the visage may
be distinguished as ellipsoidal or oval; we may meet with faces
that are long, short or medium ellipsoids (leptoprosopic, chamepro-
sopic, mesoprosopic faces), even to a point where the contour is
almost circular : the orbicular face. Similarly, the oval faces may
be classified as long, short and medium ovals. The so-called typical
Roman visage is mesoprosopic, with an ellipsoidal contour. The
264 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
faces of Cavalieri and of the Fornarina (Figs. 85, 87), celebrated for
their beauty, are mesoprosopic ovals — and the exceptionally beauti-
ful face of Maria Mancini is a mesoprosopic ellipse (Fig. 86).
Countenances with rounded and mesoprosopic contours belong
to the Mediterranean race, and the more closely they come to
the mean average of that type and to a fusion of contours, the more
beautiful they are.
Faces with angular contours may be : triangular (due to promi-
nence of the cheek-bones, or zygomata, and of the chin) ; tetragonal,
further subdivided into quadrangular (chameprosopic) and parallel-
epipedoidal (leptoprosopic, due to prominence of zygomata and
corners of mandible); and polygonal, which may be either penta-
gonal, formed by the protrusion of the zygomata, the angles of
the mandible, and the chin; or hexagonal, formed by protrusion
of the frontal nodules, the zygomata and the angles of the
mandible.
There may occur, in certain types of face, a very notable preva-
lence of one part over another, so much so as to produce sharply
differentiated and characteristic physiognomies. Thus, for exam-
ple, a prevalence of forehead characterises the higher and superior
type of the man of genius (compare the portrait of Bellini or of Dar-
win). On the other hand, a prevalence either of the cheek-bones,
or the lower jaw, or the angles of the mandible, together with an
accompanying powerful development of the masticatory muscles,
produce three different types, all of them chameprosopic, which
represent, in respect to the face, inferior racial types, differing
from one another, but which are frequently met with (at least
to a noticeable extent) even among our own people, as types
of the lower-class face, precisely because of the preponderance
of the coarser features.
Combined with the general type of face, there are certain speci-
fied particulars of form of the separate parts; as, for example, in
the case of the ellipsoid or ovoid types of mesoprosopic face, which
seem to have attained the most harmonic fusion of characteristics,
and consequently the highest standard of beauty, the eyes are
very large and almond-shaped (the Fornarina, Maria Mancini,
Cavalieri) ; angular faces are characterised by a narrow, slanting
eye, through all the degrees down to that of the Mongolian; faces
of low type have an eye characterised less by its form than by its
smallness. The nose also shows differences; it is long and narrow
Fig. 95. — Hexagonal face.
Fig. 96. — Tetragonal face (square).
Fig. 97. — Faces of inferior type
(cheek bones prominent).
Fig. 98.
CRANIOLOGY 265
(leptorrhine) in the more leptoproscopic faces, and short, broad
and fleshy (platyrrhine, flat-nosed) in chameprosopic faces, espe-
cially in the lower types; in mesoprosopic faces it assumes its
proper proportions, and occurs as the last detail or crowning
touch of harmony in the perfect faces of the above-mentioned
women.
When one starts to make the first draft of an ornamental design,
it often happens that the proportional relations are based upon
certain geometric figures that might be called the skeleton of the
ornamental design that is being constructed from them. Ac-
cordingly, when an artist wishes to judge of the harmony of pro-
portions in a drawing, a painting, or a statue, he often recon-
structs with his eye a geometrical design that no longer exists
in the finished work, but that must have served in its construc-
tion. In short, there exist certain secret guiding lines and points
which the eye of the observer must learn to recognise, to trace
and to judge.
This is the way that we should proceed in studying the facial
profile.
Let us take or assume a person with the head orientated {i.e.,
with the occipital point resting against a vertical wall, and the
glance level). The line uniting the point of the tragus (the little
triangular cartilage projecting from the auricular foramen), with
the juncture between the nasal septum and the upper lip, ought,
in the case of an aesthetically regular face, to be horizontal. We
may call this line the line of orientation. If it proves not to be
horizontal, but oblique, slanting either forward (long nose) or
backward (short nose), this in itself denotes an irregularity which
is plainly perceptible, even to the casual observer. But it is only
in exceptional cases that this line is not horizontal; its horizontality
constitutes the norm, in our hybrid races.
Naturally, it is horizontal only when the head is orientated
in the manner above stated. Hence in normal cases its hori-
zontality is an index of the orientation of the head. The orientated
head is perfectly upright; and the line in question marks its level.
Everyone knows that this position of the head is known as
that of ''attention" and constitutes the position which formerly
only soldiers, but now school children as well, must assume as a
sign of salutation and respect toward their superiors. It is also
the anthropologically normal attitude (as we may see in statuary).
266 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
And it is a known fact that it is a position exceedingly difficult to
assume intentionally with absolute accuracy.
In fact, it corresponds to an attitude which has to be called
forth by some inward stimulus of emotion, and for this reason I
would call it the ''fundamental psychological line." The man
who is conscious of his own dignity, or who hopes for his own re-
demption; the man who is free and independent involuntarily
holds his head orientated.
It is not the vain man, or the proud man, or the dreamer, pr
the bureaucratic official, whose head assumes this involuntary
horizontal level that is characteristic of the most profound senti-
ments known to humanity; persons of such types hold their heads
slightly raised and the line shows a slight backward slant.
The man who is depressed and discouraged, the man who has
never had occasion to feel the deep, intimate and sacred thrill
of human dignity, has on the contrary, a more or less forward slant
in the psychological line of orientation.
Look at Fig. 99, which shows a very attractive group of Ciociari
or Neapolitan peasants.
The man, or rather the beardless youth who is just beginning
to feel himself a man, and therefore hopes for independence, holds
his head proudly level; but the very pretty woman seated beside
him holds her head gracefully inclined forward. For that matter,
this is woman's characteristically graceful attitude. She never
naturally assumes, nor does the artist ever attribute to her the
proud and lofty attitude of the level head. But this graceful
pose is in reality nothing else than the pose of slavery. The
woman who is beginning to struggle, the woman who begins to
perceive the mysterious and potent voice of human conflict, and
enters upon the infinite world of modern progress, raises up her
head — and she is not for that reason any the less beautiful. Be-
cause beauty is enhanced, rather than taken away, by this atti-
tude which to-day has begun to be assumed by all humanity: by
the laborer, since the socialistic propaganda, and by woman in her
feministic aspirations for liberty.
Similarly in the school, if we wish to induce little children to
hold their heads in the position of orientation, all that is necessary
is to instil into them a sense of liberty, of gladness and of hope.
Whoever, upon entering a children's class-room, should see their
heads assume the level pose as if from some internal stimulus of
Fig. 99. — -A group of Roman peasants.
CRANIOLOGY 267
renewed life, could ask for no greater homage. This, and nothing
else, is certainly what will form the great desire of the teacher of
the future, who will rightly despise the trite and antiquated show
of formal respect, but will seek to touch the souls of his pupils.
To return to our lines, it follows that the level orientation
is the true human position for the head; it ought never to be
abased nor carried loftily, because man ought never to make
himself either slave or master; it is the normal line, because it
should be that of the accustomed attitudes; because man cannot
normally be perpetually meditating, with his gaze upon the ground,
as if forgetful of himself and of his social ties; nor can he forever
gaze at the heavens, as though drawn upward by some supernal
inspiration. The normal attitude is that of the thinking man,
who cannot lean either in the one direction or the other, because
he is so keenly conscious of being in close connection with all sur-
rounding humanity; and he looks with horizontal gaze toward
infinity, as though studying the path of common progress.
Now, if from the metopic point of the forehead, we drop an
imaginary perpendicular to the line of orientation, it ought to form,
in projection, a tangent to the point of attachment of the nostrils.
Observe the two lines traced on the profile of Pauline Borghese.
This line, if prolonged, passes slightly within the extreme
angle of the labial aperture, and forms the limit of the chin (see
the portrait of Cavalieri, Fig. 101). In this case the profile is
eurignathous.
When the line does not pass in the aforesaid manner, but the
facial profile protrudes beyond it, we have a case of prognathism,
which may be total, when the whole face projects; maxillary when
the mandibles project, nasal when it is only the nose that projects,
and mental (or progeneism) when it is only the chin that protrudes.
Figures 98, 100 and 103 represent forms of normal prognathism
(related to race, Figs. 98, 100), and of pathological prognathism
(Fig. 103, form associated with microcephaly). These two micro-
cephalic profiles call to mind the muzzle of an animal; there is no
erect forehead, the orbital arch forming the upward continuance;
the nose is very long and almost horizontal to the protruding jaw;
the fleshy lips constitute in themselves the anterior apex of the
visage; while the chin recedes far back beneath them.
But leaving aside these exceptional profiles, which serve by
their very exaggeration to fix our conception of prognathism, let
268
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
us examine the series of profiles in Fig. 100, which include some
forms more or less peculiar, and others that are more or less custo-
mary, of prognathism; forms that serve to characterise the
physiognomy.
Fig. 100. — (1) Orthognathous face; (2) prognathism limited to the nasal region; (3)
prognathism limited to the sub-nasal region; (4) total prognathism, including the three
regions, supra-nasal, nasal and sub-nasal; (5) exaggerated total prognathism, accompanied
by mandibular prognathism; (6) the same in a child; (7) very marked prognathism, but due
entirely to the prominence of the supra-nasal section, resulting in an apparent orthog-
nathism (male of tall stature) ; (8) opposite type to the preceding: pronounced prognathism
not extending to the supra-nasal region (feminine type) ; (9) misunderstood Greek profile
(incorrect) resulting in a notable prognathism; (10) correct Greek profile, i.e., conforming
to that of Greek statues, and incompatible with prognathism.*
Manouvrier, analysing the forms of prognathism from the point of view of
physiognomy and cerebral development, notes that varieties 4 and 5 seem to him
to correspond to a more or less serious cerebral development; variety 2, very
frequent in France and more particularly, according to the author, among the
Jews, is not incompatible with a high cerebral inferiority. Variety 3, more
frequent in the feminine sex, is found in conjunction, sometimes with a weakly
skeletal system, and frequently with rickets and cretinism; nevertheless, Beeth-
oven showed an approach to this profile.
Variety 4 indicates on the contrary an extremely vigorous development of
the skeleton, with the qualities and defects commonly associated with great
physical strength; variety 7 is regularly associated with tall stature; in fact, in
this case the prognathism is determined by excessive development of the frontal
bone-sockets.
It is this development, prevalent in the male sex, that renders sub-nasal
prognathism much rarer in man. As a matter of fact, the feminine type of
prognathism shown in No. 8 is not greater in degree than the male type. No. 7.
Variety 9 shows us a form of prognathism in art, due to a false interpretation of
the Greek profile; it is commonly believed that in the Greek profile the frontal
line is a continuation of that along the bridge of the nose, and hence we frequently
meet with commemorative medals, etc., bearing the monstrous profile shown in
No. 9, with pronounced prognathism and receding forehead. The true Greek
profile is shown in No. 19, but we can better analyse it by studying the profile
of the Discobolus (Fig. 105) and of Antinoous (Fig. 106).
* The above elucidation and illustrations of the face are taken from Manouvrier,
Cephalometrie Anthropologique.
Fig. 102. — Head of Pauline Bonaparte Borghese (Rome, Borghese Museum).
^gi|y*tjfk£T
1
'^^m^^^^i
H^B
^^^HB
I^HHv
^-mBI
HHP^^
•*ll^,_
n
Ijrr
-ii
^mt..
Fig. 103. — Profiles of microcephalics.
CRANIOLOGY
269
The lines of the facial angle have been traced upon the profile of the Discobolus,
but the profile of Antinoous has been left untouched, in order that we may trace
the same lines upon it in imagination, and thus judge of its perfect beauty (facing
page 270).
Let us first examine these two Greek profiles, without stopping to analyse
their separate characteristics, but considering them from the more general point
of view of the facial profile in general. Reverting, instead, for our analytical
study to the schematic figure shown in Fig. 104, we see that it also shows the line
of the facial profile, that of orientation and the vertical, and that these lines form
certain right-angled triangles; the right angle MP A is not the facial angle, any
more than the corresponding angle shown in the Discobolus is the facial angle.
It is said that Greek art considered the right angle as the perfect facial angle;
but that is not true. In order to obtain the facial angle it is necessary to draw a
third line (MS) which extends from the metopic point to the point of attach-
ment of the nasal septum to the upper lip; this is the line of the facial profile,
and the angle MSA is the facial angle. It is never a right angle (see the Dis-
cobolus), but it approaches very closely to a right angle. Let us examine the
triangle AIPS, bounded by the ver-
tical, the line of profile and the line
of orientation; it is right-angled at
P. Hence, the sum of its other
two angles must be equal to one
right angle; but the upper angle,
corresponding to the nasal aperture,
is of only 15°, and consequently the
facial angle is 75°. The facial
angle of the Discobolus also, like
that of Antinoous, like that of the
normal human visage, is 75°.
Examine further this Fig. 104 ; in
it the line of the facial profile, ex-
tending from the metopion to the
septo-labial point also passes through
the point corresponding to the at-
tachment of the base of the nose
(nasion).
The figure is schematic; but
anyone who will trace it in imagi-
nation upon the profile of Cavalieri,
or on that of the seated woman in
the group of Neopolitan peasants, or on any of the classic profiles known in art
as the Roman profile, will find that the nasal line, connecting the supra- and
sub-nasal points, coincides with the line drawn from the sub-nasal point to the
metopion. But if we observe the Greek profile of the Discobolus, we shall
find that the line of profile does not coincide with the base of the nose, but
passes behind it.
This is the real characteristic difference between the Roman and the Greek
profile: in the Greek profile, the root of the nose is attached further in front of
18
Fig. 104.
270 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the metopico-subnasal line, and this is due to the special form of the Greek fore-
head, which, instead of being shghtly flattened at the glabella, as in the equally-
beautiful Roman forehead, is rounded to such a degree that the transverse section
of the forehead follows a circular line. Hence, it results that the metopic region
of the forehead is more prominent and the nose straight, and hence also the hne
of the forehead is a perceptible continuation of that of the nose (compare the
Antinoous). This unique and essential difference between the Greek and the
Roman profile has not hitherto been pointed out, so far as I am aware; it is indi-
cated by just one of the facial lines, the one which forms an angle of 75° with the
line of orientation. I had an opportunity to observe these differences in my study
of the women of Latium, which I pursued side by side with a study of the statues
in the museums of Rome, under the guidance of distinguished art specialists;
nevertheless, they had none of them ever defined by mathematical lines the sole
difference between the two classic types.
The habit of tracing these imaginary lines renders us far more keen iii recog-
nising any and every degree of prognathism, even the least perceptible, and any
other imperfection of the profile, than the most complicated system of goniometry
would make us. For instance, examine the profile of Pauline Borghese; it is
certainly not prognathous, since the vertical line reveals a most impeccable
orthognathism. But let us trace the nasal line: it meets the vertical line before
reaching the metopic point ; in order to meet it at this point, the nose would have
had to be narrower from front to back; in that case the profile of Pauline Borghese
would have been a perfect Roman profUe; but the imperial stigma of the Napo-
leonic house deprived the beautiful princess of the privilege of perfect classic
beauty.
In my studies of the women of Latium, in addition to the Greek and Roman
forms of profile which are very frequent (the former distinguished by the morpho-
logical peculiarity of having no definite naso-frontal angle nor metopic flattening
of the forehead) I found a third profile, less frequent yet quite characteristic,
among the representatives of the Mediterranean (Eurafrican) race. It is worthy
of note (Figs. 107, 108).
First. of all, the forehead has a slight transverse depression along its middle
line, and the mandible is slightly elongated ; but if we draw our imaginary vertical
line from the extreme forward point of the brow, we find that none of the forms
of prognathism is involved, and that the auriculo-subnasal line is horizontal.
This is the type that has been described by Sergi as Egyptian; and the young
woman, shown in profile, really does suggest a reincarnation of the proud beauty
of the daughters of Pharoah; the somewhat fleshy lips and the form of the eyes,
not almond-like, but very wide and horizontal, complete the characteristics of
the type immortalised in Egyptian art.
In the normal profile two forms can be distinguished which are associated with
the two general forms of leptoprosopic and chameprosopic face, and hence also
with the dolichocephalic and brachycephalic forms of cranium. In the one case,
the features are more elongated and seem to be more depressed laterally, with the
result that the profile is more refined, the visage narrower, along the longitudinal
line; in this case the profile is proopic (as, for example, in the aforesaid Egyptian
profile and in the elongated ovoidal English face. Fig. 90); aristocratic faces of
Fig. 105. — The Discobolus by Miron Fig. 106. — Head of statue known as the
(Rome, Vatican Museum). Capitoline Antinoous (Rome, Capitoline
Museum) .
Fig. 107.
Fig. 108.
CRANIOLOGY 271
the finer type are proopic. On the other hand, broad faces are anteriorly flat-
tened to such an extent that the flatness shows even in the proGle: platyopic
profile.
These general forms are associated with certain special forms of the
separate organs.
Thus, for example, in proopic faces the palate is narrow, long and high; in
platyopic faces, on the contrary, it is broad, low and flat; and the teeth corre-
sponding to them may present a widely different appearance (long, narrow teeth ;
broad teeth).
Loiv Tijpes and Abnormal Forms. — Low types, as we have already noted,
depend upon the development of the face in its least noble parts (those of masti-
cation) ; prominence of the cheek-bones and maxillary angles, great development of
the upper and lower jaw (prognathism). These conditions are frequently accom-
panied by a low, narrow, or receding forehead, indicating a scanty cerebral develop-
ment. Lombroso found a great prevalence of similar forms among criminals;
but recent studies have disclosed the fact that such forms of facial development
are in some way related to the environment in which the individual has developed,
so much so that, on the basis of these morphological characteristics, we might
almost succeed in delineating the physiognomies distinguishing the different
social castes. In fact, while the aristocratic face is ellipsoidal and proopic, that
of the peasant is characterised by a pronounced wideness between the cheek-
bones, and that of the city labourer by a peculiar development in the height of
the mandible. Thus the peasant has a broad face, and the city workman a
somewhat elongated face, with very pronounced maxillary angles.
A real and important abnormality which indicates a deviation from every
type of race or caste is facial asymmetry or plagioprosopy, analogous to plagioce-
phaly, and frequently associated with it.
It is necessary, however, in the case of the face, to distinguish instances of
functional asymm,etry, due to unequal innervation of the muscles in the two sides
of the face; either from some cerebral cause, or from some local cause affecting
the facial nerves. In such cases, the trophic state of the muscles and their con-
tractibility being unequal, there is a resultant asymmetry, especially evident in
the play of facial expression.
This form of asymmetry must necessarily be limited to the soft tissues and
be due to a pathological cause; consequently it should not be confounded with
the asymmetry due to a different skeletal development of the two sides of the face,
an abnormality analogous to plagiocephaly, which is met with among degener-
ates as a stigma of congenital malformation. We owe to Brugia a most admir-
able method for demonstrating the high degrees of facial asymmetry v/hich some-
times reach such an extreme point as to give the two halves the appearance of
having formed parts of two different faces. This is precisely what Brugia shows
by the aid of photography, uniting each half with a reversed print of itself, making
the two prints coincide along the median lin,e. The result is that every asym-
metric face gives 'two other faces formed respectively from one of the two inequal
halves, and presenting profoundly different aspects.
Other abnormahties are revealed by the facial profile. They are due either
to total or partial prognathism (already analysed), or to orthognathism, where
272 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the facial angle equals or exceeds a right angle; such a profile occurs in cases of
hydrocephaly or of macrocephaly in general, usually resulting from infantile arrest
of development.
The Evolution of the Face. — The human countenance, that is so marvellously
beautiful in our superior hybrid races, passes, during its embryonal life, through
many forms that are very far removed from such perfection.
Figures 110, 111, and 112 represent the evolution of the face in animals and in
man: and the complete evolution of a woman's face from the embryo during the
first weeks of its formation to the attainment of old age.
The embryonal face, as may be seen even better in animals than in man, is
surmounted by the brain divided and differentiated into its superimposed prim-
itive vesicles; furthermore, it consists of one single, widespread cavity, at the
sides of which may be discerned two diminutive vesicles or bulbs, which are off-
shoots of the brain and constitute the first rudiments of the eyes. In studying
a more advanced stage of development, we may note in what constitutes the upper
lip of this wide facial cavity, two nasal ducts or furrows, which are the first indi-
cations of the nose.
The principal differentiation which takes place in the face consists of the
development from its two lateral walls on left and right, of two thin plates or
laminae that advance across the cavity itself, in its anterior portion, and proceed
to unite in a median ridge, the raphe palati; this constitutes the formation of the
palatine vault, which is destined permanently to divide the single cavity into two
cavities — an upper or nasal, and a lower or buccal cavity. If this process of forma-
tion is not completed, the result is a grave abnormality, the cleft palate, popularly
known in Italy as a "wolf's throat," and consisting in the fact that the nasal
and buccal cavities to a greater or less extent open into each other; this abnormal-
ity, due to an arrest of embryonic development, is almost always accompanied
by a hare-lip.
Simultaneously with the formation of the palatine vault, another and vertical
septum is formed, which divides the upper cavity into two halves, right and left.
This division, however, is limited to the anterior portion; the three cavities thus
formed have no such division in the rear, but all three open into the gullet or
oesophagus, which represents the only relic of the single original cavity.
The maxillary bones are formed in a manner analogous to that of the nasal
and palatal septa, through extroversions destined to become ossified.
It is not until later that the external nose is formed (middle of the second
month of embryonal life).
After this, the evolution of the embryo becomes evidently a perfectionment
and a growth, rather than a transformation.
In the new-horn child the face is extremely small in comparison with the
cerebral cranium.
If we compare the head of an adult with that of an infant, and draw the
well-known line of separation between the facial and the cerebral cranium, the
difference in the reciprocal proportions between the two parts at once becomes
apparent. The infant's face seems like a mere appendix to its cranium; and the
mandible is especially small; in fact, very young children remain much of the time
with their mouth open and the under lip drawn back behind the upper.
Fig. 109. — Face of interior type.
Prominence of angles of jaw (Gonia).
Fig. 110.
SI.---
m>---
FiG. 111. Fig. 112.
a, eye; v, anterior brain; m, middle brain; s, frontal process; h, nasal septum;
o, u, h, d, r, primitive embryonal formations, explained as being branchial {i. e., gill)
arches; z, tongue; g, auditory fissure. Note the analogy between the diiJerent parts
of the head in animals and in man; every species, however, has special embryonal
characteristics.
CRANIOLOGY 273
Consequently, the growth of the face obeys laws and rhythms differing from
those of the cranium, in comparison to which the face is destined to assume very
different proportions by the time that the adult age is reached. The face grows
much more than the cranium.
In its characteristic infantile form, the face is quite round (short and broad),
and, when the child is plump, it often happens that at birth the face is broader
than it is long. Seen in profile it is orthognathous, and this orthognathism en-
dures throughout early infancy, because the profile still remains in retreat be-
hind the plane of the protruding forehead; i.e., the facial angle exceeds a right
angle, and the mandibular region is further back than the nasal (compare pro-
file of infant).
In the course of growth it may be said in a general way that the facial
index diminishes ; that is, the numerical proportion between width and height
becomes lowered as the face lengthens; while the facial angle changes from
somewhat more than a right angle to a right angle, and finally to an acute
angle of 75°.
In order to obtain an exact idea of the transformations of the face, children
should have their pictures taken, full face and profile, on every birth-day, as is
already customary in England for the purposes of the carnet maternel, the
"mother's note-book."
In the illustrations facing this page we have portraits of the same person taken
at successive ages (Figs. 113, 114, 115, 116), i.e., at the age of six months, one
year and a half, seven, and lastly twelve years; it will be seen that the face has
steadily lengthened.
In this case the individual happens to be noticeably leptoprosopic;but observe
the rotundity of the infantile face at the age of six months.
An analogous observation may be made in the case of the girl represented in
Figs. 118 and 119, at the age of ten months and thirteen years respectively.
Even in the case of abnormal children the same law holds good ; an examina-
tion of the three pictures of an incurable idiot boy, taken at the ages of six, eleven,
and sixteen years (Figs. 121, 122, 123 facing page 276), shows that the face, from
being originally rotund has become elongated.*
We owe to Binet the most exact and complete studies that exist in anthropo-
logic literature on the subject of the growth of the face. He has made a great
number of facial measurements, both of children and young persons of the male
sex, from four to eighteen years of age, taking the measurements at intervals
of two years. The measurements chosen by Binet are all the possible distances
that will serve to give the various widths of the face, the distance of the ear from
the various points of the profile, and the heights of the various segments; namely
(for an exact understanding of these measurements, see section on Technique),
auriculo-mental diameter, auriculo-nasal diameter, auriculo-subnasal diameter,
auriculo-ophryac diameter, auriculo-metopic diameter, frontal diameter, bi-
auricular diameter, bizygomatic diameter, length of nose, length of chin, subnaso-
mental distance, height of forehead, f
* From Thulie, Le Dressage des jeunes degSnSres, page 633. ^
t Binet, Le croissance du cr&ne et de la face chez les normaux entre 4 ei 18 ans.
274 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Binet's conclusions are as follows: the growth of the whole
head may be divided into three rhythms: that of the cerebral
cranium, that of the face apart from the nose, and that of the nose.
If the total development of the cerebral cranium from the fourth
to the eighteenth year shows a proportion of 12 per cent., the facial
development shows an increase of 24 per cent, and that of the nose
39 per cent. Consequently the face increases twice as much as
the cranium, and the nose three times as much. In the growth of
the face, however, the transverse dimensions must be distin-
guished from the longitudinal dimensions, because the facial index
varies greatly according to the age. The width of the face follows
very nearly the same rhythm as the cranium, never exceeding the
latter' s proportional increase; the length of the face, on the con-
trary, follows the special rhythm of the growth of the face, which
lengthens far more than it broadens.
If we consider the distances of the various points in the profile
from the auricular foramen, we find that these distances show a
greater increase in proportion as the points in question are further
from the forehead and nearer to the chin.
The central section (the nose) and the mandible are the por-
tions which contribute most largely to the increase in length of the
face.
While in the case of the cranium there is a very slight, and often
imperceptible puberal acceleration of growth, the puberal trans-
formations of the head are, on the contrary, most notable in respect
to the face.
The entire region of the upper and lower jaws, but more espe-
cially the lower, undergoes a maximum increase during the period
of puberty.
In regard to the nose, its rapid growth begins at the time im-
mediately preceding puberty; that is, it undergoes a prepuberal
maximum increase. When a boy is about to complete his sexual
development, the nose begins to gain in size.
The puberal growth of the mandible has long been a familiar
fact, and bears a relation to the development of the sexual glands.
A special characteristic noted by Binet and by myself is that
the height of the lower jaw in boys who have reached the pre-
puberal stage is greater in the boys who are least intelligent; just
as in the case of these boys the nose is less leptorrhine and the face
less broad. This means that at the period of puberty the most
Fig. 113. — A child at six months. Fig. 114. — The same child at a year and a half.
Fig. 115. — A seven-year-old boy.
Fig. 116. — The same boy at the
age of twelve.
CRANIOLOGY
275
intelligent boys not only have a greater development of head, but
also certain distinctive facial characteristics. They should have,
for instance, a more ample forehead, a broader face, especially in
the bizygomatic diameter (between the cheek-bones), and a leptor-
rhine nose (infantile leptorrhine type). The backward boys, on
the contrary, have a longer face, accompanied by a higher mandible
and a flat or "snub" nose. Here are the comparative figures:
FACIAL MEASUREMENTS
Binet Children from the elementary schools of Paris from 11 to 13 years of age
Montessori. . Children from the elementary schools of Rome from 9 to 11 years of age
Binet's figures
Montessori's figures
Measurements
Brightest
pupils
Back-
ward
pupils
Differ-
ence
Brightest
pupils
Back-
ward
pupils
Differ-
ence
Minimum frontal diameter
Height of forehead..
Mento-subnasal distance . .
Bizygomatic diameter
Bigoniac diameter
104
46
62
124.8
93.5
102
45.5
64.6
122.9
92.1
2
0.5
2.4
1.9
1.4
99
57
54
109
87
98
56
56
107
86
1
1
2
2
1
COMPARATIVE FACIAL MEASUREMENTS OBTAINED FROM THE
BRIGHTEST AND THE MOST BACKWARD PUPILS IN THE
SCHOOLS OF ROME (MONTESSORI)
Measurements and indices Brightest
in millimetres pupils
Backward
pupils
Difference
Height of mandible
34 mm.
47 mm.
28 mm.
59 mm.
36 mm.
45 mm.
29 mm.
64 mm.
2 mm.
Length of nose
Width of nose
Nasal index
2 mm.
1 mm.
5 mm.
These results would seem to prove that there are high and low
infantile types of face, analogous, let us say, to types of social
caste; and in school life they correspond to the castes of the
intelligent and the backward pupils.
Intelligent children tend to preserve the infantile form of face
more intact (broad and short) or rather, if we extend our researches
276 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
to pupils who have reached the pre-puberal age, we may conclude
that intelligent pupils develop according to the normal laws — the
growth is confined to the nose; backward children invert the order
of growth — the lower jaw is already enlarged before the nose has
even begun the acceleration of puberal growth. This difference
remains permanent in the adult, and we have in consequence low
types of face characterised by a flat nose and heavy lower jaw.
Facial Expression. — The study of the human face cannot be
limited to a consideration of the form alone; because what gives
character to it is the expression. Internal thought, sensory im-
pressions and all the various emotions produce responsive move-
ments of the facial muscles, whose contractions determine those
visible phenomena corresponding to the inner state of mind.
The teacher ought to understand facial expression, just as a
physician must train himself to recognise the fades corresponding
to various diseases and states of suffering. The study of expres-
sion ought to form a part of the study of psychology, but it also
comes within the province of anthropology, because the habitual,
life-long expressions of the face determine the wrinkles of old age,
which are distinctly an anthropological characteristic.
The facial muscles may be divided into two zones : one of which
comprises the frontal and ocular region, and the other the buccal
region; corresponding to which are the two upper and lower
branches of the frontal nerve.
Accordingly we may speak of a frontal or higher zone of ex-
pression and of an oral or lower zone.
The expressions of pure thought (attention, reflection) group
themselves around the forehead; those of emotion, on the contrary,
call forth a combined action of both zones, and frequently irradiate
over the entire body. But as a general rule the man of higher
intelligence has a greater intensity of frontal expression, and the
man of low intelligence (uneducated men, peasants, and to a much
greater degree, imbeciles, idiots, etc.) have a predominance of
oral expression.
In children the frontal zone has slight mobility, and the oral
zone has a preponderance of expression; infantile expression, how-
ever, is diffuse and exaggerated and is characterised by grimaces.
Undoubtedly there are certain restraining powers, which develop
in the course of time and serve to limit and definitely determine
the facial expressions.
Fig. 117. — Profile of a child.
Fig. — 118. A child of ten months.
Fig. 119. — The same, 13 years old.
CRANIOLOGY
277
As for the mechanics of expression, they consist of the facial nerve, and the
surface muscles stimulated by it, which are: the frontal muscle, which covers the
entire forehead and merges above into the epicranial aponeurosis; the superciliary
muscle extending transversely along the superciliary arch and concealed by the
orbicular muscle of the eyelids (m. orbicularis palpebrarum), which surrounds
the eye-socket like a ring; the pyramidal muscle (m. pyramidalis nasi), which is
connected with the point of origin of the frontal muscle at the inner angle of the
eyebrow, and separates below into four symmetrical fasciae, two of which are
attached to the ala or wing of the nose, and the other two to the upper lip.
Fig. 120. — The Muscles of the Head and Face.
A group of very delicate muscles controlling the sensitive movements of the
wings and septum of the nose (m. compressor narium, m. depressor alw nasi, m.
levator alee nasi, anterior and posterior, and m. depressor septi) have their points
of attachment around the nasal alee (just above the upper incisor and canine
teeth). There is a great wealth of muscles surrounding the mouth; no animal,
not even the anthropoid ape, is equipped with so many muscles ; it is due to them
that the human mouth is able to assume such a great variety of positions. The
278 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
greater number of these muscles are arranged like radii around the mouth; and
there is one which, unlike the rest, surrounds the oral aperture like a ring.
The radiating muscles, descending from the sides of the nose down along the
chin are: the levator muscle of the upper lip (m. levator labii superioris, starting
from the bony margin below the infraorbital foramen) ; the levator muscle of the
angle of the mouth (m. levator anguli oris, starting from the fossa of the upper
maxilla) ; the large and small zygomatic muscles (starting from the anterior sur-
face of the malar bones); the risorial muscle (m. risorius), the smallest of all the
facial muscles, which has its origin in the soft surface tissues (aponeurosis paro-
tido-masseterica) ; the depressor muscle of the mouth angle (m. depressor anguli
oris, or m. triangularis) originating on the lower margin of the maxilla; the de-
pressor muscle of the lower lip or quadratus muscle of the chin (m. quadratus labii
inferioris or quadratus menti, also originating on the lower maxilla) ; the levator
muscle of the chin (m. levator menti) between the two musculi quadrati, also has
its origin in the lower maxilla; the buccinator muscle, hidden beneath the pre-
ceding, has its origin behind the molar teeth in the alveolar process of the two
maxillse, and extends horizontally, terminating in the two lips, in such a manner
that its two fasciae partly cross, so that the upper fasciae of the muscle starting
from the mandible extend to the upper lip, and the lower fasciae of the muscle
starting from the maxilla extend to the lower lip. Consequently the contrac-
tion of this muscle stretches the angles of the mouth in a horizontal direction only;
it is the most voluntary of all the muscles, and plays a greater part than the others
in forced laughter; in consequence it robs this movement of its characteristic
charm.
Lastly we must note the orbicular muscle of the lips (m. orbicularis oris or
sphincter oris), which constitutes the fleshy part of the Hps and surrounds the oral
aperture like a ring.
The contraction of these muscles produces antagonistic motorial action; for
instance, the orbicular muscle tends to close the mouth into a circular orifice; the
various muscles which radiate from the corners of the mouth (especially the buc-
cinator) tend, on the contrary, to enlarge and stretch it in a transverse direction;
certain muscles tend to raise the mouth, and others to lower it. Accordingly,
there results a play between the muscles of expression and upon their continual
antagonism depend the changing expressions of the human countenance.
Here are a few of the principal facial expressions, described in
a masterly manner, and for the first time, by Charles Darwin :*
Expression of Sorrow. — The muscles that are principally
brought into play are the superciliary, the frontal and the trian-
gular or depressor muscles of the lips; the eyebrows are furrowed,
being drawn upward by the action of the frontal muscle; this, how-
ever, cannot contract completely because drawn downward later-
ally by the superciliary muscles, and hence the forehead wrinkles
only at its middle point and together with the slanting eyebrows
assumes a shape that suggests three sides of a quadrilateral.
*. Charles Darwin, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals.
CRANIOLOGY 279
Simultaneously there is a drooping of the corners of the mouth,
which, when exaggerated in infancy, forms the characteristic and
charming grimace of a child who is on the point of crying. Accord-
ingly, sorrow draws the frontal zone upward, and the labial zone
downward; in other words, it lengthens the face.
Expression of Pleasure. — On the contrary, laughter and happi-
ness shorten the face; all the muscles are brought into play that
stretch the corners of the mouth, as well as those which raise the
upper lip, in consequence of which the upper teeth are disclosed.
The frontal zone remains in repose; excepting that there is a
contraction of the orbicular muscle of the eyelids, especially in its
lower portion; the lower lid is drawn upward and the skin is
puckered at the external angle of the eye; the lachrymal gland is
compressed, the circulation of blood stimulated, as always results
from every expression of joy, the secretion of the gland is increased,
and consequently a few tears are readily shed. The eye, grown
smaller and half hidden, shines brilliantly, because moistened
from without and irrigated from within by an abundant flow of
blood.
Expression of Various Emotions: Anger. — During anger the
superciliary muscles prevail in exceedingly energetic action, drawing
the forehead strongly downward, wrinkling it vertically, and also
producing transverse wrinkles on the nose. In the labial zone the
orbicular muscle is intensely active, and the lips contract. When
anger endures for a long time, the condition above described di-
minishes in intensity, leaving only a slight frown, while the closed
lips protrudfe in tubular form. An expression usually described
by the terms, to sulk or pout.
This is the way in which little children express their displeasure;
and the pouting lips sometimes rise clear to the tip of the little
nose, in sign of proud defiance. This form of grimace is common to
the children of every race: it has been observed in the children
of Hottentots and Chinese, as a sign of prolonged anger and ill
humor.
Hence the contraction of the mouth is a characteristic sign of
anger; and when the emotion is very strong, even the masticatory
muscles may enter into play, causing a grinding of the teeth.
Surprise. — In surprise, on the contrary, the entire labial zone
is in repose, and there is complete and free contraction of one
muscle alone, the frontal; consequently it produces longitudinal
280 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
lines across the entire forehead, uplifting the eyebrows, which
passively follow the elevation produced by the frontal muscle,
forming two arches around which the wrinkles of the forehead
form themselves in parallel lines. The eyes in consequence are
stretched to their widest. The oral zone is so far relaxed that the
lower jaw droops in obedience to gravity and the mouth gapes
open : bouche beante. Sometimes a less intense degree of surprise
fails to do away with the contraction of the orbicular muscle of the
lips, which, without being actively contracted, but simply because
relieved from the interference of antagonistic muscles, closes the
mouth in a rounded or tubular aperture.
This same facial expression, which is a very striking one,
exists in all races.
When children are still too young to contract the frontal
muscle completely, they show surprise by a gaping mouth, and a
puckering of the entire forehead, in place of the transverse furrows.
Expression of Thought. — In addition to the expressions of the
emotions, the authorities describe those due to thought, and give
special consideration to the expression of external or sensory atten-
tion, and internal attention (reflection, meditation). The young
child is capable of intense sensorial attention, which is manifested
especially in visual attention.
I have been able to make many observations in the ''Children's
Houses," where children two or three years old take part in
games that demand attention, comparison, and the exercise of
reason, without tiring their minds or encountering any great
difficulty. These children wrinkle their foreheads and hold their
mouths slightly open.
This is the expression also noted by Darwin, and the one
which notoriously produces those vertical lines in the middle of
the forehead, known as the lines of thought.
When these children are obliged to make an effort of thought
or when they are for any reason troubled and anxious, slight
contractions pass across their foreheads, like a continuous succes-
sion of broken shadows (Darwin).*
It should be noted that in any case a contraction of the eye-
brows during intellectual work denotes effort, a difficulty to be
overcome. Pure thought, by itself alone, produces no such
contractions.
* Charles Darwin, Op. cit.
CRANIOLOGY 281
The contemplative man, absorbed in profound meditation,
shows a face overspread with serenity, due to muscular repose ; the
gaze is fixed upon the void, and the head, as though no longer
sustained by the relaxed muscles, is inclined forward.
If his eyes retain steadfastly the same original direction, even
after the body has dropped forward, they give the impression of
being turned on high. Such is the expression of the man sunk in
profound thought, so long as his thought follows an uninterrupted
course.
But when a difficulty arises, see how he begins to knit his brow.
It is the difficulty which has arisen, and not the course of his
thoughts, that has produced this muscular reaction.
The movement is similar to what occurs in the case of any diffi-
culty to overcome, as, for instance, the threading of a needle.
Consequently the wrinkles of thought are the wrinkles of the
faiigue of thought.
The mystics, who are purely contemplative thinkers, and not
solvers of difficulties, have a forehead without lines. Similarly
in art, the faces of the Madonna or of the Saints have an intense
expression of thought in their gaze, but the serene countenance
shows neither contractions nor lines.
De Sanctis* has made some interesting observations regarding
the facial expression of the mentally deficient. They have a
singular difficulty in contracting the frontal muscle even at the
age of eleven or twelve years; even when urged by example and
command, they frequently do not succeed in contracting the fore-
head. Labial expression, on the other hand, is much more de-
veloped, and frequently attention is indicated by a contraction
of the orbicular muscle of the lips into a circle; and surprise is
shown in the same way.
In general, however, what characterises the face of the imbecile,
the idiot, the epileptic, is its immobility: hypomimia or amimia.
There are, however, frequent cases of cerebrophlegia (a pro-
gressive malady of the brain occurring during the early years of
childhood), in which exaggerated contractions of the face occur
as the result of the least mental effort. The French give the name
of grimaciers to children who show such symptoms; from patho-
logical causes they exhibit a hypermimia that transforms their
facial expressions into grimaces. Furthermore, there are certain
* Sante de Sanctis, La Mimica del Pensiero (The Expression of Thought) .
282 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
degenerate children in whom the muscular reactions do not corre-
spond to the normal expression of their feelings; for example,
they exhibit sorrow when they mean to show attention, etc. In
such cases the play of the opposite and contradictory facial muscles
has become perverted: dismimia.
One of the most frequent occurrences among the abnormal is
asymmetry of the facial expressions; the muscles contract more
on one side of the face than on the other. This symptom, how-
ever, in a mild degree, is met with also in normal persons.
From what has been said, it is evident that for the examina-
tion of the face we must depend, if not exclusively, at least far
more upon anthroposcopy than upon anthropometry; and since
the minute description required is too difficult and too lengthy
a task, especially as regards the facial expressions (which are so
characteristic of the individual) it is necessary in pedagogic anthro-
pology to resort to photography.
The instantaneous photograph, in all progressive countries,
is already within the reach of mothers. It ought also to form part
of the equipment of our schools.
The Neck
The neck is a part which is anatomically of much importance,
but not of equal importance from the anthropological side. The
skeleton of the neck is formed of the seven cervical vertebrae.
Notwithstanding that in all the higher vertebrates the neck is
constituted of the same number of vertebrae, it can assume the
most varied dimensions, all the way from the giraffe to the whale.
Similarly, at the different ages of man it is at one time barely
indicated and almost wanting altogether, as in the new-born
child, and again long and flexible, as in the lovely women of some
of the higher races.
Godin has observed that the maximum increase of the neck
takes place between the fourteenth and sixteenth year, i.e., at
the epoch of puberty; but at the fourteenth year it undergoes
such a rapid increase that it surpasses proportionally the puberal
increase of the total stature.
This is shown in the following table:
PROPORTION OF LENGTH OF NECK TO THE STATURE REDUCED TO 100
Age in years: 13| 14 14J 15 15| 16 16| 17 17|
Proportions: 10 12 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
CRANIOLOGY 283
Consequently the proportion between neck and stature is a
datum that tends strongly to remain a fixed quantity. The re-
sult, however, is different if we study the proportion between the
neck and the vertebral column as a whole.
PROPORTION OF LENGTH OF NECK TO THE TRUNK REDUCED TO 100
Age in years: 131 14 14^ 15 15§ 16 16§ 17 17^
Proportions: 34 35 34 35 35 35 35 35 34
Accordingly it is about one-third of the trunk.
The circumference of the neck is also taken, for it shows whether
the neck is slender or thick; and this often bears a relation to the
degree of development of the thyroid gland.
In my work upon the women of Latium I have shown that the
small, dark women have a longer and more flexible neck than
those who are fair and of tall stature. Therefore this is a racial
difference, similar to the difference we have already noted for
types of stature. The macrosceles have a long and slender neck,
and the opposite is found in the case of the brachysceles; conse-
quently, a very long neck is an indication of a weak constitution.
CHAPTER III
THE THORAX
We have already had occasion to point out, in connection with
the types of stature, the importance of the thorax.
The relation of the thoracic perimeter (circumference of the
chest) to the total stature (see chapter on Technique) was called
by Goldstein the index of life, in order to indicate that the organic
resistance of any individual depends upon the proportional relation
between the thorax and the whole body; whoever has a narrow
chest is liable to pulmonary tuberculosis, and in his physiological
entirety is a weakling (see chapter on Macroscelous and Brachy-
scelous Types).
Anatomical Parts. — Anatomically the thorax is determined
in height by the twelve dorsal or thoracic vertebrae, which are
characterised by having a transverse apophysis, which articu-
lates with the twelve pairs of ribs, forming the thoracic cage, or
chest.
The first seven pairs of ribs articulate in front, by means of
cartilages, with the lateral margins of a flat bone, the sternum or
breast-bone, which is formed of three pieces: the manubrium up-
permost, then the corpus, then, lowest of all, the ensiform (sword-
shaped) process.
The manubrium and the corpus form, at their juncture, an
angle more or less marked, according to the individual, and the
lateral articulation of the second rib corresponds to this angle.
In the new-born child the sternum is a cartilage with points of
ossification arranged longitudinally like the beads of a rosary.
The seventh ■ vertebra articulates laterally at the point at which
the ensiform process is attached to the corpus of the sternum. The
next three ribs (8th, 9th and 10th) are articulated together and
with the seventh by means of cartilaginous arches; the last two
pairs of ribs (11th and 12th) are free or floating. At the top, the
thoracic cage is reinforced by the thoracic girdle, which serves also
to afford articulation for the upper limbs, and which consists of
284
THE THORAX 285
the clavicles, in front, and of the scapulae, behind. The clavicles
are long bones placed in an almost horizontal position above the
thorax, and they determine the width of the chest; at the inner
extremity they articulate with the manubrium of the sternum
and at the outer extremity they are attached to the acromial pro-
cess of the scapulae. The scapulae are flat bones which are attached
to the posterior surface of the thoracic frame, on which they are
freely movable, covering a tract extending from the second to the
seventh rib. At their upper and outer extremity they are provided
with two bony processes; namely, the acromion, already mentioned,
which contains the points of maximum width of the shoulders, and
the coracoid process, which terminates anteriorly and, together
with the acromion, overhangs the articulation of the humerus with
the body of the scapula.
Powerful muscles clothe the thoracic frame, serving partly in
the movements of respiration and partly in the movements of the
upper limbs. It may suffice to mention, among the muscles sit-
uated posteriorly, the cucullaris, the great dorsal (m. longissimus
dorsi), the rhomboids of the scapulae (m. rhomboidus major and
minor), and the serratus posterior of the ribs; anteriorly, the large
and small pectoral and the great serratus; beside which there are
the intercostal muscles, extending from rib to rib and taking part
in the movements of respiration. But the most important muscle
is the diaphragm, which completely closes the thoracic cavity,
rising into it in a convex vault and separating it from the abdomen ;
this constitutes the most active of all the muscles which partici-
pate in the movements of respiration. The thoracic cavity, thus
determined, encloses the two most important viscera of vegetative
life — the heart and the lungs.
The heart is a muscle shaped like a pear or cone, having its base
turned upward, and its apex or point turned downward and out-
ward toward the left, corresponding to the fifth intercostal space;
it is divided, as is well known, into four cavities, and constitutes
the great motor power of the circulation of the blood. The lungs are
two in number, right and left, and surround the heart, completely
filling the thoracic cavity. The lungs are divided into superim-
posed lobes, three in the right and two in the left lung; they are
composed essentially of infinitely small ramifications of the bronchi,
resolving into tiny series of chambers, the pulmonary alveoli or
air-cells. These alveoli, consisting of a single layer of extremely
19
286 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
small cells, are surrounded by a dense network of capillary tubes,
through which takes place the interchange of oxygen and carbon
dioxide. It has been calculated that if we should estimate and
sum up the internal surfaces of the pulmonary alveoli, or, what
comes to the same thing, if we should spread out and join together
the alveolar walls of the lungs, they would have a superficial area
of 200 square metres. This area might be compared to the foliage
of a great human tree (respiratory surface).
Physiological and Hygienic Aspect. — The importance of the
thorax is physiological, because it contains the highly important
viscera of vegetative life; but this importance is especially asso-
ciated with the lungs. The lungs are the organs that acquire the
oxygen from the outside environment, and this oxygen, when taken
up by the hemoglobin in the blood, will serve to oxygenate the
tissues of the entire organism, and thus aid in the processes of cellu-
lar metabolism. A large supply of oxygen stimulates this inter-
change of matter, not only because the organism as a whole is
enriched in the substance essential to this process (oxygen), but
because the heart responds to the increased activity of the lungs
by more energetic pulsations calculated to set the blood circulating
in far greater quantities. It is no exaggeration to say that our
whole physiological life is enclosed within the thorax, because the
digestive system does nothing more than prepare a blood that is
unfitted to irrigate the tissues for the purpose of supplying them
with nutriment; it is only after this blood has passed through the
lungs that it is transformed into oxygenated blood and is adapted to
assimilation. Consequently the intestines prepare nothing more
than the raw material, and it is the lungs which perform the service
of perfecting it; while the heart drives it through its circuit into
contact with all the tissues of the organism.
Whoever has inadequate lungs is for that reason alone a person
who necessarily receives insufficient nutriment (thin and weak
macroscele), and frequently is also a melancholiac. Melancholia
accompanies every form of physiological decadence. On the con-
trary, persons with ample lungs are generally serene of spirit and
joyous. In fact, the emotion of joy is at the same time both the
cause and the consequence of an active circulation of oxygenated
blood (florid or ruddy complexion).
Certain experiments conducted with birds have proved that if
free oxygen is introduced under an air-bell in which the birds have
THE THORAX 287
been enclosed, they gradually become more and more excited, sing-
ing and fluttering as if possessed by a frensy of joyousness. It is a
fact that we often rid ourselves of a fit of melancholy by taking
a walk in the open air; persons possessed of good lungs feel within
themselves a vital potentiality that perceptibly aids them to make
what we call an "effort of will" ; when sorrow befalls them, or over-
exertion has exhausted their strength, persons of this type feel some
force spring up within them that seems to give them fresh hope and
courage. It is their oxygenated blood, which neither weariness nor
depression of spirit can stay in its luxuriant course; the man of
weak lungs, on the contrary, is mentally depressed, because his
physiological life has slowed down ; and, instead of aiding him, it is
his physiological life which demands of him a genuine effort of will
to reestablish its equilibrium.
Accordingly, those persons who have a well-developed chest are
certainly the healthiest and the happiest.
But this is not the only pulmonary function ; the lungs are also
the organs of speech. In fact, while speech is manufactured in the
brain and the cerebral nerves that stimulate the organs of the.
spoken word, it requires also its "driving power," that is to say, air,
in order to obtain utterance; and it is the lungs to which singers
and speakers alike owe the physical strength of their voice. Even
the respiratory rhythm has a great influence upon speech.
The spoken word requires a most complicated mechanism, and
among the details of this mechanism, by no means the least im-
portant are the acts of inspiration, by which the air is received into
the lungs, and of expiration, by which it is expelled, simultaneously
with all the other movements producing speech. Indeed, we know
that when speech is further complicated by the act of singing, it
becomes necessary to study special rules for breathing; in short, to
educate the voice.
Now, why do we not also educate the voice for its ordinary task
of the spoken language? Speech is one of the marvels that char-
acterise man, and also one of the most difficult spontaneous crea-
tions that have been accomplished by nature. Through the voice,
the lawyer defends the innocent, the teacher educates the new
generations, the mother recalls her erring son to the path of virtue,
lovers unite their souls, and all humanity interchanges ideas. If
intelligence is the triumph of life, the spoken word is the marvellous
means by which this intelligence is manifested.
288 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
We trouble ourselves to educate the voice only for the purpose ,
of singing, and neglect the spoken word. We do not stop to think
that singing appeals only to the senses and emotions, while speech
appeals to the emotions and the intellect, and therefore charms
and at the same time convinces.
Anyone who has heard that wonderfully gifted speaker, Ofelia
Mazzoni, expounding our great poets to the labouring classes at
the People's University in Milan, rousing the slumbering intelli-
gence of the working man, will understand what an immense edu-
cative force we are neglecting.
In a century in which we speak of an intellectual reawakening
and a brotherhood of man, we have forgotten the voice! Yet in
this new era of humanity that is learning brotherly love and striv-
i.ng-for peace, the voice plays a part analogous to that of the trum-
pet-call in the centuries consecrated to war.
As a matter of fact, our schools so far neglect defects of speech
that it is not uncommon to hear a stammerer undergoing examina-
tions for a degree in jurisprudence. The fact that an otherwise
cultured man lisps or stammers is treated by us as quite an in-
different matter, just as among savage tribes a king may have
unclean nails without anyone observing the fact.
Yet it is now known that stammering may usually be cured by a
systematic training in the art of breathing.
Respiratory gymnastics ought to constitute one of the prin-
cipal courses of instruction in schools for children. I have intro-
duced it into the "Children's Houses," among children between
the ages of four and six, combining it with a special instruction
in written language (letters of the alphabet), designed to educate
the movements of the organs of speech, without worrying or tiring
the children, and this method has borne such good results that our
little ones, by the time they are five years old, have lost nearly
all their defects in pronunciation.
Spirometry. — The pulmonary capacity may be measured directly
by means of an instrument called the spirometer; the breath must
be strongly expelled through a tube opening into a hollow cylinder,
thus raising a graduated piston contained in it; and, by reading the
figure indicated on the piston-rod, we learn the volume of air ex-
pelled from the lungs.
Such an instrument is better adapted for use by adults than by
children; and if it should ever come to be introduced into the
THE THORAX 289
schools, it should not in any case be used below the elementary
grades.
The person who is going to measure the capacity of his lungs
by means of the spirometer, begins by drawing in an unusually
deep or forced inhalation; then, after holding his breath for a mo-
ment, he proceeds to expel into the rubber tube all the air in his
lungs, in a forced exhalation. In an exercise of this sort, all the
difficulties of respiratory gymnastics are successively surmounted
— inspiration, respiratory pause, expiration.
In fact, in accomplishing the forced inspiration, all the pul-
monary alveoli must be dilated to the maximum extent, and at
the same time the thorax must reach its maximum dilation. This
is a very different matter from normal inspiration, which does not
completely dilate the alveoli. As a matter of fact, the tidal air
or air of respiration, i.e., the air taken in and expelled in each nor-
mal respiration, is about 500 cubic centimetres ; but the sum total
of air habitually contained in the lungs is made up of two quantities :
first, that which may be emitted by a forced expiration, the supple-
mental or reserve air, amounting to 1,600 cubic centimetres; and
secondly, the air which cannot ever be emitted, because no
amount of effort could completely expel all the air from the lungs;
residual air or respiratory residuum amounting to 1,200 cubic
centimetres. To recapitulate, the average pulmonary capacity
is the sum of the following average quantities of air :
Residual air, or respiratory residuum (which can never be expelled from the lungs)
= 1200 cu. cm.
Respiratory reserve (which can be expelled by a forced expiration) = 1600 cu. cm.
Tidal air = 500 cu. cm.
Complementary air (which can be drawn in by a forced inspiration) = 1670 cu. cm.
Accordingly, the total pulmonary capacity is about 5,000
cubic centimetres, or five litres. But in normal respiration, the
capacity is less, i.e., about 3,300 cubic centimetres, the air due to
a forced inspiration not being included.
Therefore, in each normal respiration a half litre of pure air
(assuming that it is pure) is introduced and mingled with the
vitiated air already within the lungs; and since, in expiration, a
third only of this 500 cubic centimetres is eliminated, it follows
that 166 cubic centimetres are mingled with the 3,300 cubic centi-
metres; in other words, that only one-tenth of the air is renewed
in each normal act of respiration.
290 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
A very energetic forced inspiration may draw into the lungs,
in addition to the customary 500 cubic centimetres, an additional
1,670 cubic centimetres of pure air, complementary air. In this
case the lungs contain upward of 5,000 cubic centimetres of air.
The forced expiration which follows upon this extra deep in-
halation purges the lungs of the vitiated air which has formed
there. In this way we complete an exercize that is eminently
hygienic.
Now, these spirometric movements are fraught with difficul-
ties : 1. The forced inspiration, deep enough to extend the alveoli,
may be more or less complete. If a cloth wrung out in cold water
is laid across the shoulders, the inspiration which follows as a result
of reflex action is far deeper than that produced by an act of will ;
this proves that the lungs can be dilated to a point beyond that
which seems to us to be the extreme limit, and therefore that with
practice we may learn to dilate our lungs still further.
2. When the attempt is made to hold the breath after a forced
inspiration, almost everyone at the first trials will allow more or
less of the air to escape; that is, they will discover themselves
incapable of controlling their own organs of respiration; therefore,
a gymnastic exercise for acquiring such control is necessary. This
is the exercise which will make us masters of the movements
required to produce vocal sounds at pleasure.
3. A slow expiration so controlled as to give time for the air
to penetrate into the spirometer, is accomplished, though some-
what unevenly, the first few times, and is perfected with practice.
It results from the above that: 1. We take in less air than we
are able to take in; 2. part of this air is lost outside the spirometer;
consequently the spirometer registers a pulmonary capacity below
that which the lungs actually have; and we shall find that, with
practice, the volumetric figure will successively augment. But
the pulmonary capacity has not augmented in proportion; it is
only that practice hasperfected the respiratory movements. Accord-
ingly, the spirometer may serve as an instrument to test the prog-
ress made in respiratory gymnastics, and, in the case of those who
have already become skilful in its use, it becomes a really valuable
instrument for measuring the respiratory capacity.
When we remember that a portion of the air, i.e., 1,200 cubic
centimetres, never issues from the lungs, it follows that the respira-
tory capacity is less by 1,200 cubic centimetres than the pulmonary
THE THORAX 291
capacity, which, as we have seen, is on an average upward of
5,000 cubic centimetres (5,370) in the adult man. Hence, the
spirometer directly measures the respiratory capacity, and only
indirectly the pulmonary capacity.
When women measure their lungs by means of the spirometer,
they have difficulty in registering 2,000 cubic centimetres, and
men have difficulty in attaining 2,600 cubic centimetres. Instead
of which, a man ought to be able to register between 3,800 and
4,000 cubic centimetres.
What keeps the lungs healthy is an abundant aeration with
air rich in oxygen, and not impure with carbon dioxide and other
poisonous gases. When the pulmonary air-cells are insufficiently
dilated, they are predisposed to attack by the bacillus of tuber-
culosis. Indeed, pulmonary tuberculosis usually begins at the
apexes of the lungs, which are less thoroughly aerated, and also
usually attacks persons with narrow chests. The treatment of
tuberculosis is eminently afresh-air treatment; tuberculous patients
may be benefited and even cured in a remarkable percentage of
cases (50 per cent.) if they are exposed day and night to the open
air. In this way the relation between free respiration and pul-
monary health is demonstrated.
In America at the present time the hygienic rule of sleeping
at night, winter and summer, with the windows open, is gaining
ground, and even the practice of sleeping in the open air. And
the various forms of sport also have the beneficial effect of bring-
ing those who indulge in them into a healthy contact with fresh
air, which civilised man has shown a fatal tendency to abandon.
The same exercise which dilates the lungs (the contents) also
dilates the thorax (the container). The result is that man ends
by acquiring the thorax corresponding to his vocation, or in other
words, a thorax corresponding to the life that he leads in conse-
quence of the form of work to which he devotes himself. Shep-
herds in mountain districts and mountain peasants have the largest
thorax, notwithstanding, as we have seen, that they are more
scantily nourished. In cities, the maximum average circum-
ference of chest is found among the cart-drivers, and the minimum
among university students and in general among those who have
grown up in an inclosed environment, with the thorax artificially
cramped by the position assumed while writing or reading at a
desk; yet this is the class of persons who have abundant nutriment.
292 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Consequently, we find a division of air and bread between
different social castes ; those who have air, do not have bread, and
they possess large lungs, out of proportion to bodies which, being
under-fed, have been unable to grow; and those who have bread
do not have air, and they possess lungs that are insufficient for
the needs of bodies that have grown under the influence of abun-
dant nutrition. Consequently, all civilised men are physiologically
out of equilibrium, and their physical health is lessened. But
those who suffer most from this loss of equilibrium are the studious
class, who have nourished themselves upon hopes and opened their
minds to great ideas, and deluded themselves into undertaking
big enterprises; but in real action they find that they are weak,
and that they easily fall into discouragement and depression, and
when their will-power forces them onward, their organism responds
with nervous prostration and melancholia.
It is a sad fact that at the present day the best energies of man
reach maturity possessed of insufficient lungs, and consequently
liable to break down in health, energy and strength.
A large part of the studious class, such, for instance, as the
teachers, are at the present day devoting themselves to a form of
work which is not a pulmonary exercise, but pulmonary destruc-
tion.
We must remember that healthy exercise of the lungs should
take place in the open air, and consists of indrawn breaths deep
enough to dilate the air-chambers. Instead of this, the teacher
speaks, which means that he makes forced expirations, during many
hours in an enclosed environment and in an assemblage of persons
who, for the most part, are far from clean. The bacillus of tuber-
culosis finds in the teacher its favourite camping-ground. In
fact, statistics indicate that the maximum mortality from tuber-
culosis is among teachers; higher even than among nurses. It is
really distressing to think of the ignorance of hygiene in which
our schools are even yet steeped, so that they seem forgetful of
the body, in their pursuit of a spirit that eludes them and that,
as a matter of fact, is not being educated in anything approach-
ing a rational manner.
When we enter a class-room, we see rows of benches constructed
like orthopedic machines, to the end that the vertical columns
of the pupils shall not be distorted during their enforced labour;
and the thought arises: this is the spot in which the teacher be-
THE THORAX 293
comes a consumptive for the sake of transforming the children
into hunchbacks. What is the reward of so great a sacrifice?
What sort of a preparation in ideals and in character are they
giving to the new generations through such disastrous means?
What are the obstacles which they are being taught, through so
much suffering, to surmount and to conquer? What, in short, is
the spiritual gain achieved at the cost of so great an impoverish-
ment of the body?
The answering silence that greets these questions indicates
that we have a great mission to accomplish.
Anthropological studies made upon pupils have demonstrated
that school-children rarely attain a sufficient chest development.
I also have made my modest contribution, proving that the bright-
est scholars, the prize-winners, etc., who, as a general rule, also
enjoy an advantage in social position, have a narrower chest measure.
Among the children that are recognised as the brightest in their
classes, I have been able to distinguish two categories: those who
are exceptionally intelligent, and those who are exceptionally
studious; the former have a better chest development than the
latter.
Signorina Massa, one of my pupils at the University, in the
course of kindred studies made among pupils of a uniform social
grade (the poorer classes) observed that the best and brightest
scholars, etc., have a chest circumference and a muscular strength
notably inferior to the children who are not studious. There can
be no doubt that an assiduous application to the study table
impoverishes the organism and above all impedes the normal
development of the thorax. This fact has a really overwhelming
importance. Study the tables of mortality in Italy for infective
diseases, i.e., those diseases in which mankind meets the assault
of the microscopic invader either with a strong constitution, or
with one already predisposed to defeat. The most dreaded dis-
eases, such as diphtheria, typhoid, measles and scarlet fever are
all grouped together under a mortality oscillating between five
and twenty-five thousand deaths a year. But bronchitis and
pneumonia each cause a mortality that ascends to between seventy
and eighty thousand deaths; in this group it is evident that we
must take into consideration, not only the infected environment,
but also the organic predisposition. Every man and woman has
been prepared, by their years in school, to have in the form of a
p
294 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
narrow chest and an insufficient development of the organs of
respiration, a locu8 minoris resistentice. Whoever talks of the
war against tuberculosis ought first of all to investigate the school
and its pedagogic methods.
Anthropological Aspect. Growth of the Thorax. — In the course
of its growth the thorax undergoes an evolution, not only in itself,
but also in its relation to the vertebral column.
The nature of the transformations undergone by the skeleton
of the trunk in relation to its different parts is substantially as
follows : in the child at birth
the vertebral column is
straight, and the thorax is
tk. higher up than in the adult ;
the pelvis, on the contrary,
slants forward and down-
ward. In the adult the ver-
tebral column is curved in
the form of an S, showing
the two - familiar dorsal-
lumbar curves, and the axes
of the thorax and pelvis are
J more perceptibly horizontal;
neui;bomcmia ^ adult -^ ^j^^^.^^ -^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^
growth a descent of the thorax
has taken place, together with a rotation of the pelvis (Fig. 124).
A. Descent of the Thorax. — This is the chief of these character-
istics : the thorax descends in the course of its growth.
In the new-born child the upper edge of the manubrium of the
sternum is in juxtaposition to the body of the first dorsal vertebra,
while in the adult it is situated on a level with the lower edge of the
second vertebra.
Even the tendinous arch of the diaphragm has shifted, being
lowered by the space of a vertebra; it is situated between the eighth
and ninth vertebrae in the child at birth, and between the ninth
and tenth in the adult.
The outside characteristics are in correspondence with this fact ;
the shoulders descend in the course of growth. In the adult, the
acromia or points of the shoulders are on a lower level than the
incisura or cleft in the sternum (which is visible at the anterior
base of the neck, and may be felt as an indented half-moon) ; while
THE THORAX
295
in the new-born child, on the contrary, the shoulders are higher up
than the upper extremity of the sternum.
Another external characteristic of the descent of the thorax is
the change in position of the nipples at successive ages; the mam-
mary papillae of the adult correspond to the level of the lower ex-
tremity of the sternum, and are situated respectively at the central
points of the two halves of the thorax; in the new-born child, on
the contrary, the mammary papillae are further apart and higher up.
These characteristics of the descent of the thorax are fully
established in the period of puberty
and are of great importance, since,
if not completed, they indicate
cases of arrest of development or
infantilism .
Quetelet has made a study of
the triangulation of the thorax
(Fig. 125).
If the two nipples and the
sternal incisura are connected by
straight lines inclosing an isosceles
triangle ABB', the length of the
base in the new-born child is 70
millimetres, and that of the sides
BA, B'A is 54 millimetres, and the
height 41 millimetres.
In the adult the dimensions
are as follows: BB' = 197 millimetres; AB, A5' = 184 milli-
metres ; and the height = 155 millimetres. Comparing the measure-
ments of the child at birth with those of the adult, we find that
the base in the adult is 2.81 times, and the side 3.41 times that of
the child; in other words, the sides of the triangle increase far
more than the base, and its height in the adult (representing
very nearly the entire height of the sternum), is 3.78 times that
in the new-born child. Consequently, in the course of its trans-
formation the thorax not only descends, but it is also lengthened
in the adult, as compared with the form that it had at birth.
B. Dimensions of Thorax in Relation to Stature. — Besides its
descent, there is a second transformation of the thorax, in regard'
to its volumetric relations to the rest of the body. The perimeter
of the thorax and the circumference of the head are pretty nearly
Fig. 125. — A = vertex of triangle; B B' =
extremities of base, corresponding to the
two nipples.
296 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
equal in the new-born child ; if anything, the circumference of the
thorax is a trifle less than that of the head ; but when it equals it,
this is a sign of robustness. In the majority of cases it is not until
the second year or thereabouts that the two circumferences be-
come equal. If, however, such unequahty should still persist
after the child had entered upon the third year, it would con-
stitute a sign of rickets (head too large, chest too narrow).
As to the relations between the thoracic circumference and the
stature, it is found that in the child at birth the thoracic circumfer-
ence exceeds one-half the stature by about 10 centimetres. If the
difference is less than 8 centimetres it is a sign of feeble constitution,
if it is greater than 10 (for instance, 11 centimetres) it is a sign of
great robustness.
This difference disappears little by little; at the age of five years
it is already reduced to between 4 and 5 centimetres ; at the age of
fifteen, the period of puberty, it has wholly disappeared, and the
well-known relation between the stature and the circumference of
the thorax has become established; the thoracic circumference is
equal to one-half the stature (see chapter on Form), and this con-
stitutes Goldstein's vital index:
,,. lOOT'c
As early as 1895, Pagliani published some studies of children,
which reveal the physiological importance of the dimensions of the
thorax; watching the lives of infants whose measurements he took
at the foundling asylum, he observed that the mortality of infants
is quite rare when they exceed the above proportions between cir-
cumference of chest, head, and stature.
From a study of 452 infants, Fraebelius has drawn the following
conclusions :
I. Mortality 21 per cent.; circumference of thorax greater than
half the stature by 9.10 centimetres; circumference of thorax less
by 1.5 centimetres than perimeter of cranium.
II. Mortality 42.9 per cent.; circumference of thorax greater
by 7 centimetres than one-half the stature ; circumference of thorax
less by 2.8 centimetres than circumference of cranium.
III. Mortality 67.5 per cent.; circumference of thorax greater
by 4.5 centimetres than one-half the stature; circumference of
thorax less by 4.7 centimetres than the cranial circumference.
THE THORAX 297
The thorax in children of five years and upward ought to be
larger by a few centimetres (not more than from 4 to 5) than one-
half the stature.
C. Transformations of the Thorax Considered by Itself: Altera-
tions in Shape.
Thoracic Index. — Lastly, the thorax changes its shape in the
course of growth. In the new-born child it is very prominent in
front, and narrow laterally ; in the adult, on the contrary, it is more
flattened in its antero-posterior dimension and wider transversely.
Consequently the transformation consists in a notable difference
in the proportion between the width and depth of the chest, that is,
between the antero-posterior and the transverse diameters (see
chapter on Technique). This proportion constitutes the thoracic
index, which is expressed by the following formula:
lOOA-PD
Ti =
TD
and this formula gives an idea of the shape of the thorax.
In the child at birth the antero-posterior diameter is very nearly
equal to the transverse; accordingly, the index, at birth, oscillates
between 90 and 100.
In the adult, however, the thoracic index is on an average 75 ;
the transverse diameter therefore increases much more than the
antero-posterior diameter. According to Quetelet, while the trans-
verse diameter multiplies three-fold in the course of its growth,
the antero-posterior merely doubles (2.36); in addition to this the
thorax also lengthens, as we have already seen.
Proportion, Shape and Dimensions of the Thorax. — In the adult
normal man we find the following proportions : The distance between
the mammary papillae is about equal to the antero-posterior diaim-
eter of the thorax (hence the papillae indicate the depth of chest)
and is also perceptibly equal to one-half the breadth of the shoulders
(measured between the two acromia), which, by the way, is the
maximum transverse dimension of the skeleton.
This maximum dimension (the biacromial distance) may be
regarded as an index of the skeletal development; and Godin
takes its proportion to the transverse thoracic diameter (the hori-
zontal distance between the two vertical lines drawn from the arm-
pits, in the plane of the mammary papillae, see Chapter VII,
Technique) in order to estimate the proportional relation between
298 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the skeleton and the organs of respiration. Since in the course of
growth the thorax broadens, that is, the transverse diameter in-
creases more than the antero-posterior, we should expect to find
that in the course of evolution, the difference between the trans-
verse development of the skeleton and the lateral development of
the thorax steadily diminishes.
It happens, on the contrary, that from the age of ten years
onward, during the whole puberal development, the transverse
diameter of the thorax steadily becomes less, as compared with the
breadth of the shoulders, so much so that if the difference was at
first 97 millimetres, it becomes finally 116 millimetres. According
to Godin, this indicates that the thorax does not obey the harmonic
laws of the development of the skeleton as a whole, but that, owing
to causes of adaptation (the school !) it remains definitely inferior
to the development which it might have attained, and consequently
results in throwing the organism out of its physiological equilib-
rium. In fact, if we make men raise their arms, especially men
of the student class, a certain hollowness, which is aesthetically
displeasing, is revealed along the sides of the thorax. This defi-
ciency is corroborated, according to Godin's studies, by his ob-
servation of another correspondence in the measurements of the
thorax. In addition to the customary measurements, Godin
introduced, besides the well-known and classic thoracic perimeter —
which is the circumference taken in the horizontal plane passing
through the nipples — two other circumferences : one of them higher
up, the subaxillary circumference, which includes a large proportion
of the pectoral and dorsal muscles; and the other lower down, the
submammary circumference, which determines solely the measure-
ment of the thoracic skeleton, since the intercostal muscles are
practically the only ones which descend to this level. These two
circumferences are to be considered together, according to Godin,
as expressing the relation between the organs of respiration and the
muscular mass. In complete repose, the subaxillary circumference
is much greater than the submammary; but at the moment of
maximum inspiration the latter should become equal to the former ;
hence, the difference between the submammary circumference in
repose and during inspiration furnishes an indirect index of the
respiratory capacity, and the subaxillary circumference is a test of
individual capacity. Godin notes that inspiration almost never
succeeds in attaining an equality between the two circumferences.
THE THORAX 299
Shape of the Thorax. — In regard to the shape, which stands in
relation to the thoracic index, it is found to vary according to indi-
vidual types; in fact the index itself, although showing a mean aver-
age of 75, oscillates between the extremes of 65 and 85. As a
general rule, the brachycephalic races have a deeper thorax, i.e.,
having a cross-section of more rounded form; the dolichocephalics,
on the contrary, have a more flattened thorax in the antero-
posterior direction (these races, such as the negroes, are more
predisposed to contract pulmonary tuberculosis). Consequently
there is a correspondence in type between the head and the thorax.
In the measurements taken by me among the women of Latium
the results show that the brachycephalics had an average depth of
thorax amounting to 188 millimetres and the dolichocephalics only
181 millimetres, while the transverse diameters were very nearly
equal: 241 millimetres in the brachycephalics, and 240 millimetres
in the dolichocephalics. Hence, the resultant thoracic index of
78 for the brachycephalics and 75 for the dolichocephalics.
Such differences in the index indicate also differences in the
formation of the thorax : that it is more or less flattened in the doli-
chocephalics, and more prominent in the brachycephalics. There
is a corresponding diversity of form in the breasts of the women:
the dolichocephalic races have more elongated breasts (pear-
shaped), the brachycephalics more rounded.
The shape of the thoracic section is at the present time taken
into careful consideration, especially in medicine, because it is
apt to reveal predispositions to diseases.
It may be obtained by the aid of the cyrtometer (see chapter on
Technique) . At the present day, however, exceedingly complicated
instruments have been constructed, which, by the aid of record-
ing indexes, give a direct representation of the shape of the tho-
racic perimeter, together with its modifications and respiratory
oscillations.
Since these instruments are, for the present, very far removed
from widespread practical use, we may adopt as an excellent
method for determining the shape and, at the same time, the di-
mensions of the thorax, that of Maurel, in his research regarding
''the square surface of the thoracic section."
Having determined the anthropometric points, Maurel passes
strips of metal (stiff enough to retain the shape given them) around
300
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the thorax, after the fashion of a tape-measure, first around one
half, and then around the other.
Next he places these metal strips {still retaining the shape given
them by contact with the thorax), upon a sheet of especially pre-
pared paper, marked in squares, and traces upon it the inner out-
line of the strips.
The two halves must be made to coincide in such a manner as
to reproduce faithfully the thoracic section, both in form and in
dimension.
By adding up the squares contained within the outline we ob-
tain the area of the section.
~
~
Left Side
; /^/yAt Side
r?
fl
^
1—
—J
-J
_
—
—
~,
0
1
/
s
>
V
■
6
"
^
6
3
f)
9.
/'
r.9
n
N
0
2
JO
Z
/
iO
m
\
10
2
//
i
/
it
fl
\
11
1
1!
1
J
IZ
12
\
12
1
it
1
f
f2
12
\
12
2
13
1
1)3
lA
U
1
13
1
' i3
1(1
13
1
13
1
13
13
13
1
13
1
13
13
13
2
13
1
13
13
13
1
13
1
13
13 i
f 13
1
13
0
\l3
13 1
13
1
12
1
\
12
12
J
1Z
2
12
0
\
li
12
/
12
1
11
1
\
It
11.
/
11
1
10
1
\
10
10
/
10
2
g
?
\
3
9
/
9
2
<?
.?
^v
6
r
^
y
1
3
0
7
—
^
_
_
r
"~
_
--
0
3
i9
i
=
7<)
0
u
Z
■ 2i
■26
3i
20
+
19
5
Z3
0
s
2
1Z
+
23.
■= 3
i
<W
_
Fig. 126.
This method is the only really rational method for studying the
thorax; and its simplicity, practicality and graphic representation
recommend it as a valuable aid to pedagogic anthropology.
There is, for example, an abnormal form of thorax, which I have
very often met with in deficient children. It consists in an ex-
aggerated curve of the posterior costal arches, which consequently
form a very sharp angle with the vertebral column, which is notably
indented, while the sternum is also depressed in a groove, and
occupies a plane posterior to that of the ribs. The section of the
thorax, in this case, approaches the form of a figure 8; and the
thoracic perimeter would not represent the true measurement
because it would include the empty spaces left by the front and
THE THORAX 301
back depressions. The thoracic index would also give a false idea
of the facts, because the antero-posterior diameter would be no-
where so short as at the centres of measurement for this diameter.
The only method for representing the true shape and area of
this type of thorax is that employed by Maurel.
Anomalies of Shape. — In addition to the preceding anomaly,
very frequent in degenerates, and associated with a deficient devel-
opment of the lungs and with physical weakness, there are numerous
other anomalies. Among others, those that principally deserve
attention are the funnel-shaped or consumptive thorax, in which
the longitudinal diameter is excessive ; the thoracic frame is greatly
elongated and the ribs descend to a very low level; this type of
thorax is frequent in neuropathic women, and, according to Fere,
is associated with degeneration.
The opposite form is the barrel-shaped thorax, in which the pre-
vailing diameter is the antero-posterior ; it is very prominent and is
frequently met with in persons who are subject to forms of asthma,
maladies of the heart, etc.
The bell-shaped thorax is similar to the preceding, but is char-
acterised by an accompanying exceptional brevity of the longi-
tudinal diameter, which causes it to resemble the infantile thorax
(arrest of morphological development).
The grooved thorax is the one described above as common among
the mentally deficient.
A considerable importance attaches to a form of thorax dis-
tinguished by the shortness of the clavicles, in consequence of which
the chest remains flat, paralytic or flat thorax {habitus phthisicus) .
The flattened appearance is due to the fact that the chest cannot
rise in front, and the shoulders, being cramped by the shortness
of the clavicles, curve forward, while the scapulae stand out from
the plane of the back and spread themselves like wings (scapulae
alatae). I have met with this form in deficients, accompanied by
such laxity of articulations, that it was possible to grasp the points
of the shoulders and draw them together until they very nearly
met in front.
This form of thorax is characteristically predisposed to pulmon-
ary tuberculosis, and is frequently met with in the macroscelous
types.
The commonest deformities of the thorax are those associated
with rachitis.
■ 20
302 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
One of the forms regarded as being rachitic in origin is the keel-
shaped thorax, in which the sternum is thrust forward and isolated
along its median line, like the keel of a boat.
But the thoracic deformities due unquestionably to rickets are
of the well-known types that go popularly under the name of
hunchback, and are accompanied by curvatures of the vertebral
column. The first admonitory symptoms are shown by the so-
called rachitic rosary, i.e., by the small swellings due to enlargement
of the ends of the ribs at their point of attachment to the sternum.
Subsequently, the softened ribs become misshapen in various
ways, especially from the fourth rib downward, the upper ribs
being fastened and sustained by the thoracic girdle and by the mus-
cles. The curvatures of the vertebral column which accompany
rickets are scoliosis or lateral deviation (frequent in school-children)
and kyphosis, or deviation in a backward curve ; for the most part
these two curvatures occur together, so that the vertebral column
is thrust outward and at the same time is twisted to one side:
kyphoscoliosis.
Pedagogical Considerations. — The following considerations are
the natural sequence of what has been said above. Deficiency of
the thorax is one of the stigmata left by the school, which in this
way tends to make the younger generations feeble and physiolog-
ically unbalanced.
The exaggerated importance which is given to the school
benches for the purpose of avoiding deformities of the vertebral
column deserves to be put aside and forgotten, as an aberration of
false hygiene. The bench will not prevent restriction of the tho-
rax; before reaching the critical point which the improved school
bench is intended to prevent, many impoverishments of the or-
ganism, fatal to robustness and health, and often to life itself (pre-
disposition to tuberculosis!) have been incurred; and there is no
other remedy to obviate them than a reform in pedagogic methods.
The admonitory fact that neglected, despised, half-starved children
have an enormous advantage in the development of the thorax over
the more intelligent children who are well-fed and carefully guarded,
and solely because the former are free to run the streets, ought to
point the direction in which we should look for means of helping the
new generations hygienically. They have need of free movement
and of air. The recreation rooms which tend to keep the children
of the street shut up indoors even during recess are taking from the
THE THORAX 303
children of the people the sole advantage that still remained to
them. Try to realize that these children are obliged to sleep in
dark, crowded environments, and that every night, during the
period of sleep, they suffer from such acute poisoning by carbon
dioxide that they frequently awaken in the morning with severe
pains in the head. The life of the streets is their salvation. We
condemn children to death, under the delusion that we are working
for their moral good ; a perverted human soul may be led back to
righteousness; but a consumptive chest can never again become
robust. Let those who talk of education and morality and similar
themes be sure that they are benefactors and not executioners, and
let those who wish to do good seek the light of science.
Curvatures of the vertebral column, such as lordosis and
kyphosis, cannot be considered solely in relation to the thorax,
but in relation to the pelvis as well, because, especially in lordosis,
the lumbar vertebrae are also involved, while the pelvis also suf-
fers a characteristic deformity.
CHAPTER IV
THE PELVIS
Anatomical Note. — ^The five lumbar, the five sacral and the four
coccygeal vertebrae constitute the lumbar and sacro-coccygeal sec-
tion of the vertebral column.
The sacrum, formed by the union of the five sacral vertebrae,
appears in the adult in the form of a bone that narrows rapidly
from above downward in a general curve whose convex side is
turned inward. The coccyx has the importance of being a real
and actual caudal appendage, reduced in man to its simplest ana-
FiG. 127. — Skeleton of Pelvis, Seen from Above.
tomical expression. On each side of the sacrum the two ossa
innominata or hip-bones are attached, constituting a sort of massive
girdle (cinctura pelvica), serving as point of attachment for the
lower limbs, while at the same time it sustains the entire weight of
the body and the abdominal viscera. These two bones are made
up of three separate parts : an upper part, very broad and rather
thin (the ilium, which constitutes the flank or hip), one in front
(the OS pubis), and a third behind, quite massive, and shaped hke
304
THE PELVIS 305
the letter V (the ischium). The two ossa innominata and the os
sacrum form the pelvis or pelvic basin, a broad cavity with bony-
walls that are by no means complete, within which are a portion of
the digestive organs and a considerable part of the organs belonging
to the genito-urinary system. The pelvis supports the vertebral
column and is in turn supported by the lower limbs, in quite
marvellous equilibrium.
The maximum sexual differences of the skeleton are in relation
to the pelvis ; in woman the iliac bones form a far ampler basin ; in
man, the pelvis is higher and more confined and formed of more
solid bones; but it is not broader. But where the difference is
most apparent is in the pelvic aperture (see Fig. 127) which divides
the pelvis into two parts, the upper or great pelvis and the lower or
small pelvis. This aperture has distinguishing marks that differ
widely between the sexes ; in woman it is rounder, in man it is more
elongated from front to back and is narrowed toward the pubis.
One of the most important points of measurement in anthropology
and in obstetrics is the extreme anterior apex of the superior
border of the ilium or crista iliaca antero-superior. The woman
in whom this dimension (the bis-iliac) is less than 250 millimetres
cannot give birth naturally; similarly the woman who has a promi-
nent OS pubis (due to rachitis) will owe the attainment of maternity
to the intervention of surgery, and perhaps even of the Caesarean
operation.
There are also many ethnical differences in the pelvis : brachy-
cephalics (the mongolian race) have a broader and shallower pelvis
than the dolichocephalics, who, on the contrary, have a deeper and
narrower pelvis (the negroes). The same thing is met with, not-
withstanding its intermixture, in our own race : blond, brachy ceph-
alic women have a wider pelvis than brunette, dolichocephalic
women.
Accordingly, cranium, thorax and pelvis correspond in one and
the same ethnic type.
The abdomen extends from the arch of the diaphragm to the
lower extremity of the pelvis. It contains all the viscera of ali-
mentation : the digestive system together with the glands belong-
ing to it ; the liver and pancreas, besides the renal system and, in
women, the organs of generation (uterus and ovaries). The
diaphragmatic arch, having its convex side uppermost, enters the
thoracic frame as far as the first dorsal vertebra. The intestinal
"I
306 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
mass is more noticeable and prominent in persons having a narrow
pelvis; in children, for example, the abdomen is very prominent.
Growth of the Pelvis. — In the skeleton of the new-born child the
pelvis differs from that of the adult in two particulars : height and
direction. The pelvis is low in the new-born child and higher
in the adult. The central axis is more oblique from front to back
(in the higher mammals the axis of the pelvis is almost central) ;
in the adult, on the contrary, this axis tends to straighten up, to the
point of becoming nearly vertical, in relation, that is, to the erect
54 position of man. Hence in the course of
growth the pelvis not only becomes propor-
tionally higher, but it undergoes a rotary
movement around the cotyloid axis; this
movement has the effect of elevating the
pubis and bringing the ischium forward.
The vertebral column rests upon the
^ ^ 7 sacrum, which is the retrocotyloid portion
*^ of the pelvis, and its pressure tends mechan-
'^^ ically to straighten the pelvis (see diagram,
*er Fig. 128). This process of straightening
ft^ has certain limits, and is dependent upon
the form of curvature of the vertebral col-
^^^' ^~^' umn;if thisis exaggerated, as in lordosis,
the weight is thrown further forward, almost over the cotyles;
consequently, the elevation of the pelvis is not properly accom-
plished (low pelvis found in lordotics). If, on the contrary, the
lumbar curvature is wanting or reversed (kyphosis), the pres-
sure of the column is thrown backward and the straightening up of
the pelvis is exaggerated (high pelvis found in kyphotics). Inde-
pendently of pathological deformities, there are various forms of
lumbar curvature in the vertebral column that are normal oscilla-
tions, or oscillations acquired through adaptation.
An exaggerated lumbar curvature or saddle-back is found in
children accustomed to carry heavy loads upon their shoulders; a
diminished curvature is found in children constrained to remain in
a sitting posture for many hours a day. The sitting posture tends
to cancel the lumbar inward curve; consequently, while children
are in school they are promoting the elevation of their pelvis.
The elevation of the pelvis proceeds rapidly at the fifteenth
THE PELVIS 307
year, during puberty, when the muscular masses become more
solid.
A woman is not fitted for motherhood, even if physically de-
veloped, so long as her pelvis has not rotated normally. But if
the rotation is exaggerated (due to prolonged sitting posture during
years of growth), this is very unfavourable to normal childbirth.
In rickets, associated with kyphosis, there is a form of exaggerated
rotated pelvis (pubis high). The laborious '^modern" childbirth,
and the dangerous childbirth in the case of women who have de-
voted much time to study, must be considered in connection with
these artificial anomalies. Free movement and gymnastics have
for this reason, in the case of women, an importance that extends
from the individual to the species.
CHAPTER V
THE LIMBS
The study of the limbs is of great importance, because, although
it is the special province of the bust to contain the organs of vege-
tative life, it is the limbs which render it useful. In fact, it is the
lower limbs which control our locomotion and the upper limbs
which execute the labour of mankind.
One characteristic of man, equally with that of standing in an
erect position, supported only on the lower limbs, is the inde-
pendence of the upper limbs, which are raised from the ground and
relieved of the function of locomotion — a function that still con-
tinues in all other mammals, excepting the anthropoid apes, whose
upper limbs are extremely long and barely escape the earth, and
serve the animal merely as an aid and a support in walking. The
birds, although supported on their hind limbs alone, nevertheless
have their fore limbs assigned to the sole office of wings for the
transportation of their bodies.
Consequently, the free and disposable upper limb, peculiar to
mankind, would seem to mark a new function in the biologic scale
— human labour.
Anatomy of the Skeleton of the Limbs. — In contrast to the bust,
the limbs have an internal skeleton, adapted solely to the function
of support (not of protection). The bones are covered with masses
of striped muscles, which have as their special function voluntary
movement, that is to say, obedience to the brain.
The upper and lower limbs correspond numerically, and the
arrangement of the bones is analogous; and this holds true for all
the higher vertebrates. The nearest bones, those that are attached
to the trunk, are single in all four limbs. Then, just as though
branching out, they next double in number, and then multiply
successively as we approach the extremities of the limbs. Thus
the forearm and the lower leg have two bones, and the hands and
feet have many.
In the upper arm we have the humerus, in the thigh the femur,
in the forearm the ulna and radius, (the ulna is situated on the
308
THE LIMBS 309
same side as the little finger and the radius on that of the thumb),
in the lower leg the tibia and fibula. Then come the many short
bones (eight in the carpus and seven in the tarsus) which in the
hand form the wrist or carpus, and in the foot the ankle or instep,
the tarsus. These are followed by other long bones (five in the
hand and five in the foot), which constitute the metacarpus and
metatarsus, and these in turn by the long bones of the phalanges
(fingers and toes), which grow successively smaller toward the
extremities and are successively named proximal, middle and distal
phalanges (phalangettes) . These last are missing in the thumb and
the big toe. In conjunction with the last phalanges, the fingers
and toes are protected by nails.
The Growth of the Limbs. — Recent studies, conducted principally
by Godin in France, author of the classic work upon growth, have
demonstrated that the long bones of the limbs obey certain special
laws of biologic growth.
While a long bone is growing in length it does not grow in width
or thickness, and while it is increasing in thickness it does not gain
in length; hence the lengthening of the bones takes place in alter-
nate periods; during the period of repose relative to growth in
length, the bone gains in thickness.
I have already explained, in connection with the stature, that
we owe the growth of the long bones to a variety of formative ele-
ments, the cartilages of the epiphyses, which control the growth
in length of the long bones, and the enveloping membrane of the
body of the bone, the periosteum, which presides over the growth
in thickness.
The above mentioned alternation in the growth of the bones
must therefore be attributed to an alternation in the action of these
various formative elements of the bones.
In the case of two successive long bones (for example, the hu-
merus and radius, the femur and tibia, the metacarpus and pha-
langes, etc.), they alternate in their growth; while one of them is
lengthening, the other is thickening ; consequently the growth of a
limb in length is not simultaneous in all the bones, but takes place
alternately in the successive bones. During the time when the
growth devolves upon the longest bone, the limbs show the greatest
rate of increase in length, and when, on the contrary, it devolves
upon the shortest bone, the growth is less ; but in either case it
continues to grow.
310 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The growth of the long bones of the Hmbs proceeds by alternate
periods of activity and repose, which succeed each other regularly.
These periods of activity and repose occur inversely in each two
successive bones.
The periods of repose from growth in length are utihsed for
gain in thickness, and reciprocally. The long bones lengthen and
thicken alternately, and not simultaneously.
It is only at the age of puberty (fifteenth year) that a complete
simultaneity of growth takes place, after which epoch the growth
in stature and length of limb diminishes, yielding precedence to
that of the vertebral column.
When the complete development of the bodily proportions is
attained (eighteenth year), the length of the lower limbs is equal
to one-half the stature.
When the upper limbs are extended vertically along the sides
of the body, the tip of the middle finger reaches the middle point of
the thigh, while the wrist coincides with the ischium (hip-bone).
The total spread of the arms is, on an average, equal in length to
the stature.
The proportions between the lower limbs and the bust, resulting
from the attainment of complete individual development, deter-
mine the types of stature : macroscelia and brachyscelia. Since the
order of growth as between the two essential portions of stature
is now determined, we are able to interpret macroscelia as a phe-
nomenon of infantilism (arrested development of the bust).
Malformations. Excessive Development of the Nearer and Re-
moter Segments. — But there are other proportions that are of inter-
est to us, within the limbs themselves. Even between the nearer
and remoter portions of the limbs there ought to be certain con-
stant relations (indices) that constitute differential characteristics
between the various human races and between man and the ape.
If the humerus or upper arm is taken as equal to 100, the radius
or forearm is equal to 73 in the European, while in the negro it is
equal to about 80. Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that ex-
cessive length of the forearm is an ape-like characteristic.
Consequently, the measurement of the segments of the limbs is
important, and it is made with a special form of calipers ; when the
index of the segments deviates from the accepted normal figure, this
constitutes a serious anomaly, frequently found in degenerates,
and it often happens that an excessive development of the remoter
THE LIMBS 311
segments, the bones of the extremities, explains the excess of the
total spread of the arms over the stature, unassociated with the
macroscelous type.
Absence of Calf. — In addition to this fundamental deviation
from normality, there are other malformations worthy of note
that may occur in the limbs. Such, for example, is a deficiency or
absence of the calf of the leg. The well-turned leg, which we
admire as an element of beauty is a distinctive human trait most
conspicuous among the races that we regard as superior. Among
the more debased negro races the leg is spindling and without any
calf; furthermore, it is well known that monkeys have no calves,
and still less do they exist among the lower orders of mammals.
Flat Feet. — Another important malformation relates to the
morphology of the feet. Everyone knows the distinctive curve or
arch of the foot, and the characteristic imprint which it conse-
quently leaves on the ground. Sometimes, however, this arch is
missing, and the sole of the foot is all on the same plane (flat foot).
The dark-skinned natives of Australia have fiat feet as one of their
racial characteristics ; in our own race it constitutes an anomaly that
is frequent among degenerates. Flat feet may also be acquired as
the result of certain employments (butler, door-keeper, etc.),
which compel certain individuals to remain much of the time on
foot. But in such cases the deformity is accompanied by a patho-
logical condition (neuralgic symptoms and local myalgia). Like
all malformations, this may have special importance in connection
with infantile hygiene (the position of the pupil, the work done by
the children, etc.).
Opposable Big Toe. — Another malformation combined with a
functional anomaly, that is never met with as a deformity resulting
from adaptation, is the opposable big toe. Sometimes the big toe
is greatly developed and slightly curved toward the other toes, and
capable of such movement as to give it a slight degree of opposa-
bility; hence the foot is prehensile. This characteristic, regularly
present in monkeys, is so far developed in certain degenerates as to
make it possible for them to perform work with their feet (knitting
stockings, picking up objects, etc.) ; so that this class of degenerates,
who are essentially parasites, solve the problem of supporting them-
selves by trading on the curiosity of the public, so that, by strain-
ing a point, we might bestow upon them the title of foot labourers.
Loose and Stiff Joints. — Anomalies may also occur in connection
312 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
with the articulation of the joints. It sometimes happens that
they are extremely loose and weak, and allow the bones an exces-
sive play of movement ; and, if the lower limbs are thus affected, it
increases the difficulty of maintaining equilibrium when standing
erect or walking. On the other hand, it may happen that the ar-
ticulations are too stiff, and consequently render many movements
difficult, especially if through an anomalous development of the
outer coating of the bone, it results in congenital ankylosis.
Curvature of the Legs. — A special importance attaches to cer-
tain alterations undergone by the heads of the bones which con-
tribute to the formation of the knee, because of the curvature of
the leg which results from them (rachitis, paralysis). The leg
may become bowed outward or inward; when it is bowed inward
(knock-knees, genu valgum), the knees strike together in
walking; when, on the contrary, it is bowed outward, the result is
bow-legs {genu varum), known popularly in Italy as '4egs of
Hercules," a deformity which in a mild degree may also result from
the practice of horse-back riding.
Club-foot (Talipes). — Other deviations from the normal posi-
tion occur in connection with the foot. Certain paralytic children
(Little's disease) walk on the fore part of the foot (talipes equinus,
''horse's foot"); in some cases the foot is also turned inward, and
consequently such children cross their legs as they walk (talipes
equino-varus) .
The Hand
Cheiromancy and Physiognomy. The Hand in Figurative Speech.
The High and Low Type of Hand. — The hand is in the highest
degree a human characteristic. It is man's organ of grasp and
of the sense of touch, while in animals these two functions are
relegated to the mouth. The hand has always claimed the atten-
tion not only of scientists but of all mankind without distinction.
Attempts have been made to discover the secrets of human person-
ality from the hand, and a whole art has been built up, called
chiromancy, which endeavours to read from the hand man's
destiny and psychic personality, just as physiognomy was the art
of interpreting the character from the face.
Chiromancy was an accredited art as far back as the days of
ancient Greece, and it also had a great vogue in the middle ages;
while to-day it is out of date and superseded, or perhaps is destined
THE LIMBS 313
to rise again in some new form, just as physiognomy has risen
again in the study of "expressions" of the face and the imprints
which they leave behind them. Scientists also have made the
hand the object of their careful consideration; and the result of
their researches shows that the hand really does contain individual
characteristics that are not only interesting but, up to a certain
point, are revelations of personality. A written word, a clasp of
the hand, may furnish documents for the study of the individual.
Graphology, for instance, is naturally related to the functional
action and to the characteristics of the hand itself. Gina Lom-
broso has recently made a study of the hand-clasp in its relation
to character; when a haughty person offers his hand, he has the
appearance of wishing to thrust you from him; the miser barely
offers the tips of his fingers; the timid man yields a moist and
chilly hand to your touch; the loyal friend makes you feel the whole
vigor of his hand in its cordial pressure.
In the gesture we have an individual form of linguistic expres-
sion. Consequently, man reveals himself, not alone through his
creative part, the head, but also through its obedient servant,
the hand. ''The hand is gesture, gesture is visible speech, speech
is the soul, the soul is man, the soul of man is in the hand."
Furthermore, we can judge from the hand whether a man is
fitted for work or not; and it is to work that the hand owes its
human importance. The first traces of mankind upon earth are
not remains of skeletons, but remains of work — the splintered stone.
The whole history of social evolution might be called the history
of the hand. To say that the hand is the servant of the intelli-
gence is to express the truth in too restricted a way, because the
intelligence is nourished and developed through the products of
the hand, as by degrees the work of the latter transformed the
environment. Hence, the history of our intellectual development,
like that of our civilization, is based upon the creative work
evolved by the collaboration of hand and head. And so, in the
orphan asylums, we have the children sing the hymn to the hand,
which is a hymn to labuor and to progress:
"Our hand is good for every task."
All the solemn acts of life require the cooperation and sanc-
tion of the hand. We take oath with the hand; marriage is per-
formed by uniting the hands of the bridal pair; in proof of friend-
314 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
ship or to seal a compact, we clasp hands. The word hand has
come to be often used in a symboHc sense in many expressive
phrases possessing a social and moral significance: '^Take heed
that the hand of the Lord does not fall upon you;" '^ Pilate washed
his hands;" 'Ho put oneself into another's hands;" 'Ho have a
lavish hand;" 'Ho sit with idle hands" or "with the hands in
the pockets;" "one hand washes the other;" "to have a hand in
the pie;" "to turn one's hand to something;" "to lend a final
hand;" "to speak with the hand on the heart;" "to believe the
evidence of one's hands," etc.
And this high and symbolic significance given to the hand
dates back even to bible times :
Solomon says: "The length of days is in her right hand; and
in her left hand riches and honour" {Prov. 3, 16).
And Moses: "Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in
your soul and bind them for a sign upon your hand" {Deut. 11, 18).
Attempts have recently been made to describe the "psycholog-
ical types ' ' of the human hand. Zimmermann, for instance, studies
two types of hand: the high type, delicate, small, slender, with
rounded, tapering fingers, and convex nails; a hand which would
indicate a fine sensibility, delicate and refined sentiments, a well
balanced mind, a high degree of intelligence, a strong and noble
character. And there is the low type, coarse, short and stocky,
with thick fingers and flat nails; an index of sluggish sensibilities,
vulgar sentiments and a low order of intelligence, a weak will and
apathetic character.
In accordance with the theories of mechanics, the type of hand
has been considered in relation to its organic use and morphological
adaptation. In general, the hand used in the coarser forms of
work is of the low type ; the high type of hand is that required for
nimble and fine movements, in which there is need of the successive
concurrence of all those delicate little groups of muscles which are
able to act independently and thus give to this organ the marvel-
ous and subtle variety of movements which distinguish it. In
regard to dimensions, the large, heavy hand would betoken use,
and the little hand disuse. Therefore, the small hand may be
considered as a stigma of parasitism, a distinction which at the
present day has lost its nobility. Excepting in so far as the "brain
workers," who make themselves useful without employing their
hands, may still show a distinctive smallness of these members.
THE LIMBS 315
We should not, however, adhere solely either to the psycholog-
ical theory of the hand, or to the theory of adaptation; it is neces-
sary to consider the characteristics of the hand from several
different points of view.
Dimensions. — The dimensions of the hand bear a constant
relation to the stature and to certain partial dimensions of the
body, while the various parts of the hand preserve constant
reciprocal proportions.
As far back as in the time of Vitruvius it was known that the
human hand is related to the stature in the proportion of 10 to
100. This is a very important fact to know, because the propor-
tion varies in the inferior races and in the anthropoid apes, the
descent in the scale showing a corresponding increase of length
of hand relatively to the stature. Thus, for example, in the
Mongolian races the proportional length of the hand is 12.50, and
in the higher apes it equals 18. Consequently too long a hand is
in itself an anomaly that indicates a low type of man; it is to be
classed with those anomalies that were formerly regarded as
atavistic reversions, phenomena of absolute retrogression in the
biological scale.
Relations between the Hand and the other Dimensions of the Body.
— The closed fist, taking the extreme outside measurement be-
tween the metacarpo-phalangeal articulations, corresponds to the
breadth of the heart.
The length of the hand corresponds to the height of the visage,
and also to the distance intervening between the sternal incisura
and the auricular foramen; it is also equal to the distance between
the two nipples, and therefore also corresponds to the depth of
the chest.
There may be hands which are either excessively large or much
too small, and that are really marks of degeneration. An exces-
sive volume of these members is called megalomelia, and an exces-
sive smallness oligomelia.
We may encounter an extremely small hand quite as often in
the son of an alcoholic labourer as in the son of a degenerate aris-
tocrat; frequently men whose parents were mentally deficient have
small, delicate, almost effeminate hands.
The Proportions between the Various Segments of the Hands. —
The length of the middle finger, measured from the digito-palmar
plica or fold, ought to equal the length of the palm.
316 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Hence the index of the palm should be the proportion between
the length of the palm itself and the length of the middle finger.
This proportion is of importance because it has certain human
characteristics; as a matter of fact, in the anthropoid apes the
metacarpus is much longer than the fingers and the palm has a
far lower index than that of man. In degenerates (thieves) the
hand is frequently narrow and long.
The Proportions of the Fingers. — If the first and second articula-
tions of the fingers are flexed, leaving the third extended, we find
that the extremity of the middle finger reaches to the point where
the thenar and hypothenar eminences (fleshy prominences at base
of palm) are nearest to each other.
This basic point is only approximate and serves to tell us
whether the middle finger is normal. The middle finger serves
as a measure for the others, as follows:
The index-finger reaches to the base of the nail of the
middle finger.
The thumb, to the middle of the first phalanx of the middle
finger.
The ring finger, to the middle of the nail of the middle finger.*
The little finger, to the third articulation of the ring finger.
It often happens that the development of the ulnar side of
the hand — the little finger, or both little and ring finger together
— is defective. Sometimes the little finger is not only extremely
small, but a special malformation renders it shorter still when the
hand is open; the second phalanx remains flexed, and cannot be
extended. Combined with the shortness of such fingers there is
also an extreme slenderness — cubital oligodactylia. It is a far
rarer thing to find similar anomalies in the case of the index-finger.
The thumb, on the contrary, is sometimes extremely short, in
consequence of which it has slight opposability.
Functional Characteristics. — What characterises the functional
action of the human hand is the opposability of the thumb. There
ought to be a perfect movement of opposability of the thumb in
respect to all the other fingers; but many imbecile children accom-
plish this movement imperfectly. The mobility of the thumb is
associated with a group of muscles situated at its base which forms
the great tenar eminence of the palm, opposite which, in corre-
* Many authorities maintain that the normal relation between the index and ring finger
is the reverse of that given above; abundant examples occur in favor of each of these
THE LIMBS 317
spending relation to the little finger is the small hypotenar eminence.
An insufficient development of these palmar eminences represents
a serious malformation, which entails functional disturbances.
The hand of the monkey is flat.
The Nails. — We have already seen that in the high type of hand
the nails should be convex and long, and that in the low type, on
the contrary, they are short and fiat.
The normal nail should extend to an even level with the finger-
tip. Manual labour should normally serve the purpose of keep-
ing the nails worn down; but we, who are not hand-labourers,
must use the scissors, in order to maintain the normal state.
For, if they were not worn down, the nails would attain an
enormous length, like the nails of certain kings of savage tribes,
who as a badge of authority have such long nails that their
hands are necessarily kept motionless; these kings must in conse-
quence be waited on, even for the smallest need, and actually be-
come the slaves of their own nails, which might be shattered by any
sudden movement on the part of their royal possessor. Long
nails, therefore, are a sign of idleness, while at the same time they
demand a great deal of attention. Accordingly, let us repudiate
the fashion of long nails.
As a form of anomaly, we sometimes meet with nails of such
exaggerated length that they have the aspect of claws^on^co-
gryposis; or, again, an almost total absence of nails, which are re-
duced to a narrow transverse strip — this characteristic is often
found in idiots, and is aggravated by the fact that from child-
hood such persons have had the habit of ''biting their nails."
Sometimes the nails are exceedingly dense, or actually consist
of several superimposed layers, so rich in pigment that they lose
their characteristic transparency.
This condition is due to trophic disorders of the nails.
Teratology and Various Anomalies. — There are certain mons-
trosities that sometimes occur in connection with the hand, such
as hexadactylism and polydactylism, or hands with six or niore
fingers; or else hands with less than five fingers — syndactylism.
There may even be a congenital absence of a phalanx, with a
consequent notable shortness of the finger — brachydactylism.
Another sort of anomaly frequently found in deficients consists
of an excessive development of the interdigital membrane, to the
extent of giving the hand the appearance of being web-fingered.
318 PEDAGOGICAI. ANTHROPOLOGY
An anomaly of minor importance consists in a distortion of the
fingers; the little finger has one of its phalanges turned backward.
All the fingers ought to be in contact throughout their whole
length, and not leave open spaces between them.
Lines of the Palms. — The lines of the palms, which used to be
of so much importance in chiromancy, are now taken into con-
sideration even in anthropology, being studied in normal and ab-
normal man, and also in the hands of monkeys. The lines of the
palms are three in number. The one which follows the curve of
the tenar eminence is known in chiromancy as the line of life, and,
if long, deep and unbroken, was supposed to denote good health
and the prospect of a long life; in anthropology it is called the
biological line. The second crease, which ought to meet the former
between the thumb and the index-finger, is the line of the head, or
cephalic line, and in chiromancy its union with the line of life was
supposed to denote a well-balanced character.
The line highest up, which begins between the index- and middle
finger and extends to the extreme margin of the palm, is the line
of the heart or the cardiac line, which in chiromancy is supposed
to indicate the emotional development of the individual. These
lines taken together form a semblance of the letter M, and are
characteristically and gracefully curved. It is considered as an
anomaly, to be met with among degenerates and even in mongo-
loid idiots, to lack any of these lines (numerical reduction) or to
have their arrangement distinctly horizontal, and reminiscent of
the hand of the monkey.
If we trace backward in the zoological scale, we find as a matter
of fact that to begin with, there were no lines in the palms, and
then there appeared a single crease high up, such as we still find
in the Cebus. In the human hand Carrara has recently made a
study of these anomalies, distinguishing several types. In the
first type there is a single transverse furrow. In the second type
there are two furrows which, however, follow a definitely straight
and horizontal direction and consequently are parallel. In a
third type a single transverse furrow is associated with a very deep
longitudinal furrow running from the carpus to the base of the
index- and middle finger — a form that Carrara has found only in
criminals. Nevertheless, many idiots exhibit a similar longi-
tudinal furrow, due to a peculiar development of the palmar
aponeurosis.
Fig. 129. — Imprint of human hand, showing papillary lines
on palm and fingers.
THE LIMBS 319
The disposition of the furrows in the palm is not strictly sym-
metrical in the two hands; in fact, it is said in chiromancy that
the right hand represents our natural character, and our left hand
the character which we have acquired in the course of living.
Papillary Lines. — For some time past the papillary lines have
been attracting the attention of students, in regard to their earliest
appearance (in the zoological scale), their disposition and com-
plications. They were already spoken of by Malpighi and Pur-
kinje. Alix has investigated the first appearance, in the animal
scale, of these lines in the thoracic and pelvic limbs, and concludes :
''The greater or lesser development of the papillary lines seems to
bear a relation to the higher or lower position of the group to which
the animal belongs, the perfection of its hand and the degree of its
intelligence."
Morselli has studied the disposition of these lines in monkeys.
We know that the papillary lines bear a relation to the exquisite
delicacy of the sense of touch. The primates (higher apes) have
on their finger-tips patterns that are far simpler than our own,
resembling geometric figures, among which the principal ones are
the triangle, the circle, and forms resembling the cross-section of
an onion. In the normal human hand, on the contrary, it should
be impossible to distinguish any closed figure. The resulting
designs, which are very fine and complicated, are not uniform on
all the fingers, but differ from finger to finger in proportion to the
degree of evolution in a given hand. For example, there is a
certain uniformity of design in cases of arrested mental develop-
ment (imbeciles, epileptics, etc.). This variety of designs pro-
duces individual characteristics which are utilized in criminal
anthropology for purposes of identification; hence, it is highly
important to be able to take impressions of the papillary lines.
Professor Sante de Sanctis has quite recently invented a
practical method of preserving papillary imprints by the aid of
photography.
CHAPTER VI
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS
Pigmentation and Cutaneous Apparatus. — The outer covering
of the body possesses an importance that is not only physiolog-
ical, as a defense of the living animal, but biological and ethnical
as well. In fact, the covering of the body frequently constitutes
a characteristic of the species, and we may say that it constitutes
to a large extent the aesthetics of coloration, supplementing that
of form. In the covering of the body there are in general certain
appendages which include the double purpose of defense and
attraction, as, for example, the scales of fishes, the quills of the
porcupine, the marvellous plumage of certain birds, the furry
coat of the ermine. Man, on the contrary, is almost completely
deprived of any covering of the skin, and is conspicuous among
all animals as the most defenseless and naked. Consequently,
the characteristics of the skin itself, quite apart from any covering,
assume in man a great ethnic importance, especially as regards
his pigmentation. In fact, it is well known that the fundamental
classifications of the human races due to Blumenbach and Lin-
naeus are based upon the cutaneous pigmentation (white, black,
yellow races, etc.). This is because it is a recognised fact that
the pigmentation is biologically associated with race, and hence
inalterable and hereditary, in the same way, for example, as the
cephalic index; although we must not forget the modifications of
pigment through phenomena due to adaptation to environment.
This would lead us into scientific discussions which would here
be out of place, since they have no immediate importance to
us as educators. It may suffice to indicate that the distribution
of racial colour should not be studied in relation to temperature
and the direction of the sun's rays, but rather in connection with
the history of human emigration; because, while as a matter of
fact it is true that there are races at the equator which are darker
and races near the poles which are fairer, it is also true that the
Esquimaux, for instance, are a dark race, while in Lybia there are
320
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 321
types of ashen blond, which is the palest blond in the whole range
of human pigmentation.
The pigment is distributed throughout the skin, the cutaneous
appendages and the iris.
In the skin, the distribution is not uniform, there being some
regions of the body that have more, and some that have less; it is
localised in the Malpighian mucous layer, i.e., the granular, ger-
minative layer of the epidermis, which rests directly upon the
papillae of the derma or corium.
The derma, being abundantly supplied with blood-vessels, if
seen by itself would appear red; but this color, due to the blood,
is concealed to a greater or less extent by the epidermis, according
as the latter contains more or less pigment. In the iris of the eye
and in the pilif erous appendages of the skin, among which we must,
from the anthropological point of view, give chief place to the hair
of the head, the pigment tends to accumulate, producing a con-
stantly deeper shade.
Pigmentation constitutes an eminently descriptive character-
istic, and consequently, in all attempts to determine it, must be
subject to all manner of oscillations in judgment on the part of the
observer; yet, because it also constitutes an ethnical characteristic,
it deserves to be determined with precision. To this end we have
in anthropology chromatic charts, corresponding not only to the
various shades of the skin, but also to those of the pilif erous ap-
pendages and of the iris. They consist of a graduated series of
colour-tones extending over the entire possible range of the real
colours of pigmentation in human beings; and every gradation in
tone has a corresponding number. When we wish to use the
charts practically, for the purpose of determining accurately the
precise degree of pigmentation of a given person's hair, we need
only to compare the tone of the hair with the colours of the chart,
and, having identified the right one, to note the corresponding
number. For instance, we may record: ''Pigmentation of hair
= 34 Br. {i.e.. No. 34 in Broca's table). Or, again, if we are mak-
ing a more complex study of all the children in a certain school,
we may say: ''The chestnut tones (35, 42, 43 Br.) constitute 87
per cent., the remaining percentage consists of the blond shades
(36, 37, 46 Br.). And in the case of the skin and the iris the pro-
cedure is analogous. By this means the investigation is objective
and accurate.
322
PEDAGOGICAI^ ANTHROPOLOGY
As a rule, the three pigmentations are determined in accordance
with a reciprocal correspondence. The light colourings, as well
as the dark, generally go together; i.e., a person having blond hair
has also light eyes and a fair skin, and vice versa — in other words,
the entire organism has either a greater or less accumulation of
pigment in all its centres of pigmentation. Furthermore, these
anthropological characteristics are accompanied by others of equal
ethnical importance, such as the stature, the cephalic index, etc.;
and all of them combine to determine an ethnic type in all its
complex morphology.
In this, as in all other anthropological data, it is necessary to
determine the limits between which it may oscillate. In the races
of mankind, the colour of the skin ranges from a black brown to a
gray brown, to brick red, to yellow, and to white; but among the
population of Italy, and among Europeans in general (excepting
certain localised groups, like the Lapps, etc.), the variation is con-
fined within the limits of the so-called white tones, that is, from
brunette to a sallow white, a rosy white, or a florid red, with each
of which tints there are special corresponding grades of pigmenta-
tion for hair and eyes, and also, on broad, general lines, different
ethnical characteristics oscillating within our normal limits of
stature and cephalic index.
All of which may be summarised in the following table:
Pigmentation
Stature
Cephalic index
Skin
Hair
Iris
Brunette
Yellow-white
Pink-white. . .
Florid red
Black
Light chest-
n u t and
blond.
Red
Black
Chestnut and
blue.
Gray
Medium or low
Medium or high
(Outside of ethnic
the red colour
abnormal)
Dolichocephalic,
Brachycephalic
al characteristics:
of the hair is
in which we have also included the abnormal colour of red hair,
which plays a part in the actual colour scale of Italian pigmentation :
not, however, as a racial characteristic, but rather as a deviation.
In addition to the oscillation of limits, we should also study in
any given population the geographic distribution of a definite
anthropological datum. This must also be done in the case of the
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 323
pigments. Among Livi's splendid charts, there is one regarding
the distribution of the brunette type in Italy. From this it appears
that the greatest prevalence of the brunette type is in Sardinia
and Calabria, and that in general there is a prevalence of the dark
types in the southern districts ; while the lowest percentage of brun-
nettes is found in Piedmont, Lombardy and Venetia, and in general
the number of brunettes is less in northern and central Italy.
The relative distribution of other ethnical data should be noted,
such as the stature and the cephalic index, in the corresponding
charts.
By combining these results, we find that in the north of
Italy the prevalent type is blond, brachycephalic, and of tall stat-
ure; while in the south it is a dark, dolichocephalic type, of low
stature. . This is what I succeeded in showing in my work upon the
women of Latium, in which I sought to complete the details of
these two ethnic types. In Latium there is a prevalence of the
dark, dolichocephalic type of low stature, a type that is still almost
pure at Castelli Romani; this type is fine, slender and delicate
in formation, and corresponds to Sergi's Mediterranean stock, to
which are due the great Egyptian and Graeco-Roman civilisations.
The other race is blond, tall and brachycephalic, and has only a
scanty representation in southern Latium, but is prevalent in an
almost pure form in the neighborhood of Orte. This type is much
coarser and more massive in its formation, with a euriplastic
skeleton, and corresponds to Sergi's Eurasian race that immi-
grated from the continent.
In general, we may say that it is foreordained in our biological
destiny not only what form, but also what colouring we ought to
attain in the course of our individual evolution, when we finally
arrive at mature development.
The Pigments during Growth. — In the course of individual
evolution, it is not only the form that becomes modified, but the
pigments as well. We know, for example, that children are more
blond than adults. Transformations in regard to the pigments
occur, however, more especially at the period of puberty.
Pigmentation of the Hair. — The colour of the hair becomes
darker in the course of growth, changing from light chestnut to
dark, from blond to light chestnut, from dark to black, from light
324 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
auburn to fiery red. Sometimes this darkening of the hair is
accompanied by a change in tone (from blond to chestnut); at
other times it consists in an intensification of the original colour
through an increase of pigment, which fixes and defines a colour
that was previously indefinite.
In children who were ill or ailing during their early years, in
other words, weakly children (through denutrition, exhausting
illnesses, overexertion), this phenomenon is imperfectly achieved,
just as their growth as a whole is imperfectly achieved. The con-
sequence is that these weaklings retain a paler and less decided
pigmentation, which explains the fact that statistics show a greater
proportion of frail, rachitic, tuberculous and mentally deficient
persons among the blonds than among the brunettes; but it is
among that class of blonds whose light colour represents an arrest
of development (suppressed brunettes).
Social conditions also exert an influence upon the colour of the
hair; a larger number of blonds and of lighter and more indefinite
blonds are to be found in the schools for the poor than in those for
the rich; also a larger number in country schools, where the pov-
erty is greater, than in city schools. Consequently we may con-
clude that there are two classes of blonds : that which is associated
with a racial type, and that which is the consequence of arrested
development. The first type has a vivid, uniform and decisive
colour tone, accompanied by physiological rebustness; the second
is indefinite in colour tone and lacks uniformity —for example,
the more exposed parts of the body are paler, and the hair varies
in tone, some locks showing greater intensity of colour than others.
This is especially noticeable in frail young girls from the country,
where the sun discolours the surface layer of hair. In this con-
nection it should be remembered that in those geographical regions
where the rays of the sun are most nearly perpendicular, the pig-
ments are, on the contrary, darker and that the skin becomes
bronzed under the ardent kiss of the sun. But while the sun in-
tensifies the tints that are strong with life, it destroys those that
are weak and moribund, just as it does in the case of lifeless fabrics,
which become bleached out by the action of the solar light.
Accordingly the pigments give us an important test for judg-
ing the robustness of the body; the blonds who are the product of
arrested development of brown tones that have not been attained
because of weakness, are frail in health and physical resistance,
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 325
which is the basis of the popular belief that vigorous wet-nurses
must be brunettes.
As a matter of fact, in our own population of Latium the
brunette type prevails over the blond by a percentage of 86 per
cent.; and it may be that a blond Roman wet-nurse is a weakly
creature, just as a Roman red wine is in all probability a white
wine that has been coloured. .
***
Pigmentation of the Iris. — In regard to the coloration of the
eyes, a change often takes place at puberty which is the opposite
to that already noted in regard to the hair: the eyes become more
uniformly light; this happens in the majority of cases.
In the coloration of the eyes it is necessary to distinguish two
factors, the uvea and the pigment.
The iris has a fundamental and uniform light colour (due to
the uvea) which oscillates, according to the individual, between
blue and greenish.
In this layer the pigment is deposited; it may be more or less
intense in tone, shading from yellow to a dark maroon.
When the pigment is wanting or is very scant, the fundamental
blue or greenish colour of the uvea is apparent.
In little children the pigment is distributed over the uvea in
a manner by no means uniform, in little masses or spots that are
usually of a mixed colour, so that the colour of the iris in infancy
may be uncertain. At puberty a uniform distribution of the pig-
ment already accumulated takes place; but rarely an intensifi-
cation. Hence the colour becomes more decided, but not deeper,
as Godin has recently succeeded in proving.
Pigmentation of the Skin. — In the colouring of the skin it is
necessary to distinguish between that which is due to the blood
and that which is due to the pigment.
The blood, whose colour shows transparently through the layers
of the epidermis, produces the various pinkish tones.
The pigment, deposited in all races of mankind under the
Malpighian layer, produces the various brownish tones. The
quantity of cutaneous pigment is a constant racial factor — a hered-
itary factor. Nevertheless, in certain individuals, it may be
influenced by external agents (sunshine, heat) which tend to cause
it to vary; such alterations produce individual varieties, and also
326 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
variations in coloration of the skin between the covered parts of
the body and those exposed to the sun or to atmospheric action in
general; these variations, one and all, are not hereditary.
At puberty the pigment is increased in certain portions of the
body in connection with the generative functions which become
established at that time. Besides this, the general pigmentation
is intensified; children are whiter than adults.
The Skin and the Hair during the Evolution of the Organism. —
In the case of the hair also, the pigment does not remain a con-
stant quantity throughout the different periods of life. Grey hair
is a normal sign of the decadence of an organism which has entered
upon its involution. As is well known, the hair of the head, the
beard, and in general all the piliferous appendages turn white,
beginning in the regions where the hair is most abundant, i.e.,
on the head. In some men, however, the hairs of the beard are
the first to turn grey; this is not perfectly normal, it is an inferior
manner of growing old. A German proverb says, that he who
works much with the head (the thinking class) turns grey first in
his hair, and that he who works much with his mouth (the hearty
eater) turns grey first in his beard.
The skin also gives manifest signs of decadence in the form of
wrinkles. These serve up to a certain point as documentary evi-
dence of the life which the individual has led and the high or low
type to which he belongs. Just as in the case of grey hair, it is
the class of thinkers who have the most wrinkles on their forehead;
those who were given over to baser passions, such as called for
labial rather than frontal expression, have on the contrary, more
wrinkles around the mouth. We know how the peasant class has
a veritable halo of wrinkles around the mouth.
Thinkers, on the contrary, have a single vertical furrow in the
middle of the forehead : the line of thought. The transverse hues
on the forehead are parallel and unconnected.
Faces with precocious wrinkles may be met with, even in chil-
dren (denutrition, mental anxiety, dystrophic conditions) ; and con-
versely, there are faces which have been preserved unwrinkled up
to an advanced age (especially in the case of women of the aristoc-
racy, in whom it may happen that neither suffering nor mental
effort has left its traces on their lives).
Pigmentation of the Hair. — This anthropological datum merits
special consideration, since it plays so large a part in the aesthetics
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 327
of the human body; and also preserves certain constant charac-
teristics that serve to differentiate the races. In a study of the
hair it is necessary to consider the quantity, the disposition and
the form. Abundant, strong, sleek hair is in physiological rela-
tion to robustness of body. Thin hair, on the contrary, or hair
that is easily extirpated at the slightest pull, or dry hair, indicate
insufficient nutrition, which may also be connected with dystro-
phic or pathological conditions (hereditary syphilis, cretinism).
The normal disposition of the hair is characteristic, but it
may assume a number of individual variations, as has recently
been shown by Dr. Sergio Sergi, son of our mutual instructor
Giuseppe Sergi (Sergio Sergi, Sulla disposizione dei capelli intorno
alia fronte — ''The disposition of the hair upon the forehead" —
Acts of the Societa di Antropologia, Vol. 13, No. 1).
The hair, after forming a single whorl or vortex, corresponding
to the obelion, flows over the forehead in either two or three divi-
sions, the lines of the parting (either lateral lines or a single central
line) corresponding to the natural divisions of the flowing hair.
Across the forehead the hair ceases at the line of the roots, which
crowns the face cornice-like; it is a sinuous line and rises at the
sides in two points, corresponding to the natural partings of the
hair. The hair stops normally at the boundary-line of the fore-
head, which together with the face forms the visage, leaving bare
that part which in man corresponds to that portion of the frontal
bone that rises erect above the orbital arches, i.e., the human
portion of the forehead.
The form of the hair is an ethnical characteristic. Among
our European populations the extreme forms are wanting, namely,
smooth hair (stiff, coarse, sparse hair peculiar to the red and yellow
races, such as the American Indian, Esquinaux, Samoyed and
Chinese), and kinky hair (wooly hair, curling in fine, close spirals,
such as is found in all its variations among the Australians and
the African negroes). Consequently, we cannot use the words
smooth or kinky for the purpose of qualifying the forms of hair
found in our populations.
We may, however, meet with straight hair (not smooth), or
curly hair (not kinky). In addition to these forms, which among
us represent the extremes, there are also two other forms — namely,
wavy hair (in ample curves) and spiral hair (forming much nar-
rower curves, the so-called ringlets). Corresponding to these vari-
328
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
ous qualities of hair, there are essential differences in the physical
structure of the stem or shaft of the hair itself. If we make trans-
verse sections of hair and examine them under the microscope,
we find that the resulting geometrical figures are not all equal : the
forms of the sections oscillate between rounded and ellipsoidal
forms. Furthermore, there are races in which we may find hair
having a circular section {smooth hair) and there are others in
which we may find, on the
contrary, an extremely
elongated elliptical section
{kinky hair); in the first
case the hair is a long,
bristly cylinder; in the
second, it is a ribbon with
a tendency to roll up.
In general, the straighter
the hair is, the nearer its
cross-section approaches a
perfect circle; and the more
curly it is, the nearer its
cross-section approaches an
elongated ellipse. The ac-
companying examples are
drawn from the results of
my own study of the women
of Latium; they represent
five microscopic prepara-
tions. The figure in the
middle (No. 3) represents
straight hair; the two fig-
ures. No. 1 and 5, are from curly hair; No. 2 is wavy hair, and
No. 4, close-curled hair, or ringlets. Thus we see how widely the
sections of hair differ according to the relative degree of curliness;
and conversely, how identical the two sections, Nos. 1 and 5 are,
both of them taken from equally curly hair, although from differ-
ent heads. Straight hair has an almost circular section, although,
slightly elliptical; this proves that really straight hair does not
exist; in fact, even when it attains the maximum degree of
smoothness, it retains a tendency to curl, which is shown, if in
no other way, by the readiness with which it acquires a waviness,
Fig. 130.
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 329
if habitually kept braided. There is no other section so perfectly
circular as that of the red races, thus demonstrating the bristle-
like rigidity of the smooth type of hair. Wavy hair is that which,
in the form of its section, approaches most nearly to straight hair;
it is a slightly elongated ellipse (No. 2).
Anomalies relating to the Pigment, the Skin and the Piliferous
Appendages: Pigment and Skin. — There are certain congenital
anomalies of the skin, occasionally to be met with, among which
I make note of the following principal ones :
a. Anomalies due to Hypertrophy of the Pigment and the Cor-
ium: Ichthyosis. — The surface of the skin presents large,
raised, irregular patches of various dark colours tending to
maroon.
b. Anomalies due to Hypertrophy of the Pigment:
1. Ncevi Materni: dark isolated spots (moles, birth-marks) .
2. Freckles: small, light brown spots, no larger than the
head of a pin, scattered over the body, principally on the chest and
face.
3. Melanosis: the entire skin has a dark appearance,
similar to that of the lower races of mankind, but especially on the
face and hands.
c. Anomalies due to Atrophy of the Pigment. Albinism. — The
skin presents an appearance of milky whiteness; even the hair is
white, and the iris of the eye is red.
Wrinkles. — The wrinkles of the face are deserving of attention,
as being a detail of noteworthy importance. In regard to wrinkles,
two points should be noted; a. precocity; b. anomalies.
a. Precocity of Wrinkles. — This is an indication of rapid
involution, and is frequently met with in degenerates. Idiotic
children often show a flabby, shrivelled skin, overstrewn with a
multitude of wrinkles that give them the aspect of little old men.
b. Anomalies: the following are to be specially noted:
1. Transverse wrinkles on the nose, frequent in flat-nosed
idiots.
2. Wrinkles on the forehead; in normal persons these are
interrupted and broken, they are not quite parallel, nor perfectly
horizontal, nor very deep.
In degenerates it is frequently noticed that the wrinkles on the
forehead form one continuous horizontal line, extending completely
across it; sometimes it is so deep that it seems to divide the fore-
330
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
head transversely into two parts. The various wrinkles, straight
and unbroken, are quite parallel.
3. The zygomatic (cheek-bone) wrinkles and the wrinkles
around the mouth are extremely deep in mentally defective adult
and aged persons, and also in criminals, whose facial expression is
especially active in the region of the nose and mouth, which con-
stitute the least contemplative portion of the face.
Anomalies of the Hair. — 1. Quantity. — The quantity of hair may
be excessive — polytrichia, a mark of degeneration
easily to be met with among delinquents and
prostitutes; or there may be a scarcity of hair —
atrichia, among neuropaths, feeble-minded and
cretins. Sometimes, precocious baldness occurs,
as a result of defective nutrition of the skin.
2. Disposition. — We should note: a. the line
of roots of the hair; b. the vortices.
a. Line of Roots. — This may be situated too
far down upon the forehead, in which case it
gives a false impression of a low forehead, or
too far hack, in which case it gives a false impres-
sion of a high forehead.
Note in addition the form of the line of roots ;
it ought to be, as we have already said, sinuous;
sometimes, on the contrary, this line is straight,
and forms a uniform curve, without sinuosity,
across the forehead (imbeciles); at other times
it descends in a peak at the middle point of the
forehead.
b. Vortices. — Normally, there ought to be
one central whorl or vortex over the sinciput.
Abnormally it may happen:
That the vortex is misplaced — above, below or laterally;
That the vortex is double;
That there are also vortices along the frontal line of roots,
or near this line.
3. Form. — It sometimes happens that we find in degenerates
forms of hair that are normal in inferior races, i.e., smooth hair,
or kinky, wooly hair.
Grey Hair. — Sometimes in the case of degenerates or those
suffering from dystrophy, a precocious greyness occurs (grey-
FiG. 131. — Showing
various types of the
line of rootsofthehair.
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 331
haired young men, children with white hair) ; or a partial congen-
ital greyness (clumps of white hair). No form of grey hair, how-
ever, should be confused with albinism.
Anomalies relating to the Eyebrows and the Beard. The Eye-
brows.— Various anomalies may occur, in respect to the quantity
of hair, and the form of the eyebrows.
The hairs may be too abundant or too scanty.
The form may be oblique, in degenerate mongoloid types.
A notable anomaly consists in a union of the eyebrows, which
meet and form an unbroken line across the region of the glabella.
The ''united eyebrows" constitute a grave sign of degeneration,
and are popularly regarded in Italy as a mark of the "jettatura^'
or ''evil eye."
Beard. — It may be very thick or very thin. Too thick a beard
is important, especially if the hairs are also abundant on the cheeks
and even on the forehead, a characteristic that is frequently
accompanied by an abundant growth of hair over the entire body
(general hypertrichosis) .
A thin beard and moustache may constitute a normal charac-
teristic in certain races, such as the Kaffirs and other African negro
tribes; as also in the Chinese. In our own race, on the contrary,
it is an abnormal characteristic, which has been interpreted as a
sexual inversion (feminism) and is met with frequently among
thieves.
MOKPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF CERTAIN OrGANS (sTIGMATA)
In our morphological analysis of certain organs, we shall have
occasion to enumerate a number of separate malformations, to
the study of which criminal anthropology has devoted much atten-
tion. Since many of these are met with in children, we will make
a rapid enumeration of them, but must keep in mind that the ability
to distinguish the abnormal form from the normal requires practice
in the actual observation of subjects, while mere verbal descrip-
tions may lead to false and confusing impressions.
332
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
SYNOPTIC CHART
Eyes.
Ears.
Nose.
position
rima palpebrarum
or eye-slit
size of eye-ball ....
sclerotic coat
foramina (pupils) ,
asymmetries
malformations .
/ high type
I low type
f macrophthalmia
\ microphthalmia
I exophthalmia
I miosis
j mydriasis
I anisocoria
f position
I form
Wildermuth's ear
embryonal ear
Morel's ear
handle-shaped ear
crumpled ear
canine ear, etc.
r leptorrhine
{ platyrrhine
I mesorrhine
f flat
j crooked
i trilobate
r simian mouth
I negroid mouth
[ hair lip, etc.
number
dimensions
form
diastemata
irregular position
J macroglossia
\ microglossia
J ogival (pointed arch)
\ cleft
Generalities. — Passing on to a more minute study of form, we shall have to
invade the field of human aesthetics. The proportions of the body are all deter-
mined, in respect to their harmony; and especially admirable is the harmony
existing between the principal parts of the human physiognomy. Artists know
that in a regular face the length of the eye is equal to the interocular distance, or
to the width of the nose, while the latter stands to the width of the mouth in a
ratio of 2 to 3. The length of the external ear remains, at all ages, exactly equal
to the sum of the width of the two eyes.
The eyes and the external ears grow but little, consequently they are relatively
types
. anomalies.
f lips
Buccal
apparatus ,
teeth .
tongue .
palate .
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 333
quite large in children. The nose and mouth, on the contrary, grow much more,
and hence appear quite small in infancy. The growth of the face, like that of
the whole body, is an evolution, ,
Among all the harmonies of the human body, that which can undergo the
greatest numbers of alterations in the course of its evolution is the reciprocal har-
mony between the parts of the face. There are more cliildren than grown persons
with beautiful faces, because the efforts of adaptation to environment, or con-
genital biological causes, or pathological causes may easily alter the evolution
of the face.
We will take a rapid glance at the principal morphological anomalies likely to
be encountered in connection with the face.
All the malformations that we are about to enumerate are still included under
the generic name of stigmata, and they may be degenerative stigmata (congenital
anomalies), pathological stigmata (acquired through disease), or stigmata oj caste
(caused by adaptation to environment) .
Anomalies relating to the Eye. — The eyes may be too far apart (usually in
broad, square faces of the Mongolian type), or too near together (for the most
part in long narrow faces, with a hooked nose).
Rima Palpebrarum (Eye-slit) . — A straight, narrow slit (low type) ; an oblique
slit (Mongolian eye).
Size of Eye-ball. — The eye-ball may be too large {macr ophthalmia) and hence
often protrudes from the socket (exophthalmia) ; or it may be too small and deep-
sunken (microphthalmia), or asymmetrical in size (one eye-ball larger than the
other) .
Direction. — Strabism (inward, outward, monolateral, bilateral).
Sclerotic Coat. — It may be injected with blood (delinquents), or partly covered
over by an abnormal development of the semilunar plica or fold of the palpebral
conjunctiva.
Pupillary Foramina. — The two foramina of the pupils ought to be equal in
size, circular and with a clearly marked contour. But under various conditions
of age and ill health the size as well as the equality of the pupils may vary.
As regards the size of the pupils:
When the pupillary foramina are too small, this constitutes miosis — a condi-
tion frequently found in certain serious nervous diseases (locomotor ataxia,
paralytic dementia) , and in chronic opium poisoning; it is frequent in meningitis.
In old persons miosis is a normal condition.
When, on the contrary, the foramina of the pupils are too large, this
constitutes mydriasis (poisoning from atropine, intestinal diseases, etc.).
In addition to these, there is anisocoria, when the two foramina are unequal
(neurasthenia, chronic alcoholism, first stage of paralytic dementia).
Form of the Pupillary Foramen. — It is not always round, sometimes it is oval
(cat's-eye). Frequently the form of the pupil is permanently altered as the
result of a surgical operation.
Thus, the contour of the pupil may be broken instead of clear cut; in verifying
this phenomenon it is important to inquire whether the subject has suffered from
any progressive disease of the iris, such as might produce the same condition.
Anomalies of the Ear. — While in the case of animals the external ear is greatly
22
334 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
developed, movable and detached from the cranium, in man it is reduced in size,
immovable and attached to the cranium. Two measurements are taken of the
ear, the length and the width, and by means of the usual formula we obtain the
index of the ear, which for the European race is about 54 per cent. This index has
a certain importance because we find that the proportion of width to length
steadily increases as we descend through the inferior human races, down to the
ape, and the same increase continues if we descend through the different grades
of the simian order.
This is to a large extent a result of the fact that, in the descent from man to
ape, the lobule of the ear, which is essentially a human form, steadily diminishes,
until it finally disappears.
From this it may be concluded that there exist minute zoological differences
other than generic between man and animals. As to malformations of the human
ear, which may consist of shortness or absence of the lobule (formerly interpreted
as a simian inheritance) they are to-day attributed to physiological causes. An
abundant circulation produces an ample and fleshy lobe; in oligohsemic constitu-
tions (deficiency of blood) the lobe is delicate, pale and even atrophied. Brachy-
sceles often have a big lobe, and macrosceles, predisposed to phthisis, often have
no lobe.
In regard to the external ear we should observe:
1. Symmetry. — The ears should be symmetrical:
a. In respect to their position.
b. In respect to the more or less pronounced divergence of the ears from
the cranium.
c. In respect to their form.
a. Position. — We must look for this form of asymmetry by observing the
cranium according to the occipital norm. The asymmetry may be caused by one
of the ears being placed too high up or too far back in respect to the other, or both
asymmetries may occur together.
b. The asymmetry due to divergence is observed from two norms, the
facial and the occipital.
c. Asymmetry oiform is perceived by observing successively the two exter-
nal ears according to the lateral norms; their morphological aspect should corre-
spond on the two sides.
2. Anatomy and Malformations of the External Ear. — A preliminary anatom-
ical note is necessary. The external ear consists of various parts, which were
first studied and named by Fabricius of Acquapendente:
1. The Helix. — This is the outermost fold of the ear; it takes its origin
above the auricular foramen in a root starting from the inside of the concha and
rises upward, to descend again describing a regular helix; and it terminates in the
lobule. At the point where the helix bends downward to form the descending
branch, a small cartilaginous formation can be discerned by the sense of touch;
this is the Darwinian tubercle.
2. The Antihelix. — This originates in two roots under the ascending branch
of the helix and terminates in the antitragus; it is a cartilaginous formation.
3. The Auricular Fossa. — This divides the helix from the antihelix.
4. The Tragus. — This is a little triangular cartilaginous formation situated
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 335
in front of the auricular foramen. Between the tragus and the antitragus is the
intertragical fossa.
5. The Concha. — This is the concavity, the internal fossa of the auricle,
which leads to the channel of the internal ear.
Instances may be found of malformation of each and all of these various parts
of the ear, which may be excessively developed, or almost wanting, or altered in
form.
The Helix. — The overfolding of the cartilage may be wanting, leaving the
margin of the auricle straight; this form is met with in the Mongolian race, but
among us it is a malformation (Morel's ear). It is a more serious malformation
if it occurs combined with excessive development of the DarA\inian tubercle; in
this case the auricle assumes a really animal-like aspect ("canine ear").
The helix may originate within the concha from a root so prolonged that it
divides the concha itself into two parts, an upper and a lower.
The helix may be greatly developed and sharply divergent from the cranium —
handle-shaped ear; or it may be bent at an angle at the upper outer margin —
embryonal ear.
The lobule is, as we have already said, an essentially human formation, and as
though man were conscious of this fact and proud of it, it is customary in all
races to adorn it with ear-rings, to such an extent that in India and in Cochin-
China the lobe is burdened with ornaments of great weight, in consequence of
which it has continued to develop until it almost touches the shoulder.
The lobule may be attached to the cheek (sessile lobule).
The antihelix may be so developed as to rise in front of the helix — Wilder-
muth's ear.
Another important malformation connected with the ear, which is com-
monly found in idiots, is a prolongation and restriction of the intertragical fossa
into a fissure (fissura intertragica) . The tragus ought normally to exceed the
antitragus in dimensions.
Anomalies of the Nose. — The nose presents very numerous individual varieties,
even among normal individuals. In the European race we distinguish the
straight nose (Italian), the aquiline, the retrouss^ (French), the sinuous, etc.
But in all these forms one characteristic remains more or less constant: the
aperture of the nostrils is long and narrow, or rather its length exceeds its width
(the nostrils are thin and mobile, the skeleton of the nose projects above the plane
of the face). In the other races of mankind, on the contrary, two other types
of nose are distinguished in respect to this characteristic: 1. The aperture of the
nostrils is round (the nostrils themselves are fleshy, the base of the nose somewhat
flattened) — mesorrhine nose, characteristic of the Mongolian race, and found
repeatedly in mongoloid idiots; 2. the aperture of the nostrils is broadened, i.e., the
width exceeds the length (the nose is flattened and almost level at the base, and
furrowed for the most part with transverse wrinkles, the nostrils are exceedingly
fleshy and immobile — platyrrhine nose, peculiar to the African and Australian
races. Corresponding to the external form of the nose there is also a difference
in the skeleton in relation to the piriform aperture and the naso-labial duct ; the
external form of the nose is really dependent upon the skeleton (consequently,
the above-mentioned nomenclature applies also to the piriform aperture of the
336 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
cranium (see Skeleton of the face). The flat nose is found as a malformation in
idiots, and is usually accompanied by prognathism.
Other important malformations relating to the nose are the development of a
tubercle at the tip — trilobate nose, frequent in low types of idiots; and the tip of the
nose bent sideways (usually toward the left) ; this form occurs in leptorrhine noses
and is considered to be a stigma of criminality (thieves).
Anomalies relating to the Buccal Apparatus. — Malformations occur in relation
to the lips, the teeth, the tongue and the palate.
The Lips. — The European type of lips is well known both as regards their
proportions and their lines of contour which determine the distinctive form.
Sometimes this graceful modeling is wanting; the contour of the lips is formed
of almost horizontal lines, the oral aperture is very wide, and has the appearance,
especially when laughing, of being edged by a perfectly uniform, narrow line, thus
resembling the mouth of a monkey.
At other times we meet with thick, fleshy lips, slightly pendulous, like those of
the black races, especially the Hottentots and Australians; it is a malformation
frequent among idiots, and occurs together with prognathism and the flattened
nose.
Another notable form is that in which the lips are not only thick and fleshy,
but the internal tissues are so abnormally developed that they protrude from the
oral orifice in a slight prolapsus; this form of lips is quite characteristic of myx-
edematous idiots. Finally, we may meet with the so-called hare-lip, or lip di-
vided in the middle, signifying an arrest of embryonal development and frequently
accompanied by a cleft palate and a double uvula (see Development of the face).
The Teeth. — There is nothing new to tell of the characteristic forms of the
teeth — the incisors, the canines, the premolars, and the molars — nor of their
regular placement in a single row corresponding to the curve of the maxilla and
the mandible. I shall therefore merely give the two dental formulae correspond-
ing to the two dentitions of man.
First dentition, or "milk teeth":
2—2 1—1 2—2
2—2 1—1 2—2
incisors canines premolars
Second or final dentition:
2—2 1— 1 2—2
2—2 1—1 2—2
incisors canines premolar
20 teeth
32 teeth
In relation to the teeth there are a great number of anomalies which may
occur, in number, in position, in size and form, and these anomalies are so fre-
quent that we may say the smile stigmatizes the degenerate. Frequently it is
the most evident stigma of the whole face; so much so that this same smile which
adds so much charm to the normal human countenance becomes ugly and re-
pulsive in degenerates.
Anomalies in Number of Teeth. — Sometimes there are more than 32 teeth,
owing to the presence of certain supernumerary teeth; these will be found to occur
Fig. 136. — Example of a worn-down tooth. Fig. 137. — Handle-shaped ears.
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 337
most frequently in the case of the canines, next in that of the incisors, and lastly
in that of the premolars.
Sometimes the number of teeth is less than 32, in which case it is necessary to
distinguish two cases of very different significance: First, the last molars ("wis-
dom teeth") may be wanting; secondly, some of the other teeth may be wanting
(incisors, canines, or premolars). The last molar is of no use whatever to man,
because it does not enter into the service of mastication, and it is tending to disap-
pear. We may even predict that the day is coming when mankind will no longer
have wisdom teeth, and the human dental formula will be as follows:
2—2 1—1 2—2 2—2
= 28 teeth
2—2 1—1 2—2 2—2
incisors canines premolar molars
The absence of useful teeth, on the contrary, is a grave sign of degeneration,
and one which leaves wide spaces between two adjacent teeth (wide diastemata).
The diastema, or space left between adjacent teeth, is of great importance.
There are various causes for this stigma. Besides the one already mentioned,
due to congenital absence of a tooth (broad diastema), another recognized cause is
an anomalous 'placing of the teeth (narrow diastema). The significance of this is
not always the same: for example, the diastema between two upper incisors
indicates a very slight anomaly of embryonal development, and, some people
think, gives a sympathetic charm to the smile. On the contrary, a diastema oc-
curring at the side of a canine tooth signifies a congenital malformation.
At other times such anomalous spaces may be due to the fact that the teeth
have remained small, or happen to have worn away laterally and present an almost
filiform or thread-like aspect (diastemata due to microdontia resulting from syph-
ilis or various dystrophic conditions).
The form of the teeth demands consideration next in order of importance.
Sometimes we encounter cases of teeth that are all nearly alike in form; they have
lost that morphological differentiation which already existed in the anthropoid
apes; there is an insensible transition from the incisors, all exactly equal in form
and dimensions, to the premolars, which also present the same appearance,
passing over a tooth which it would be difficult to define either as incisor or pre-
molar (the canine tooth). Usually in such uniform dentition there are slight
diastemata.
This condition, however, is not frequently met with; it is much more usual
to find this anomaly occurring only in part; the incisor teeth are all equal, or
else the canine resembles an incisor or a premolar. In combination with this
characteristic, it often happens that there is a diastema next to the canine.
In regard to size, the teeth may be too large, macrodontia, or too small, micro-
dontia.
Microdontia may be due to a true and actual arrest of development of the
teeth (white teeth, small and narrow, often all very much alike), or to a kind
of corrosion of the teeth due to congenital dystrophism (syphilis). In this case
the teeth are ground down and worn away either horizontally or laterally (filiform
teeth) , or again the cutting edge of the tooth is not horizontal in the two upper
canines, but oblique, so that the teeth have the appearance of being broken.
338 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Often the teeth are furrowed transversely with yellow streaks corresponding to a
lack of development of the enamel.
Finally, the teeth may present various anomalies of position, which may be
grouped under three heads:
a. Narrow teeth, so placed as to leave slight intervals between them.
b. Isolated teeth, planted outside the common line, or else transversely
instead of horizontally.
c. The dentition does not follow the regular curved line, but shows various
sinuosities, usually bending in at the point corresponding to the canine tooth.
The Tongue. — The tongue may present morphological anomalies of great
importance, since they are the cause of many defects of speech. Sometimes the
tongue is too big — macroglossia, in which case it cannot move freely within the
buccal cavity and even finds difficulty in remaining within the mouth, but pro-
jects between the lips, contributing in no small measure to giving the face an
imbecile expression. At other times it is too small — microglossia.
A deficient or excessive development of the lingual frenulum may also inter-
fere with the movements of the tongue (tongue-tie).
The Palate. — It is a frequent experience to meet with idiots having an ogival
or gothic-arched palate, with the vault much curved and narrow, such as is met
with in animals and similar in section to a gothic window. A special bony ridge
or crest may also occur along the raphe or median line. Lastly, the palatine
vault may be divided in two (cleft palate), a form frequently accompanied by a
double uvula; this stigma may also be one of the causes of defective speech, so
frequently met with in deficient children.
The palate normally presents a diversity of forms: Narrow and high, or broad
and low — forms associated with the general type of head (dolichocephalic, high
palate; brachycephalic, low palate) and especially with the type of face, as we
have already seen in treating of the latter.
Importance of the Study of Morphology. — The study of mor-
phology is of high importance in biology, and even more so in
anthropology. And since the organism is a harmonic whole, in
which the parts and their functions are closely interrelated, any
external anomaly leads us to assume that there are corresponding
anomalies of the internal organs, and hence, functional anomalies;
hence also, in man, psychic anomalies. And conversely, if per-
fection of form has been attained, it leads us to assume that the
entire organism is perfect in its internal organs as well, and in its
complex physical and psychic functional action.
"Assure yourselves and one another," says Lelut in his Cadre
de philosophie et de Vhomme, 'Hhat wherever you see a change in
the body, you will have to search for a corresponding change in the
intelligence. Assure yourselves that you will have to establish
this correlation throughout the entire scale, from the lowest degra-
dations of imbecility to the highest achievement of genius, from
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 339
the clearest and strongest mentality to that which is most pro-
foundly and irremediably disordered."
This correlation between the morphological and the psychic
personality must be sought throughout the entire scale of human
variations, from the genius to the most degraded of imbeciles, from
the strongest and most upright character to that which is most
profoundly perturbed. Hence morphology constitutes a funda-
mental part in the study of human personality.
The principle of this aforesaid correlation was at first exem-
plified in the field of biological science only by abnormal persons,
whose noticeable deviations from the customary limits, both in
the external form of the body and in their psychic manifestations,
gave proof of the phenomenon by exaggerating it. In his classic
work, Traite des degerierescences, Morel asserts that ''the study of
physical man cannot be isolated from the study of moral man."
But in our own day, the theory has been marvellously illuminated
and popularised by Cesare Lombroso, and precisely on its patho-
logical side.
The Lombrosian theories were so rapidly popularised even
before they were fully matured, that it seemed as though the spirit
of the times was ripe to receive them, and had awakened to greet
the new order of thought, after having long slumbered over the
old ; thus they wrought a revolution in the field of law and morality,
and even laid a foundation for the erection of a new pedagogy.
Or to state it better, they again brought to light certain prin-
ciples of truth that had been understood even from the most
ancient times. For the principles proclaimed by Lombroso are
in their general line certainly nothing new nor suddenly derived
from a study of modern civilization; the belief that a physical stigma
represents a moral stigma is exceedingly ancient. In the Bible
we find Solomon saying: we may read the heart in the face.
Homer describes the malignant Thyrsites as having a narrow fore-
head and ferret-like eyes. Caesar feared only those conspirators
who were pale and lean. In the Middle Ages there was a law
which held that in case of doubt as to which of two men was
guilty, the uglier looking one should be hanged. And this same
principle has been established from time immemorial in the
current wisdom of the people, as is demonstrated by proverbs,
which are like laws graven upon stone, and have been gathered
experimentally through the repeated observation of successive
340 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
generations. The proverbs tell us of the physical stigmata of the
wicked: ''Beware of those who bear the mark of God;" ''The
bristles prove the brute." Even in art, degenerative stigmata are
introduced to represent the malevolent. The satyrs are repre-
sented as being of the microcephalic type. The devil was formerly
represented as having goat's feet and a tail; Michelangelo pictures
him with a narrow, receding forehead and pointed ears.
To-day all this is shown to be true. The truth, and sometimes
the intuitive semblances of truth in their relation to outward
phenomena, have the most ancient and diffuse history, because,
since they always existed, they were analogously interpreted by
the intelligence of man. And this is proved by the glorious discov-
eries of positive science, which we may trace back to far distant
foreshado wings; what was in danger of being lost has been born
again with an overpowering fertility. The great theories of Dar-
win regarding evolution were already perceived by Herodotus.
The cycle of indestructible material, proclaimed by Greek phil-
osophy, formed the palpitating heart of the teachings of Giordano
Bruno ; and in our day it formed the fascinating halo of materialism
which illuminated the face of my own teacher, Jakob Moleschott.
Now, the fact that it is not new demonstrates that the Lombro-
sian theory explains phenomena which really exist, since they
came under the observation of man from the earliest times. And
the fact that this theory has become popularised tells us that the
times were ripe to fertilise its renovating principles into practical
action. For where is it that we find the triumphant success of
science? The attainment of its most profound purposes? We
find it wherever science achieves something that is practical and,
useful for all mankind. Because, so long as anything is merely
perceived or looked into, or even deeply studied, it never attains
the apogee of its scientific glory and dignity unless it finds some
means of benefiting and ameliorating humanity.
Lombroso grasps a principle and turns it into a benefit ; and he
sends it broadcast throughout human society, to purify society of
the spirit of personal vengeance.
Garibaldi redeems an oppressed people and saves the oppressors
from the burden of being unjust and tyrannical, through a work of
humanity which has no national boundary; Lombroso, by means
of his new scientific and moral principle, effects a world-wide
redemption of a despised and outcast class, and saves us from
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 341
the iniquitous burden of social vengeance. Two great deeds of
heroism, one of the heart and the other of the brain; two great
works of redemption.
Nevertheless, the principle of a morphological and psychic
relationship was not wholly wanting in examples of practical
application. Not, however, in the case of man; but in regard to
animals it had been utilised for a long time back. For instance,
when a horse cannot be broken by ordinary methods, the veterinary
is called in, and he either discovers some ailment and prescribes a
treatment, or else he studies the conformation of the forehead and
the nasal bones, and if they are abnormal, he declares that the
horse is absolutely untameable. In India the natives are afraid
of the solitary elephant with a narrow forehead, for they know that
he is ferocious.
To-day we know that many children who can be taught nothing
in the public schools are really sick children, in whom anomalies
of character coincide with morphological anomalies; and we are
beginning to replace the old custom of blind and brutal punishment
with a personal interest that leads us to invoke the aid of the
physician and to establish special schools for the mentally deficient.
We may say that this new and reforming principle of pedagogics
and the school, which transforms punishment into medical care and
creates special educational institutions which are at the same time
sanatariums, constitutes the pedagogical application of the Lom-
brosian theories and accomplishes that social task which was
foreordained to emanate from the lofty brain of Lombroso.
In its special application to pedagogics, anthropology aids in
the difficult task by its diagnosis between the normal and the
abnormal child.
But the contribution of anthropology to pedagogics is vastly
wider than this. In this restricted sense of diagnosis, it accom-
plishes, to be sure, a complete reform of the penal sciences, but it is
very far from doing like service to the science of pedagogy.
Scientific pedagogy must concern itself before all and above all,
with normal individuals, in order to protect them in their develop-
ment under the guidance of biological laws, and to aid each pupil
to adapt himself to his social environment, i.e., to direct him to
that form of employment which is best suited to his individual
temperament and tendencies.
In this new task, anthropology not only studies the individual,
342 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
but also gives real and personal contributions to the solution of
many pedagogic problems; among others, that relating to study
after school hours; to rewards and punishments; to physical train-
ing, elocution, etc.; while, by regarding the children as the effects
of biological and social causes, it establishes new and enlightening
standards of morality and justice, and reveals to educators
responsibilities not hitherto conceived. It will suffice to call to
mind the fact that the most studious children, and therefore those
who receive the greatest amount of praise and prizes, show a defi-
ciency in weight, in chest development, and in muscular force;
consequently, a physiological impoverishment the blame for which
must be attributed to an ignorance of hygiene and of anthropology,
such as still persists throughout the whole field of pedagogy; an
ignorance which leads the teacher to encourage by his praises the
impoverishment of the best forces that reveal themselves in the
school (the most intelligent and studious children) in an age when
social industries, multiplied and grown to a giant size, demand
the cooperation of a vigorous race, and to inspire by rewards and
praise a sentiment of superiority and of vanity in an age that is
dominated by the sentiment of universal equality and brotherhood.
The teacher ought, on the contrary, to appoint himself the
defender of the race, and to demand, among his other rights, that
of making such social reforms and such reforms in the school and
in pedagogics as may be necessary to the accomplishment of his
purpose, which is the attainment of the highest degree of civilisa-
tion and of prosperity.
But this subject would lead us to repeat principles on which we
have already insisted ; it will suffice to reassert that the tendency of
anthropology is undoubtedly toward a reform in the school and
the opening of a new era in pedagogy.
The Significance of the So-called Physical Stigmata of Degenera-
tion.— We have studied so many congenital malformations and
pathological deformations that a synthetic statement of their
significance becomes necessary. All the more so, because certain
principles in this connection, already widely circulated among the
general public, have now been rejected by science.
One of these principles refers to the so-called atavism and formed
part of the original Lombrosian doctrines : but blessed is the scientist
who is obliged to correct himself, for that means that his brain is
still fertile.
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 343
Certain morphological anomalies call to mind forms of the in-
ferior races and species, from which, according to the original
Darwinian doctrine of evolution, the human species had descended
in a direct line: hence the term ^'atavistic survival." It will suffice
to mention the receding forehead that calls to mind the Neander-
thal cranium, the long simian arms, the prognathism distinctive
of the inferior human races and of animals, microcephaly which
suggests the crania of anthropoid apes, the mongoloid eyes and
protruding cheek-bones, which recall the yellow races; the
''canine" ear, the wooly or smooth hair, polytrichia, the dark
skin, etc.
Now, all this assemblage of stigmata which went under the
name of atavistic, or absolute retrogression, were held to be in almost
direct relation to degeneration.
Degeneration was supposed to revive in us forms that had been
superseded in the course of evolution, and hence also psychic
states that had also been superseded in the history of the human
race; it is well known that, according to Lombroso, a criminal might
be defined as a savage, a barbarian born among us, yet still having
within him his particular instincts of theft and slaughter.
To-day, since the original interpretation of the Darwinian
theory has been discarded, with it have fallen all those deductions
which medicine and sociology were in too great haste to draw, in
order to make scientific application of them.
In conclusion, the principle remains firmly established of a
correlation between physical and psychic anomalies, which forms
the very essence of the Lombrosian theory. What science wishes
to-day to correct is the atavistic interpretation of stigmata and of
types of degenerates. This takes nothing away from the brilliant
record of Lombroso, who interpreted biological and pathological
phenomena in the selfsame light that shed glory upon Ernest
Haeckel, namely, the Darwinian theory. In the first enthusiasm
of that luminous flame which had wrought a reawakening of
thought throughout all Europe and the civilised world Lombroso
tried to explain according to the letter what could properly be
explained only according to the spirit; that is to say, in accord-
ance with a very broad principle (evolution and the successive
formation of species) which had been divined but not yet
demonstrated.
We ought to have recourse, in interpreting congenital (degen-
344 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
erative) malformations to explanations analogous to those in the
case of acquired deformations, i.e., to pathological explanations.
We find ourselves in all these cases in the presence of patho-
logical phenomena affecting either the species or the individual. On
the strength of analogies shown by certain malformations, the tend-
ency to-day is to consider them as '^arrests of development'' or phe-
nomena of infantilism, such, for example, as macrocephaly, macro-
scelia, nipples or shoulders placed too high, nose tending to
flatness, handle-shaped ears, etc. — a whole series of stigmata
which go by the name of stigmata of relative retrogression.
Meanwhile there are other malformations which merely deviate
from the normal form (Morselli's '' simple deviation"), and they
may deviate either in the way of an excess (hyperplasia), or of a
deficiency (hypoplasia), as, for example, macroglossia, microdontia,
macro- and microphthalmia, etc. ; or they may deviate in a true and
actual sense (paraplasms) , as, for example, in the various asym-
metries (plagiocephaly, plagioprosopy, etc.). This whole group
of above-mentioned stigmata, which seem to have a congenital
origin, or, rather, to be connected in a general way with growth
itself, are called malformations, to distinguish them from deforma-
tions, which evidently have an acquired origin, especially from
pathological causes, such, for instance, as rachitis and forms of
paralysis which arrest the development of a limb, etc., resulting
in functional and morphological asymmetry.
Distribution of Malformations
Malformations (associated, as we have said, with individual
development) may be found in all individuals who, through
various causes (degeneration, disease, denutrition, defects of
adaptment), have undergone any alteration in development. And,
since we have not yet acquired a recognised standard of morality
of generation, and the social environment, including the school,
weighs heavily upon humanity in the plastic state, who is there
without malformation? Complete normality is a desideratum, an
ideal toward which we are progressing, and, we might add, it is the
battle-flag of the teacher.
Accordingly, all men have malformations. It is interesting to
see how they are affected by variations in age and social condition,
and how they are distributed among normal persons and degen-
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS
345
erates, in order to measure the extent of their contribution to the
diagnosis between normal and abnormal man.
On the basis of notes taken from an important work by Rossi,*
Fig. 138. — Percentage of stigmata among the peasantry, the labouring class and the
wealthy class, for children and adults.
I have drawn up the following table, relating to malformations
based upon a comparative study of children and adults, grouped
under three different social conditions — peasants, city labourers
and persons of the wealthy class.
*Rossi, Anthropological Anomalies in their relations to social conditions and to degenera-
tion.
346 PEDAGOGICAI. ANTHROPOLOGY
At the further extremity of the horizontal Hnes will be found
the figures recording the number of times that any one anomaly
occurs in a hundred instances. The other indications are explained
in the figure itself.
From this it is apparent that anomalies of the cranium are much
more rare than those of the face, both in children and in adults.
But in children the anomalies of the cranium (and this includes
the cases of plagiocephaly), are much more frequent than in adults
in all social classes; this shows that in the course of growth the
malformations of the cranium have to a great extent disappeared.
In regard to the face, on the contrary, or, at least, in regard to
certain malformations of the face, the opposite holds good; the
mandible and the zygomata, or, in general, that part of the face
which grows rapidly during the period of puberty, show more
anomalies in the case of adults than in the case of children.
This shows us that a face which is still beautiful in childhood
may acquire malformations in successive periods of growth. In
simpler words, the facts may be expressed as follows: that the
cranium corrects itself and the face spoils itself in the course of
growth.
But in the case of facial asymmetries the same thing occurs that
we have already seen in regard to plagiocephaly ; it is more frequent
in children, hence asymmetries are infan-
tile stigmata.
Some important characteristics are to
b( noted regarding the handle-shaped ear;
dl children have ears proportionally larger
V ll/ / Miw Ih m those of adults and the handle-shaped
K A^ ^^F foim is very frequent in normal children,
regardless of the social condition to which
Fig. 139.— Two small ex- , , , , _, , , „
ampies of Morel's and Wilder- they Deloug. ihis mall ormatiou correcis
muth's ear. ^^^^-^j -^^ ^j^^ course of growth, being far
less frequent in adults of the wealthy class and even among the
labouring classes; but among the peasantry it remains permanently,
almost as though it were a class stigma. Although the mechanical
theories are in disrepute as an interpretation of morphological
phenomena, nevertheless it is worth while to note the singular
frequency of this stigma in peasants, in connection with the habit
of straining the ear to catch the faintest sounds, distant voices,
echoes, etc., for which the senses of peasants are extremely acute.
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS
347
The greater frequency of prominent superciliary arches in
adult peasants and labourers may also be considered in relation to
a defective cerebral development, connected, perhaps, with illit-
eracy, etc.; furthermore, the superciliary arches, together with a
more than normal development of the jaw bones, are stigmata
which usually occur together as determining factors of an inferior
morphological type. The fact also that an excessive development
of the mandible, unlike other malformations, is found with the same
frequency among adults of the peasantry and the labouriug class,
gives to this anomaly the significance of a stigma of the poorer
classes. It should be remembered that children of inferior intel-
ligence have a deeper mandible.
What is quite interesting to know, in addition to the frequency
of stigmata at various ages and in the various social conditions,
is the number of them that may coexist in the same individual. It
was already asserted by Lombroso that a single undoubted mal-
formation was not enough to prove degeneracy, but that it depended
upon the number of stigmata existing simultaneously in the same
individual. Now, confining our attention to normal individuals,
we find, according to Rossi, that the individual number is less
among the well-to-do than among the poor; and that it is less
among the peasantry than among the working class. The working
class in the cities are accordingly in the worst condition of physical
development. Furthermore, children always show a greater num-
ber of individual malformations than adults.
INDIVIDUAL NUMBER OF MORPHOLOGICAL ANOMALIES
Number of
Adults: to every 100 individuals
Children: to every 100 individuals
anomalies
Labourers
Peasants
Well-to-do
Labourers
Peasants
Well-to-do
4
56
31
9
18
36
26
14
68
18
12
1-2
3-4
5-6
18
52
27
16
68
13
44
38
6
From which it appears that only 4 per cent, of the labouring
class are without malformations, while the peasantry and the well-
to-do have from 18 to 14 per cent. Among normal adults there is a
348
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
preponderance of persons having 1-2 stigmata ; while those having
3-4 stigmata are more frequent than those without any at all.
Excepting for a few labourers, there are no normal persons with
5-6 malformations; in fact, this is the number of coexisting mal-
formations that is held to be the test of degeneration, the sign of an
abnormal morphological individuality.
Among children, on the contrary, this individual number of
malformations (5-6) occurs, even in the wealthy classes, so that the
child and the adult cannot be judged by the same standards.
The prevailing number of stigmata among children is 3-4.
Therefore, in the course of growth, many of these malformations
are eliminated. It should be noted that children without malfor-
mations are found only among the prosperous classes and in a
rather small percentage (12 per cent.).
Accordingly, social conditions bring about a difference not only
in robustness, stature, etc., but also in the degree of beauty which
the individual is likely to attain. The social ideal of the establish-
ment of justice for all mankind is consequently at the same time a
moral and cesthetic ideal.
Another parallel that it is interesting to draw is that between
the most unfortunate social class (the working class) and the degen-
erates. We have seen that the working class has the highest in-
dividual number of stigmata. Rossi compares them with two
other categories of persons who are strongly suspected of being
degenerates, or who at least must include a notable proportion of
degenerates among their number, namely, beggars, as regards the
adults, and orphans, as regards the children.
These classes differ in the general frequency of malformations;
in fact, the chronic anomalies, taken collectively, give 17 per cent,
for the labouring class and 25 per cent, for beggars. But the dif-
ference becomes strikingly apparent when we come to consider
the individual number of stigmata.
Anomalies
Labourers (per cent.)
Beggars (per cent.)
3-4
5-6
31
9
41
21.3
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS
349
And still greater is the difference between the children of
labourers and the orphan children.
FREQUENCY OF ANOMALIES IN CHILDREN (PERCENTAGE)
Anomalies
Labouring class,
pauperism
Orphans, degenera-
tion
Cranial anomalies in general
Forehead very low
Alveolar prognathism
Enlarged mandible
32
16
4
20
16
16
28
24
39
20.8
10
25
Plagiocephaly
Prominent cheek-bones
. 45.8
41.6
Facial asymmetry
35.4
Anomalies of teeth
37.5
We see therefore that degeneration exerts a most notable influ-
ence upon morphological anomalies; it is far more serious than
external (social) conditions.
Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, studying the distribution of malformations
and deformations among poor children who were inmates of a
large New York orphan asylum (634 males and 274 females) dis-
tinguishes the morphological anomalies into three categories:
Those that are congenital (degeneration) ; those acquired through
pathological causes (diseases), and those acquired through the
circumstances of social adaptment, or, as the author expresses it,
through habit. And to these he adds still another category of
stigmata the causes of which remain uncertain.
If we examine the following extremely interesting table, we
see at once that in the case of children the anomalies of form are
associated with degeneration and with disease, because the anomalies
acquired individually by the child as the result of personal habits
are comparatively so few in number as to be quite negligible, and
all of them are exclusively in reference to the trunk; in other words,
a result of the position assumed on school benches.
As between degeneration and disease, the proportion of anoma-
lies caused by the former is considerably more than double. Hence,
the great majority of malformations have their origin, so to speak,
outside of the individual, the responsibility resting on the parents.
23
350
PEDAGOGICAI. ANTHROPOLOGY
Anomalies
Organs in
regard to
Males
Females
which the
anomalies
occur
'3
bC
HI
o
O
13
o
Acquired
through
habit
CO -u
.51
;3
1
bC
a
o
O
"So
'o
-►^
03
Ph
Acquired
through
habit
3
Head
74
15
1
17
1
11
26
10
Periosteum . . .
Hair
26
15
51
2
25
68
1
1
10
15
Forehead
Face
8
17
1
4
Eyes
6
Ears
221
67
51
88
14
5
60
275
88
19
41
30
6
3
39
Teeth
Gums
Palate
Uvula
20
7
59
37
104
81
112
2
11
1
4
3
40
27
23
44
. . 54
Body (bust) . .
Limbs
Genital organs
54
14
1
72
18
4
9
1
3
Totals
Percentage .
873
40
324
10
72
4
390
18
256
45
120
21
9
1
173
30
The greatest number of anomalies due to degeneration occur in
connection with the ear, and the genital organs, and next in order
come those of the palate, the teeth and the limbs. The maximum
number of anomahes due to pathological causes are in connection
with the head, and principally with the face; after that, with the
palate, and then with the bust.
The anomalies most difficult to diagnose seem to be those relat-
ing to the gums, the palate and the uvula, in regard to which it is
not easy to determine whether they are due to degeneration or to
disease.
In order that we may have a clear understanding regarding malformations,
it is well to insist upon still another point: Malformation does not signify de-
viation from a type of ideal beauty, but from normality.
Now, there are normal forms which are very far from beautiful and which
are associated with race. For instance, prognathism, ultra-dolichocephaly, a
certain degree of flat-foot, prominent cheek-bones, the Mongolian eye, etc.,
are all of them characteristics which are regarded by us as the opposite of
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 351
beautiful, but they are normal in certain races (therefore practical experience
is indispensable). These principles which, when thus announced, are perfectly
clear, must be extended far enough to include that sum total of individuals
whom we are in the habit of calling our race. That we are hybrids, still show-
ing more or less trace of the racial stocks which originally concurred in our
formation, is well known, but not clearly enough. The 'primitive races are more
or less evident in different centres of population; for instance, in the large and
promiscuous cities, hybridism tends more or less completely, to mask the types
of race, producing individual uniformity through an intermixture of character-
istics that renders all the people very much alike (civilised races). These are
the individuals who form the majority of the population, and whom we are in
the habit of regarding as being normally formed. But when we get away from
the big centres it may happen, and indeed does happen, that the primitive
racial forms or types become more apparent; thus, for example, I found in
Latium almost pure racial types at Castelli Romani (dolichocephalics, brunette
type, short stature), and at Orte (brachycephalics, blond type, tall stature);
the nuclei of population at Castelli were especially pure. Now, as a result of
a highly particularised series of observations I found normal forms that were not
beautiful in each of these races; thus, for example, in the brunette race, while
the face is extremely beautiful and delicate, the hands are coarse, the feet
show a tendency toward flat-foot, the breasts are pear-shaped, pendent and
abundantly hairy; in the blond type, on the contrary, while the facial lineaments
are coarse and quite imperfect, the hands, feet and breasts are marvellously
beautiful.
Accordingly, the marks of beauty are distributed in nature among the different
races; there is no race in existence that is wholly beautiful, just as there is no indi-
vidual in existence who is perfect in all his parts.
Furthermore, since there is for every separate characteristic a long series
of individual variations, both above and below (see chapters on Biometry and
Statistical Methodology), it is very easy to assume that we are on the track of a
malformation, when it is really a matter of racial characteristic. And this is
all the more likely to constitute a source of error, because the school of Lombroso
promulgated the morphological doctrine that a degenerate sometimes shows an
exaggeration of ethnical characteristics.
Thus, for example, we meet with ultra-brachycephalics and ultra-dolicho-
cephalics among the criminal classes.
Let us suppose that a teacher who has made a study of anthropology receives
an appointment in one or another of the Castelli Romani. Among the normal
individuals studied by me, certain ones showed a cephalic index of 70. Now, a
teacher accustomed to examine the crania of city children and to find that the
limits range more or less closely around mesaticephaly, would be led to assume
that he was in the presence of an abnormal individual.
Now, in the places where morphological characteristics of race are most per-
sistent, the social forms are primitive, and so also are the sentiments, the customs
and the ethical level, because purity of race means an absence of hybridism, i.e., an
absence of intimate communication with human society evolving in the flood-tide
of civilisation. Consequently, in addition to the above-mentioned characteris-
352 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
tic (ultra-dolichocephaly), the individual woiild probably show an intellectual
inferiority, an inferiority of the ethical sense, etc., and this would serve to
strengthen the teacher's first impression. But the normal limits of growth for a
given age, the absence of real and actual malformations (for instance, in this case
there is probability of facial beauty, etc.), would cause him very quickly to correct
his first judgment with a more thoughtful diagnosis. Therefore a study of local
ethnical characteristics would be very useful as a basis for pedagogical anthro-
pology, as I have tried to show in one of my works (Importanza della etnologia
regionale neU'antropologia pedagogica, "The importance of regional ethnology in
pedagogical anthropology").
And this also holds good for the interpretation of true malformations.
We have hitherto been guided in our observation of so-called stigmata by
analytical criteria, that is, we have been content with determining the single or
manifold malformations in the individual without troubling ourselves to deter-
mine their morphological genesis or their genesis of combination.
For example, the ogival palate is a well-known anomaly of form, but in all
probability it will occur in an individual whose family has the high and narrow
palate that is met with, for instance, as the normal type among the dolicho-
cephalics of Latium; the same may be said in regard to flat-foot, etc. Multi-
fold diastemata and macrodontia will, on the contrary, be more easily met with in
families whose palate is wide and low (brachycephalics). And just as certain
normal forms or characteristics are found in combination in a single individual
(for instance, brachycephaly, fair hair, tall stature, etc.), so it is also in the case
of stigmata, which will be found occurring together in one individual, not hy
chance, but according to the laws of morphological combination, and probably
as an exaggeration of (unlovely) characteristics which belong, as normal forms, to
the family or race.
There are already a number of authorities on neuropathology, De Sanctis
among others, who have noted that there is an ugly family type which sometimes
reproduces itself in a sickly member of the family, in such a way as to exaggerate
pathologically the unlovely but normal characteristics of the other members, and
furthermore, that an exaggeration of unlovely characteristics may increase
from generation to generation, accompanied by a disintegration of the psychic
personality.
Consequently, a knowledge of the morphological characteristics which in all
probability belong to the races from which the subjects to be examined are de-
rived, has a number of important aspects. The literature of anthropology is
certainly not rich in racial studies, consequently, I feel that it will not be un-
profitable to summarise in the following table the characteristics that distin-
guish the two racial types encountered by me among the female population of
Latium.
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS
353
TABLE OF THE DIFFERENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TWO
RACIAL TYPES
Brunette Dolichocephalics and Blond Brachycephalics
Organs to which
the characteristics
refer
Dolichocephalic, brunette
type of low stature
Brachycephalic, blond type
of tall stature
Visage
Elongated ellipsoidal or ovoi-
dal; fine, delicate lineaments,
rounded curves, softly
modeled.
Rounded, broad; coarse fea-
tures; contour frequently an-
gular, especially around the
cheek-bones.
Eyes
Large, usually almond-shaped;
pigmentation brown, shading
from black to chestnut.
Not so large, the form fre-
quently tending to the oblique ;
the contours of the inner
angle of the eye less clear-
cut, owing to the plica epi-
cantica. Pigmentation light
gray, blue.
Nose
Very leptorrhine; nostrils deli-
cate and mobile.
Leptorrhine, tending toward
mesorrhine; sometimes the
nose is fleshy, nostrils thick
and slightly movable only.
Mouth
Labial aperture small, lips
finely modeled and very red.
Labial aperture wide, lips fre-
quently fleshy, and not well
modeled.
Teeth
Small, with curved surface,
gleaming, almost as wide as
long, not greatly dissimilar,
"like equal pearls."
Teeth large and flat, enamel
dull; difference between in-
cisors, canines, etc., sharply
marked.
Palate
Very high and narrow (ogival).
Flat and wide
Profile
Proopic
Platyopic
Ear
Finely modeled, small, delicate.
Often irregular, large, thick.
Frontal line of roots
of hair.
Very distinct; forehead small.
Indistinct ; forehead protu-
berant.
Neck
Long and slender, flexible
Short, more or less stocky
Thorax
Flattened in antero-posterior.
direction.
Projecting forward
354
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
TABLE OF THE DIFFERENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TWO
RACIAL TYFES.— Continued
Brunette Dolichocephalics and Blond Brachycephalics
Organs to which
the characteristics
refer
Dolichocephalic, brunette
type of low stature
Brachycephalic, blond type
of tall stature
Breasts
Position low, form tending to
pear-shape; nipples slightly
raised, auerole broad; often
hairy between the breasts.
Position high, breasts round;
nipple prominent, aureole
email and rose-colored; always
hairless.
Pelvis and abdo-
men.
High and narrow; the abdo-
men becomes prominent to-
ward the thirtieth year, even
in unmarried women.
Low and broad; the abdomen
does not become prominent.
Lumbar curve
Slightly pronounced; position
of buttocks low.
Quite pronounced; position of
buttocks high.
Limbs
Distal port on sb'ghtly shorter
(as compared with the prox-
imal) ; limbs slender.
Distal portion slightly longer
(as compared with the prox-
imal); limbs well endowed
with muscles.
Hands
Coarse; palm long and narrow;
fingers short.
Delicate, palm broad, fingers
long.
Fingers
Short, thick, with flattened ex-
tremities; nails flat, not very
pink nor very transparent.
Long, tapering; nails with deep
placed quicks, rosy and shin-
ing.
Palmar and digital
papillse
Coarse; frequently with geo-
metric figures on the finger
tips; paUid.
Very fine, rosy, and with open
designs.
Feet
Big; form tending to flatness. . .
Small, nuich arched
Body as a whole ....
Slender; slight muscularity.
Tendency toward stoutness
in old age with deformation
of the body.
Beautiful; strong muscles. No
tendency toward too much
flesh. Furthermore, the body
preserves its contours.
Complexion
Brunette and dark
White
Color of hair
Black to chestnut
Blond
Form of hair
Short, always wavy or curly,
fine with ellipsoidal section.
Long, straight, section slightly
eUiptical, and sometimes al-
most round.
Hair on body
Growth of hair sometimes
found on thorax and on the
legs.
The surface of the body is hair-
less.
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 355
The Origin of Malformations during Development. — Malfor-
mations are a morphological index, and we have already shown
that there is a relation between the physical and the psychical
personality. A defective physical development tells us that the
psychic personality must also have its defects (especially in regard
to the intelligence).
Not only degenerates, but even we normal beings, in the con-
flict of social life, and because of our congenital weaknesses, have
felt that we were losing, or that we were failing to acquire the rich
possibilities latent in our consciousness, and that vainly formed the
height of our ambition. And when this occurred, the body also
lost something of the beauty which it might have attained, or
rather, it lacked the power to develop it. In the words of Rous-
seau, ''Our intellectual gifts, our vices, our virtues, and conse-
quently our characters, are all dependent upon our organism."
Nevertheless, this interrelation must be understood in a very
wide sense, and is modified according to the period of embryonal
or extrauterine life at which a lesion or a radical disturbance in
development chances to occur. In a treatise entitled The Problems
of Degeneration, in which the most modern ideas regarding degen-
eration are summed up, and new standards of social morality
advocated, Brugia gives a most graphic diagram, which I take the
liberty of reproducing,
ABC D
• o O O
From the little black point to the big circle are represented
the different stages of embryonal and foetal development, until
we reach the child. In A we have the fertilized ovum. Here
it may be said that the new individual does not yet exist; we are
at a transition point between two adults (the parents) and a new
organism, which is about to develop. Now comes the embryo,
which may be called the new individual in a potential state; then
the foetus, in which the human form is at last attained ; and lastly
the child, which will proceed onward toward the physical and
356 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
spiritual conquests of human life. But so long as an individual
has not completely developed, deviations may occur in his develop-
ment; but these will be just so much the graver, in proportion
as the individual is in a more plastic state.
We should reserve the term degeneration, real and actual, to
that which presupposes an alteration at A, i.e., at the time of
conception. An alteration all the graver if it antedates A, that
is to say, if it preexisted in the ovum and in the fertilizing spermato-
zoon, i.e., in the parents. In this case, there is no use in talking
of a direct educative and prophylactic intervention on behalf of
the individual resulting from this conception; the intervention
must be directed toward all adult individuals who have attained
the power of procreation. And in this consists the greatest
moral problem of our times — sexual education and the sentiment
of responsibility toward the species. All mankind ought to feel
the responsibility toward the posterity which they are preparing
to procreate and they ought to lead a life that is hygienic, sober,
virtuous, and serene, such as is calculated to preserve intact the
treasures of the immortality of the species. There exist whole
families of degenerates, whose offspring are precondemned to
swell the ranks of moral monsters. These individuals, who
result from a wrongful conception, carry within them malformations
of the kind known as degenerative, and together with them
alterations of the moral sense that are characteristic of degen-
erates , that is to say, they will be unbalanced (through inheritance)
in their entire personality.
Something similar will happen if such a lesion befalls the
embryo, i.e., while the individual is still in the potential state
(lacking human form). In the foetus, on the contrary, i.e., the
individual who has attained the human form but is still in the
course of intrauterine development, any possible lesion, and more
especially those due to pathological causes, while they cannot
alter the entire personality, may injure that which is already
formed, and in so violent a manner as to produce a physical
monster, whose deformities may even be incompatible with hfe
{e.g., cleft spine or palate, hydrocephaly. Little's disease, which
is a form of paralysis of foetal origin, and all the teratological
{i.e., monstrous) alterations). That is to say, in going from
A to C we pass from malformations to deformations; from simple
physical alterations of an aesthetic nature to physical monstrosities
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 357
sometimes incompatible with life itself; while in regard to the
psychic life, we find that the remoter lesions (in A) result for the
most part in anomalies of the moral sense, while those occurring
later (B, C) result for the most part in anomalies of the intellect.
So that at one extreme we may have moral monsters, with mal-
formations whose significance can be revealed only through
observation guided by science and at the other extreme, physical
monsters, whose moral sense is altered only slightly or not at all.
Those who suffer injury at A may be intelligent, and employ
their intelligence to the malevolent ends inspired by moral madness;
those who suffer injury at C or D are harmless monsters, often
idiots, or even foredoomed to die. The peril to society steadily
diminishes from A to C, while the peril to the individual steadily
augments.
Over all these periods so full of peril to human development
and so highly important for the future of the species, we may
place one single word:
Woman. — Throughout the period that is most decisive for its
future, humanity is wholly dependent upon woman. Upon her
rests not only the responsibility of preserving the integrity of the
germ, but also that of the embryonal and foetal development of
man.
The respect and protection of woman and of maternity should
be raised to the position of an inalienable social duty and should
become one of the principles of human morality.
To-day we are altogether lacking in a sense of moral obligation
toward the species, and hence lacking in a moral sense such as
would lead to respect for woman and maternity — so much so,
indeed, that we have invented a form of modesty which consists in
concealing maternity, in not speaking of maternity! And yet at
the same time there are sins against the species that go unpun-
ished, and offenses to the dignity of woman that are tolerated and
protected by law!
But even after the child is born and has reached the period of
lactation, we should still write across it the words Woman and
Mother. The education and the responsibility of woman and of
society must be modified, if we are to assure the triumph of the
species. And the teachers who receive the child into the school,
after its transit through society (in the form of its parents' germs)
and through the mother, cannot fail to be interested in raising
358 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the social standards of education and morality. Like a priesthood
of the new humanity, they should feel it their duty to be practi-
tioners of all those virtues which assure the survival of the human
species.
Moral and Pedagogic Problems within the School. — Children
when they first come to school have a personality already out-
lined. From the unmoral, the sickly, the intellectually defective
to the robust and healthy children, the intelligent, and those
in whom are hidden the glorious germs of genius; from those
who sigh over the discomforts of wretchedness and poverty to
those who thoughtlessly enjoy the luxuries of life; from the lonely
hearted orphan to the child pampered by the jealous love of
mother and grandmother: — they all meet together in the same
school.
It is quite certain that neither the spark of genius nor the black-
ness of crime originated in the school or in the pedagogic method!
More than that, it is exceedingly probable that the extreme oppo-
site types passed unnoticed, or nearly so, in that environment whose
duty it is to prepare the new generations for social adaptation.
From this degree of blindness and unconsciousness the school will
certainly be rescued by means of the scientific trend which
pedagogy is to-day acquiring through the study of the pupil. That
the teacher must assume the new task of repairing what is wrong
with the child, through the aid of the physician, and of protecting
the normal child from the dangers of enfeeblement and deforma-
tion that constantly overhang him, thus laying the foundations
for a splendid human race, free to attain its foreordained develop-
ment— all this we have already pointed out, and space does not
permit us to expand the argument further.
But, in conclusion, there is one more point over which I wish
to pause. If the Lombrosian theory rests upon a basis of truth,
what attitude should we pedagogists take on the question of moral
education? We are impotent in the face of the fact of the interre-
lation between physical and moral deformity. Is it then no longer
a sin to do evil and no longer a merit to do good? No. But we
have only to alter the interpretation of the facts, and the result is a
high moral progress pointing a new path in pedagogy. There are,
for example, certain individuals who feel themselves irresistibly
attracted toward evil, who become inebriated with blood; there
are others, on the contrary, who faint at the mere sight of blood
THE SKIN AND THE PIGMENTS 359
and have a horror of evil. There are some who feel themselves
naturally impelled to do good, and they do it in order to satisfy a
personal desire (many philanthropists) thus deriving that pleasure
which springs from the satisfaction of any natural need. In our
eyes, all these individuals who act instinctively, though in opposite
ways, deserve neither praise nor blame; they were born that way;
one of them is physiologically a proletarian, the other is a capitalist
of normal human ability. It is a question of birth. When the
educator praised the one and punished the other, he was sanction-
ing the necessary effects of causes that were unknown to him :
"But still, whence cometh the intelligence
Of the first notions man is ignorant,
And the affection of the first allurements
Which are in you as instinct in the bee
To make its honey; and this first desire
Merit of praise or blame containeth not."
(Dante, Longfellow's Translation.)
The instinctive malefactor is not to blame, the blame should
rest rather upon his parents who gave him a bad heredity; but
these parents were in their turn victims of the social causes of degen-
eration. The same thing may be said if a pathological cause comes
up for consideration in relation, for instance, to certain anomalies
of character.
Analogously, he who is born good and instinctively does good
deeds, deriving pleasure from them, deserves no praise. There is
no vainer sight than is afforded by a person of this sort, living com-
placently in the contemplation of himself, praised by everyone, and
to all practical intent, held up as a contrast to the evil actions of
the degenerate and the diseased who act from instinct no more nor
less than he does himself. The man who is born physiologically
a capitalist assumes high moral obligations; he ought to discipline
his nature as a normal man in order to make it serve the general
good. And this is not to be accomplished through an instinct
to do good, which acts at haphazard, but through the deliberate
will to do good, even if the requisite actions bring no immediate
satisfaction, but even involve a sacrifice. Society will be amelio-
rated and rendered moral through the harmonious efforts of good
men, trained for the social welfare. Man will become good only
when his goodness costs him a voluntary effort.
Hence it will be necessary not to limit ourselves, as has been
360 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
done in the past, to admiring the man who is born good, but to
educate him so as to render him thoughtful, strong and useful;
not to condemn the sinner, but to redeem him through education
and through a sense of fellowship in the common fault, which is
the scientific form of pardon. The degenerate, who succeeds in
conquering his sinful instinct and in ceasing to do harm, the normal
man who renders himself morally sublime by dedicating his splen-
did physiological inheritance to the collective good, will be
equally meritorious. But what a moral abyss gapes open to divide
them! Because it is a short stride at best that the physiological
proletariat can take, while for the soul of the normal man an un-
trammelled pathway lies open toward perfection.
Accordingly the new task of the teacher of the future is a
multifold one. He is the artificer of human beauty, the new
modeler of created things, just as the sublime chisel of Greek art
was the modeler of marbles. And he prepares for greater utili-
sation the physiological and intellectual forces of the new man,
like a Greek deity scattering broadcast his prolific riches.
But above all he prepares the souls for the sublime sentiment
which awaits the humanity of the future, glorying in the attain-
ment of peace, and then indeed he becomes almost a redeemer of
mankind.
CHAPTER VII
TECHNICAL PART
In a book the technical part can serve only to point the way,
because the acquirement of technique demands practical experience.
The technique of anthropology consists, essentially, of two
principal branches: 1. the gathering of anthropological data by
means of measurements (anthropometry) and by inspection (an-
throposcopy) ; 2. the formulation of laws based on these anthro-
pological data.
Anthropometry requires a knowledge: a. of anthropometric
instruments; b. of the anatomical points of contact to which the
instruments must be applied.
For beginners it will be found helpful to mark upon the subject
the anthropometric points of contact by means of a dermographic
pencil.
In anthropology so large a number of measurements are taken,
both from life and from skeletons, that a minute description of them
all would demand a separate treatise. We shall limit ourselves
to indicating such measurements as it has been found of practical
utility to take in school.
The Form
In the theoretic part of this work we emphasized the word
form, representing the body as a whole and embodying the con-
ception of relationship between the proportions of the body,
tending to determine the morphological individuality.
From the normal point of view the two individualities which
are most interesting and worthy of comparison are those of the
new-horn child and the adult (see Fig. 140 and its eloquent testi-
mony). In these two individualities the greatest possible promi-
nence is given to those differences of proportion between bust
and limb on which all the various measurements of the form de-
pend: the standing and sitting stature; the total spread of the arms;
the weight; the circumference of the thorax (see ''Theoretic Lessons
on the Form"). With the theory recalled to mind we may now
361
362
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
pass on to the practical procedure for ohtaining these various
measures. Among them the most important is the stature, whose
cycle is represented in Fig. 14L The theoretic section of this
book devotes special attention to the stature in a separate chapter
following that on the Form. It is well to have in mind the gen-
eral principals before taking up the technique of the separate
measurements.
Stature. — The stature is the distance intervening between the
plane on which the individual stands in an erect position and the
top of his head.
Technical Procedure. — It is necessary to know how to place
the subject in an erect position, heels together and toes turned
Fig. 140. — New-born child and adult man reduced to the same height and preserving
their relative bodily proportions. The head of the new-born child is twice the height of
that of the adult and extends downward to the level of the latters's nipples. The pubes
of the adult correspond to the navel of the new-born child; and the pubes of the child to
the middle of the adult's thigh.
out, shoulders square, arms pendent, head orientated, i.e., occip-
ital point touching the wall, gaze horizontal).
In measuring the individual stature it is customary to use an
instrument called an anthropometer (Fig. 142).
It consists of a horizontal board on which the subject stands,
TECHNICAL PART
363
a stationary vertical rod marked with the metric scale against
which the subject rests his back, and another small movable rod
perpendicular to the first and projecting forward from it; this is
2
to
i
6
tt
Z
fO
8
6
♦
i
50
8
6
>f
2
^0
8
6
f
Z
30
8
9
k
z
20
8
6
^
Z
10
9
6
t-
Z
m
8
6
ih
Z
90
I
8
<•
2
10
8
6
«
2
70
8
8
9
SO
tS JO 40 50 60 70 SO
FiG. 141. — Diagram representing the cycle of stature of man (unbroken line) and woman
(dotted line), from birth to the end of life.
lowered until it is tangent to the apex of the cranium; and the
scale upon the upright rod gives the number corresponding to
the stature.
Certain anthropologists are now trying to perfect the anthro-
364
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
pometer (Mosso's school). And, indeed, how is it possible to
bring the entire person posteriorly in contact with the vertical
rod of the anthropometer? The rod is straight while the body
follows the curves of the vertebral column and the gluteus muscles.
Accordingly, Professor Monti, an assistant to Professor Mosso,
has proposed a new anthropometer which, in place of the single
rod at the back, has a pair of rods, so that the more prominent
portions of the body may occupy the
intermediate space; a similiar anthropom-
eter was already in use for measuring
kyphotics.
At the present day there are exceedingly
complicated and accurate anthropometers
which comprise, in addition, instruments for
obtaining various other measurements, such
as the thoracic and cephalic perimeters, etc.
But these are very costly and not practical
for use in schools. Their use is confined
Fig. 142. — Anthropometer.
Fig. 143. — A square.
chiefly to medical clinics, as, for example, Viola's anthropometer,
which is used in Professor De Giovanni's clinic.
Broca recommends to travelers an anthropometer consist-
ing of a graduated rod with a movable index attached. By means
of this a series of distances from the ground can be measured,
and consequently various partial heights of the body, from the
ground to the top of the head, from the ground to the chin, to
the pubis, to the knee, etc., but grave errors may be committed
and its use is not advisable so long as we have within reach a
universal anthropometer.
The universal anthropometer consists essentially of two planes
TECHNICAL PART 365
perpendicular to each other; now we may say that in every room,
in the meeting of two planes, the floor and the wall, we have an
anthropometer. There is no reason why we should not make
use of this simple means! Placing the child in an erect position
with the body touching the wall throughout its whole length, we
place a perfectly horizontal rod tangent to the top of the head,
we make a mark upon the wall, and then with a millimetric
measure we take the distance between the mark and the floor,
and this gives us the stature. Two difficulties are met with,
first, that of holding the rod horizontally on the top of the head,
and secondly, that of measuring the distance in a perfectly verti-
cal line. In the first difficulty a carpenter's square may help us
or, if there is a school of manual training within convenient
reach it is easy to have a little instrument constructed (Fig. 143)
consisting of two planes perpendicular to each other, one of which
should be held tangent to the head while the other is pressed
against the wall (carpenter's square).
As regards the vertical measurement, a plumb line may be
used, but it is more practical to trace upon the wall that we mean
to use for such measurements, a design consisting of a vertical
line on which a mark may be made at the height of one metre
from the floor in order to simplify the task of measuring.
It is better if the millimetric tape is made of metal, so that
it will not vary in length; but even a tailor's measure of waxed
tape may answer the purpose if it is new and has been tested
with a metallic measure or an accurate metre rule.
The height of the stature is taken without the shoes, and it is
necessary to state at what hour of the day the measurement is
made, because in the morning we are taller (though by only a
few millimetres) than we are in the evening. The stature may
also be taken in a recumbent position (length of body), and in
this case will be longer by about one centimetre.
Consequently in giving the measure of stature it is necessary
to state in what position the subject was placed, by what method
the measurement was taken (whether with an anthropometer or
not) and at what hour of the day the measurement was made.
It is not necessary to say that the subject was required to
remove his shoes, since that is taken for granted.
Sitting Stature. — Besides the stature taken on foot, the sitting
stature (height of bust) is also taken by an analogous process.
24
366
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
It is the distance between the plane on which the individual is
seated and the vertex of his head. The subject should be seated
upon a wooden bench having a horizontal plane and should place
his back in contact with the wall; just as in the case of the pre-
ceding measure the shoes had to be removed, in the present case
the clothing is discarded, leaving only the light underwear (Fig.
144). With the aid of the square we find the point correspond-
ing to the vertex of the head and with the millimetric measure
we obtain the distance
^on the wall between this
point and the plane of
the bench.
Index of Stature. — We
know that these two
measures are extremely
important for ascertain-
ing the type of stature,
i.e., macroscelia and
hrachyscelia, determined
by the proportion be-
tween the sitting stature
and the total stature re-
duced to a scale of 100,
that is, the relation of the bust to the total height of the individual.
Let us remember in this connection that the bust should be a 52d
or 53d part of the total stature and that below 52 down to 50, it
is macroscelous, and that above 53, up to 55, it is brachyscelous.
Having obtained the two numbers corresponding to the two
statures, e.g., stature 1.60 m., bust 0.85 m., how are we to find
out the percentual relation between the two measurements?
First, we form an equation: 85: 160 = x : 100.
Fig. 144. — (1) Sitting stature. (2) Standing stature.
(Method of taking measurements with the
Anthropometer.)
from which we obtain x =
100X85
160
= 53
This stature is of the normal average type, that is, it is mesa-
tiscelous; but the mesatiscelia is high (in comparison with the
other measurement that is also mesatiscelous, namely, 52), in
other words, it is hrachy-mesatiscelous.
Note the formula which gives us the value of x. If we substi-
tute general symbols in place of the concrete values, we may say
TECHNICAL PART
367
that X is equal to one hundred times the lesser measurement (w)
divided by the greater measurement {M). If, in place of x, we
substitute I, signifying index, we may draw up the following
general formula of indices :
lOOXm
^~ M
This formula of relations between measurements is of wide
application in anthropology and is fundamental. Indices of
every measurement are sought for. The one given above is the
index of stature, and it determines the type of stature. All the
other indices are calculated by similiar procedure.
Total Spread of the Arms. — This
measurement is taken quite simply.
The subject must place himself with
his arms outstretched in a horizon-
tal direction and on a level with his
shoulders. The measurement cor-
responds to the distance interven-
ing in a horizontal line from the tip
of one middle finger to the other
(Fig. 145). A specially constructed
anthropometer may be used for this
measurement. It has a long hori-
zontal rod adjustable perpendicu-
larly, so that it may be placed on a
level with the shoulders of the sub-
ject to be measured. This rod forms a cross with the other
vertical rod with which the subject should be in contact. The
arms are then extended along the cross rod which is marked
with a millimetric scale. But this greatly complicates the anthro-
pometer, and hardly any anthropometer possesses this attachment.
This measure may be successfully taken with the very simple aid
of the wall. The only difficulty offered is that of securing a per-
fectly horizontal position for the arms. For this purpose horizontal
lines, which either happen by chance to be upon the wall or which
may be drawn on purpose, will be of assistance. In order to have
guiding lines suited to different statures, several horizontal lines
may be drawn intersecting the vertical line already traced for
guidance of the millimetric tape measure used in taking the stature.
Fig.
145. — Method of measuring the
total spread of arms.
368 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Thoracic Perimeter. — The thoracic perimeter is taken on the
nude thorax, in an erect position and with the arms hanging
beside the bust, by applying the miUimetric measure in such a
way that its upper margin passes just below the nipples. The tape
measure should completely encircle the thorax in a horizontal
plane passing through the mammary papillae. Since the thorax
is in constant motion, we must observe the oscillations of the tape
measure and obtain the average; or else we may take the measure-
ments during the state of expiration (repose). In giving the figure
it is necessary to specify the procedure followed.
Vital Index. Index of Life. — Index of life is the name given to the
proportion between the stature and the thoracic perimeter. It
ought to be equal to bQ,i. e., Tp = ~
looXTp
Vi = ^1 = 50 (normal).
Weight. — The weight of an individual is taken by means of
ordinary scales. In order to obtain the weight of the nude person,
the clothing may be weighed separately and their weight sub-
tracted from the total weight of the clothed person. The weight
should be taken before eating, in order that unassimilated alimen-
tary substances may not alter the real weight of the subject. If
this method cannot be rigorously followed out, it should be speci-
fied how much clothing the subject retained, whether he had
eaten, etc.
Ponderal Index. — Stature and weight are the most synthetic
and comprehensive measurements of the form. But we need a
clear proportion between these two measures to tell us whether an
individual weighs more or less relatively to his stature. It may
happen, for instance, that a stout person of short stature actually
weighs less than another person who is tall and thin; but relatively
to his stature he may on the contrary be heavier, that is, he may
have a higher ponderal index. A robust and plump child will
weigh in an absolute sense less than an adult who is extremely
thin and emaciated; but relatively to the mass of his body he
weighs more. Now this relative weight or index of weight
(ponderal index) gives u^ precisely this idea of embonpoint, of the
more or less flourishing state of nutrition in which an individual
happens to be. But linear measurements such as the stature
TECHNICAL PART 369
cannot be compared with volumetric measurements, such as the
weight. Hence it is necessary to reduce the volumetric measure —
the weight — to a linear measure, which is done by extracting the
cube root from the number representing the weight. Then the
root of the weight may be compared to the stature reduced to a
scale of 100. By forming a general proportion, in which W repre-
sents the weight of a given individual, and S the corresponding
figure of his stature, we obtain:
S : ^W :: 100 : x (where x represents the ponderal index)
hence ri = ^;
The application of this formula would necessitate some rather
complicated calculations, which it would be inconvenient to have
to repeat for a large number of subjects.
But there are tables of calculations already compiled, which are
due to Livi, and which are given, together with other tables, in
Livi's own work. Anthropometry (Hoepli). These are numerical
tables, to be read in the same manner as tables of logarithms.
At the top, in a horizontal direction, the stature is given in centi-
metres, while in the vertical column the weight is given in kilo-
grams. The calculation of all the ponderal indices has been
worked out, in relation to every possible stature and weight. If
we look up the ponderal index corresponding to the figures already
cited in illustration (see p. 182), we find that for the adult the
P^ = 23.6, and for the child the P^ = 27.4; i.e., considered relatively
the child weighs more in the given case. This is the true and ac-
curate technical method of finding the relative proportion between
weight and stature.
Accordingly, we have now learned to take all the measurements
relative to the form, to calculate from them the more important
indices (or proportions), such as the index of stature, the index
of life, and the ponderal index. We have also learned to under-
stand and to consult the tables of anthropological calculations.
THE CRANIUM
The Head and Cranium. — Let us bear in mind the fact that the
word head is used in speaking of a living person, and cranium, of a
skeleton.
370 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The science which makes a study of the cranium is called
craniology. The cranium and the head may be studied either by
observing the external form — cranioscopy or cephaloscopy; or else
by taking measurements — craniometry or cephalometry. Crani-
ology makes use equally of cranioscopy and of craniometry: in fact,
if cranioscopy alone were used, certain anomalies might escape
attention, because we can recognise them only by measuring the
head; and conversely, if we confined ourselves to craniometric
researches, we might miss certain anomalies of form, which we
become aware of only by attentively observing the cranium.
Frequently craniometry serves to verify cranioscopy. For ex-
ample, a cranium may appear to the eye too large or too small,
but certainly if we measure the cranial circumference with a tape-
measure we shall have an accurate decision of a case which may well
be a simple optical illusion. Indeed, we all know how easy it is
to give an erroneous judgment, relying only on our senses; for the
personal equation enters very largely into judgments of this sort.
For instance, a person of low stature easily judges that other men
are tall, and vice versa. To the eye of the Italian or the Frenchman,
the hair of young English girls is a pale blond; to the Scandinavians
of the North it is a warm blond. If two men possessed of different
aesthetic tastes and in different frames of mind wish to describe
one and the same garden they will give two widely different
descriptions which will reveal far more of their individual impres-
sions and moods than of the actual characteristics of the gar-
den described. It is easy to understand how important it is in
scientific descriptions to exclude completely the influence of the
observer's personality. In the cranioscopic study of a cranium,
for instance, the precise characteristics of that cranium are what
must be found and nothing else whatever, no matter who the
student is nor in what part of the world he is working. But in
order to achieve this result it is not enough to take observations;
it is also necessary to know how to observe, and in observing to
follow a scientific method.
Cranioscopy. — Cranioscopic methods require that the skull
shall be observed from several sides. Blumenbach, who studied
crania by observing them from the vertex, divided them into
ovoid, rhomboid, etc., while Camper, on the other hand, study-
ing them in profile, classified them as flat, elongated, etc., and
the conclusions of the two scientists were irreconcilable.
Fig. 146. — Facial norm.
Fig. 147. — Occipital norm.
Fig. 148. — Lateral norm.
TECHNICAL PART 371
The cranium must be observed from above, from the front, in
profile and from the occipital part ; and in such a manner that the
observer's glance shall fall perpendicularly upon whichever cranial
side is under observation. Hence it is said that the observation is
made according to the norm, i.e., according to the perpendicular,
and there are four norms in cranioscopy — vertical, frontal, lateral,
and occipital. In this way we may be sure that no anomaly of
form will escape the eye.
There are innumerable anomalies of form. We will indicate
only the principal ones. In order to detect all the anomalies that
may occur in a cranium it is necessary to observe it according to
all the norms, each one of which may reveal a different set of
anomalies.
A. Vertical Norm. — The word norm, as we have already said,
has here the signification of perpendicular. To look at a cranium
according to the vertical norm means to let our glance fall per-
pendicularly upon the vertex of the cranium. We may do this in
one of two ways, either by raising our head above that of the
subject of inspection, in such a way that our glance falls vertically
upon it, or by bending back the head of the person to be observed
until the crown of his head becomes perpendicular to our gaze.
This norm is taken by placing oneself behind the person to be
observed, who, if an adult, should be seated while the observer
remains standing; and by taking the head to be examined between
the two hands in such a way that the extended thumbs and index-
fingers form a horizontal circlet around the cranial walls.
This is the most important of the norms, not only because it
reveals the most important normal forms already described in
the text, but also the greater number of anomalies such as are
indicated below.
1. Crania with Rectilinear Perimeter. — It may happen that the line bound-
ing the cranial vault is not curved but formed of broken straight lines from which
various geometrical figures result, producing crania known as trigonocephalic,
pentagonoid, parallelopepidoid, etc.
The most important among these and among all the abnormal forms is the
trigonocephalic cranium, having the base of the triangle toward the occiput and
the vertex toward the forehead. The result of such formation is that the frontal
region is restricted, a circumstance of obvious gravity. The infantile cranium
is normally pentagonoid; the persistence of this form in the adult is a sign of
arrested development, but not serious. Sergi does not admit this form among
the anomalies when the nodules are but slightly emphasised.
372 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
2. Asymmetrical and Plagiocephalic Crania. — The sagittal plane divides
the cranium into two unequal halves. The asymmetry may be either frontal, in
which case one frontal nodule is more prominent than the other — anterior plagio-
cephaly, or else parietal, in which case one of the parietal nodules is more promi-
nent than the other — posterior plagiocephaly.
These are the two forms of simple plagiocephaly. It may happen that there
is simultaneously an anterior and posterior asymmetry, and in such a case it
generally happens that if the more prominent frontal nodule is on the right, the
more prominent parietal nodule is on the left, so that the two more prominent
nodules correspond in a diagonal sense. This is compound plagiocephaly.
Plagiocephaly is extremely common; if very apparent, it constitutes a grave
defect, but not if only slight. For that matter, it would be difficult to find a
cranium rigorously symmetrical, even among normal persons.
3. Crania with curved and symmetrical lines, but in which the perimeter
consists not of a single ellipsoidal curve, but of two curves.
a. Clinocephalic Cranium. — The coronal suture has a girdle-like furrow,
in such fashion that there result an anterior and a posterior curve which to-
gether form a sort of figure 8. This anomaly may be perceived also from the
lateral norm.
b. Cymhocephalic Cranium. — There is a girdle-like furrow along the
sagittal line, so that the cranium has the appearance of being divided into two
pockets, one on the right hand and the other on the left.
B. Lateral Norm. — The observer must stand at the side of the
subject to be observed and look at him perpendicularly to the
profile.
We remain standing while we look if the subject is an adult
and is standing up, but we sit down if the subject is a child and is
standing; and we determine the vertical position by moving the
subject's head as the occasion requires.
I note, as seen from this norm, two anomalies in which the ellipsoidal uniform-
ity outlining the profile of the cranium is altered.
a. Oxycephalic Cranium. — The line of the profile is noticeably raised at the
bregma, from which the anterior part of the cranium continues to rise, almost in
the direction of the forehead, instead of curving backward. In its entirety this
anomalous cranium has the form of a "sugar loaf."
b. Acrocephalic Cranium. — The line of the profile, on the contrary, is not
raised until near the lambda.
C. Occipital Norm. — The observer places himself behind the
subject and gazes perpendicularly at the occipital point.
D. Frontal Norm. — The observer stands in front of the sub-
ject and gazes at him on a level with the forehead.
I may point out only one very important anomaly seen from this norm,
a. Scaphicephalic Cranium. — The lateral parts of the cranium are flattened
TECHNICAL PART . 373
to such a degree that the vault is extremely narrow along the sagittal line (see
Figs. 51 and 52).
Craniometry. — The volume of the cranium is of high importance
because it bears a relation to that of the brain. In the studies
which have been made relative to the correspondence between
physical and intellectual development, the measurement of the
cranial volume comes first in order.
In measuring the cranium it is necessary to use:
a. the millimetric tape measure, b. the craniometric calipers,
c. the compass with sliding branches, d. the double square. In
order to facilitate the task of measuring and to secure uniformity
it is necessary first to locate the craniometric points to which it
will be necessary to apply the instrument. These craniometric
points are easily located on the cranium, where a great number
of them have been studied. In the case of a living person, on
the contrary, these points are reduced to a small number because
of the difficulty of accurately locating them.
The points on the vault of the cranium, along the sagittal
line, are:
1. The nasion (point of union of the nasal and frontal
bones) .
2. The ophryon (middle point of the line tangent to the two
superciliary arches, a line corresponding to the horizontal drawn
transversely across the forehead and passing through the two
points on the temporal lines which are nearest to the median
line. This point lies in an important region of the forehead,
situated between the two eyebrows — the glabella. The central
point of the middle region of the forehead above the glabella is
called the metopion).
3. The bregma (point of juncture between the coronal and
sagittal suture) .
4. The vertex.
5. The lambda (point of juncture between the sagittal
suture and the occipital or lambdoid suture).
6. The occipital point.
7. The inion (situated at a level midway between the occip-
ital point and the occipital foramen).
Laterally we have these other craniometric points:
1. The external orbital apophysis (formed from the frontal
bone).
374 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
2. The supra-auricular point.
3. The auricular point (corresponding to a httle depression
which may be felt just below the tragus and in correspondence
with the zygomatic arches).
4. The minimum frontal point (a bony angle which may be
felt about 1 centimetre above the external orbital apophysis, along
the temporal line).
On a living person the following points can easily be located:
Along the sagittal line:
1. The nasion.
2. The ophryon.
3. The vertex.
4. The occipital point.
Laterally:
1. The external orbital apophysis.
2. The supra-auricular point.
3. The auricular point.
4. The minimum frontal point.
Now, with these points as guides it becomes practical to meas-
ure the various curves and diameters of the cranium. The curves
are measured by means of the millimetric tape; the diameters by
means of the calipers.
There are various curves; we shall confine ourselves to con-
sidering only the following:
The maximum circumference, which is obtained by passing
the tape across the ophryon, the occipital points and the supra-
auricular points, beginning to apply it at the ophryon. Its meas-
ure varies from 520 to 540 mm. in man and from 490 to 510 mm.
in woman, if taken from the skull. In the case of a living person
20 mm. should be added.
If we find a circumference greater than normal, we are begin-
ning to enter upon the anomaly which goes by the name of macro-
cephaly. If, on the other hand, the maximum circumference is
notably smaller, we are entering upon the anomaly of microcephaly.
Measurement of Diameters. — Maximum Antero-posterior Dia-
meter.— With the left hand place one branch of the calipers upon
the glabella; the other extreme point is to be sought tenta-
tively along a vertical line dividing the occiput in two halves.
Partially close the calipers by means of the screw and then make
TECHNICAL PART
375
trial by raising and lowering the posterior branch. It ought to
move with a slight friction.
This is the classic diameter which measures the maximum
length of the cranium and which, as we have seen, it is customary
to compare with the width in order to obtain the cephalic index.
In the adult man it normally oscillates between 170 and 180 mm.
ft
A
m
1
1
1
/\\
1
''/\
LM~
it
i
Fig. 149. — Inspecting cranium (lateral and vertical norms).
Maximum Transverse Diameter.— This measures the width
of the cranium. The investigator places himself in front of the
subject in order to keep the compass quite horizontal through
the guidance of the eyes. The maximum distance is found by
experimenting. It normally corresponds very nearly to the
supra-auricular points. In children this diameter is frequently
situated higher up toward the parietal nodules; in men of tall
stature, in whom the cranial vault is generally slightly developed,
this diameter may be found, on the contrary, lower down, near
the mastoid apophyses. If this diameter occurs similiarly low
down in children, a notable growth in stature may be prophesied
(Manouvrier) ; and if inquiry is made it will be found that the
parents are very tall. This diameter measures, in the adult,
from 140 to 150 mm.
Vertical Diameter. — This measures the height of the cranium
from the occipital foramen to the bregma. This diameter can-
not be measured directly excepting on a skull; in the case of a
living person its projection is taken, which, though far from
accurate, is given by the distance between the vertex and the
external auditory meatus.
376 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
It is necessary to use the double square. The horizontal branch
is placed tangent to the vertex, its direction should be percepti-
bly parallel to the transverse orbital line, the graduated vertical
branch should pass over the auricular foramen. The required
number may be read, corresponding to the point of the tragus.
The height of the cranium is exceedingly important; its varia-
tions produce variations in the physiognomy.
In the first period of childhood, the cranium is very low in
comparison to its width; this is also true of dwarfs. In these
cases the width of the cranial vault is large in comparison to that
of the base; a low cranium bulging above is distinctive of babies
and dwarfs.
In the adult this diameter measures from 130 to 140 mm.
Among the other measurements which are taken on the cranium, the following
may be cited :
The antero-posterior metopic diameter: from the metopic to the occipital point.
In children it is sometimes the maximum longitudinal diameter.
The ophryo-iniac diameter from the ophryon to the inion.
The minimum frontal diameter: between the two minimum frontal points.
The maximum frontal diameter: between the two external orbital apophyses.
The bistephanic diameter: between the two Stephanie points.
The bitemporal diameter: this is the greatest width of the cranium between the
verticals passing through the base of the tragus.
The biauricular diameter: the craniometrical points are in front of, and a
little below, but very near to the upper insertion of the auricle. They are little
depressions that can be felt, as we have already said, by applying the finger
along the upper edge of the root of the zygomatic arch.
Height of forehead: from the ophryon to the roots of the hair.
Circumferences and Curves :
Anterior Semicircle. — The tape is applied from one supra-auricular point to
the other, passing through the ophryon; it corresponds to the anterior part of the
maximum circumference. Manouvrier measures it in correspondence to the
verticals erected from the tragus.
Posterior Semicircle. — This is obtained by subtracting the anterior semicircle
from the whole circumference.
Vertical Curve of the Head. — The tape passes through a plane that is vertical
to the orientated head, starting from the supra-auricular points or from the
tragus, according to different authorities.
Cephalic Index. — This is the proportion between the maximum
transverse and longitudinal diameters. It is obtained by applying
the familiar formula :
_. lood
TECHNICAL PART 377
in which d represents the transverse diameter and D the longi-
tudinal. The index represents the percentual relation between
the two diameters, and is obtained from the formula by reducing the
greater diameter to a scale of 100, as follows:
D : 100 ^d : X, whence X = ^
Instead of working out the calculations, we may find the
required index in the tables already compiled.
Volume. — The volume of the cranium cannot be taken directly,
except in the case of a skull. After the various osseous foramina
have been closed, the cranial cavity is filled through the occipital
foramen with any one of a number of substances (millet, shot,
water, etc.), which is afterward measured. The method of taking
this measurement is practised on a facsimile of a cranium already
calculated, and usually made of metal.
But in the case of a living person the direct calculation of the
volume is impossible. Nevertheless various empirical methods
have been sought for obtaining this measurement, even though
imperfect and approximate. Recently renewed use has been made,
especially in France, of an approximate calculation made by means
of Broca's cubic index. The volume of the cranium is equal to
half the product of the three diameters, divided by an index which
varies according to age.
This index is as follows:
Adults from 25 years upward { .' ' , ' , „
•^ 1^ women 1.15
,. f OK ^ on / ™en 1.15
1 oung persons irom 25 to 20 years . < ^ , ^
^^ I women 1.10
,r f on + 1 « / "len 1.10
1 oung persons irom 20 to 16 years. <
^ ^ I women 1.08
f 15-10 years 1.07
Children of both sexes < 10-5 years 1 .06
[ 5 years and below 1 . 05
An index of cranial development is afforded by the maximum
circumference. The average volume of the normal adult cranium
is about 1,500 cubic centimetres: mesocephalic cranium.
When the cranium is much inferior in volume, it is called
microcephalic (from 1,200 down to 700 cubic centimetres). When
on the contrary it is much superior (from 1,900 up to 2,200 cubic
centimetres), it is called macrocephalic or megalocephalic.
378 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
For the face, the following craniometric points should be
noted:
Along a longitudinal line :
1. The nasion (point of meeting of the nasal and frontal
bones).
2. Subnasal point (meeting of nasal septum with upper
maxilla) .
3. Upper alveolar point (between the two upper incisors at
their point of insertion).
4. Lower alveolar point (point corresponding to the above,
in the lower maxilla).
5. Mental point (middle point of the chin).
The following craniometric points are situated laterally.
6. Auricular point (corresponding to the auricular foramen;
in living persons it is situated on the tragus).
7. Malar point (on the malar bones).
8. Zygomatic point (corresponding to the zygomatic arches).
9. Gonion or goniac point (angle of mandible).
The face also may be studied by inspection — prosoposcopy;
and by measurement — prosopometry.
Prosoposcopy. — We proceed to inspection according to two
norms: A. facial norm; B. lateral norm or norm of profile.
A. Facial Norm. — If it is a question of a living person, we make
complete inspection of the visage, from the roots of the hair to the
chin. First of all we direct attention to the forehead, which will
give us an index of the development of the anterior region of the
brain; next, we observe whether a plane passing longitudinally
through the median line would divide the face into two equal
halves (facial symmetry).
From an aesthetic point of view, the three following vertical
distances ought to correspond in length:
Height of forehead (from the roots of the hair to the nasion).
Length of nose (from the nasion to the subnasal point) .
Labio-mental height (from the subnasal point to the point of the
chin). And in regard to width the three following horizontal
distances ought, according to the aesthetic laws of art, very nearly
to correspond (especially in the female face) :
Width of forehead, between the two external orbital points.
Bimalar width, between the two malar points.
Bigoniac width, between the two gonia.
TECHNICAL PART 379
It should be remembered that the standards of beauty do not
necessarily coincide with those of normality.
B. Lateral Norm. — In observing the face according to this
norm, three facts should be chiefly noted:
1. The relative volumetric development between facial and
cerebral cranium.
2. The direction of the forehead, which, in the normal
profile, ought to be vertical.
3. Whether the facial profile protrudes or not beyond the
extreme anterior limit of the forehead.
Prosopometry . — Many forms of measurements are taken on
the skeleton of the face and many total and partial indices are
obtained, such, for instance, as the facial index, the orbital index,
the nasal index, etc.
Measurements of diameters and angles are also taken on the
face of the living subject and indices are obtained.
We, however, shall limit ourselves to indicating only those
measurements which are taken most frequently in our special
field of application.
The diameters and the height of the face are obtained by the
craniometric calipers and Mathieu's compass with sliding branches;
the facial angle is measured in projection by means of the double
square; and directly, by the goniometer.
One mode of measuring the facial angle in projection is that of
drawing the facial profile with the help of special instruments ; or
else of taking a photograph in perfect profile and tracing and
measuring the facial angle on the picture.
Principal Linear Measurements:
Total length of visage : from line of hair root to point of chin.
Total length of face : from the nasion to the point of the chin.
Length of the nose: from the nasion to the sub-nasal point.
Height of mandible: from the upper edge of the lower incisors
to the lower edge of mandible.
Subnase-mental height: from the subnasal point to the point
of the chin.
Bizygomatic diameter : between the two bizygomatic arches.
Bimalar diameter: between the two malar points.
Bigoniac diameter : between the two gonia.
Biorbital diameter: between the two external borders of the
orbits.
380 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Gonio-mental distance: from the goniac point to the point of
the chin.
Auriculo-frontal radius: from the tragus or from the auricular
point to the ophryon.
Auriculo-subnasal radius.
Auriculo-mental radius.
(The last four measurements, if compared right and left, give
an index of facial symmetry; the radii when compared together
serve as an indirect measure of prognathism.)
Width of nose between the external borders of the nostrils
(the branches of Mathieu's compass are placed tangent to the
nostrils).
(The index of the nose is obtained from the length and breadth,
by applying the well-known formula of indices; the nose thereupon
receives various names — leptorrhine, mesorrhine, platyrrhine) .
Width of orhit: from the inner extremity of the ocular rima
(eye-slit) to the external border of the orbit.
Width of the ocular rima: between the two extremities of the
rima.
Width of the labial rima: between the two extremities of the
rima.
Length of the ear: from the highest upper edge of the auricle
to the lower extremity of the lobule.
Index of the ear: this is obtained, by the well-known formula,
from the length and breadth. The normal index is 50; the types
of ear above 50 are low types.
Anthropologists obtain the facial index from the skeleton,
especially for the purpose of determining the proportion of the
face in human remains found in the geological strata. In such
crania the mandible is wanting, and the teeth are wanting. Con-
sequently, there are several ways of computing the facial index,
because, while the transverse or bizygomatic diameter, which is
considered as the lesser diameter, always remains constant, the
longitudinal, which is considered as the greater, varies. The
longitudinal diameter is calculated sometimes from the ophryon
to the chin, at others from the ophryon to the point of insertion of
the two upper middle incisors. In the first case it is now less, and
again greater than the bizygomatic diameter; in the second case,
it is always less, and the resulting facial index is notably greater
than 100.
TECHNICAL PART 381
The most usual formula for the facial index is the following :
„ . bizygomatic diameter X 100
^^2, = — ^^—=^
ophryo-mental diameter
on the basis of which Pruner Bey gives the following mean averages
according to race, for the general facial index:
Arabs 96 . 7
Chinese 101.7
Hottentots 105.7
Tasmanians 109 . 9
Laplanders , 124 . 7
This index is not exact and constant, like that for the cranium;
in fact, in case a person loses his teeth the index is altered. At
the present day, especially in the French school, the anterior or
total facial index is taken into consideration, in which the vertical
diameter is measured from the vertex of the head to the chin
(CoUignon), and, consequently, the index is always less than 100.
The following is the nomenclature that results for the anterior
facial index:
Leptoprosopics 62 and below
Mesoprosopics from 62 to 66
Chameprosopics 66 and above
If we take for the measure of length that of the visage, i.e., the
distance between the middle point of the frontal line of roots of
the hair and the chin, we obtain indices that are higher by 5 than
those of the French school, namely:
Leptoprosopics 67 and below
Mesoprosopics from 67 to 71
Chameprosopics 71 and above
In many cases this index differs in the individual by as much
as 10 from the cranial index, as I proved in my work on the popu-
lation of Latium. Consequently, anyone who has a cranial index
of 81 ought to have a visage index of 71, etc.
Contrary to what happens in the case of the cranium, the
index of the face varies according to the age, the face being very
short in childhood, and much longer in the adult.
Angles. — The angles distinguished by anthropologists are so
numerous that it is impossible for us to take them all under
consideration.
In the case of a living person, the angles may be measured
25
382 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
directly with the aid of Broca's goniometer; the transverse branch
passes across the subnasal point; the two antero-posterior branches
are inserted, with the buttons with which they terminate, into
the external auricular canals; the vertical branch, swinging on
a hinge, is adjusted in such a way that the little rod which it
carries at the end rests upon the ophryon.
This complicated instrument resembles an instrument of
torture and could not be applied to children; furthermore, it is
difficult to adjust, and consequently the angles that it gives are
inexact : every muscular contraction causes the angle to vary. For
this reason the goniometer is impracticable.
If, by means of an instrument we trace the projection of the
facial profile, the facial angle may be taken on such a drawing;
it may also be traced and calculated on a photograph taken in
profile.
Broca's angle is that included between the auricular foramen,
the subnasal point and the ophryon.
Camper's angle is that included between the auricular foramen,
the point of insertion of the upper incisors and the metopic point.
We, on the contrary, in judging of the facial angle, or rather of
the existence and degree of prognathism, have resorted to inspec-
tion, aided by certain facial lines, namely (Fig. 104) :
a. Vertical Facial Line. — If the subject holds his head level,
with the occipital point in contact with a vertical rod, and his
gaze fixed straight before him, then what we call the vertical
fine is the line perpendicular to the horizontal direction of the
gaze, and tangent to the extreme anterior limit of the brain.
This line, in the perfect human face, is perpendicular to the hori-
zontal line uniting the auricular point with the subnasal point,
and hence forms a right angle with it.
h. Line of Facial Profile. — This is the line uniting the nasal
point with the subnasal point. This line is never vertical, and
therefore cannot form a right angle with the auriculo-subnasal
line, but forms an angle that approximates more or less nearly
to a right angle (85°) : this is the facial angle.
Transversely there is only one line for us to consider, and it
has already been noted:
c. The auriculo-subnasal line, or line of orientation.
Facial Norm. — Our attention should be directed, as we have
already said:
TECHNICAL PART 383
1. To the forehead.
This, if anomalous, may be:
Broad (if greater than 133 mm.).
Narrow (if less than 100 mm.)-
High (if over 60 mm.).
Low (if under 50 mm.).
2. To the Symmetry of the Face. — If the face is notably
asymmetrical, in respect to a plane dividing it longitudinally,
the fact is at once perceptible. But a slight asymmetry may
fail to be detected either by measurements (trago-mental diam-
eters) or by inspection. Consequently, it will be well to follow
certain practical rules in making this observation.
Observe first of all the median line of the face: the bridge of
the nose, the nasal septum, the upper labial furrow and the point
of the chin ought all to lie in the same vertical line; very often a
slight deviation of the nasal septum above the upper labial furrow
will betray the asymmetry; furthermore, the two naso-labial
plicce or folds should be noted, for they ought to be symmetrical
in direction and in depth; lastly, we must observe the symmetry of
the zygomatic prominences. We shall often discover three
concurrent facts: a slight deviation in the median line of the face
usually corresponding to the nasal septum; a greater depth of
one of the naso-labial plicse; and a greater prominence of the
zygoma and the cheek on the same side.
Our attention should next be turned to the correspondence
required by aesthetics between the following three diameters:
Minimum frontal.
Bizygomatic.
Bigoniac.
A very notable difference between these distances may also
lead to the discovery of anomalies.
Sometimes we may discover, even by inspection alone, a nota-
ble narrowness of the frontal diameter, as compared with the other
two.
The hizygomatic diameter may show an exaggerated develop-
ment, and this is frequently accompanied by a hollowness in the
temporal and upper maxillary regions and by a beak-like prog-
nathism (prominence of the middle portion of the upper maxilla) ;
384 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
at other times this degenerative sign calls our attention to the
mongoloid type.
The higoniac diameter may also show an exaggerated develop-
ment due to the enormous volume of the mandible (criminaloid
type — Lombroso's assassin type). It is necessary to supplement
our observation with the measurement of these three diameters,
because it may very often appear to the eye that the minimum
frontal diameter is below the normal, merely by comparison with
the other two diameters which are overdeveloped; while when
measured, it may turn out to be normal. Or, conversely, the
other diameters, the bizygomatic or bigoniac, although actually
normal, may appear overdeveloped, because of the shortness
of the minimum frontal diameter (see ''Faces of Inferior Type."
Meanwhile we must not forget that the following are signs
of grave degeneration:
a. The minimum frontal diameter less than 100 mm. (the
gravity of this is increased if at the same time the other two
diameters are found as described in h).
h. The other two diameters greater than 110 mm. (Lom-
broso's born delinquents, assassin type).
Lateral Norm, or Norm of Profile. — Our attention ought to be
directed, as we have already said:
1. To the direction of the forehead. If abnormal, this may be:
a. Receding;
h. Bomhe.
The receding forehead is an indication of an incomplete or
defective development of the frontal lobe of the brain; we find
the forehead notably receding in the microcephalic type.
The bombe forehead is characteristic of hydrocephaly, but
may occur also in the scaphoid cranium. When the forehead is
bombe, the facial angle becomes equal to or greater than a right
angle, because the face recedes beneath the extreme anterior
boundary of the brain; in this case we have the opposite case to
prothognathism, namely, orthognathism.
2. Our attention should next be directed to the facial profile,
in order to observe the form and degree of prognathism.
The authorities distinguish three principal forms of prog-
nathism :
TECHNICAL PART 385
a. Prognathism properly so-called: prominence of the upper
maxilla as a whole.
h. Prophatnia. — Prominence of the alveoli.
c. Progeneism. — Prominence of the mandible — the lower
dental arch projects in front of the upper.
Measurements of the Thorax
Principal anthropometric points: acromial point; sternal fossa;
xiphoid point; mammillary points.
Measurements. — Thoracic Circumference. — Already described
among the measurements of the form.
Recording instruments are now made that are exceedingly
complicated and quite costly, that register the movements of res-
piration; they are used in medical clinics, but would be of little
practical use in our schools.
Axillary and Submammary Circumference. — Taken as above,
but at different levels.
Biacromial Diameter. — This is taken by means of special cali-
pers called a thoracimeter or pelvimeter, because it is used to obtain
the big measurements of the body (thorax and pelvis). The two
buttons at the ends of the branches are applied to the acromial
points, while the measurer occupies a position in front of the sub-
ject to be measured.
Transverse Thoracic Diameter. — The buttons of the thorac-
imeter are applied on a level with the mammary papillse, along the
axillary lines (vertical lines descending from the centre of the
arm-pits.
Antero-posterior Thoracic Diameter. — This is also taken at the
level of the nipples: the branches are applied anteriorly on the
sternum and posteriorly on the vertebral channel.
These two diameters serve to furnish the thoracic index:
rp. _ 100c? (antero-posterior)
D (transverse)
Spirometer. — The subject takes a maximum inspiration and
retains his breath until he has exactly fitted his mouth to the appa-
ratus; then he emits all his breath in a forced expiration. This
causes the index to rise, and the amount may be read upon it.
Sternal Length. — From the xiphoid point to the sternal fossa.
Bimammillary Diameter. — Distance between the two nipples.
386
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Abdomen. — It would be really difficult to take measurements
of the abdomen in the school. The principal anthropometric
points to remember are the umbilical point, the two antero-superior
iliac points, the pubis.
The distances which it would be useful to take are the follow-
ing: xipho-umbilical and umbilico-pubic distances, which give an
idea of the upper development (liver) and lower development
(intestines) of the abdomen, and the biacromial diameter which
measures the width of the pelvis.
Limbs. — In the case of the limbs also it is by no means easy or
practicable to take many measurements. Consequently it should
Fig. 150.
be sufficient to indicate that there are a great number of different
measurements for every different segment of the limbs.
There are two principal instruments needed for this: a large
compass with adjustable branches, for the long segments, and a
small compass for the short segments. With the large compass
we measure the length of the upper arm and forearm, the length
of the thigh and shin, the length of the foot. With the small com-
pass we measure the total length of the hand, its width, the length
of the fingers and of the digital segments, etc.
The circumference of the limbs is taken with the ordinary
metallic tape.
In order to fulfil the present-day scope of pedagogic anthro-
pology, it is sufficient to take only a few measurements (the form
and the head), but it is necessary to take them with great accuracy,
and above all, to verify one's personal ability as a measurer, so
TECHNICAL PART 387
that everyone who wishes to try the experiment may have a re-
Hable method of testing himself. To this end it is necessary to
know how to calculate one's own special personal error.
THE PERSONAL ERROR
In anthropometry, a knowledge of the anthropometric points,
the instruments to apply to them, their use and their interpretation,
is not sufficient. There is need of prolonged experience in accord-
ance with the accepted method and under a practical guide.
As a matter of fact, the degree of accuracy with which a meas-
urement is taken is always relative, no matter who takes it, but
in the case of a person who has had no practice this relativity may
present so wide a margin as to be practically useless.
To obtain an approximate figure of a measurement means
nothing, unless the figure is supplemented not only by a statement
as to which of the accepted methods was used in taking it, but also
by a minute description of the manner in which this method was
carried out.
It is necessary to bear in mind :
1. That the ability to find the anthropometric points im-
plies a certain knowledge of anatomy; it is a practical research,
to be made under the guidance of a teacher, while the actual find-
ing of the points as well as the taking of the measurements, should
be left to the learner.
2. That the manner of applying the instruments is not with-
out effect upon the resulting figure: for example, if the compass
is held horizontally in measuring the frontal diameter, the result
is different from what it would be if the instrument were held
vertically. If the compass is held by the extremities of the branches,
the diameter is slightly different from what it would be if the com-
pass was held by the handle. Accordingly, it is necessary to de-
scribe minutely how we are accustomed to hold the instruments.
3. That the resulting figure differs according to whether or
not the screw has been turned, or whether it has been read in posi-
tion, or by approaching the instrument to the eye.
4. That when an instrument is old, it registers different
results from those it gave when new; consequently, it is necessary
to verify it, before proceeding to take a series of measurements.
Hence it is proper to state not only precisely what instrument is
used, but also that the precaution has been taken to verify it.
388 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
But what is still more important is to find out one's own per-
sonal data.
If the same measurement is taken twice under precisely
similar conditions, the same figure is hardly ever obtained both
times; everyone, even the most experienced, has his own 'personal
error. By practice the amount of this error may be steadily
lowered, but cannot be eliminated. Constant figures are an
evidence of dishonesty, of mere copying; they are almost certainly
not authentic.
It is important to know one's own average error.
It is calculated as follows:
Let us suppose that successive attempts have resulted in the
following figures relative to the same measurement:
9, 10, 11, 12, 8
The mean average of these numbers is
9 + 10 + ll + 12H-8_
5 ^
Let us see how the values obtained differ in respect to 10 :
9 10 11 12 8
10
— 1, 0, +1, +2, — 2 = differences from the mean average
figure. We now take the average of these differences, disregarding
the plus and minus signs:
1+0 + 1 + 2 + 2 6 ^ ^
p = ^ = 1.2 = mean average error
The personal mean error is a datum that it is necessary to
know in order to give value to any measurements that we may
wish to give forth.
In taking the various test measurements for the purpose of
calculating one's personal error, it is well to use the precaution
of not taking them twice at the same sitting, but after an interval
of time, not only so that all marks will have disappeared that may
have been left upon the skin by the instrument in the act of meas-
uring, but also that the preceding figure will have faded from our
memory. Accordingly, the measurements should be repeated
on successive days and if possible under the same conditions
of time and place.
It is well to make a careful choice of the time and place, because
these also have their effect upon the figures.
TECHNICAL PART 389
It will be observed that if the measurements are made in a
well-appointed place, with a steady light, without noises, in short,
without disturbing causes, the personal error is much more easily
decreased, i.e., the measurements are more exact, because the
measurer can better concentrate his attention.
Even the hour of the day has an influence upon the figures.
It is known that none of us has the same ability to perform our
various tasks at all the different hours of the day; for instance,
it is not a matter of indifference whether we ask the pupils in a
school to solve a problem at one hoiu* of the day rather than at
another. This is true of all occupations, and hence also of anthro-
pometry; there are certain hours of the day at which fewer errors
in measurement will be made, independently of the state of
fatigue.
Consequently, it is well to know this individual datum, and
to tell at what hour and in what environment the measures have
been taken.
The figures are of more value if they have been compared
with the results of other observers; it is necessary, after we have
found our own average error, to select, for the purpose of verifying
our results, some other observer, of similar experience to our
own, and whose personal error is also known.
Here it is necessary to take into consideration still another
factor — one's personal susceptibility to suggestion. If we have
confidence in the person through whom we verify our figures,
we are inclined to obtain figures equal to his own. We have only
to compare our earlier figures with those since we began to use
him as a test, in order to see whether, and to what extent we are
influenced by suggestion. Hence, to obviate this danger it is
necessary to obtain our respective figures without communicating
them to each other.
It will also be necessary to take precautions not to be influenced
by suggestion under any other circumstances. For instance,
we are in hopes, while taking a series of measurements of school
children, that we shall be able to prove that the heads of the
more intelligent are larger than those of the less intelligent. In
order that the figures shall be free from alterations due to sugges-
tion, it is necessary that the measurer, while actually taking the
measurements, shall be unaware which children are better and
which are worse, from the intellectual point of view.
390 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The personal error cannot be calculated in regard to a single
measurement and then applied to all the others, but it must be
worked out anew for every separate measurement; it oscillates
variously, as a matter of fact, in relation to the longer and shorter
diameters, the cranial measurements, and the measurements of
the trunk and the limbs.
We are sufficiently skilled to take measurements when we
have attained for measurements of cranial diameters a mean
error of from 1 to 2 mm., for the vertical cranial diameter one
of 4 mm., and for the stature, one of from 5 to 6 mm.
Finally, in anthropometry, theory is of no value without a
long and intelligent practice, constituting an actual and personal
education in anthropometric technique.
All anthropometric figures have a relative value dependent
upon the extent of this education in the individual investigator.
This is a case in which it may be said that the figures are
worthless without the signature.
CHAPTER VIII
STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY
Having taken measurements with the rigorous technical pre-
cision that is to-day demanded by anthropometry, we should know
how to extract from these figures certain laws, or at least certain
statistical conclusions.
There are two principal methods of regrouping the figures: —
mean averages and seriations.
Mean Averages. — Averages are obtained, as is a matter of
common knowledge and practice, by taking the sum of all the
figiu-es and dividing the result by the number of data. The gen-
eral formula is as follows:
a-\-b-\-c + d
1+1+1+1
When comparative figures are given, as, for example, those
recorded by Quetelet for the stature, the diameters of the head,
etc., such figures are always mean averages.
Such averages may be more or less general. We might, for
example, obtain a mean average of the stature of Italians, and
this would be more general than the mean stature for a single
region of Italy, and this again more general than the mean stature
for a city, or for some specified social class, etc.
It is interesting to know how the mean will be affected, accord-
ing to the number of individuals examined, because it is obvious
that the mean statiu"e of Italians cannot be based upon meas-
urements of all Italians, but upon a larger or smaller number of
individuals. Now, if we take various different numbers of indi-
viduals, shall we obtain different mean statures? And if so, what
number of subjects must we have at our disposal in order to ob-
tain a constant medial figure, and hence the one that represents
the real mean average? It has been determined that a relatively
small number will suffice to give the mean, if the measurements
are taken with uniform method and from the same class of sub-
jects (sex, age, race, etc.) ; for the cranium, 25 subjects are sufficient,
and for the stature, 100 subjects.
391
392
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
This method furnishes us with an abstract number, insofar
as it does not correspond to any real individual, but it serves to
give us the synthetic idea of an entirety. In anthropology we
need this sort of fundamental synthesis before proceeding to
individual analysis for the purpose of interpreting a specified
person.
Now, it is evident that the figures representing the mean
stature for each region in Italy give us a basis for judging of the
distribution of this important datum, while an accumulation of a
hundred thousand individual figures would lead to nothing more
profitable than confusion and weariness.
The following table, however, is quite clear and instructive:
MEAN STATURE IN ITALY
(According to Departments)
Departments
Stature
in centimetres
Piedmont
Liguria
Lombardy
Venetia
Emilia
Tuscany
Marches
Umbria
Latium
Abruzzi and Molise
Campania
Apulia
Basilicata
Calabria
Sicily
Sardinia
162.7
163.7
163.6
165.4
164.0
164.3
162.4
162.7
162.5
160.6
161.3
160.4
158.9
159.4
161.1
158.9
Yet the interpretation of such a table is not simple; it is nec-
essary to read the numbers, to remember them in their reciprocal
relation; and it demands effort and time to acquire a clear and
synthetic idea of the distribution in Italy of this one datum, stature.
On the other hand, we must lose as little time and spare our
forces as far as possible. The value of positive methodology lies
in the extent to which it accomplishes these two subjects.
STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY 393
Geographical charts serve the purpose of this desired sim-
pHfication. Let us take an outline map of Italy, divide it into
regions, and colour these different regions darker or lighter, in
proportion as the stature is higher or lower.
The gradations and shadings in colour will tell us at a single
glance, and without any fatigue on our part, what the table of
figures reveals at the cost of a very perceptible effort. Little
squares must be added on the margin of the chart, corresponding
to the gradations in colour, and opposite them the figiu"es which they
respectively indicate — after the fashion in which the scale of re-
duction is given in every geographical map. In this way we may
study these charts, and their examination is pleasant and inter-
esting, while it successfully associates the two ideas of an '' anthro-
pometric datum" and of a ''region," a result which a series of
figures, pure and simple, could not achieve.
We have seen Livi's charts of Italy, both for stature and for
the cephalic index. Analogous charts may be constructed for all
the different data, for example, the colour of the hair, the shape of
the nose, the facial index, etc. In the same manner we may pro-
ceed to a still more analytical distribution of anthropometric data
among the different provinces of a single region. For example,
I myself prepared charts of this sort for the stature, the cephalic
index and the pigmentation of the population of Latium.
Sometimes we want to see in one single, comprehensive glance,
the progress of some anthropological datum; for instance, in its
development through different ages. Quetelet's series of figures
for growth in stature, in weight, in the diameters of the head, the
cranial circumference, etc., offer when read the same difficulty as
the similar tables of distribution according to regions. On the
contrary, we get a synthetic, sweeping glance in diagrams, such
as the one which shows the growth of stature in the two sexes.
The method of constucting such diagrams is very simple, and is
widely employed. When we wish to represent in physics certain
phenomena and laws; or in hygiene, the progress of mortality
through successive years, etc., we make use of the method of
diagrams.
Let us draw two fundamental lines meeting in a right angle
at A (Fig. 151): AS is known as the axis of the abscissce; AO, the
axis of the ordinates. We divide each of these lines into equal parts.
Let us assume that the divisions of A;S represent the years of age,
394
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
and those of AO the measurements of stature in centimetres; and
since the new-born child has an average height of 50 cm., we may
place 50 as the initial figure. From the figure 0 (age) and from
50 cm. (measure), we erect perpendiculars meeting at a, where we
mark the point. At the age of one year the average stature is
about 70 cm., accordingly we erect perpendiculars from 1 (age)
and from 70 (measure), obtaining the point c. Since the stature
at two years is about 80 cm. the same procedure gives us the point
e. Since the stature at the age of three is about 86 cm., I erect
the perpendicular from a level slightly higher than half-way be-
tween 80 and 90, obtaining the point i; and so on, for the rest.
0.
130.
120
110.
O WO.
80
60.
50
1Z3f56789i0f112
abscissae
Fig. 151.
Meanwhile we begin to be able to see at a glance that the stature
increases greatly in the first year and that thereafter the intensity
of its growth steadily diminishes.
If we unite the points thus constructed, the line of representa-
tion is completed.
The verticals Oa, Ic, 2e,. etc., are the ordinates, and the hori-
zontals 50a, 70c, etc., are the abscissae of the line of representation;
and since it is constructed along the intersections of these lines,
they are for that reason collectively called coordinates. It is usual
in constructing these diagrams to mark the coordinates in such a
way that they will not be apparent, instead of which only the axes
STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY
395
and the line representing the development of the phenomenon are
shown (Fig. 152).
Sometimes a different method of representing the phenomenon
graphically is followed, namely, by tracing the successive series
of distances developed on the ordinates (Fig. 153); in which case
the characteristic arrangement of the lines causes this to be known
as the organ-pipe method.
The diagram for the growth in stature, given earlier in this
volume, is constructed according to the method shown in Fig. 151.
When there are a great number of data to represent, which over-
lap and interweave, this method of graphic representation still
lends itself admirably to the purpose; in such a case we shall have
a number of broken lines, either parallel or intersecting, which may
i? / 2 J ^ S
Fig. 152.
be distinguished by different colours or different methods of tracing
(dots, stars, etc.), so that they may interweave without becoming
confused, thus giving us at a glance the development of several
phenomena at once (for example, total stature and sitting stature,
length of upper and lower limbs, in one and the same diagram).
For the purpose of practice, a graphic representation of the
changes in ponderal weight through the different ages may be
constructed in class. The figures for stature and weight at each
age should be read aloud; one student can find the corresponding
ponderal index in the tables, while another constructs the graphic
line upon the blackboard.
In this manner we can see better than by reading the figures,
how the ponderal index increases during the first year and becomes
396
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
much higher during early infancy; and then how it diminishes up
to the age of puberty, holding its ground with slight oscillations
during the puberal period; after which it again increases when the
individual begins to fill out after the seventeenth year, and once
again later when he takes on flesh, to fall off again during the clos-
ing years, when old age brings lean and shrunken limbs.
Seriation. — Another method of rearranging the figures is that
of seriation. Let us assume that we are taking the average of a
thousand statures, or of hundreds of thousands. We will try to
find some means of simplifying the calculation. Since the indi-
vidual oscillations of stature are contained within a few centimetres
and the individuals amount to thousands, large numbers will be
found to have the same identical statures. Accordingly, let us
rearrange the individuals according to their stature, obtaining the
following result :
Stature in metres
Number of individuals
1.50
20
1.55
80
1.60
140
1.61
200
1.62
300
1.63
450
1.70
100
1 .75
80
1.80
10
By multiplying the 1.50 by 20, 1.55 by 80, etc., and by adding
the results, we shall have simplified the process for obtaining
the sum total which must then be divided by the number of
individuals.
Well, while doing this for the purpose of simplifying the cal-
culation, we have hit upon the method of distributing the indi-
viduals in a series, that is, we have regrouped the corresponding
figures according to seriation.
Seriation has been discovered as a method of analysing the
mean average, and it demonstrates three things: first, the extent
of oscillations of anthropologic data, a thing which the mean
average completely hides, — indeed, we have seen in the case
STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY
397
of the cephalic index the mean averages oscillate between 75 and
85, when calculated for the separate regions, while, in the case
of individuals, the oscillations extend from 70 to 90; secondly,
it shows the numerical prevalence of individuals for the one or
the other measurement ; third, and finally, seriation reveals a law,
to us, namely, that the distribution of individuals, according to
anthropological data, is not a matter of chance; there is a preva-
lence of individuals corresponding to certain average figures,
and the number of individuals diminishes in proportion as the
measurements depart from the mean average, equally whether
they increase or diminish.
I take from Livi certain numerical examples of serial distri-
bution :
Stature in inches
Number of observations
60
6
61
26
62
32
63
26
64
160
65
154
66
191
67
128
68
160
69
89
70
45
71
7
72
6
73
3
74
1
Although these figures are not rigorously exact, there is a
certain numerical prevalence of individuals in relation to the
stature of 66 inches, and above and below this point the number
of individuals diminishes, becoming very few toward the extremes.
The lack of exactness and of agreement in serial distribution
is due to the numerical scarcity of individuals. If this number
were doubled, if it were centupled, we should see the serial dis-
tribution become systematised to the point of producing, for
example, such symmetrical series as the following :
26
398 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
1
1
1
12
16
15
66
120
105
220
560
455
495
1,820
1,365
792
3,368
3,003
924
8,008
5,005
11,440
6,435
792
12,870
495
6,435
220
11,440
66
8,008
5,005
12
3,368
3,003
1
1,820
1,365
560
455
120
105
16
15
1
1
This law of distribution is one of the most wide-spread laws;
it ordains the way in which the characteristics of animals and
plants alike must behave; and the statistical method which is
beginning to be introduced into botany sheds much light upon it.
This law may be represented graphically by arranging the
anthropologic data on the
abscissae {e.g., those of stat-
ure), and the number of in-
dividuals on the ordinates.
In such cases we have
a curve with a maximum
central height and a sym-
metrical bilateral diminu-
^ _. tion (Fig. 121): this is the
x* IG. liJ'x.
curve of Quetelet.
Or better yet, it is known
as Quetelet's binomial curve, because this anthropologist was the
first to represent the law graphically and to perceive that its
development was the same as that so well known in mathemat-
ics for the coefficients in Newton's binomial theorem.
Newton's binomial theorem is the law for raising any binomial
to the nth power, and is expanded in algebra as follows :
{a + by = a^ + na^-'b + (^^'^~^\''-^¥-h
STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY 399
substituting for n some determined coefficient, for example, 10,
the binomial would develop, in regard to its coefficients, after the
following fashion:
/10.9.8.7.6.5.4\ /1Q.9.8.7.6.5.4.3\
+ V 2 3.4.5.6.7 ;^^+(, 2.3.4.5.6.7.8 r^^
/1Q.9.8.7.6.5.4^\ ,
^V 2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9 ^^ ^^ *
Whence it appears that, after performing the necessary reductions,
the coefficients following the central one diminish symmetrically
in the same manner as they increased: that is, according to the
selfsame law that we meet in the anthropological statistics of
seriations.
Indeed, here is the binomial theorem with the reductions made :
+
, /10.9.8.7.6\ ,^,
, /10.9.8.7\ ,^, /10.9.8\ ,^,
400 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
And after calculating the coefficients, we obtain the following
numbers in a symmetrical series:
10
45
120
210
252
210
120
45
10
This is why the curve of Quetelet is called binomial.
Let us assume that we wish to represent by means of Quetelet's
curves, two seriations, for instance in regard to the stature of
children of the same race, sex and age, but of opposite social con-
ditions: the poor and the rich.
These two curves of Quetelet's, provided that they are based
upon an equal and very large number of individuals, will be
identical, because the law itself is universal. Only, the curve
for the rich children will be shifted along toward the figures for
high statures, and that for the poor children toward the low
statures.
At a certain point A the two curves meet and intersect, each
invading the field of the other: so that within the space ABC
there are individual rich children who are shorter than some of
the poor, and individual poor children who are taller than some
of the rich: i.e., the conditions are contrary to those generally
established by the curve as a whole. This rule also, of the inter-
section of binomial curves, is of broad application; whenever a
general principle is stated, e.g. that the rich are taller than the
poor, it is necessary to understand it in a liberal sense, knowing
that wherever we should descend to details, the opposite con-
ditions could be found (superimposed area ABC). For all that,
the principle as a whole does not alter its characteristic, which is a
differentiation of diverse types (for example, the tall rich and the
short poor). The same would hold true if we made a comparison
of the stature of men and women; the curve for men would be
shifted toward the higher figures and that for women toward the
lower, but there would be a point where the two curves would inter-
STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY
401
sect, and in the triangle ABC there would be women taller than
some of the men, and men shorter than some of the women. The
differences have reference to the numerical majority (the high
portions of the curves) which are clearly separated from each
other, like the tops of cypress trees which have roots interlacing
in the earth. Now, it is the numerical prevalence of individuals,
in any mixed community, that gives that community its distinctive
type, whether of class or of race. If we see gathered together in a
socialistic assemblage a proletarian crowd, suffering from the
affects of pauperism, the majority of the individuals have stooping
»w>-
-> Statures w> > (Ctscendin^ Series)
Fig. 155.
shoulders, ugly faces and pallid complexions; all this gives to the
crowd a general aspect, one might say, of physical inferiority.
And we say that this is the type of the labouring class of our epoch
in which labour is proletarian — a type of caste. On the other hand,
if we go to a court ball, what strikes us is the numerical prevalence
of tall, distinguished persons, finely shaped, with velvety skin and
delicate and beautiful facial lineaments, so that we recognise
that the assemblage is composed of privileged persons, constituting
the type of the aristocratic class. But this does not alter the
fact that among the proletariat there may be some handsome
persons, well developed, robust and quite worthy of being con-
founded with the privileged class; and conversely, among the
aristocrats, certain undersized individuals, sad and emaciated,
402 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
with stooping shoulders and features of inferior type, who seem to
belong to the lower social classes.
For this same reason it is difficult to giYO' clear-cut limits to any
law and any distinction that we meet in our study of life. This
is why it is difficult in zoology and in botany to establish a system,
because although every species differs from the others, in the
salience of its characteristics and the numerical prevalence of
individuals very much alike, none the less every species grades
off so insensibly into others, through individuals of intermediate
characteristics, that it is difficult to separate the various species
sharply from one another. It is only the treetops that are separate,
but at their bases life is intertwined; and in the roots there is an
inseparable unity. The same may be said when we wish to
differentiate normality from pathology and degeneration. The
man who is clearly sane differs beyond doubt from the one who is
profoundly ill or degenerate; but certain individuals exist whose
state it would be impossible to define.
Now, while seriations analyse certain particularities of the
individual distribution, by studying the actual truth, mean
averages give us only an abstraction, which nevertheless renders
distinct what was previously nebulous and confused in its true
particulars. The synthesis of the mean average brings home
to us forcibly the true nature of the characteristics in their general
effect. The analysis of the seriation brings home to us forcibly
the truth regarding this effect when we observe it in the actuality
of individual cases.
''When, from the topmost pinnacle of the Duomo of Milan or
from the hill of the Superga," says Levi in felicitious comparison,
"we contemplate the magnificent panorama of the Alpine chain,
we see the zone of snow distinguished from that free from snow
by a line that is visibly horizontal and that stretches evenly
throughout the length of the chain. But if we enter into the
Alpine valleys and try to reach and to touch the point at which
the zone of snow begins, that regularity which we previously
admired disappears before our eyes; we see, at one moment, a
snow-clad peak, and at the next another free from snow that
either is or seems to be higher than the former."
Now, through the statistics of mean averages, we are able to
see the general progress of phenomena, like the spectator who
gazes from a distance at the Alpine chain and concludes that the
STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY 403
zone of snow is above and the open ground is below; while, by
means of seriation, we are in the position of the person who has
entered the valley and discovers the actuality of the particular
details which go to make up the uniform aspect of the scene as a
whole. Both aspects are true — just as both of those statistical
methods are useful — for they reciprocally complete each other,
concurring in revealing to us the laws and the phenomena of
anthropology.
CHAPTER IX
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL AND HIS ANTECEDENTS
The child, hke every other individual, represents an effect of
multifold causes: he is a product of heredity (biological product)
and a product of society (social product). The characteristics
of his ancestors, their maladies, their vices, their degeneration,
live again in the result of the conception which has produced a new
indivdual: and this individual, whether stronger or weaker,
must pass through various obstacles in the course of his intra-
uterine life and his external life. The sufferings and the mistakes
of his mother are reflected in him. The maladies which attack
him may leave upon him permanent traces. Finally, the social
environment receives the child at birth, either as a favoured son
or as an unfortunate, and leads him through paths that certainly
must influence his complex development.
All of the preceding and theoretic parts of this volume which
took up each characteristic for separate consideration, have already
explained all that it is necessary to know in order to interpret the
characteristics present in a given individual, and the more or less
remote causes which contributed to them.
We may now apply our acquired knowledge to individual
study, by making investigations into the antecedents of the child
and recording his biographic history. It forms a parallel to the
clinical history which is recorded in medicine: and it leads to a
diagnosis, or at least to a scientific judgment regarding the child. /
Although this biographic part is eminently practical, certain principal points
of research may be indicated for the purpose of guiding the student. But no
one will ever make a successful study of medical pedagogy unless he will follow
the practical lessons dedicated to the individual study of the scholar, and make
a practice of personal observation. In the Pedagogical School of Rome, we pro-
vide subjects, taken from the elementary schools or from the Asylum School of
De Sanctis for defective children. And we read their biographical history in
regard to their antecedents, and then make an objective examination of them,
frequently extending it to an examination of their sensibility and their psychic
404
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 405
conditions and enquiring into their standard of scholarship. From these lessons
based upon theory, profitable discussions often result; and they certainly are the
most profitable lessons in the course.
A biographical history is essentially composed of three parts:
the antecedents, which comprises an investigation of the facts
, antedating the individual in question; the objective examination,
which studies the individual personally; and the diaries, i.e., the
continued observation of the same individual who has already
been studied in regard to himself and his antecedents.
The objective examination and the diaries cannot be considered
solely in the light of anthropology, because they chiefly require
the aid of psychology. But even anthropology makes an ample
and important contribution, first, in the form of an objective
morphological examination, the vast importance of which has
already been shown; secondly, because it gives us a picture of the
biologico-social personality which it is necessary to compare
with the reactions of the subject in question, with his psychic
manifestations, his degree of culture, etc. ; and upon this compari-
son depends the chief importance of the individual study of the
pupil.
Accordingly, in addition to an examination of the individual,
anthropology ought to concern itself also with the conditions
antedating the individual; therefore, it traces back to the
origins (antecedents), while psychology reserves for itself the
principal task of following the psychological development of the
subject in his school life (diaries) ; a task in which it will neverthe-
less go hand in hand with anthropology since the latter must
follow at the same time the physiomorphological development
of the subject himself.
Accordingly, the gathering of antecedent statistics is the task
of anthropology. The antecedent statistics may be called the
history of the genesis of the individual; the manner of collecting
them is by means of enquiries that are generally made of the child's
nearest relations (the mother) or of the teachers who have super-
intended his previous education. The enquiries are conducted
under the guidance of a certain system of which we give the follow-
ing outline:
406
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
biopathological.
sociological.
remote / ascendant
\ collateral
mother
child.
conception
pregnancy
delivery-
lactation
first development of
maladies incurred
maternal opinions
of child
dentition
locomotion
speech
character
intelligence
etc.
school record
vocation of parents
their morality
their culture
their care of their children
opinions of teachers, history of previous schooling.
We may distinguish biopathological antecedents, which have
regard to the organism of the child as a living individual; socio-
logical antecedents, having regard to the social environment in
which the child has grown up and which contributes to the forma-
tion of his psychophysical personality; and scholastic antecedents
or scholarship, regarding the previous schooling of the child under
examination. The biopathological antecedents are certainly of
fundamental importance. They are called remote when we refer
to the hereditary antecedents of the subject, and near when we
have reference to his personal antecedents.
Remote Antecedents. — These include an investigation regard-
ing the ancestors, the brothers and sisters, and the collateral
relations. The age of the parents (since we know that too imma-
ture or too advanced an age, or a disparity in age between the
parents may result in the birth of weak children). Degree of
relationship between the parents (since we know that the offspring
of parents related to each other may be weak). Maladies incurred
by them or prevalent in their families, incidental vices of the
parent (since we know that constitutional maladies, such as
syphilis, tuberculosis, gout, pellagra, malaria, mental and nervous
diseases, etc., alcoholism or an irregular life of excesses, may lead
to the procreation of degenerates). Furthermore, since it is known
that according to the laws of collateral heredity, maladies may
reappear in nephews which previously occurred in uncles and not
in the parents, information should be sought, so far as possible,
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 407
from all members of the family. Information regarding the
brothers of the subject offers an interest of a very particular kind,
because this gives us an insight into the generative capacity of the
parents: for instance, if there were abortions, children who died
at an early age of convulsions, meningitis, etc., this argues unfa-
vourably for the normality of the subject.
Near Biopathological Antecedents: Mother, Child. — Our in-
quiries should centre first of all upon the mother, in order to know
the conditions of conception, pregnancy, delivery and lactation,
in the case of the child under examination, because we know that
frequently an error at the time of conception may produce a
degenerate or a weakling. For example, a child generated in a
state of physical or mental exhaustion — e.g., after a long trip on a
bicycle, or after passing an examination — may be born feeble,
predisposed to nervous diseases (idiocy, meningitis), just as he
may be born abnormal (epilepsy, anomalies of character, criminal
tendencies) if generated by the father during an alcoholic excess,
or by the mother while suffering from hypocondria, illness, etc.
The history of the pregnancy is also of interest: whether it pro-
ceeded regularly to the close of the nine months, whether the
mother suffered especially from mental anxiety, illness or received
any blow on the abdomen.
Other causes which may affect the health of the child have
reference to birth and to lactation. If the delivery requires an
operation, it may, for instance, deform the skull; while a hired
wet-nurse, or artificial feeding are more or less apt to cause deteri-
oration in the child.
Having completed this first enquiry, we pass on to consider the
child itself, from the time of birth onward, lingering especially
over its early development and more particularly over the cutting
of the teeth, learning to walk and learning to speak, which are the
three first obstacles to infantile development. The healthy child
overcomes them according to normal laws, while the child of tardy
development shows the first characteristic anomaly in these
three fundamental points of its early existence (tardiness of
development, incomplete and defective development, develop-
ment accompanied by diseases, etc.).
Usually a tardiness in the development of the teeth denotes
general weakness and more especially skeletal weakness (rachitis,
syphilis); tardiness in learning to walk may occur in connection
408 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
with the above-named causes (weakness of the lower limbs);
or with difficulty in attaining an equilibrium (of cerebral origin;
witness the case of idiots who, without being paralytic, cannot
walk, because they cannot learn how to walk) ; or with paresis,
more or less partial or diffused, of the muscles controlling the act
of walking (infantile paralysis. Little's disease, etc.). A tardy
development of speech is sometimes found together with a notable
intellectual development and the child will not begin to speak
until he can express thoughts and speak well ; but more frequently
such delayed development is due to partial deafness; or it originates
in the association centres of the brain (the idiot child cannot learn
to speak).
It will also be helpful to know whether the child was ever ill.
It is very important in this connection to find out whether the
child ever suffered from infantile eclampsia in early life (convul-
sions, or ''fits" as the mothers of the lower classes call them).
This is an indication of a cerebral malady which leaves behind it
permanent alterations of the brain and of its functions. The
child may be an idiot, or may belong to one of the various cata-
gories of children who go under the name of defectives; or he may
be abnormal in character (cerebroplegic forms). Another impor-
tant fact to record is nocturnal enuresis (loss of urine during sleep
subsequent to the normal age) ; this is considered by some authori-
ties as a pre-epileptic state — that is, a child that suffers such losses
may in the future become subject to epilepsy, and quite probably,
if studied, will show various anomalies of the nervous system,
such, for example, as too deep sleep, slowness of intelligence, etc.
Repeated attacks of infective diseases, even though they are sur-
vived, also denote organic weakness, with facile predisposition to
infective agencies — in other words, deficient powers of immunity.
Prolonged intestinal maladies or typhus in the early months
(denutrition from pathological causes, exhaustive diseases) may,
in themselves, be the cause of the child's enfeeblement and its
consequent arrest in development.
But in the interpretation of such observations, the physician
should be the guide and the direct judge.
The most salient symptoms in regard to the child — intelligence,
conduct, character, endurance, etc. — are, for the most part,
expressed with great clearness by the mothers. Prof. De Sanctis,
for example, has noted that the mother's first words might serve
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 409
the purpose of a diagnosis; for instance, the mother says of an
idiot child: "he doesn't understand," of a child retarded in develop-
ment, ^'he is stupid," of an abnormal child, "he understands but
he is bad." Accordingly, Prof. De Sanctis begins his diagnostic
researches by registering the maternal judgments, because the
mother is struck by the salient characteristics of her child ; and even
if she is uneducated she always finds concise and effective phrases
to express her judgment.
To the end of rendering the research into antecedents surer
and more complete so far as regards the personal antecedents
of the child, certain anthropological tablets are being introduced
to serve as maternal diaries. In this way the mothers have a guide
for studying their children, and this forms one of the first practical
attempts toward the "education of the mothers."
Here is a form of chart for keeping a record of the dentition.
The significance of the letters is as follows:
U. r. : upper right, i.e., the right half of the upper jaw.
U. I. : upper left.
L. r. : lower right.
L. I. : lower left. (The fact must be borne in mind that in
the first dentition there are twenty teeth.)
410
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
FIRST DENTITION
Dates
Teeth
of first
appearance
of complete
development
of
shedding
Observations
U. r. 1
2
3
4
5
U. 1. 1
2
3
4
5
L. r. 1
2
3
4
5
L. 1. 1
2
3
4
5
In this way we have an analytical and exact chart of the
development of the teeth. Analogous tables are made for the
second dentition, for the growth of the stature, for increase in
weight, for certain physiological notes, etc. When the first
period of growth is ended, the mother's note-books contain annual
notes, like the following:
YEAR 190. .. .
Date
03
3
1-5
"u
a,
<
^
S
Pi
3
1-5
1-5
4J
03
3
3
<
a
a;
CO
S3
O
o
O
a,
>
o
Xi
a
u
Q
Weight
Stature
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 411
Special annual diaries are now employed for keeping a minute
record of maladies incurred, symptoms, treatment, etc.
These note-books, similar to those hitherto kept by ladies for
their house accounts, or for sentimental notes, would be of great
service and aid to pedagogic anthropology, even though their
use could not be extended to all mothers (the mothers of the
proletariat, immoral women, etc., either could not or would not
give similar contributions). The institution of ''Children's
Houses," if more widespread, could easily facilitate the education
of the mothers and the diffusion of ''Maternal Note-books" through-
out all grades of society. But at most these mother's diaries
furnish us only with notes of the near antecedents and not of the
remote, which are of extreme importance.
Sociological Antecedents: Vocation, Morality, Culture. — Be-
fore all else, in inquiring into the sociological antecedents, it is
necessary to know in what sort of an environment the child has
grown, and whether it is an environment favorable, or otherwise,
to his physical, psychic, intellectual and moral development.
This is an exceedingly important matter to determine for the
purposes of a clinical history, since the child's moral conduct
and the profit derived from study depend to a large extent upon
the environment in which the child has grown and lived. To
this end inquiries should be made into the economic circumstances
of the child's parents, their vocation, moral standards and degree
of education, and also into the child's mode of life, whether with
the parents or other relations, or with persons not related to
him, whether he plays in the street, keeps company with street
children, etc.
School Record : Judgments of Teachers. — This is the history
of the pupil as made by his teachers, beginning with the first day
that he enters school. The judgments of teachers, although not
always so precise and so fair as those of mothers, nevertheless
have an importance of their own. Inquiry should be made into
the child's conduct in school and the profit he derives from his
studies.
Illustrative Cases. — There are, for example, certain families
so infected with a degenerative or pathological taint that the
remote antecedents are sufficient in themselves to stigmatise the
biological condition of an abnormal subject. This may be seen in
the genealogy of the Misdea family (taken from Lombroso's work) :
412
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Grandfather: MICHELE MISDEA
(Not very intelligent, but very active)
1st uncle
2nd uncle
3d uncle
4th uncle
Misdea the
Guiseppe
Domenico
Cosimo
Michele
father (alcoholic,
(imbecile)
(eccentric
(quick-
(semi-
spendthrift, mar-
and
tempered,
imbecile)
ried to an hyster-
violent)
killed in a
ical woman, one
quarrel)
of whose brothers
was a brigand and
1
1
1
another a thief).
1st cousin
2d cousin
3d cousin
4th cousin
(idiot)
(madman)
(imbecile)
(imbecile)
1st brother
2d brother
3d brother
4th brother
5th brother
Cosimo
Salvatore
(sane)
(alcoholic)
(incorrigible)
(obscene, epilep-
Misdea
tic, drunkard,
convicted of
assault).
grandson
(obscene)
Similarly extraordinary is the genealogy of Ada Tiircker, an
alcoholic, thief and vagabond, born in 1740, a large part of whose
numerous descendants it has been possible to trace. Out of the
834 individuals derived from this degenerate woman, the lives of
no less than 709 have been followed up, and among these are
included 143 mendicants, 64 inmates of asylums, 181 prostitutes,
69 criminals, and 7 murderers, who altogether cost the state up-
ward of seven million francs!
Besides families like these there are others infected with a
pathological taint, in which phthisis and gout alternate with
epilepsy and insanity. Then again there are other families in
which the pathological taint is scarcely perceptible, as for example,
the family of an epileptic child with criminal tendencies, person-
ally studied by me; all the members of this family are long-lived
and enjoy good health; the father alone is a sufferer from articular
rheumatism. Lastly there are families in which there is no sign
of pathological or degenerative weakness; and in such cases we
say that there is nothing noteworthy in the genealogy, and the near
antecedents assume the highest degree of importance.
The study of antecedents not only has a scientific importance,
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 413
in so far as it contributes to a knowledge of anthropological vari-
eties of mankind (due to adaptation) ; but it also has an immediate
pedagogic importance through its useful application to the school.
Lino Ferriani is the first jurist to investigate the antecedents
of juvenile delinquents, by gathering notes not only regarding
their parents, but also in regard to their own school standing (by
consulting the teachers in the schools where these juvenile crim-
inals received their education !). I have extracted from his volume
on ''Precocious and senile delinquency" the following statistics
of the physico-moral condition of the parents:
Convicted of crimes against property 1,237
Convicted of crimes against the person 543
Addicted to wine 2,006
Women leading meretricious lives 581
Doubtful reputation 1,500
Very bad reputation 670
Good reputation 210
Industrious 1,888
Semi-idle 4,000
Idle 2,000
Sentenced for drunkeness 1,590
Sentenced for offences against public morals 240
Alcoholics 1,001
Confined in lunatic asylums 48
Mothers deflowered before the age of 15 1,560
Couples separated through fault of the husband 59
Couples separated through fault of the wife 69
Couples separated through fault of both parties 135
Among these notes there is a numerical preponderance of
idlers (the idle and semi-idle: degenerates are weaklings who can-
not work and who shun work; their only form of work is crime,
which is an attempt to reap the fruit of other people's industry)
and alcoholism (addicted to wine, alcoholics, and those sentenced
for drunkenness ; this also is a stigma of degeneration : weaklings
have recourse to alcohol, because it gives them an illusion of
strength). Furthermore, the majority show, through crime and
prostitution, that they belong to the class of social parasites.
In regard to the psycho-physical characteristics of juvenile
offenders, Ferriani gives these principal notes:
Nervous 1,250
Habitual liars 3,000
Fond of wine and gluttonous 2,501
Proud of delinquency 2,700
27
414 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Blasphemers 3,900
Cruel to animals 2,100
Excessive emaciation 1,648
Long hands 1,650
Unreliable workers 2, 195
Without interest in life 1,347
Desirous of authority 1,000
Scrofulous 700
Rachitic and syphilitic 500
Vindictive 842
Timid and cowardly 900
Obscene 900
Cruel to parents 700
Cruel to companions 700
And now we come to the most interesting part of all, namely,
the notes taken by teachers' where these children went to school.
Boys. — Age from ten to twelve years. Characteristic notes on
100 children in regard to bad conduct:
Humiliating poorer companions 2
Absolute refusal to obey 4
Corrupting companions 4
Mutilating books of poor companions 2
Spirit of rebellion 1
Malicious and headstrong 1
Resentful of routine 1
Stealing food at expense of companions 6
Abnormally spiteful . 4
Impertinent answers 7 -
Proud of inventing misdeeds 2
Stealing from companions and teacher (school stationary, etc.) . . 10
Calumniating companions 6
Desire to play the spy 8
Obscene writings in toilet room 2
Obscene writings in copy-books , 6
Obscene actions in the shcool-room 9
Obscene writings on the benches 3
Violence with a weapon (pen-knife) 2
Bullying smaller boys 12
Feigning loss of speech for a month, to avoid reciting lessons .... 1
Blaspheming 1
Afraid of everything and savagely vindictive 1
Frequently absent from school, to play games of chance 3
Spirit of destruction 1
Spirit of contradiction 1
Girls. — Age from ten to twelve years. Characteristic notes
on 50 children in regard to bad conduct:
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 415
Soiling the clothing of their companions 3
Abnormally spiteful 2
Intense envy 4
Frequent absence from school, to play games of chance 4
Tyranny 3
Immoderate vanity 2
Spirit of rebellion 1
Insolent answers 1
Absolute intolerance of supervision 1
Damaging the school furniture 2
Slandering the teacher 4
Slandering school-mates 6
Theft, limited to pens 1
Lascivious love-letters 4
Constantly speaking ill of her mother
Attempts to make school-mates unhappy
Unkindness toward animals
Unkindness toward old persons
Unkindness toward small children
Obscene writings in the toilet room
Harmful anonymous letters
Hatred of beautiful things
Spirit of contradiction
Corrupting companions
Thefts in school
Mutilating the clothing of companions
The prevailing faults among the boys are: theft, obscene
actions, tyranny over the weak; and among the girls: slander,
extreme envy and lascivious love-letters.
If we compare the notes regarding the parents with those
relating to the children, we find a connection amounting to that
of cause and effect. We might almost say that the phenomenon
revealed to us in school through the teachers' notes concerns
not so much the pupil himself as his past history. To keep this
sort of record of misconduct, so damnatory to the pupils in ques-
tion, would be worse than useless, if we were unable to trace back
their source to the presumable causes which determined them.
There is an intimate relation between the environment and the
products of that environment. If we should read the notes relat-
ing to the children who receive prizes for good conduct, and who
are held up as moral examples, we could trace back and find the
cause of these notes in a favourable family environment; hence,
the qualities which we praise in the child are not a merit peculiar
to the child, but are due to causes, of which the pupil himself is
merely the fortunate epilogue.
416 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
And passing from studies taken from works of criminal anthro-
pology to examples contained in works of pedagogic anthropology
(these works all being based upon the same scientific standards),
I am happy to cite a work which has even earned the praise of
Lombroso: Notes on Infantile Psycho-physiology, written by
Professor Calcagni.
Notwithstanding that this book of Menotti Calcagni's is
inspired by the most advanced pedagogic conceptions, so that
it well deserves to be cited in its entirety with much profit, I shall
avail myself only of the part which particularly interests me at
the present moment. It is the part containing the data collected
and arranged by the author in a series of tables, in the form of a
brief clinical history, of each pupil in the class studied by the
author.
I shall pass over the statistical tables concerning the personal
examination of the pupils (anthropological, physiological, etc.),
and confine myself to just two tables: one in regard to the exami-
nation into the pupil's antecedents (name and surname;" day of
birth; place of birth; age of father; age of mother; vocation of
father; vocation of mother; conditions of home environment,
hygienic, economic and moral ; conditions of other members of the
family; maladies and casualties incurred by the parents before and
after the procreation of the child; defects and vices of parents, and
details regarding their psychic constitutions; conditions and acci-
dents during pregnancy, birth and puerperal period; illnesses in-
curred by the child); the other in regard to the pupil's previous
school record (name and surname; pupils enrolled at beginning of
the year; those transferred to other classes; those promoted with-
out examination; those promoted after examination; those per-
mitted a second trial; those not admitted to examination; those
dropped from their class, and for how many different years). I
select from these the notes referring to the children promoted with-
out examination and those not admitted to examination; i.e., the
privileged ones before whom an obstacle has been withdrawn which
the majority must surmount before continuing on their path in
life: go forward in peace, you favoured ones! and those who are
not even allowed a chance to overcome the obstacle: turn back,
you to whom the path of other men is closed !
And I read these notes relative to those promoted without exam-
ination: ''Father shoemaker. Mother dress-maker, home orderly,
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 417
frugal and clean; brothers labourers;" — ''F. professor of chemistry,
M. housekeeping, condition of environment excellent, brothers
studious;" — ''F. assistant engineer, M. keeps house, conditions
of environment good, deaths in family from acute diseases;" —
''F. country tradesman, M. keeps house, conditions of environ-
ment excellent, very religious family;" — ''F. man of means, M.
housekeeping, conditions of environment excellent, brothers stud-
ious;"— ''F. machinist, M. keeps the house, home somewhat
damp because of adjoining garden; much anxiety on the part of the
mother regarding the children, because her first husband was a
consumptive, and the seven children she had by him all died.
Children of second marriage all healthy; but the pupil in question
frequently had attacks of fever;" — ''F. cab-driver, M. keeps house,
economic and moral conditions satisfactory;" — ^'F. antiquarian,
M. keeps house, condition good;" — ''F. manager of a lottery
office, M. keeps house, economic conditions of the very best,
moral conditions good," etc.
And here are a few notes on the pupils not admitted to the exam-
inations: ''Father itinerant vendor. Mother keeps house, home
exceedingly dirty, utmost indifference regarding the children and
their education. Insufficient nutriment for the mother both
before and after the child's birth;" — F. cobler, M. wash- woman,
poverty, squalor, and indifference, dwelling gloomy and cramped;"
— ''F. mason, M. dead, dwelling gloomy and unhealthy, through
lack of supervision, Giacinto often runs away from home and
goes to play on the banks of the Tiber; the mother died of tuber-
culosis; the father is an alcoholic; the child was brought up by a
wet-nurse, etc."
To recapitulate: in the case of children promoted without
examination there is an absolute prevalence of the most favourable
social and biologico-moral conditions, while the opposite holds
true of the children excluded from examinations.
Finally, in my own modest work on children adjudged to be
the highest and the lowest in their classes, I arrived at some very
eloquent conclusions.
In the case of children who stand at the foot of their class, the
prevailing conditions are not only an unhealthy home but an
over-crowded one, with ten or twelve persons sleeping in a single
room. On the contrary, in the case of the children standing
418 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
at the head of their class, the homes are for the most part roomy,
comfortable, well-aired and hygienic.
In regard to nutrition, the children who have the lowest
standing are those who go to school without their breakfast and
who go from the school to the street without having had their
luncheon. Those who stand first, on the contrary, bring with them
a luncheon that is sufficient and sometimes over-lavish; and after
school, they return home, with the assurance that food, care and
comfort await them.
The parents of these leaders of their class belong nearly all
of them to the liberal professions or the more favoured crafts
and trades; consequently the pupils enjoy a more comfortable
and respectable environment, a higher standard of culture, a
mother who can aid them in their lessons, and who, equally
with the father, watches with solicitous care over her children's
education.
The others, the dullest pupils, go at the close of school into
the street, or else — although fortunately very few of them do so —
return directly to the wretchedly cramped quarters that they call
home.
Consequently it is not enough to recognise the fact that in
school we have to deal with the more intelligent pupil and the less
intelligent, with the moral and the immoral, the highest and the
lowest; these are effects, the causes of which it is our duty to dis-
cover; and that is what the study of antecedents does for us.
Here begins the far-sighted task of the teacher, who no longer
praises the pupil who is a product of fortunate causes, nor blames
the unfortunate one heavily handicapped by a destiny which
is in no way his fault; but he gives to all an affectionate and
enlightened care, designed to correct and reform the reprobates
and raise them to the level of the chosen few, thus working for
the brotherhood and the amelioration of all mankind, and devoting
special attention to those that need it most.
The study of antecedents is what contributes most to the
interpretation of personality. It is needful, however, that it
should be sufficiently thorough; and to this end a certain order of
interrogation should be followed. Physicians are well acquainted
with this order, from the habit they have acquired of taking
the antecedents of the patient in their clinical practice; but for
making biographic charts for schools, a guide is needed for the use
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 419
of whoever puts the questions. Besides, the biographical history
is based on different principles from those of the chnical history
{e.g., the moral status of the parents, their degree of culture, etc.,
which are not taken into consideration, in treating a patient).
Consequently, the blank forms of biographic charts contain
suggestions that are likely to prove helpful in conducting an
inquiry into antecedents. Among such models, I have selected
that of Pastorello, because it is one of the most complete, and
also because it was compiled by an educator (see page 420).
Nevertheless, the inquiry into his antecedents is only a prepa-
ration for the scientific study of the pupil in his present state;
a study which should /oZZow the pupil through his daily life (diaries)
and thus constitute his complete Biographical History.
Having collected the antecedent details, we pass on to the
objective anthropological and psychic examination of the pupil:
beginning with the anthropological, which it is more important
to secure first; since the psychic examination will produce better
results after a prolonged observation of the subject (diaries, school
records).
In the anthropological examination it is customary to begin
by taking the principal measurements (total stature, sitting
stature, weight, thoracic perimeter, perimeter of the head, and
its two maximum diameters) which furnish the data needed to
give a fundamental idea of the child's physiological constitution
and racial type, and to determine the normality of his growth.
Many other measurements may be taken (spirometry, dyna-
mometry), according to the custom of the school, and, in private
schools, according to the object which the Principal has in view,
in the way of contributions to science. For instance, in a school
for defectives the examinations as to general sensibility, speech,
muscular strength have an importance of the first order, and equally
important is the accurate and minute inspection of the different
organs, for the purpose of discovering possible malformations.
There are various special objects to be attained by gathering
anthropological data, and accordingly every school based upon
modern scientific principles has its own ''Biographical Chart"
drawn up according to special forms containing the necessary
measurements and observations, and the examiner has only to fol-
low the directions of this guide and to fill in the required informa-
tion obtained from the individual pupil.
420
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
INQUIRY INTO ANTECEDENTS IN PASTORELLO'S BIOGRAPHIC
CHART
General Information Regarding Pupil's Family
Name and Surname of Parents
Father
Mother
What degree of relationship, if any,
exists between the parents?
At what age did the parents contract
marriage?
How old were the parents at the time of
the child's birth?
State of Health
Father
Mother
From what diseases have the relatives
of the pupil died?
Have there been any predominant dis-
eases in the family?
Education
Father
Mother
Employment
Father ....
Mother . . .
Ancestry
Father
Mother .
Moral and Financial Condition
of the Pupil's Family
7s the family interested in the edu-
cation of the children?
Family Habits, Eccentricities
and Vices
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 421
Here, for instance, is the anthropological form used in the great
orphan asylum in New York:
NEW YORK JUVENILE ASYLUM
Anthropological Examination and Measurements. — No. of page
Date of entrance
Minimum frontal diameter
Sex
Height of head
Age
Inspection: cranium
Date of birth
Face
Name
Eyes
Total stature
Ears
Sitting stature
Gums
Total spread of arms
Teeth
Weight
Palate
Prehensile strength, right hand
Uvula
Prehensile strength, left hand
Strabismus
Power of traction
Limbs
/ Antero-posterior diameter
\ Transverse diameter
Body
Genitals
Maximum circumference of head
Lung
Maximum antero-posterior diameter
Heart
Maximum transverse diameter
Special notes
This form has signs of modernity: in fact, it concedes the greater
part of the research that is to be made in the first objective exami-
nation to anthropological observations, limiting the observations
of a physiological nature to those of muscular strength — it being
well known that all functions in general, and especially the psychic
functions, cannot be determined with reliable accuracy except after
repeated and prolonged observations. Furthermore, the modern
tendency in anthropologic research is revealed by the preference
given to measurements of the body in its entirety, giving first place
to those of the bust and limbs, from which the important ratio
of their development is obtained (standing and sitting stature,
total spread of the arms), and the weight. Furthermore, there is
a notable absence of measurements of the face, measurements which
it is the modern tendency to abandon where the subjects of research
are children, since in this case they have no physiological or eth-
nical importance, because the face of the child varies from year to
year, and has no fixed index like that of the cranium. A study of
the facial measurements might be of importance as contributing
422 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
to a knowledge of the evolution of the face through successive
years; but such knowledge can be obtained, so far as is needed,
from '^special studies and researches," without making obligatory
a form of research that is both troublesome and dangerous (the
application of pointed instruments to the faces of children). The
best method of examining the face is by photographing the full
face and the profile at intervals of one year. Accordingly, the
biographic form used in the '' Children's Houses" contains only
questions of an anthropologic nature of importance in relation
to growth (see the form of the Biographic Chart of the ''Children's
Houses," page 423).
The greatest importance attaches to the stature and weight.
Indeed, while all the required measurements are taken once a year
on the occasion of the child's birthday, the total stature and the
weight are taken once a month upon the day of that month corre-
sponding to the child's birthday. The numerous other physio-
pathological and psychic notes, the examination in regard to speech,
etc., are obtained partly from the diaries and partly from the physi-
cian, according to the necessities of individual cases.
The photograph should complete the examination of the pupil.
The methods of observation adopted in the ''Children's Houses"
represent, I think, the ideal method for the accurate recording of
individual characteristics. Since the pedagogical methods there
employed are themselves founded upon the "spontaneity "of the
manifestations of children, it may be said that they represent the
technical and rational means of proceeding to a psychic examina-
tion of the child.
I cannot linger upon this point, because the question deserves
a special investigation; but it must suffice to point out that in order
to render biographic charts a necessary adjunct to the manage-
ment of schools, so as to offer a real aid to the teacher and not
to have them mean to her (as happens to-day only too frequently!),
"just so much more work," the immediate utility of which is
doubtful, it is essential that the pedagogic methods of instruction
should be changed.
So long as a child is required to perform certain definite acts, he
will reveal nothing of himself beyond responding, in so far as he
is capable, to the requirements of his environment; and any at-
tempt to make psychological deductions from such response would
contain profound errors.
No.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 423
ANTHROPOLOGICAL FORM
Used in the "Children's Houses," in Rome and Milan
Date of Enrollment
Name and Surname Age
Name of Parents Age: M F.
Vocation
Hereditary Antecedents
Personal Antecedents.
Anthropological Notes
Weight
Thoracic
circumf.
Essen-
tial
stature
Index
of
stature
Pon-
deral
index
Cranium
Total
stature
o
o
1 03
03 -^
Physical constitution
Muscular development
Color of complexion
Color of hair
Notes
Nevertheless, the earher forms of biographic charts, and even
the modern ones in general use in Italy (!) frequently contain
minute requirements for psychic examination in relation to such
points as memory, attention, perception and inteUigence.
And even less satisfactory are the requirements in the charts
regarding the examination for sensibility — namely, ability to
distinguish colours, sense of touch, smell, etc.; because the peda-
424 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
gogic methods in vogue in school (and this appHes to-day to all
our schools) make no provision for a rational exercise of the senses,
nor for instruction in the nomenclature relating to them. An
examination of the senses for the purposes of the biographic
chart should at most be limited to a test of their acuteness, forming
an inquiry analogous to that of sensibility to pain. For an inquiry
into the power to discriminate between various sensations ceases
to be a simple examination of the senses, and becomes a combined
test of psychic powers and of the degree of culture attained (the
degree to which the senses have been trained). Furthermore, it
is well known that a psychical examination demands preparation
on the part of the person to be examined, complete repose from all
emotion, isolation of the senses, etc., the preparation depending
upon the special research which it is desired to make; all of which
is absolutely opposed to the aggressiveness of the tumultuous ex-
amination conducted by an investigator whose chief aim is to fill
in the blanks upon the biographic charts. The psychic examina-
tion of a pupil is a task to be accomplished slowly, by watching
the child's behaviour, in the course of its daily life under the eye
of an intelligent and trained observer.
Nevertheless, it is sometimes necessary, especially in schools
for defective children, to form at once a comprehensive first im-
pression of the psychic condition of a given child; it furnishes the
observer with a needed point of departure, and abridges the long
and difficult task of a psychological study of the pupil, to be made
in the course of the ensuing year. In such a case, the biographical
form should not contain such general topics as the following:
Memory,
Sense of place and time.
Judgment,
Moral sense, etc.,
but a series of very simple questions to be put by the examiner to
the pupil, the replies to which must be recorded accurately, with-
out alteration in any manner, but reproducing their incorrectness
of speech, their hesitations, etc. In this way such a form of in-
quiry constitutes not only a first psychical examination, but also
a first examination as to defects of speech, which is of much value
and reproduces quite exactly the state of the subject at a given
moment.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL
425
On the contrary, the sort of results obtained according to the
older method, e.g.:
Memory, poor;
Intelligence, sufficient;
Attention, easily aroused, etc.;
were practically worthless, especially in absence of any knowledge
of the competence of the person who formulated these judgments.
Here is an example of a series of questions to be used as a
psychic test, prepared by Professor Sante de Sanctis, and included
in the Biographic charts of the Asylum-School for Defective
Children at Rome:
1. What is your name?
2. How old are you?
3. What is your mamma's name?
4. Have you any brothers?
5. Have you any sisters?
6. What is your father's business?
7. Is your father (or mother) old or
young?
8. At what age is one old?
9. How do you know that a man is
old?
10. What is this? (a couch in the
corridor).
11. What is it for?
12. What is this? (a table).
13. What is it for?
14. Do you always feel well?
15. Are you hungry?
16. When are you hungry?
17. Do you ever dream at night?
18. What do you dream?
19. What time is it now, more or less?
20. What year is it?
21. What month is it?
22. What season of the year?
23. What day of the month is it?
24. What day of the week?
25. Where do you live?
26. Where are you at the present
moment?
27. What are these? (two books or two
pictures) and which of the two
is the larger?
28. Which of these three glasses has
the most water in it?
29. Which will weigh the most and which
the least of the three?
30. How many persons are there in
your home?
31. Is your home large or small?
32. How many rooms are there?
33. Whom do you love most?
34. What would you do if (the person
named) were hungry?
35. What would you do if he were very
sick?
36. Or if he died?
37. Do you love some playmate, or
some friend? Why do you love
him?
38. Do you hate anyone? Why?
39. Do you know the meaning of right
and wrong?
40. Do you know the meaning of re-
wards and punishments?
Out of all the existing forms of biographic charts I have selected four in
their entirety; two are historical: 1. the first form for the individual examination
of the pupil ever published in any treatise on pedagogy; and 2. the first form
printed in Italy by the city authorities with the intention of having it introduced
into the elementary schools.
426 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The first of these is the biographic chart proposed by Seguin in his pedagogic
treatise relating to the education of idiots (Traitement moral, hygiene, et edu-
cation des idiots, 1846) ; the second is the one proposed by Sergi for the communal
schools of Rome, and printed by the Commune with the intention (1889), never
actually carried out, of introducing it into the schools; at all events, this is the
first historic document representing an idea twenty years in advance of the time
when the idea itself was destined to begin to be popularised.
Here are the two forms in question :
Seguin's Form. — This follows out all of S^guin's pedagogical ideas, and all
of his didactic methods; it is a guide for the physician, and a minute guide for the
teacher who intends to adopt the Seguin methods of education. Seguin calls
his biographic chart a "Monographic Picture," and divides it into five para-
graphs, the fifth of which deals with the pupil's antecedents.
Monographic Picture (Seguin)
I. Portrait (Objective Morphological Examination)
Age. General attitude of the body.
Sex. Attitude of the head.
Temperament, health. Attitude of the trunk.
Illnesses, accessory infirmities. Attitude of the lower limbs.
Detailed configuration of the cranium. Attitude of the upper limbs.
Configuration of the face. Attitude of the hand and fingers.
Proportional relation between cranium Configuration of the organs of speech,
and face. and their possible relation to the
Inequality of the two sides of cranium organs of generation; dentition.
and face. Configuration of the thorax.
Hair, skin. State of the vertebral column.
Proportional relation between the trunk State of the abdomen.
and the limbs.
Inequality of the two sides of the
trunk and limbs.
II. Physiological Examination
Activity, general and applied. Voluntary articular flexions.
Apparent state of the nervous system. Locomotion.
General irritability of the nervous Positions, recumbent, seated, standing,
system. walking, ascending, descending.
Irritability of special groups of nerves. Running.
Cries, groans, singing, muttering, etc. Jumping.
The change which certain stimulants Grasping objects.
such as cold, heat, electricity, odours. Dropping objects.
etc., produce upon irritability and Catching objects.
sensibility, general or special. Throwing objects.
Probable state of the brain. Ability to dress, eat, etc., without aid.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 427
Probable state of the spinal marrow.
Probable state of the organic nerves.
Probable state of the sensory nerves.
Probable state of the motor nerves.
Difference of action between the
sensory nerves and the motor
nerves.
Inequality of action of the motor
nerves and sensory nerves on the
two sides of the body.
The muscular system, contractibility
of muscles, and condition of sphinc-
ter muscles in particular.
Muscular movements.
Voluntary movements.
Automatic movements depending on
the condition of the sympathetic
nerve.
Automatic movements depending on
the state of the central nervous
system.
Spasmodic movements.
Coordinated and disassociated move-
ments.
Sense of touch.
Sense of taste.
Sense of smell.
Sense of hearing.
Sense of sight.
Erectility.
The voice, abnormal tones.
Speech.
Assimilative functions.
Unnatural appetites.
Manner of taking food.
Mastication.
Swallowing.
Digestion.
Evacuation of faeces and urine, volun-
tary or involuntary; other excretions,
saliva, nasal mucus, tears, sebaceous
humor, sweat, perspiration, etc.
Pulse.
Respiration.
Sleep.
Ill, Psychic Examination
Attention.
Sensorial perception.
Intellectual perception.
Deduction.
Coordination.
Inventiveness.
Unrelated memories.
Foresight and forethought.
To what extent are these intellectual
operations, when they exist, applied
to concrete phenomena, mixed phe-
nomena {i.e., concrete and abstract)
and to ideas of a moral nature?
Are the general ideas of time, space,
conventional measurements, rela-
tive value, intrinsic or arbitrary,
understood and applied in actual
daily life?
Comparison.
Judgment.
Reflection.
Have the ordinary rudiments, such as
the alphabet, reading, writing, draw-
ing, arithmetic, been taught to the
pupil or not, and can they be taught
in his present state?
Have his attitude toward music and
mathematics, enjoyment of singing,
irresistible desire to sing, been brought
about naturally?
Has he a perception of the physical
proportion of bodies, such as colour,
form, dimensions, relations between
the parts to form a whole?
428
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
IV. Examination Regarding Instincts and Sentiments
Instinct of self-preservation.
Instincts of order, readjustment, pres-
ervation and destruction of objects.
Aggressiveness, cruelty.
Instinct of assimilation and posses-
sion.
Is the child obedient or rebellious, re-
spectful or impertinent, affectionate
or cold, rude or courteous, grateful,
jealous, merry or sad, proud, vain or
indifferent, courageous or cowardly,
timid or venturesome, circumspect
or thoughtless, credulous or sus-
picious?
Has the child a sense of abstract right
and wrong or only in relation to a
small number of acts that concern
himself?
Does the child show spontaniety or an
active will — the kind of will which
is the initial cause of all human actions
producing intellectual or social results?
Has the child only a negative will asso-
ciated with instincts and does he pro-
test energetically against any extra-
neous will that tends to compel the
idiot to concern himself with social or
abstract phenomena?
Finally, in what direction and within
what limits has the idiot passed
beyond the boundaries of his ego in
order to enter into physcial, instinc-
tive, intellectual and moral com-
munication with the phenomena which
surround him?
V. Etiology
Origin of father and mother.
Their constitution.
Hereditary diseases.
Place of residence at the time of the
child's conception, gestation, birth
and lactation.
Possible causes of idiocy.
Circumstances worthy of note during
conception.
Circumstances worthy of note during
gestation, delivery, lactation.
Serious illnesses of the child during the
first year.
Infirmities and illnesses from the first
year down to the first symptoms of
idiocy. Progress, retrogression or
stationary state from the child's
birth down to the time of examination.
If we realise that this model for a biographic chart was pro-
posed more than one-half a century ago, it makes us marvel at
the modern spirit of its concepts : it actually considers the relation
between the development of the trunk and of the limbs, the mimic
attitudes of the body, the constitution, etc., all of which concepts
are foreign to the studies of the medical clinics from which Seguin
must have drawn his inspiration, since even to the present day
the tendency in the clinics is toward purely analytical investi-
gation, with the exception of Professor De Giovanni's clinic.
In the model proposed by Sergi, the examination was required
to be made twice : first upon the reception of the pupil, and again
at his departure with the modifications shown below:
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 429
BIOGRAPHICAL CHART FOR SCHOOLS (SERGI)
Table I. — Physical Observations
On entering school
On leaving school
Class Year
Class Year
1. Name.
1.
Name.
2. Age.
2.
Age.
3. Birthplace.
3.
Birthplace.
4. Parentage (father and mother).
4.
Parentage (father and mother).
5. Vaccination.
5.
Vaccination.
6. Stature.
6.
Stature.
7. Weight.
7.
Weight.
8. Pulmonary capacity.
8.
Pulmonary capacity.
9. Muscular force.
9.
Muscular force.
10. General state of health.
10.
General state of health.
11. Past illnesses.
11.
Past illnesses.
12. Anomalies, deformities.
12.
Anomalies, deformities.
13. Head, horizontal circumference.
13.
Head, horizontal circumference.
14. Head, maximum length.
14.
Head, maximum length.
15. Head, maximum width.
15.
Head, maximum width.
16. Cephahc index.
16.
Cephahc index.
17. Face, length.
17.
Face, length.
18. Face, width.
18.
Face, width.
19. Facial index.
19.
Facial index.
20. Hair, colour, form.
20.
Hair, colour, form.
21. Eyes, colour.
21.
Eyes, colour.
22. Skin, complexion.
22.
Skin, complexion.
23. Incidental remarks.
23.
Incidental remarks.
28
430
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
BIOGRAPHICAL CHART FOR SCHOOLS (SERGI)
Table II. — Psychological Observations
On entering school
On leaving school
Class Year
Class Year
1.
Sight, acuteness, far- or near-sighted.
1.
Sight, acuteness, far- or near-sighted.
2.
Sense of colour, normal, defective.
2.
Sense of colour, normal, defective.
3.
Hearing, acuteness.
3.
Hearing, acuteness.
4.
Sense of touch, acuteness.
4.
Sense of touch, acuteness.
5.
Intelligence, quick or slow.
5.
IntelUgence, quick or slow.
6.
Perception, rapid or gradual.
6.
Perception, rapid or gradual.
7.
Memory, tenacious or short.
7.
Memory, tenacious or short.
8.
Attention, easily aroused or not.
8.
Attention, easily aroused or not.
9.
Speech, rapid or slow.
9.
Attention, how long sustained.
10.
Speech, pronunciation perfect or im-
10.
Attention, progressive weariness.
perfect.
11.
Speech, rapid or slow.
11.
Speech, stammering.
12.
Speech, pronunciation perfect or im-
12.
Emotional sensibiUty, duU or easily
perfect.
assumed.
13.
Speech, stammering.
13.
Conduct and character at home.
14.
Emotional sensibility, duU or easily
14.
Affection for parents.
assumed.
15.
Taciturnity or loquacity.
15.
Conduct and character in school.
16.
Preferences during free hours.
16.
Friendships in school.
17.
Caprices, eccentricities.
17.
Taciturnity or loquacity.
18.
Unusual incidental occurrences.
18.
Preferences during free hours.
19.
Caprices, eccentricities.
20.
Unusual incidental occurrences.
The two other biographic charts that deserve specific mention
are, unlike the above, charts in actual use, since they have both
been recently introduced into practical service.
The first, which I reproduce in entirety, is the one adopted by
the Commune of Bologna for its schools; the second is the one
introduced, for the purpose of studying the inmates, into the
government reformatories, of Italy, that have recently been
transformed into educational institutions, into which a number of
important reforms have been introduced, through the influence of
scientific pedagogy — among others, these biographical charts and
the anthropological researches connected with them.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 431
Biographic chart for elementary schools:
District of
Class .
COMMUNE OF BOLOGNA
Office X. — Hygiene
Biographic Chart of the Pupil
Name and Surname.
Age
Year 191
Place of birth and residence
Parents' Place of birth and vocation .
The Teacher.
State of skin, of the subcutaneous
tissue, the muscles, the lymphatic
glands
(horizontal circumference
maximum width
maximum length
Celphalic index
height
width
Facial index
Face
/ colour
\ form
keenness of sight
hypermetropia
myopia
I colour sense
L colour of iris
Hearing, acuteness
form
number decayed
number missing
Anomalies of development
Weight / at the beginning,
of body I at the end of the year
Total spread of arms
Stature
Pulmonary capacity
The Physician
Hair
Eyes
Teeth
Illnesses incurred during the school
year
Total number of absences
Number of absences on account of ill-
ness
Profit derived from instruction
Conduct and character in school
Affection toward parents and school-
mates
Special observations
The Master
432 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The biographic chart of the reformatories is among the most
complete; nevertheless, it is based upon antiquated methods for
the study of the individual, including, for instance, the facial
index and ignoring that of the stature; and limiting the psychic
examination to abstract notes (reflection, attention, etc.). It
constitutes, however, an anthropological record, for it follows the
child throughout his whole residence in the reformatory.
What is called, in the chart in question, the moral account,
corresponds to our third subdivision in biographic histories, in so
far as it represents a summary of the daily records. Under this
head mention is made of the moral balance, and the notes tell us
that it is founded upon "punishments^^ and 'Rewards." In so
far as they treat of disciplining children, these notes are not to be
taken as a model ; they are evidently a relic of antiquated educative
methods that have survived amid the efforts of a new scientific
movement. There is no mention made of medical treatment
bestowed upon the children, who may very often owe their so-
called moral anomalies to a pathological condition which must
frequently be aggravated by punishments. It is well known that
many normal children have periods of agitation which is mani-
fested by the most various kinds of action (impulsiveness, sexual
excesses, rebellion), followed by periods of calm during which the
child exhibits the opposite characteristics (industriousness, obedi-
ence, etc.). The biographic chart is quite likely to show a record
of punishments and rewards corresponding to these contrasted
periods ; and in this respect it follows antiquated pedagogic
methods, which are precisely what need to be reformed under the
light of science.
An illustration of this is contained in the biographic history of
an idiot boy in the asylum of the Bicetre, a report of which is given
below: the periodic anomalies of character in the boy should be
noticed. Many epileptic children do not have convulsions, but
exhibit instead anomalies of character which become permanent
and are naturally aggravated by fatigue and punishment ; and the
great majority of such children pass eventually into reformatories.
In the forms customarily used for biographic charts, there is
liberal provision for daily notes. Accordingly, in the biographic
chart of the child in question there are a number of blank pages
on which casual notes have been entered (diary). Every fact
deserving of notice has been entered; facts of a physio-patho-
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 433
logical nature, such as illnesses, strength, endurance in running,
appetite, outbursts of anger without cause; school-notes regarding
the progress attained by the child in school, especially when he
has overcome serious difficulties, correction of incidental defects
of speech, etc., and notes of a psycho-moral nature regarding
acts committed by the child, tending to show the state of his
feelings.
The master has a general register which may be compared to
the daily entry hook used in book-keeping, and in which all the
notes of the day are entered. Days and even months frequently
pass without any entry being made in regard to some particular
child. From this general register the master later draws up
individual summaries which are then transcribed into the cor-
responding biographic history of each child.
Once in so many years all the measurements and observations
are repeated in their entirety {e.g., at the most important periods
of growth with especial study of the epoch of puberty). When
the child is definitely discharged from the school, a general sum-
mary is drawn up; in such a case the biographic chart represents
that individual's own personal history; a human and social docu-
ment of the highest interest to anyone who wishes to know himself,
and continue his own self-education! It might serve as a useful
guide to a man of intelligence.
These registers and biographic charts may be compared to the
record of points and the report cards that are in use to-day in the
schools. Even the report cards which are obtained through a
fatiguing process of averages represent a summary of notes taken
every day by the teacher (although not every day for every pupil) .
But the report card is of no practical use to the man who wishes
to draw up a faithful record of the education he has received that
will serve to guide him through life.
Since there do not yet exist any complete biographic histories
relating to normal children, I shall reproduce one of an idiot boy
who was received into the great Paris hospital for defectives;
this history is interesting because it is the result of the methods of
Seguin who was the founder of the anthropological movement in
pedagogy; it would be still more interesting if we could offer
the complete history of a normal man or of a wayward boy re-
deemed by education. But let us hope for this in the near future!
The summary of the history which I here reproduce does not
434 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
contain the objective examination of the boy at the time of his
reception; because that would only be a repetition of what has
already been described, while the part which it now interests us
to illustrate is that containing the summaries of the diaries. The
antecedents, however, are given because they are indispensable
for an understanding of the patient's personality.
SUMMARY OF THE BIOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF AN IDIOT BOY
Admitted at the Age of 3 Years, and Dismissed at the Age of 17
Outline: Father an alcoholic. — Mother subject to migraine. — No consan-
guinity between the parents. Equality of ages (difference of two years).
— A sister died of convulsions. — Conception during an alcoholic excess on the
part of the father. — Albuminuria during pregnancy. — The child cried both
night and day. — Twitchings of the body and head. — Did he ever have
convulsions? — Fits of anger. — At the time of admission, he could neither
speak nor walk (July 30, 1881, age 3 years). — The child has involuntary
emissions of fseces and urine (is uncleanly).
September, 1884. — The child has learned to walk.
1885. — Development of speech. — The child is beginning to give notice of its
natural necessities.
1886. — The child is no longer uncleanly. — The twitchings of head and body and
the fits of anger have diminished.
1887-1890. — Progressive improvement, with alternate progressive and sta-
tionary periods.
1891. — Description of the patient.
1892-1897. — Physical and intellectual evolution. — Progress in studies. — Acquire-
ment of a trade. — Results.
Remote Antecedents. (Notes furnished by the mother.) — Father: 35 years old,
tailor's cutter, large, strong, of calm temperament, a smoker; numerous
excesses of alcoholic beverages, especially absinthe — as many as eleven a day;
venereal excesses; came home intoxicated almost every day; never had con-
vulsions in infancy, nor any nervous shock; suffered only from eczema.
No syphilis. — Father's Family: Paternal grandfather a mason, sober, died
of heart disease. Paternal grandmother, of calm temperament, enjoyed good
health. No other information regarding paternal ancestry. — Mother: 33
years old, seamstress, good health, regular features; no convulsions in
infancy. Menstruated at age of 13 years, married at 20. Suffered from
migraine since she was nine years old. These headaches lasted three days
and occurred at the menstrual periods, ceasing throughout pregnancy and
lactation. The symptoms were: headache, buzzing in the ears, to the
point of deafness, and vision of sparks before the eyes. The attacks termi-
nated with vomiting. Mother's Family: Father sober and in good health;
mother died of influenza. No information regarding either the ascendant
or collateral branches; but there seem to have been no other cases of nervous
disease in the family. No consanguinity, no disparity in ages. Brothers
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 435
and Sisters of the Patient: The mother of D had five children; the
first, a boy ten years and a half old, intelligent, no convulsions ; the second, a
girl, died at fourteen months, after having convulsions that continued for
eight days; the third, a girl, seven years old, intelligent, no convulsions;
the fourth, the patient in question; the fifth, a girl, born after D 's
admission to the asylum; she is intelligent and healthy, no convulsions.
Near Antecedents. The child's mother is convinced that the conception took
place during alcoholic intoxication. Pregnancy was accompanied by gener-
alised oedema from the fifth month onward, due to albuminuria. No
eclampsia. No fainting fits, etc. Delivery timely, difficult, but accom-
plished naturally. The child at birth was strong and not asphyxiated.
Was nursed by the mother for the first two months, after which he de-
pended upon hired nurses and artificial feeding (was sent to the country
where he was fed chiefly from the bottle). Was returned to the mother at
the age of eleven months; could not walk; would eat anything within reach
of his hands, coal, excrements. Cried continually, day and night, to the
great disturbance of the neighbours. Cut his first tooth at five months; and
at the age of three years the first dentition was not yet completed. Has a
habit of swaying his body forward and backward; beats his head against
the wall, the chairs, etc., and strikes his forehead with his clenched fist.
Has habitual constipation. Is extremely affectionate, loves to be caressed.
Yet he will bite anyone who approaches him, including his brothers and
sisters. It cannot be learned whether when he was stajdng with the wet-
nurse he ever had convulsions. It is certain that he had none after his
return to the family. The habit of onanism dates from the time of his
return from the nurse. Vaccinated at 13 months, slight attack of varioloid
at the age of two years; no other infectious diseases. No manifestation of
scrofula; no traumatism.
Objective Examination of the Patient (omitted). — The history is accompanied by
eight photographs of the boy, taken respectively at the ages of 3, 4, 6, 8,
11, 15, and 16 years, three of which, namely, those taken at the ages of
6, 11 and 16, are reproduced on page 278.
DiAEIES
July 2. — He is uncleanly (emissions of fseces and urine). Does not know how to
behave at table; when he eats he spills his food over his clothing. Is
gluttonous but not voracious; he does not steal the food of his companions,
but he protests when he sees food given to others and not to him. Is mis-
trustful, hides his bread for fear that it will be taken from him; and if any
one takes notice of this, he utters a cry of rage. He is affectionate, very
timid, jealous, obstinate, grumbling, somewhat sullen, seldom laughs. Al-
though weak, he fights his companions and frequently falls into fits of
anger; then he flings himself on the floor and beats his head against the furni-
ture. He sways his body forward and backward. His power of speech is
limited to three words: papa, mamma, and no. He is able to make himself
understood when he wants anything.
436 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
August-September. — Two slight attacks of ophthalmia. The child has now
learned to walk.
January-March, 1885. — Otitis (inflammation of the ear).
August. — The ability to speak is developing progressively. He has begun to
give notice of his natural necessities; is seldom uncleanly, so that it is now
possible to let him wear trousers. The habit of balancing his body back and
forth is tending to disappear. The accesses of anger have become rarer.
He is less jealous and plays indiscriminately with his companions.
January, 1886. — The improvement continues. D is now very attentive in
school. When out walking he takes an interest in the things he sees and asks
for explanations. Is doing well in the first gymnastic exercises. Makes a
good appearance.
March. — D has now become altogether cleanly. Furthermore, he knows
how to wash, dress and undress himself alone. At table, can handle his spoon
and fork quite properly, but cannot yet manage his knife. Is less gluttonous ;
his speech is fully developed. Although he cannot keep still in school and
constantly changes his position, he has succeeded in learning to know his
letters, the different colours, etc., can count up to 50, and can name the
greater part of the objects contained in the boxes used for object lessons.
The balancing of the body has completely disappeared. D has a
tendency toward onanism. Accesses of anger are still noted, during which
he is very vulgar.
December. — Condition stationary. Misconduct in class, frequent fits of anger,
during which he abuses everyone and strikes his smaller comrades.
March, 1887. — D is calmer and does better work. Can count up to sixty.
His general knowledge has increased. Can tell his age, his name, the name
of his parents, what their employment is, where they live, etc.
April, 1888. — The improvement continues. His behavior is better. Has
learned the names of materials, of plane surfaces, of solids; can distinguish
vowels from consonants. It has been impossible to induce him to trace
simple strokes even upon the blackboard.
December. — Is more diligent and has taken a fancy to writing.
January-June, 1889. — Is in the infirmary on account of anal ulcers.
December. — Notable improvement in general knowledge. Has begun to write
certain letters in his copybook.
December, 1890. — D 's conduct is good. He is no longer disorderly; and if
at times it is necessary to reprove him, he recognises his fault, cries, and
promises to do better. He fears above all that his misconduct will be
reported to his mother. Has a fairly accurate notion of right and wrong,
is no longer so extremely jealous and shows affection for his comrades.
Has learned to write syllables well; is able to copy short paragraphs; can
do simple sums in addition; gives clear answers to questions. Walking,
running, jumping, going up and down stairs have become easy for him.
The child uses his fork and knife at table; chews his food well, does not
suffer from any digestive disturbance. Is orderly, and attends to himself
in all details of his toilet.
April 21, 1891 : Objective Examination. — The child's face has a uniformly ruddy
complexion; lips full-blooded; skin smooth, without scars or eruptions,
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 437
excepting a slight scaliness due to eczema. Two small ganglia in the left
submaxillary region, but no others in any other locality. Cranium sym-
metrical; volume and form normal. Frontal and parietal nodules slightly
prominent; occipital nodule quite prominent (pentagonoid cranium). Hair
light blonde, abundant, fine, growing low upon the forehead. Posterior
vortex normal, forehead wide, but not high. Visage oval; with a slight
depression of the nostril and corner of the mouth on the right side; has on the '
whole an intelligent express on; it is mobile and reflects the moods and
feelings natural to boyhood. The superciUary arches are only slightly arched.
The eyebrows are chestnut in colour and scanty; the lashes are abundant
and long. Iris dark blue; pupils equal in size and react under the influence of
light. No functional disturbance, and no lesion in regard to the eyes.
Field of vision normal. D • recognises all the colours. Nose small,
and straight, with a pronounced aperture of the nostrils. Zygomata regular,
without exaggerated prominences; naso-labial furrows barely indicated.
Aperture of mouth very wide and habitually half open. Lips thick and
slightly drooping. Tongue normal. Palatine vault distinctly ogival.
Tonsils enlarged; the boy is subject to tonsillitis. All these parts show
quite a blunted sensibility, which permits of an examination of the pharynx,
without causing nausea. Chin rounded, without indentation. Ears long
and thick, the outer edge is normal, including the fold of the helix; the ears
protrude conspicuously from the cranium and are very peculiar in shape;
namely, the upper two-thirds of the external ear form with the lower one-
third an obtuse angle of such nature that the concha or shell really repre-
sents the outline of a very deep and almost hemispherical sea-shell. The
lobule is thick, regular, and notably detached. The ear is the seat of
frequent attacks of erythema, complicated by swelling. Neck rather short
and quite stout; circumference 26 centimetres. The lobes of the thyroid
glands are plainly palpable to the touch.
Thorax and Abdomen. — No notable peculiarities. Auscultation and per-
cussion show that the internal organs are normal. Body is hairless. Genital
organs are normal. The upper and lower limbs are normal in all their
segments.
Icthyosis of the skin on thighs and knees. General sensibility normal;
usual physiological reflex actions.
Treatment. — Regular application of the medico-pedagogical method: tonics
during the winter; hydrotherapy annually, from the first of April to the
first of November.
April 24. — The mother, finding the child much improved, takes him home on
leave (March) and later (end of April) requests his dismissal, which is
granted reluctantly, in the fear that the boy may lose part of what he has
so laboriously gained.
May 19, 1892. — The boy, having become insubordinate and not making satis-
factory progress in the public school (to which he was sent, so that he would
not be present at the scenes between the mother and the father, who is
habitually intoxicated), has been sent back to the asylum.
June. — The physical evolution continues. The child is very timid and sensitive,
cannot ^Cc^r to be reproved and cries when he is corrected. Reads fluently,
438 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
but without expression Has begun to write familiar words from dictation.
During his absence from the asylum he learned to know the numbers and
to do simple examples in addition and subtraction.
Treatment: School work; gynmastics; hydrotherapy ,
July. — D is at present conducting himself in a way difficult to control; he
plays ill-natured jests upon his companions; places needles and tacks in seats;
during the assembly he amuses himself by sticking little pins into the backs
of the girls who sit in front of him.
December. — The boy is very lazy, and often refuses to read or to do his tasks;
he grins and sneers if he is corrected. But he carries out very well all
the movements in the lower gymnastic course. Has been sent to the
tailor's work-shop and seems to have taken a fancy to the trade.
April, 1893. — D has become quite reasonable, does good work in school,
does not like to be inactive, has ceased to grin and sneer. His writing has im-
proved ; his reasoning power is good ; he is careful of his clothes to the point
of vanity; eats with propriety, has ceased to bolt his food; yet it is still
noticed that he has a tendency to appropriate the wine of his companions.
June. — D is passing through a bad period; he laughs at everything that
is said to him, is very obstinate, annoys his comrades, tears up copy-books,
breaks pens, etc. Is careless regarding his clothing; makes a disturbance
at night in the dormitory.
December. — Same state. Tries to smoke; is unwilling to do any work; laughs at
everybody; dresses with great carelessness; it is necessary to compel him to
wash his hands and face. No sign of puberty.
December, 1894. — Notable improvement; D reads quite readily, writes quite
well, recognises all ordinary objects, their use, and their colour; has a
conception of time. Is docile, neat, industrious in school work, is attentive
to explanations and understands them. In the work-shop he continues to
show progress.
January-June, 1895. — The improvement continues; D has begun to learn
the multiplication table; he is well-mannered and scrupulous in his be-
haviour; excellent in gymnastics. In the tailor's work-shop he makes
marked progress; he has already learned to put together an entire garment
by himself, and he knows how to use the machine. From time to time he
has periods of indolence; and this happens more often in the work-shop
than in the class.
Puberty. — A slight down has begun to appear upon his upper lip.
July 8.- — According to the night nurse, D had an attack of epilepsy during
the night; he never had one before, and he has not had one since.
July 10. — Troubled sleep, nightmare, unintelligible and threatening words.
January, 1896. — Very notable improvement in class. The boy profited above
all from the lessons about natural objects, in wh'ch he takes much interest.
From time to time he shows a tendency to dissipation and gambling. Is
docile, cleanly, and neat in personal appearance to the point of vanity.
The master of the work-shop is very much pleased with him; he works well
with the machine. Is doing well in gymnastics and in singing.
Puberty. — His beard has begun to grow even on his cheeks.
June. — Hand-writing, far from improving, seems to be growing \. ?jse. On the
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL
439
contrary, it is noticed that he has made progress in arithmetic. Can per-
form all four primary operations and has begun to solve easy problems.
His general knowledge has improved. Has become a good tailor's workman.
January- June, 1897. — The boy prefers the work-shop to the school and for
some time the mistake has been made of leaving him wholly in the work-shop.
December. — Same state from point of view of his studies; character docile, con-
duct good, personal care and neatness satisfactory. Works well and
rapidly in the work-shop; can make complete suits of clothing; uses the
machine dexterously; is beginning to cut out garments.
Puberty complete, no onanism. The right eyelids are less widely open than
the left by nearly a quarter. The patient says that he does not see so
well with the right eye as with the left, and cannot distinguish with it even
large letters unless they are very near.
TABLE OF WEIGHT AND
STATURE
1890
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
Measurements
>>
>.
>i
>>
>->
>>
^
u
u
u
^
03
03
>.
o3
>^
03
t>>
cS
>5
03
3
C
o3
o3
1-5
3
§
13
;3
3
%
3
•-5
;3
CI
•-5
•-S
•-S
1-5
>-5
*-5
Weight in kilo-
25
34.700
35.200
35
37.800
39.800
44
46
51
53.700
grams.
Stature in
1.22
1.39
1.42
1.42
1.50
1.53
1.58
1.61
1.66
1.69
metres.
MEASUREMENTS OF THE HEAD IN CENTIMETRES
1891
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
o3
[=1
o3
>->
1-5
i
»-5
1-5
o3
1-5
13
Pi
o3
•-5
1-5
03
1-5
Maximum horizontal circumfer-
ence.
Anterior semi-circumference
Distance from the occipito-atlan-
toid articulation to the root of
nose.
Maximum antero-posterior di-
ameter.
Maximum biauricular diameter.. .
Maximum biparietal diameter
Maximum bitemporal diameter. . .
Medial height of forehead
50.2
33
36
17.5
11
13.5
50.2
33
36
17.8
12
14
50.2
33
36
17.8
12
14
52
33
36
18
12.5
14.5
52
33
36
18
12.5
14.5
11
5
52
33
36
18
12.5
14.5
11
5
52
33
36
18
12.2
14.5
11
5
52
33
36
19
12.5
14.5
11.5
5
52
33
36
19
12.5
14.5
11.5
6
54
34
37
19
13
14.5
12
6
5
5
5
5
440 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
In the antecedents of this patient, the only suggestions of de-
generation are the alcoholism of the father and the fact that con-
ception took place in a state of intoxication. The mother's mi-
graine might also be considered as a nervous malady amounting
to a family taint, but cannot be held responsible for so grave an
abnormality as idiocy.
Consequently, it remains beyond doubt that the most inter-
esting antecedent fact to be considered in this case is the concep-
tion during alcoholic intoxication.
The individual we are studying is a sick person; this is shown
by ptosis (drooping eye-lid), the recurrent periods of agitation, the
epileptic convulsion in the night detected by the night nurse.
It is interesting to observe in the photographs of the child,
the alteration of expression between the periods of calm and those
of agitation; in the latter the face is asymmetrical and shows con-
tractions in the left facial region, while the right side is paretic;
the paresis is also manifested by ptosis (drooping lids). During
the periods of calm, on the contrary, the left side also is atonic.
In the course of the history the differences in the child's con-
duct in the two states are well described.
During the periods of calm, the child is attentive, docile, care-
ful of his dress, timid, and makes progress in his studies; during
the periods of agitation he is unstable, rebellious, careless, unkind
to his comrades, and makes no progress whatever. At the begin-
ning, there were no periods of calm at all; furthermore, the child
had every appearance of being an idiot; medico-pedagogic treat-
ment rendered longer and more frequent, and finally permanent,
these periods of calm, during which the child's intellectual re-
demption became possible. The treatment did not consist solely
in the education of an idiot, but also in the cure of a sick child. ^' At
the time of admission," according to the observations in the record,
^Hhe diagnosis was retarded mentality, and that only in relation to
primary instruction, because in regard to matters of common
knowledge and manual work, the patient comes very near to a
normal lad of average intelligence."
Such a surprising transformation of an individual is certainly
deserving of admiration ; but this diligently compiled study is not
yet quite completed. As a matter of fact, when the education of
D was begun, observations regarding types of stature were
not yet. made; but his, photographs show th^t he was an exagger-
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 441
ated macroscelous type. The trade adopted by D which
will oblige him to sit with his chest bowed over the machine, or
in a kneeling position while he sews, will in all probability drive
him straight along the road to tuberculosis, a malady to which his
organism has singularly predisposed him. It would be interesting
to follow further the history of this patient, who has been trans-
formed from an idiot into a skilful and industrious workman.
The society, which under the guidance of science, achieved his
difficult redemption, has perhaps at the same time condemned
him to death.
The modern standards of pedagogical anthropology would have
furnished a more far-sighted guidance in the choice of a vocation.
Meanwhile, however, this history reported by Thulie is a
luminous demonstration of the folly of rewards and punish-
ments; the only forms of intervention during the periods of agi-
tation, which lasted for entire months, during which the boy was
continually unruly, impulsive, malicious, reckless, and incapable
of work, were tonics, hydrotherapy and kindly treatment.
'^Punishments" would have cruelly wrecked the life of a
human being who was naturally gentle, affectionate, and capable
of diligent work and permanent improvement.
Something similar ought to be attempted in the reformatories.
The boys who are regarded as incorrigible are frequently sick boys,
with an hereditary degenerative taint, and need to live in a tran-
quil environment and to receive medical treatment.
The biographic charts of the reformatories give no evidence
that this educative movement has as yet been understood. They
show that punishments are still regarded as possessing a corrective
efficacy, because the conception that the so-called delinquent
children may be a pathological product and a result of disastrous
family and social conditions, has not yet penetrated with sufficient
clearness.
But progress along this path is surely bound to come as a
result of the experience which this principle of reform has made
possible.
The biographic charts have unquestionably laid the foundations
of a new edifice in pedagogy.
Scientific Pedagogical Advantages of Biographic Histories:
L The biographic chart takes the place of the report cards
and records of the relative marks of merit and demerit ; for while
442 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
these records and reports constituted a statement of effects, alto-
gether empirical, the biographic chart investigates the causes
and in this way furnishes pedagogy with a scientific basis. There
is no need of further demonstration. The principal consequences
of the above indicated progress are two in number.
2. The biographic chart, replacing the earlier classifications,
raises the teacher's standard of culture by directing him along a
scientific path, associates the teacher's work with that of the
physician, and makes the teacher a far-sighted director of the
development and perfectioning of the new generations.
3. The biographic chart includes a new educative movement
which abolishes rewards and punishments.
On this third point much might be said, since it touches upon one of the
fundamental doctrines of pedagogical progress. But since this is not a treatise
upon scientific pedagogy, it is necessary to limit the exposition to a few funda-
mental points.
In fact, it will be sufficient to speak of cases in which education is most
difficult and where the rewards and punishments are unavailing — ^for these will
include all simpler cases. A luminous example is furnished by the education of
new-born infants. Of all human beings they used to be the most troublesome
because of the impossibility of educating them by the old-fashioned methods.
They cried at all hours of the day and night, making a slave of the mother or
whoever took her place.
To-day, babies are quiet; it is marvelous to go through the infant ward in
the Obstetrical Clinic of Rome; absolute silence reigns there, and yet if we
lift up the white curtains of the cribs, we see the little ones lying with their
eyes wide open. A deeper knowledge than was formerly had of the hygiene of
the child has enabled us to interpret his needs, and when these are satisfied, the
child is tranquil. Bodily cleanliness, liberty of movement, prolonged repose in
the crib, and rational feeding have obtained this remarkable result of silencing
the baby, of rendering it more robust and of liberating the mother from the slavery
of her mission. The classic cry of the child in swaddling bands was a protest
against the suffering which ignorance imposed upon him. To-day the little one,
lying tranquilly in his crib, begins to exercise his senses earlier and more easily,
a ray of light strikes him and attracts his attention, and with this his education
has begun, while formerly the suffering due to indigestion kept him for a much
longer time a stranger to the external world.
The same thing may be repeated for every year of childhood. Often what we
call naughtiness on the part of the individual child is rebellion against our own
mistakes in educating him. The coercive means which we adopt toward children
are what destroy their natural tranquility. A healthy child, in his moments of
freedom, succeeds in escaping from the toys inflicted upon him by his parents,
and in securing some object which arouses the investigating instinct of his mind;
a worm, an insect, some pebbles, etc.; he is silent, tranquil and attentive. If the
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 443
child is not well, or if his mother obliges him to remain seated in a chair, playing
with a doll, he becomes restless, cries, or gives way to convulsive outbursts ("bad
temper"). The mother beUeves that educating her child means forcing him to
do what is pleasing to her, however far she may be from knowing what the child's
real needs are, and unfortunately we must make the same statement regarding
the school-teachers! Then, in order to make him yield to coercion, she punishes
the child when he rebels and rewards him when he is obedient. By this method
we drive a child by force along paths that are not natural to him. In the same
way, absolute governments employed public entertainments and the gallows, in
order to compel the people to act and think according to the will of their sover-
eign; indeed, they were considered as indispensable means of good government.
To-day we have come to reahse that such means are more or less adapted to the
successful crushing of a people's spirit, but not to governing them well. The reign
of liberty, which leaves men the opportunity to give expression to their own powers
and above all to their own thoughts, is doing away with festivals and executions;
and it is not until this is accomplished that men can be really well governed.
Something similar is going to take place in the schools. But here, since the
children are incapable of understanding what they ought to do for their own best
good, science studies them in order to assist their natural needs.
I believe that we must greatly modify our ideas regarding infant psychology,
as soon as trained psychologists begin to observe the spontaneous manifestations
of children, to the end of encouraging their tendencies.
Having applied scientific methods in the "Children's Houses," we were
amazed at the behaviour of those little children; for instance, they showed con-
tempt for toys, while they loved objects on which they could exercise their free
powers of reason.
Intellectual exercise is the most pleading of all to the small child if he is in good
health. Indeed, we already know that children break their toys in order to
see how they are made inside; this shows that the exercise of their intellect
interests them more than playing with an object that is often irrational. But
children are not, as is generally believed, naturally destructive; on the contrary,
their instinct is to preserve. This is seen in the way in which they save little
objects that they have acquired by themselves; and in the "Children's Houses,"
we have also seen it in the way that they preserve unharmed even the most
trivial scrap of paper, although free to tear it up, so long as that scrap of paper
helps them to exercise their thoughts.
Here we see the great difference between the healthy, normal child who
employs himself in the way that pleases him, and is attentive and tranquil; and
another child who, equally healthy and normal, is obliged to do what other
people wish him to do, and is restless, and troublesome and cries.
To aid the physical development of the child under the guidance of natural
laws is to favour his health and his growth; to aid his natural psychic tendencies
is to render him more intelligent.
This principle has been intuitively recognised by all pedagogists, but the
practical application of it was not possible, excepting under the guidance of
scientific pedagogy, founded upon a direct knowledge of the human individual.
To-day it is possible Jor us to establish a regime of liberty in our schools, and
consequently it is our duty to do so.
444 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Whenever a child exhibits anomahes of character that do not signify rebellion
against irrational methods of education, and are not expressions of a struggle
for liberty, he represents the unhappy effect of some pathological cause, or of
some social error, that has only too fatally accomplished its corruptive task.
This is what the biographic history will reveal!
As a general rule, a bad child should be taken to see a physician, because it is
almost certain that he is a sick child.
But the treatment of such maladies is very often mainly pedagogical ; curative
pedagogy, however, must absolutely abolish punishment.
We now know as a fact absolutely established in sociology that the fear of
punishment, of torture and even of death does not avail to diminish crime, nor
the imperious manifestation of human passions.
Brigandage is not repressed by cutting off heads, but by civilization in all its
forms of industry, intercommunication, etc.
And this principle is especially true in the case of children; harshness of
methods and severity of punishment will not avail to inculcate, and still less
to create, goodness. Man is conquered through kindness and gentleness; among
all the beatitudes, that of inheriting the earth {i.e., of winning over their fellow-
men) is given to the meek: blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
We know that hypocrisy, adulation and seduction are criminal means by
which man seeks to deceive his fellow men to his own profit; but they are based
upon gentleness; it would never occur to anyone to seduce and to conquer
hypocritically, with the help of violence. Because the weak point in man, that
to which he is most susceptible, is gentleness, praise, caresses. We have seen
that the psychic stimulus needed to augment human activity, to arouse an
apathetic person to action, and even to produce a condition of flourishing
growth in a child, is the pleasant stimulus of kindness and caresses. The
mother's caress, like the mother's milk, is a means of stimulating the child to a
more complete nutrition and vitality. And the entire category of physiological
weaklings, such as the defectives, epileptics and criminals, have a proportionately
greater need of such stimulus than normal individuals; consequently, how can
coercion ever be expected to restore such unbalanced personalities to their
proper equihbrium? Those whom we have been in the habit of oppressing with
severity and punishment are the very ones most in need of the stimulus of
affection. Indeed, it is only the strong man and the hero who can pass un-
scathed through persecution; the weak are left broken, down-trodden, or slain.
Sursum Corda. — Always strive to uplift, never to depress.
A beautiful theory and a humane idea. But is it practicable, and to what
extent? In short, what can be done practically, for instance, in the exceedingly
difficult case of juvenile delinquents, in order to correct their evil tendencies
and save them from their waywardness, without coercion?
But what are evil tendencies of the mind? With that one phrase we are
trying to embrace and ostensibly bind together a quantity of widely different
effects.
The study of the individual should suggest to us the particular method of
education required by him. Meanwhile, in regard to the question of juvenile
delinquents, a wide road leading straight back to first causes, has been opened
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 445
by the pathological factor. Who, for instance, does not know that the conduct
and the sentiments of an individual may become unbalanced through the effects
of poison or disease? This takes us at once into the field of nervous or mental
pathology: the first symptom of paralytic dementia is not the trembling, or
alteration of speech, or interruption of certain reflex actions, or muscular weak-
ness, nor the real and actual delirium. The symptom which first manifests
itself as an indication of profound disturbance in the personality of the un-
fortunate victim of this cruel disease is an almost unheralded alteration of the
natural character and conduct. The man who hitherto has been a good husband
and father, becomes a profligate, spendthrift and gambler; the man who has
hitherto been most scrupulous in his language and in his sexual conduct becomes
foul-mouthed and obscene; the man who was a kind and affectionate husband
becomes violent and aggressive toward his wife. Anyone wishing to consider
these preliminary symptoms of paralytic dementia as evil tendencies of the mind,
would strive in vain with appropriate sermons, reproofs and punishments to
make the sick man repent and come back to his former state!
Let us pass on to another example. There is no one who is not aware of
the effects of alcohol. There are persons who, when in a state of intoxication,
commit actions that are worse than reprehensible, even criminal; actions which
the individual himself deplores as soon as the poisonous effects have passed
away. Kind-hearted persons go so far as to maltreat their own children, even
when they are little babies; they commit violent and degrading acts that often
make them shed tears of repentance as soon as they become aware of them.
WeH, if we should try to make such a person understand, while he is still in a state
of intoxication, that his actions are improper, it would be wasted effort. It is
better to let the matter pass, or else to give him treatment for his alcoholic
condition, which is the cause of his misconduct.
And passing on to another class of cases, does not everyone know that when
people are afflicted with a diseased liver, their character alters, they become
jealous, quarrelsome, hypochondriac, melancholy? It would be useless to tell
such persons that they were formerly more tractable and morally sujjerior; they
are already sufficiently afflicted Vidthout having us, who are in good health,
aggravate them with our useless preaching. And analogously, it is well known
that when hysteria attacks a woman it may transform her from a virtuous
and modest person to an unhappy creature, compelled by her physical condition
to forget herself and compromise the unquestioned propriety of her past life;
or again, it may change her from a gentle soul to an insupportable fury, or it
may actually develop into such pronounced delirium as to necessitate her con-
finement in an insane asylum. In this case also, it is the malady that demands
treatment, since it is the sole cause of the sad manifestations of a change in
character.
Now, the pathological cause most frequently associated with criminal mani-
festations, is undoubtedly epilepsy. Lombroso himself attributed a vast influ-
ence to this etiological factor of criminality; and every day this far-sighted
intuition of the master is confirmed and made clearer. The epileptic is not
always a criminal, nor does the criminal always show the classic convulsive
symptoms. There are cases of epilepsy in which the symptoms are attenuated
29
446 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
or latent or replaced by different but equivalent symptoms. It is frequently
necessary to diagnose an epileptic character from impulsive tendencies and from
long protracted nocturnal enuresis in childhood. De Sanctis has lately been able
to prove in his hospital practice that there are many claildren who have un-
mistakable epilepsy of the classic type, with violent accesses, but without
criminal tendencies; at a certain age the convulsions cease, the patient is appar-
ently cured: but he has become a criminal. On the other hand, there are children
with immoral tendencies, destructive, violent, incorrigible; one would say that
these were clear cases of predisposition to crime; all at once a genuine epileptic
attack occurs, followed by other repeated attacks; the criminal tendencies dis-
appear; the patient is simply an epileptic. In these cases, we have successive
forms of epileptic equivalence. In the majority of cases, therefore, the proper
course would be to treat the patient for epilepsy, as being the cause of the apparent
"evil tendencies of mind." And hence one notable side of the great problem
of the moral education of juvenile criminals is transformed fundamentally into
this other problem: "Can epilepsy be treated and cured?"
Up to the present, the treatment of epilepsy is a problem. While thera-
peutics prescribe bromides and warm baths, pedagogy is to-day following a
very different course with a combined treatment of hygiene and education.
Benedickt, and following him, the principal authorities among medical specialists,
are at present condemning the use of depressing bromides, which hide the attacks
as an anesthetic hides pain, but do not cure them. The cure, says Benedickt,
depends upon hygienic life in the open air in order to absorb the poisons, and upon
graded work, provided, however, that the malady is still recent and has not
assumed a chronic form. Two principles of much importance: the malady must
be of recent occurrence! Consequently, it is only in the period of childhood that we
can attempt the treatment of the great majority of those predisposed to crime,
with any hope of effecting a cure! A declaration of tremendous interest for the
defense of society. But the treatment must be pedagogic. Accordingly, we have
returned to the point of departure. We began by asking: "How are we to edu-
cate them"? A course of reasoning led us along this different road, "it is neces-
sary to give them treatment." But the treatment consists in educating them.
Well, from all this we can so far extract one unassailable principle; in their edu-
cation all coercive measures must be absolutely abolished, because nervous and
convulsive maladies are most successfully treated with gentleness and quiet ; it is
evident that all emotion, all fear, all nervous exhaustion, all punishment in short,
no matter how mild or just it may be, would seem to be prohibited in pedagogic
treatment.
Accordingly, it is necessary to approach the question anew; what is needed is
to set the nervous system in order, to calm it, to restore its equilibrium. Bene-
dickt says : this is to be achieved through work, rationally measured and graded ;
hence, manual training, as organised, for example, in the Reformatory of San
Michele, constitutes of itself a moral cure; it concurs in readjusting the nervous
system by reinforcing it.
However, we must not generalise over such complex questions; if the patho-
logical factor, and more especially epilepsy, constitutes a great centre of biologic
causes producing individuals predisposed to crime, we cannot conclude that
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 447
there is a constant correspondence between epilepsy and criminality. But
there is no doubt that among these predisposed we shall almost always find some
who are suffering from a taint, or from dystrophy, due to tuberculosis or syphilis;
in short, the minus habens, the physiological proletariat.
The benefit wrought by education consists not only in contributing to the
real and actual cure, as in the case of epilepsy; but also in the corrective, as
well as curative, effect upon the personality. The abnormal mentality which
generally accompanies degenerate or epileptic conditions requires special methods
of education, which in many cases must absolutely exclude all forms of coercion.
Mental hygiene, an abundance of psychic stimulus, partly intellectual (chiefly
through objective demonstration) and partly moral (in the form of praise and
gentle caressing treatment), are indispensable accompaniments of such education.
An abnormal mentality almost always accompanies defects of the mind; from the
hypochondriac or the epileptic to the imbecile and the idiot, the abnormal men-
tality builds itself up from inaccurate perceptions, and hence more or less from
illusions; a deficiency of reasoning power or a half delirious condition completes
the fatal organisation of a mode of thought which renders such an individual
unfitted for his environment. We have seen an example of this in the boy whose
clinical history was read in class; his perceptions were inexact, consequently
colours, odours, and sounds reached him in a manner somewhat different from our
perception of them; his mental world must therefore be differently constructed
from ours. Defectives frequently pass by objects without obtaining any impres-
sion of them, or else transform what impression they do get into a false idea.
Even their sensations of touch and pain are different from the normal. Hence,
they do not feel as we do, and are often inaccessible to the anguish of pain which
refines human nature by sometimes raising it to the point of heroism. And
because we have learned through our own sufferings to understand the meaning
of pity, altruism and solidarity, these unhappy beings differ from us even in
their relation to society. Their scanty powers of logic lead them to fall openly
into errors, which provoke vindictive retaliation on our part that tends in the
ultimate analysis to isolate these unfit beings from social intercourse.
To us, their whole conversation is a series of falsehoods, because it does not
correspond to what we ourselves see and feel. An understanding between them
and us becomes steadily more difficult, in proportion as we continue to perfect
ourselves in our individual evolution, while their unhappy state is steadily
aggravated through the formidable struggles and persecutions which they meet in
an environment to which they are unadaptable. For instance, we saw that one
of the boys who has been studied in class, had committed his most reprehensible
acts as a result of false logic. "Why do you kill all the pigeons?" "To make
them keep still." "Why do you beat your little sister?" ."Because she won't
work like the others." (The sister in question was only eighteen months old!)
Well, he showed in this way that he had learned something from the corrections
that he had received. They had punished him so much for being restless, and so
much because he did not want to work, that he finally applied his acquired zeal
to correcting others in the way that his defective logic dictated. And similarly,
after seeing how they weigh objects with a steel-yard — also a form of work — it
occurred to him to stick the hook into his little sister, in order to weigh her; and
448 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
having learned that useful work is paid for in money, which serves to buy the
necessities of life, he stole all the money that he could find at home, and gave it
to the motormen on the tram-cars, who in his opinion perform the most useful
work in the world.
I once had occasion to study a paranoiac patient in the asylum for the
criminal insane, who had spent twenty years in prison before his insanity became
so pronounced as to cause his removal from one place of restraint to the other.
He had killed his betrothed, out of jealousy, so he said, but he narrated the
tragic deed with a fullness of detail and a readiness of phrase — his lurking in
ambush, the unfortunate girl's approach, her fall under the blows of the cobbler's
knife — ^that proved the cold-blooded calculation with which the crime was
committed.
This man was convinced that he possessed such oratorical gifts that if he
had pleaded his own case in place of his attorney, the persuasive magic of his
eloquence would have resulted in his acquittal. The lawyer had advised him not
to speak and the prisoner was sentenced to a term of thirty years. The appeal
to the Court of Cassation was denied. The result was that in his desperation
at the failure of his defence, and more particularly because he had lost the chance
of showing his oratorical powers in public, he conceived the idea that the only
way by which he could come into court again, and speak for himself, and force
them to acquit him, was to commit another murder. And he actually sprang
at his lawyer's throat, armed with a nail, meaning to kill him. Thus we see
how paranoiac delirium, and defective reasoning powers, sad evidences of
pathological conditions, combined to create the most cynical and repellant of
all criminal types.
Accordingly the treatment of the pathological condition, and the education
of the mentality in children who are thus predisposed, constitute a great work
on behalf of the defence of society.
Well, this is precisely what scientific pedagogy is trjdng to do, through a
rational education of the senses: to correct false perceptions and straighten out
the warped and twisted mentality of abnormal children; and little by little,
through repetition of the same lessons under different forms, and the establish-
ment of a cooperation of all the senses, the perception of objects tends to ap-
proach nearer and nearer to the normal. Meanwhile, hygienic or medical treat-
ment may be used to correct the accompanying physical defects.
Accordingly, we are able to modify an abnormal personality by means of
rational medico-pedagogic treatment; and it is by this means alone, and not
through destructive coercion, that we may hope to approach the greatly
desired goal.
Lastly, it is also necessary, in the etiology of crime, to take into consideration
the environment, the bad example, the brutality, the absence of affection, all of
which are things which might well pervert the mind of even a normal individual;
and when such conditions exist, the removal of the transgressor to a different
environment where he may have the benefit of physical, intellectual and moral
hygiene, may result in completely transforming him. In these sad cases nothing
short of the profoundest love will serve to redeem and even transform into a
hero the man who has fallen into evil ways through misfortune.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 449
No one can any longer believe that coercive measures should be added to the
cruelty of the environment which oppresses the transgressor. If he has gone
astray in the midst of sorrow it will be only through consolation that he can be
born again to a new life; if he lost the straight path amid arid wastes, nothing
short of a purifying and assuaging spiritual water will enable him to recover
his path. As a sign of our humanity let us keep a smile upon our lips and our
hearts free of all harshness of offense or defense; our weapons are intelligence
and love and it is only by these weapons that we can become conquerors.
But, it may be answered, granted that the education of abnormal persons,
and more especially juvenile delinquents, constitutes a complex work in which
medicine, a special environment, and the methods of scientific pedagogy contrib-
ute harmoniously through diverse ways to the ultimate goal: yet in actual
practice how are we to intervene to render docile these rebels whom society
itself, with all the forces at its disposal, recognises as dangerous and condemns
to isolation? In short, it is argued, a more direct method will be required for
their moral education; a clear-cut method to offset that equally direct form
consisting of coercion and punishment that are now the consequence of the
reprehensible act. Under all the conditions to be considered in regard to the
-biopathological factors and the social environment, there stiU remains another
element and the most evident of all, namely, the immediate and practical in-
fluence exerted directly upon the minds of wayward children. We may say
quite truly that beneath the pathological facts and the social injustices, there
exists something more profound which, for the sake of simplicity we may call
the soul of humanity. Something which responds from soul to soul, which may
be aroused from the depths of subconsciousness like a surprise, which may be
touched and reveal itself in an outburst of affection previously hidden and un-
suspected. Unknown profoundities of the spirit, that seem to merge into the
eternity of the universe itself and unexpectedly produce new forms as in a
chemical reaction. And this is what we really mean by "moral education."
Well, in order to accomplish such a lofty work, we do not need to find a
method. Method is always more or less mechanical. Here, on the contrary, is
the supreme expression of human life — an evocation of the superman. What we
need to find is not a method, but a Master.
Seguin, in his glorious treatise on scientific pedagogy, dedicates a chapter to
the training of the teacher of defective children. The teacher of abnormal pupils
is not an educator, he is a creator; he must have been born with special gifts, as
well as to have perfected himself for this high task. He ought, says Seguin,
to be handsome in person, and strong as well, so that he may attract and yet
command; his glance should be serene, like that of one who has gained victories
through faith and has attained enduring peace; his manner should be imperturb-
able as that of one not easily persuaded to change his mind. In short, he ought to
feel beneath him the solid roc-k, the foundation of granite on which his feet are
planted and his steps assured. From this solid base, he should rise command-
ingly, like a magician. His voice should be gentle, melodious, and flexible, with
bursts of silvery and resounding eloquence, but always without harshness.
Seguin describes the methods by which the teacher should educate his own voice,
speech and gesture; he should take a course in facial expression and declamation,
450 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
like a great actor who is preparing to win favor of the select and critical public
of the proudest capital.
For, as a matter of fact, he must attract the minds and souls of human
beings who are almost inaccessible, beings who form whole armies in the world,
entire peoples, they are so numerous; powerful human armies that threaten
society with terrible punishment and bring about cruel executions.
But the perfect teacher must possess something more than physical beauty
and acquired art; he must have the loftiness of a soul ardent for its mission;
yet even this may be cultivated and perfected. The, teacher must "perfect
himself" in his moral nature. There are men, who from the moment they
make their appearance, exert a sort of fascination; everyone else becomes silent
in their presence. It is almost as though some natural fluid emanated from them
and spread to the others, so profoundly does everyone feel the attraction.
When such a man speaks, the words seem, as if by magic, to touch the pro-
foundest recesses of the ^heart. Hypnotists and magicans! Conquerers of souls!
Valient souls themselves; souls with a great mission!
Well, this is more or less what is demanded of the teacher of abnormal
children. He ought to be conscious of his personal dignity and human virtue,
and of a sincere love for the children whom it is his task to redeem; his own
greatness must overcome their wretchedness. And if he continues to perfect
himself and to mount toward the moral altitudes, cultivating at the same time
a love for his own mission, he will, as if by magic, become an educator; he will
feel that a magic power of suggestion goes forth from him and conquers; the
work of redemption will then seem to accomplish itself like a conflagration
which has been kindled from some central point and spreads in rolling flames
through the dried undergrowth.
Undoubtedly, the guidance of science is not everything to a teacher; the-
better part is given him through his own moral perfectionment.
4. The biographic history completes the individual study of
the pupil and prepares for his diagnosis: combining, to this end,
the work of the school with that of the home.
Sergi, in his memorable work, First Steps in Scientific Pedagogy,
expresses himself as follows: "the biographic chart is a methodical
means for learning to know the body and spirit of the pupil through
direct observations. . . . And, since pupils may be classified
according to tendencies, character and intelligence, the master
may rationally divide them into various groups, to which he will
give varied treatment, according to the direction in which each
group shows the greatest need of education. . . . And he will
place himself in closer association with the pupils' families, who
should communicate to him their earliest observations regarding
the physical and psychological nature of their children."
As a matter of fact, the anthropological movement, through
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 451
the inquiries necessitated by the compilation of biographic charts,
often proves illuminating to the members of the family, in regard
to facts and conditions of which they had hitherto remained igno-
rant (sexual hygiene); in regard to the view they should take of
their own children (those who had been regarded as ''bad," and
who were really ilU), in regard to the way they should watch
over them and take care of them, etc. Hence it has made a begin-
ning of the practical application of a pedagogic principal that
hitherto has only been abstractly visioned, of coordinating the
educative work of the family with that of the school. A peda-
gogic institution which practically realizes this conception, which
was hitherto only a Utopian dream of pedagogy, is the ''Children's
House;" because by having school in the home and by having
teachers and mothers living together, it results in harmonizing the
environment of the family with that of the school, for the further-
ance of the great mission of education.
5. The biographic chart will furnish everyone with a docu-
ment capable of guiding him in his own subsequent self-education.
Sergi says further in the work above quoted:
"The biographic chart should become a 'precious document to
every man, if the sort of record of which I speak were continued
through a series of years, from the kindergartens upward through
the entire course of the secondary schools, because it would con-
tain, in compact and methodical form, the history of his physical
and mental life, and he would find it of inestimable advantage
both in practical life and in his various social relations."
6. Lastly, the biographic chart with its gathering of positive
data, prepares a great body of scientific material which will be
useful, not alone to pedagogy, but also to sociology, medicine, and
jurisprudence."
And in the same aforesaid work, Sergi adds: "If, for example,
we should gather" (under the guidance of his biographic chart)
"biographic notes in the city of Rome alone and in the elementary
schools for both sexes, we should have for a single year, an average
of fifty thousand observations, taken on entering and leaving
school; if we could have them throughout the whole course of
elementary instruction, the number of observations would amount
to two hundred and fifty thousand.
"Then we should be able to see in every social class all the
individual variations in physical and physiological condition which
452 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
contribute to the development of the intelligence and to the manifes-
tations of sentiments which play an active part in practical life.
And all this would have a value of a sociological character."
This conception of Sergi's is precisely one of the scientific aspects of bio-
graphic histories that is of the highest importance, provided that they could
be recorded in so simple a manner as to render the researches practically possible,
and provided, also, that they could be gathered with a scientific uniformity of
method designed to render international researches harmonious. We are certainly
still very far removed from the time when international pedagogical congresses
will be held for the purpose of establishing a single model form of biographic
chart for each of the various grades in school; and also an agreement as to the
technical method of taking the anthropological measurements! Before arriving
at this point it will be necessary to make many tentative efforts and experiments.
But a truly scientific sociology, as well as pedagogy, ought to emanate from
such a study of human beings in the course of formation, because such an enor-
mously large number of observations as could be gathered in school, will reveal
to us the biologico-social mechanism through which those activities are formed
that are destined to promote the progress of humanity and civilisation (the new
generations).
Medicine and the biological sciences in general entered upon a new era of
exceedingly rapid progress when the microscope made possible the study of
histology and bacteriology; well, the researches in regard to the individual consti-
tute the histology and bacteriology of social science! When Le Play, in his
great work, Les Ouvriers Europeens, instituted the "family monograph," i.e.,
the study of household accounts as a basis for "positive sociology," he was con-
sidered as the founder of a true social science. Because the true needs of men, the
mechanism through which are determined the various personalities that after-
ward react upon society as creative or destructive forces, can be discovered only
through studying minutely such needs and mechanisms, individual by individual,
family by family. If Le Play's method, and consequently positive social science,
have not as yet made much progress, this is because of the difficulty of
penetrating within the family in order to study it.
From the bio-psychological point of view, if not from that of the family
account book, the biographic chart of the schools is nevertheless a practical
means of contributing to social histology; it is a field open to research and one
which must be crossed by every one of the individuals who constitute society.
Furthermore, it constitutes a foundation for social embryogeny; because in the
school we may study the genesis of separate individuals; the causes which molded
their congenital personality, and those which brought about its definitive for-
mation. In the words of Le Play, indorsed by Bodio, this is the only positive
material from which the legislator may draw his inspiration in order to become
a true dispenser of justice to the people and to conduct the far-sighted reforms
that are really necessary for the welfare of society.
Consequently, the anthropologic movement in pedagogy marks an aspect of
scientific reform which is universal.
A direct contribution to pedagogy and at the same time to scientific sociology
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE PUPIL 453
is given by the biographic charts in the ''Cliildren's Houses." Since this is a
case of school within the home, where the mistress, being domiciled with her
scholars, has them under her charge from the age of two or three years, and
where there is a permanent resident physician to aid in the compilation of the
biographic charts, it is evident that there is a chance of practically applying
both the pedagogic plans for studying the pupil, and the social plans of Le Play,
who by means of family monographs based upon the family account book,
proposed to obtain nothing more nor less than an index of morality, culture,
and individual needs! And as a matter of fact, the manner of spending the
salary, the savings, the squanderings, the purpose for which money is spent,
whether it is for low vices, or for vanity, or for aesthetic or intellectual pleasures
in general, etc., reveal the state of civilisation and morality in which people
live. In the "Children's Houses" such a study of the family is easy because
it is revealed of its oivn accord, since the families are in contact with the school;
consequently, these "Children's Houses" may serve to lay a true and practical
foundation for embryogenesis and social histology. In short, the importance of
research regarding the individual goes far beyond the school; it leads the way to
every kind of social reform.
Even medicine, like every other science, is going to build up a firmer scientific
basis through the help of the biographic charts of the schools: Professor De
Sanctis has drawn up models for examinations, mainly of a medical nature, to
be used in his asylum-schools for defectives; and by thus following the develop-
ment of the pupils, he has succeeded in throwing positive light upon the bio-
pathological mechanism through which an abnormal psycopathic or neuropathic
personality develops ; while psychiatry or neuropathology formerly recorded noth-
ing more of such an abnormal personality than the episode of the moment at
which the adult patient presented himself at the clinic. Even the individual
criminal has now come to be studied in relation to his genesis, and jurists who are
seeking a scientific basis for their enactments, should not neglect the individual
studies that are being compiled in the schools for defectives. The biographic
chart introduced into the government reformatories in Italy will also furnish a
direct contribution to social histology, in regard to the genesis of criminal
personalities.
Consequently, the reform which has begun with the introduction of an anthro-
pological movement into the school and the establishment of biographic charts,
is nothing less than a reform of science as a whole. Medicine, jurisprudence,
and sociology as well as pedagogy, are laying new foundations upon it.
CHAPTER X
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY TO ANTHROPOLOGY FOR THE
PURPOSE OF DETERMINING THE MEDIAL MEN
Theory of the Medial Man. — Measurements are used not only
in anthropology but in zoology and botany as well; that is, they
are applied to all living creatures; therefore anthropometry might
to-day be regarded as a branch of biometry. The measurements
obtained from living beings, and the statistical and mathematical
studies based upon them, tend to determine the normality of
characteristics; and when the biometric method is applied to man,
it leads to a determination of the normal dimensions, and hence of
the normal forms, and to a reconstruction of the medial man that
must be regarded as the man of perfect development, from whom
all men actually existing must differ to a greater or less extent,
through their infinite normal and pathological variations.
This sort of touch-stone is of indisputable scientific utility,
since we cannot judge of deviations from the norm, so long as
normality is unknown to us. In fact, when we speak of nor-
mality and of anomalies, we are using language that is far from
exact, and to which there are no clear and positive corresponding
ideas.
Whatever has been accomplished in anthropology up to the
present time in the study of the morphology of degenerates and
abnormals, has served only to illustrate this principle very vaguely
— that the form undergoes alteration in the case of pathological in-
dividuals. It is only now that we are beginning to give definite
meaning to this principle, by seeking to determine what the form
is, when it has not undergone any alteration at all. From this
fundamental point a new beginning must be made, on more certain
and positive bases, of the study of deviations from normality and
their etiology.
As far back as 1835, Qu^telet, in his great philosophical and
statistical work, Social Physics or the Development of the Faculties
of Man, for the first time expounded the theory of the ''medial
man," founded on statistical studies and on the mathematical
454
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY 455
laws of errors. He reached some very exact concepts of the
morphology of the medial man, based upon measurements, and
also of the intellectual and moral qualities of the medial man,
expounding an interesting theory regarding genius.
But inasmuch as Quetelet's homme moyen was, so to speak,
at once a mathematical and philosophical reconstruction of the
non-existent perfect man, who furthermore could not possibly exist,
this classical and masterly study by the great statistician was
strenuously combatted and then forgotten, so far as its funda-
mental concepts were concerned, and remembered only as a scien-
tific absurdity. The thought of that period was too analytical
to linger over the great, the supreme synthesis expounded by
Quetelet.
Mankind must needs grow weary of anatomising bodies and
tracing back to origins, before returning to an observation of the
whole rather than the parts, and to a contemplation of the future.
In fact, the thought of the nineteenth century was so imbued with
the evolutionary theories as set forth by Charles Darwin, that it
believed the reconstruction of the Pithecanthropus erectus from a
doubtful bone a more positive achievement than that of the
medial man from the study of millions of living men.
But to-day the researches that we have accomplished in the
biological field regarding evolution, regarding natural heredity,
regarding individual variability, are leading biology as a whole
toward eminently synthetic conclusions; and studies which
remained neglected or which were combatted in the past, are be-
ginning to be brought into notice and properly appreciated:
such studies, for instance, as Mendel's theory and that of Quetelet.
Galton, Pearson, Davenport, Dunker, Heinke, Ludwig, and above
all others De Vries, are in the advance guard of modern biological
thought. But beyond all these scientists, there is one who has an
interest for us not only because he is an Italian, but because he
has reestablished Quetelet's ancient theory of the medial man,
under the present-day guidance of biometry : I mean Prof. Giacinto
Viola.
The Importance of Seriation. — Under the statistical method,
the basis of biometry is furnished by a regrouping of measurements
in the form of series. We have seen that Quetelet's binomial
curve represents the symmetrical distribution of subjects in
relation to some one central anthropometric measurement.
456 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Let us suppose, for instance, that the curve here described
represents the distribution of the stature. If we mark upon the
abscissse the progressive measurements, 1.55; 1.56; 1.57; 1.58; 1.59;
1.60, etc. . . . 1.75; 1.76; 1.77; 1.78; 1.79; 1.80, and on the axis
of the ordinates the number of individuals having a determined
stature, the path of the curve will show that there is a majority of
individuals possessing a mean central measurement; and that the
number of individuals diminishes gradually and symmetrically
above and below, becoming extremely few at the extremes (ex-
ceptionally tall and low statures). When the total number of
individuals is sufficiently large, the curve is perfect (curve of errors) :
Fig. 156.
In such a case, the general mean coincides with the median,
that is, with the number situated at the centre of the basal line,
because, since all the other measurements, above and below, are
perfectly symmetrical, in calculating the mean average they
cancel out. There is still another centre corresponding to the
mean : the centre of density of the individuals grouped there, because
the maximum number corresponds to that measurement. Accord-
ingly, if, for example, in place of half a million men whose measure-
ments of stature, when placed
in seriation, produced a per-
fect binomial curve, we had
selected only ten men or even
fewer from those correspond-
ing to the median line; the
general mean stature obtained
from those half million men
Fig. 156.— The highest part of this curve cor- ^^d that obtamed irom the
responds to the medial centre of density. ^g^ individuals WOUld be
identical. For we would have selected ten individuals possess-
ing that mean average stature which seems to represent a bio-
logical tendency, from which many persons deviate to a greater
or less extent, as though they were erroneous, aberrant, for a
great variety of causes; but these aberrant statures are still
such that by their excess and their deficiency they perfectly com-
pensate for each other; so that the mean average stature precisely
reproduces this tendency, this centre actually attained by the maxi-
mum number of individuals. Supposing that we could see to-
gether all these individuals: those who belong at the centre being
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY 457
numerically most prevalent, will give a definite intonation to the
whole mass. Anyone having an eye well trained to distinguish
differences of stature could mentally separate those prevalent
individuals and estimate them, saying that they are of mean
average stature. This curve is the mathematical curve of errors;
and it corresponds to that constructed upon the exponents of
Newton's binomial theorem and to the calculation of probability.
It corresponds to the curve of errors in mathematics: for example,
to the errors committed in measuring a line; or in measuring the
distance of a star, etc. Whoever takes measurements (we have
already seen this in anthropometrical technique and in the calcu-
lation of personal error) commits errors, notwithstanding that the
object to be measured and the individual making the measure-
ments remain the same. But the most diverse causes; nerves,
the weather, weariness, etc., causes not always determinable and
perhaps actually more numerous than could be discovered or
imagined, all have their share in producing errors of too much
and too little, which are distributed in gradations around the real
measurement of the object. But since among, all these measure-
ments taken in the same identical way we do not know which
is the true one; the seriation of errors will reveal it to us, for it
causes a maximum number of some one definite measurement
(the true one) to fall in the centre of the aberrations that sym-
metrically grade off from the centre itself.
Viola gives some very enlightening examples in regard to
errors. Suppose, for instance, that an artist skilled in modeling
wished to reproduce in plaster a number of copies of a leaf, which
he has before his eyes as a model.
The well-trained eye and hand will at one time cause him to
take exactly the right quantity of plaster needed to reproduce the
actual dimensions of the leaf; at another, on the contrary, he will
take more and at another less than required.
By measuring or superimposing the real leaf upon the plaster
copies, the sculptor will be able to satisfy himself at once which
of his copies have proved successful.
But supposing, on the contrary, that the real leaf has disap-
peared and that a stranger wishes to discover from, the plaster
copies which ones faithfully reproduce the dimensions of the
leaf? They will be those that are numerically most prevalent.
The same thing holds true for any attempt whatever to attain a
458 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
predetermined object. For example, shooting at a mark. A skilful
marksman will place the maximum number of shots in the centre,
or at points quite near to the centre ; he will often go astray, but the
number of errors will steadily decrease in proportion as the shots
are more aberrant, i.e., further from the centre. If a marksman
wished to practise in like manner against some wall, for example,
on which he has chosen a point that is not marked, and hence not
recognisable by others, this point thought of by the marksman,
may be determined by studying the cluster of shots left upon the
wall.
In the same way an observer could determine the hour fixed
for a collective appointment, such as a walking trip, by the manner
in which the various individuals arrive in groups; some one will
come much ahead of time because he has finished some task which
he had expected would keep him busy up to the hour of appoint-
ment; then in increasing numbers the persons who come a few
minutes ahead of time because they are provident and prompt;
then a great number of people who have calculated their affairs so
well as to arrive precisely on time; a few minutes later come those
who are naturally improvident and a little lazy; and lastly come the
exceptional procrastinators who at the moment of setting forth
were delayed by some unexpected occurrence.
Causes of error in the individual and in the environment
interfere in like manner with the astronomer who wishes to esti-
mate the distance of the stars and it is necessary for him to repeat
his measurements and calculations on the basis of those which show
the greatest probability of being exact.
Accordingly, such distribution of errors is independent of the
causes which produce them and which, whatevetr they are, remain
practically the same at any given time, and consequently produce
constant effects and symmetrical errors; but it is dependent upon
the fact of the existence of some pre-established thing (a measure-
ment, the dimensions of an object to be copied, an appointed hour,
the centre of a target, etc.). In short, whenever a tendency is
established the errors group themselves around the objective point
of this tendency.
In the case of anthropometry, as for instance, in the curve of
stature given above, we find that the resulting medial stature was
pre-determined, e.g., for a given race; but many individuals, for
various causes, either failed to attain it or surpassed it to a greater
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY 459
or less extent; and therefore in the course of their development
they have acquired an erroneous stature.
Consequently, this medial stature which still corresponds to
the mean average of a very large number of persons, is the stature
that is biographically pre-established, the normal stature of the
race.
If we select individuals presumably of the same race and in
sound health, the serial curve of their statures ought to be very
high and with a narrow base, because these individuals are uniform.
When a binomial curve has a very wide basis of oscillations in
measurements, it evidently contains elements that are not uniform;
thus, for example, if we should measure the statures of men and
women together, we should of course obtain a curve, but it would
be very broad at the base and quite low at the centre of density;
and a similar result would follow if we measured the statures of
the rich and the poor without distinguishing between them.
Since normal stature, including individual variations, has an ex-
ceedingly wide limit of oscillation (from 1.25 m. to 1.99 m.), if we
should measure all the men on earth, we should obtain a very wide
base for our binomial curve, which nevertheless would have a
centre of density corresponding to the median line and to the
general mean average.
Now this mean stature, according to Quetelet, is the mean
stature of the European; and it is that of the medial man. But
if we should take the races separately, each one of them would
have its own binomial curve, which would reveal the respective
mean stature for each race. In the same way, if we took the
complex carve of all the individuals of a single race, and separated
the men from the women, the two resulting groups would reveal
the mean average male stature and the mean average female stature
of the race in question. An analogous result would follow if we
separated the poor from the rich, etc.
Every time that we draw new distinctions, the base of the curves,
or in other words the limits of oscillation of measurements, will
contract, and the centre of density will rise; while the intermediate
gradations (due, for example, to the intermixture of tall women
and short men; or to the overlapping standards of stature of various
kindred races, etc.), will diminish. In short, if we construct the
binomial curve from individuals who are uniform in sex, race, age,
health, etc., it not only remains symmetrical around a centre but
460 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
the eccentric progression of its groups is steadily determined in
closer accordance with the order and progression of the exponents
of Newton's binomial.
However, a symmetrical grading off from the centre is not the
same thing as a symmetrical grading off from the centre in a pre-
determined mode, i.e., that of the binomial exponents. The bi-
nomial symmetry is obtained through calculations of mathematical
combinations. Now, if the fact of the centrality of a prevailing
measurement is to be proved in relation to the predetermination
of the measurement itself : for example, in regard to racial heredity,
and hence is a fact that reveals normality, the manner of distribu-
tion of errors — namely, in accordance with calculations of prob-
ability— might very well be explained by Mendel's laws of heredity,
which serve precisely to show how the prevailing characteristics
are distributed according to the mathematical calculation of
probabilities.
Accordingly, the normal characteristic of race would coincide with
the dominant characteristic of Mendel's hereditary powers. The
characteristic which has been shown as the stronger and more
potent is victorious over the recessive characteristics that are
latent in the germ. Meanwhile, however, there are various
errors which, artificially or pathologically, cause a characteristic,
which would naturally
have been recessive, to
become dominant, or, in
other words, most prev-
alent.
Whenever a binomial
curve constructed from
Fig. 157.— The shaded portion represents the eccen- a large number of iudi-
tricity of the curve, due to the presence of cretins. vidlials 1^ found to be fC-
centric; and shows, e.g., in the case of stature, a deviation toward
the low statures, it reveals (see De Helguero's curves) the presence
of a heterogeneous intermixture of subjects, for example, of children
among adults, or, as in the case demonstrated by De Helguero,
an intermixture of pathological individuals with normal persons
(Fig. 157).
The binomial curve obtained by De Helguero from the in-
habitants of Piedmont included, as a matter of fact, a great number
of cretins; they formed within the great normal mass of men, a
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY 461
little mass of individuals having a stature notably inferior to the
normal.
By correcting the eccentric curve on the left of the accompany-
ing figure, and by tracing a dotted line equal and symmetrical to
the right side, we obtain a normal binomial curve; well, this curve
will actually be reproduced if we subtract all the cretins from the
whole mass of individuals.
The section distinguished by parallel lines represents that
portion of the curve which departs from the normal toward the
low statures, and is due to the cretins; it may be transformed into
a small dotted binomial curve at the base, which is constructed
from the statures of the cretins alone.
Accordingly, the symmetrical binomial curve gives us a mean
average value in relation to a specified measurement.
What has been said regarding stature serves as an example;
but it may be repeated for all the anthropometric measurements, as
Viola has proved by actual experiment.
The sitting stature, the thoracic perimeter, the dimensions of
an entire limb or of each and every segment of it ; every particular
which it has seemed worth while to take into consideration, com-
ports itself in the same manner; and this is also true of all the
measurements of the head and face.
That is to say, if we make a seriation of measurements
relating to the sitting stature of an indeterminate number of in-
dividuals, we find a numerical prevalence of those corresponding
to the medial measurement marked upon the axis of the abscissae;
and the number of individuals will continue to decrease with
perceptible symmetry on each side of the centre, i.e., toward the
higher and lower statures. If we take into consideration the signi-
ficance of the sitting stature, this binomial curve relates to indi-
viduals who possess a normal physiological mass (the bust ; centre
of density) and to individuals who fall below or exceed that mass.
We have already, in speaking of the types of stature, taken the
bust under consideration in relation to the limbs, in order to
judge the more or less favourable reciprocal development; but
here we obtain an absolute datum of normality, independent of
proportional relations to the body as a whole; in other words, there
exists a physiological mass for the human body which is normal in
itself. The individuals whose sitting stature corresponds to the
30
462 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
medial measure of the binomial curve, are precisely those who
have the normal development of bust.
The same thing repeats itself in the case of the thoracic peri-
meter, or the weight, or the length of the leg, or the cranial circum-
ference, etc.
Hence we have a means of obtaining the normal medial measure-
ments by the seriation of a number of measurements actually
obtained from living individuals the number of whom should be
sufficiently large to enable us to construct a perceptibly symmet-
rical and regular binomial curve.
Such medial measurements, although they correspond to the
true mean average (as we have already seen), are not for this
reason unreal, like arithmetical means which represent a synthetic
entirety that does not correspond to the single individuals actually
existing; the medial measurements obtained by seriation are, on
the contrary, measurements that really belong to living individuals;
namely, to that group of individuals that possess this particular
measurement. Therefore, it is not a combination, or fusion, or
abstraction.
But individuals who have one medial measurement, do not
necessarily have all the other medial measurements ; that is to say,
the individuals who find that they belong on the medial abscissae
in relation to stature, do not find themselves similarly placed in
relation to the sitting stature, or the thoracic perimeter, or the
weight, or the cranial circumference, etc. Indeed, it is impossible
that all the bodily measurements of the same individual should be
medial measurements: or, to express it better, there has not been
found up to the present among living individuals, in the whole
wide world, a man so constructed.
Such a man would represent anthropologically the medial man.
It is also very rare to find a man quite lacking in medial
measurements: everyone has a few central measurements and cer-
tain others that are eccentric.
At the same time it must be admitted that there are men
who have many, and even a large majority, of the central
measurements; while the rest of their measurements are eccentric
or paracentral.
One of the objections which used to be made was that if we
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY 463
should wish to unite all the medial measurements, they would not
fit together, or rather, that a man could not be constructed from
them; but that the result would be a monstrosity. Nevertheless,
this assertion or objection has proved to be absolutely fantastic
and contrary to the actual fact.
Professor Viola has observed that men who have a very large
number of medial measurements are singularly handsome.
More than that: the medial man reconstructed from medial
measurements really gathered from living persons, has the identical
proportions of the famous statues of Greek art.
Here, for example, in Figs. 158 and 159, facing page 464,
we have the medial man and the Apollo; even to the eye of
the observer, they show a marked similarity in proportions.
The medial man is very nearly the portrait of an exceedingly
handsome young Roman, studied by Viola; this person possessed
a great majority of the mean average measurements; but some of
his measurements did not correspond to the normal averages, and
accordingly Viola had them corrected by an artist under the guid-
ance of anthropological biometry; and the figure thus corrected is
represented in the drawing here given. Well, this drawing
corresponds perfectly to the proportions of the Apollo.
Consequently, the mean average measurements do not pass
unnoticed; it is not alone the anthropological instrument or
mathematical reconstruction that reveals them; when presented
to the eye of the intelligent man, they notify him that they exist,
they arouse in him an cesthetic emotion, they give him the alluring
impression of the heautijul.
When the mean average measurements are found accumulated
in large numbers in the same person, they render that person the
centre of a mysterious fascination, the admiration of all other men.
Now, this coincidence of the beautiful with the average is
equivalent to a coincidence of the beautiful with normality.
''This unforeseen demonstration," says Viola, ''throws a vivid
light upon the hitherto obscure problem of the aesthetic sense. . . .
If a man evolves according to normal laws, his proportions arouse
an exceptional aesthetic enjoyment."
Anyone having an eye trained to recognise the beautiful, is
able through his aesthetic sensations, to pick out normality from the
great crowd of biological errors, which is precisely what the
scientist does with great weariness of measurements and calcu-
464 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
lations. In fact, the great artists recognise the beautiful parts of a
number of beautiful individuals, and they unite them all together
in a single work of art. The Greeks did this, they reconstructed
the medial man, on a basis of actual observation, and by extracting
all the normalities, all the measurements most prevalent in indi-
viduals, and forming from them a single ideal man. The Greek
artists were observers; we might call them the positivists in art.
Their art is supreme and immortal, because they simultaneously
interpreted what is beautiful and what is true in life.
In short, medial measurements are true measurements, actually
existing in individuals. No one can acquire a true aesthetic taste
by contemplating works of art. The aesthetic sense is trained
and refined by observing the truth in nature and by learning to
separate instinctively the normal from the erroneous.
No other form of art reproduces the subject so faithfully as the
Greek; medieval and modern artists have incarnated their own
personal inspiration, without training themselves to that accurate
observation which refines the sense of the beautiful, when we are
in the presence of the truth, represented by normality, which is
the triumph of life.
Accordingly, we may reconstruct the medial man from the
truth as found in nature. Within the wide scale of individual
variations we pass from men possessing few medial measurements
(ugly men) to men possessing many of them (handsome men) , and
even a majority of such measurements (extremely handsome).
Our sensation in the presence of the ugly man is repulsion, biological
pain; in the presence of the handsome man we feel an aesthetic
contentment, biological pleasure. In this way we take part in the
mysterious failures and triumphs of nature, as children in the
great family of life.
Now, as Viola says, the individual variations that group them-
selves symmetrically around the medial measurement may be
divided into groups or types, e.g., central, paracentral and eccentric,
both above and below the mean.* Such types are considered by
Viola chiefly from the pathological point of view, or rather, that of
the physical constitution and relative predisposition to disease.
It is only the central type that has such perfect harmony of parts
as to embody the perfection of strength and physical health; as
* Viola, The Laws of Morphological Correlation of the Individual Types.
a
<
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY 465
the type diverges from the centre, it steadily loses its power of
resistance and becomes less capable of realising a long life.
Since the measurements are extremely numerous, it is necessary,
in order to proceed to a separation of types, to select some one
measurement to be regarded as fundamental, and in respect to
which all others have a secondary importance; and such a measure-
ment is found in the one which is associated with the development
of the physiological man; namely, the sitting stature. In the
centre there is the medial measurement; little by little, as we
withdraw from the centre, we approach on the one side toward
macroscelia and on the other side toward brachyscelia. It is
possible to determine to within a millimetre the normality of any
measurement whatever. When this fundamental datum has once
been accepted as a basis for the construction of types, let us assume
that we next add another and secondary measurement; for instance,
that of the lower limbs. By the method of seriation we obtain a
measurement that is absolutely normal when considered by itself;
it is the central measurement. A perfectly formed and healthy
man ought to possess both the medial sitting stature and the medial
length of lower limbs; in actual cases, however, it is difficult ot
find so favourable a union, and the two series of measurements
combine in various ways; showing a tendency, however, to unite
in such a way that a short bust goes with long legs, and vice
versa. The degree to which this rule is carried out produces two
types that steadily tend to become more eccentric; they are the
macroscelous and brachyscelous types, or, as De Giovanni calls
them, morphological combinations. We have only to calculate the
type of stature, and that also groups itself according to the binomial
curve; and thus gives us a gradation of the combinations of parts.
Viola notes that the paracentral individuals show characteristics
quite different from those of the eccentrics; their constitution is
more favourable, and they differ in respect to their characteristic
proportions between thorax and abdomen, and in certain other
physiological particulars that are of pathological importance.
In this way a method has been built up for determining mathe-
matically the one absolute normality; as well as the anomalies
in all their infinite variety, which may, however, be regrouped
under types, on the basis of their eccentricities.
Here then we have, thanks to Viola, and under the guidance
of the glorious school of De Giovanni, a pathway indicated, that
466 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
is exceedingly rich in its opportunities for research, and that
may advance the importance of anthropometry side by side with
that of biometry, the development of which is to-day so earnestly
pursued, especially in England.
***
One of the objections which may be raised to the theory of the
medial man is that there cannot be any one perfect, human model
because of the diverse races of mankind, each with its own es-
tablished biological characteristics.
For instance, I believe that I have proved that what we con-
sider as beautiful is distributed among different races; in other
words, perfect beauty of all the separate parts of the body is never
found united in any one race, any more than it is in any one person.
The women of Latium who are dark and dolicocephalic have
most beautiful faces, but their hands and feet are imperfect; the
brachycephalic blondes, on the contrary, are coarse-featured, while
their hands and feet are extremely beautiful. The same may be
said regarding their breasts and certain other details. Further-
more, the stature of the dolicocephalics is too low as compared
with what is shown to be the average stature, while the brachi-
cephalics are similarly too tall. Nevertheless, it is extremely
difficult to discover racial types of such comparative purity as to
establish these differences: it was by a lucky chance that I suc-
ceeded in tracing out, at Castelli Romani and at Orte, certain
groups of the races that were very nearly pure. The rest of the
population are, for the most part, hybrids showing a confused
intermingling of characteristics.
In fact, pure types of race no longer exist, least of all where
civilisation is most intense. In order to speak of types of race, it
is necessary to go among barbaric tribes; and even this is a relative
matter, because all the races on earth are more or less the result of
intermixture. Yet in civilised countries an occasional group of
pure racial stock may be discovered in isolated localities, as though
they had found refuge, so to speak, from the vortex of civilisation
which is engulfing the races. Throughout the history of humanity
we may watch this absorption of racial and morphological char-
acteristics, and the formation of more and more intimate inter-
mixtures, leading to the final disappearance of the original types of
race .
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY 467
When a primitive race emigrated, when men crossed over
from Africa to the European coast of the Mediterranean, or Aryans
from oriental Asia traversed the mountains and steppes of Russia
and the Balkan countries, they were on their way to conquer terri-
tory and to subjugate peoples, but they were also on their way to
lose their own type, the characteristics of their race. Yet even
this sacrifice of race was not without compensation: indeed, it
seems as though the race loses through hybridism a large part of
its ugly characteristics, but retains and transmits for the most
part the characteristics that are pleasing. Unquestionably, the
more civilised peoples are better looking than the barbarians,
although the history of emigration would seem to indicate an al-
most common racial origin.
When we remember that in human hybridism the result is
not always a true and complete fusion of characteristics, but for
the most part an intermixture of them — so that, for example, the
hybrid has the type of cranium belonging to one race, and the
stature belonging to another race — we have the explanation of the
fact that throughout thousands of years certain morphological
characteristics have remained fixed, to such an extent as to permit
anthropologists to use them as a basis upon which to trace out the
origins of races. But these characteristics, while fixed in them-
selves, are interchanged among individual hybrids, who form more
or less felicitous combinations of characteristics belonging to
several races.
When we recall what was said in this regard concerning hered-
ity (general biological section) it is necessary to conclude that
Mendel's law must be invoked to explain the phenomenon.
Human hybridism, like all hybridism throughout the whole
biological field, falls under this law.
But there is still another phenomenon that should be noted:
civilised men, who are the most hybrid of all hybrids upon earth,
have formed a new type that is almost unique, the civilised race, in
which one and all resemble one another. It is only logical to
believe that, in proportion as facilities of travel become easier
and intermarriage between foreign countries more widespread,
it will become less and less easy to distinguish the Englishman
from the Frenchman, or the Russian or the Italian; provided that
the various hybridisms in the respective countries have developed
an almost uniform local type, so that the general characteristics of
468 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
French hybridism may be distinguished from those of EngUsh
hybridism, etc.
Even these local hybrid types, determining, as it were, the
physiognomy of a people, will disappear when Europe finally
becomes a single country for civilised man.
In short, we are spectators of this tendency: a fusion or inter-
mixture of characteristics that is tending to establish one single
human type, which is no longer an original racial type, but the
type of civilisation. It is the unique race, the resultant human
race, the product of the fusion of races and the triumph of all the
elements of beauty over the disappearance of those ugly forms
which were characteristic of primitive races.
Are the dominant forces in the human germinative cells those
which bring a contribution of beauty? One would say ''yes," on
the strength of the morphological history of humanity.
There is no intention of implying by this that humanity is
tending toward the incarnation of perfectly beautiful human
beings, all identical in their beauty; but they will be harmonious
in those skeletal proportions that will insure perfect functional
action of their organism. Harmony is fundamental; the soft
tissues, the colour of hair and eyes, may upon this foundation
give us an infinite variety of beauty. ''Even in music," says
Viola, "so long as the laws of harmony are respected, there are
possibilities of melodic thoughts of infinite beauty in gradation
and variety; but the first condition is that the aforesaid laws shall
be respected."
The soft and plastic tissues are like a garment which may be
infinitely varied: because life is richer in normal forms than in
abnormal; richer in triumphs than in failures; and hence more
impressive in the varieties of its beauties than in its monstrosities.
Such philosophic concepts of the medial man are exceedingly
fertile in moral significance. The ugly and imperfect races have
gone on through wars, conquests, intellectual and civil advance-
ment unconsciously preparing new intermarriages and higher
forms of love, which eliminated all that is harsh and inharmonic,
in order to achieve the triumph of human beauty. In fact, quite
aside from the heroic deeds of man, the constructor of civilisation,
we are witnessing the coming of the unique man, the man of perfect
beauty, such as Phidias visioned in a paroxysm of aesthetic emotion.
A living man who incarnates supreme beauty, supreme health,
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY 469
supreme strength: almost as though it were Christ himself whom
humanity was striving to emulate, through a most intimate brother-
hood of all the peoples on earth.
***
On the analogy of the medial morphological man, Quetelet
also conceived of the medial intellectual man and the medial moral
man.
The medial intellectual man is closely bound to the thoughts
of his century; he incarnates the prevailing ideas of his time; he
vibrates in response to the majority. He is to his nation and cen-
tury, says Quetelet, "what the centre of gravity is to the body —
namely, the one thing to be taken into consideration in order to
understand the phenomena of equilibrium and movement." Con-
sidered from the ideal side, the medial man ought to centralise
in himself and keep in equilibrium the movement of thought of
his period, giving it harmonic form, in works of art or of science.
And it is the capacity for accomplishing this work of synthesis
that constitutes the inborn quality in the man of genius.
He does not create ; he reassembles in one organism the scattered
members, the medial vibrations of the crowd; he feels and expresses
all that is new and beautiful and great that is in process of for-
mation in the men who surround him, who are frequently uncon-
scious of the beauty which is in them, just as they are unconscious
of having those normal predetermined measurements of their
bodies. But whenever they discover in a creation of thought
something of themselves, they are stirred to enthusiasm at recognis-
ing this something belonging to them as forming part of a har-
monious whole: and they applaud the work of art or of science
which has stirred their enthusiasm. The medial intellectual man
who has produced it is a beneficent genius to humanity because
he aids its upward progress by appealing to the better part in each
individual.
Now, there has never existed a medial intellectual man who
sums up all the thought of his time: just as there does not exist a
living man so beautiful as to incarnate all the medial measure-
ments. But the man of genius is he who does embody the greater
part of such ideas : and he produces a masterpiece when he succeeds
in shedding his own individuality in order to assume what is given
him from without. Goethe said that it was not he who composed
470 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Faust, but a spirit which invaded him. And the same thought
is expressed in the autobiographies of many men of genius.
A well-known writer told me that it sometimes happened to
him, while he was writing, to forget himself completely; at such
times he no longer wrote the truth as he saw and felt it consciously,
but transmitted pure and unforeseen inspiration.
Such portions, said this author, are judged by the public as
containing the greatest degree of beauty and truth.
When a great orator thrills a crowd, he certainly does nothing
more than repeat what is already in the thoughts of each member
of that crowd; every individual present had, as it were, in his
subconsciousness, the same thought that is expressed by the
orator, which was taking form within him but had not yet matured
and which he would not have had the knowledge or the ability
to express. The orator, as it were, matures and extracts from
him that new thought which was taking shape within him; his
better part, which after light is shed upon it will have the power
to elevate him. But no orator could ever persuade a crowd with
ideas that do not already exist in that crowd, and which conse-
quently, are not part of the truth of their age.
The orator is like the centre of gravity, inasmuch as he gives form
and equilibrium to the scattered and timid thought of the crowd.
Carducci* says "the art of the lyric poet consists in this: to ex-
press what is common to all in the form in which he has created it
anew and specially in his mind; or rather to give to the thought
which is peculiar to himself an imprint of universal understanding,
so that each one looking into it may recognise himself."
When we think of the brilliant concept of the medial man, we
behold a fundamental and profound principle: the necessity of
hybridism and consequently of a profound intermixture of races;
all of which goes side by side with the spread of civilisation, and
the increased facilities of traveling and of communication between
different communities. Connected with these material advan-
tages is the moral progress which leads to a realisation of perfect
brotherhood between men that is rendered steadily more possible
by environment, and is sanctioned little by little by laws and cus-
toms; whereas at the start it was only an ethical or mystical theory.
* Cited by Viola.
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY 471
While the physical formations of the races are becoming merged,
the racial customs are also blending and disappearing in a single
civilisation, in one sole form of thought. If, at one time, the
powerful race was the one united to its territory, faithful to its
customs, adhering to its moral code and its religion, all this melts
away in the presence of universal hybridism which actually means
the birth of a new generation of men and a new outlook upon
hfe.
When we contemplate the morphologically medial man, he
seems to stand as a symbol of unlimited universal progress. His
realisation seems to demand very lofty standards of morahty and
civilisation.
Whereas, on the contrary, the survival of types and of customs
and sentiments peculiar to separate races, is the expression of local
conditions that are inferior both in morality and in civil progress.
As for the innumerable paracentral errors which form to-day a
large proportion of individual varieties, they are due directly to
the imperfection of the environment, which does not permit of
the natural development of human life, and consequently inter-
feres through a wide range of methods and degrees with the
development of ideal normality.
Hence, the extreme eccentric errors are the consequence of
diseases and far-reaching social imperfections which lead to
genuine deviations from the normal, including pathological and
degenerate malformations, and associated with them the lowest
forms of individual degradation, both intellectual and moral.
All the paracentral errors and malformations are a physical
burden which retards the perfectionment of man. Admitting
that hybridism will eventually result in complete beauty, it will
be greatly delayed in its attainment through the accumulation of
errors that surround the characteristics of race. They form a
heavy ballast, if the phrase may be permitted, that impedes the
progress of its ascension.
Consequently, the long awaited social progress which is
gradually bringing about the ''brotherhood of man" is not in
itself sufficient for the attainment of the ideal mean.
There are certain errors that must more or less necessarily be
encountered along the pathway of humanity; and that act either
directly or indirectly upon posterity, deforming and destroying
its resistance to life; and it is these that must be taken under
472 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
consideration, because they delay the normal progress of human
society.
They are conscious and well recognised errors; hence up to a
certain point the active agency of man may combat them and suc-
ceed little by little in mitigating them and overcoming their
disastrous influence upon biological humanity.
There are, in general, two influences developing and promoting
that improvement which leads toward the medial man: in pro-
portion as the real and practical intermarriage of races approaches
its realisation, social errors diminish; and as the brotherhood of
humanity is promoted, it leads to social reforms by which the
''sins of the world" are little by little overcome.
But these may also be actively combated; and in this direction
education has a task of inestimable importance to civilisation.
We ought to know not only the thought of our century, which is
the luminous torch in the light of which we advance along the
path of progress; but also the moral needs of our time, and the errors
which may be conquered through our conscious agency.
To know "the faults of our century," which are destined to be
conquered in the coming century, and to make preparation for the
victory — such is our moral mission. The ethical movement of
human society has continued to advance from conquest to conquest,
and in looking backward the more civilised part of mankind have
been horrified at the conditions that have been outgrown and have
called them "barbarous."
Thus, for example, slavery was an unsurmountable obstacle
to progress, and had to be crushed out by civilisation; the license
to kill is also a form of barbarism which to-day we are boasting
of having just outgrown — or, at least, of having reached the final
limit of its duration. In early times it was not only permissible
to kill, but in many of its forms murder was considered honourable,
as, for instance, in wars and in duels; it was also one form of justice
to kill for vengeance, either social or individual; the condemnation
to death of a criminal, the murder of an adulterous wife, the murder
of anyone who has attacked the honour of the family, all this
seemed just in the past. Lastly, murder was committed for pure
diversion, as in the auto-da-fe and in the games of the circus.
Our civic morality seems to have attained its extreme altitude
in having sanctioned the inviolability of human life; and the pres-
ent-day struggle against the death penalty, against war, against
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY 473
revolutions, against uxoricide, in the case of adultery, and against
duelling, shows us the triumph of a new and loftier conception of
humanity in the upward progress of man.
The intermixture of races and the intermingling of national
interests, have aroused a sort of collective sentiment actually ex-
isting as a normal form of conscience, namely, "human solidarity."
But we are still in a state of complete barbarity, still sunk in
the most profound unconsciousness, all of us partners in the
same great sin that threatens the overthrow of so-called civilised
humanity; namely, barbarity toward the species.
We are ignorant, we are almost strangers, in regard to our
responsibility toward those who are destined to issue from us as the
continuation of humanity downward through the centuries; those
who form the ultimate scope of our biological existence, inasmuch
as each one of us is merely a connecting link be ween certain
portions of past and future life. We are all so engrossed with the
progress of our environment and of the ideas embodied in it, that
we have not yet turned our attention inward toward ourselves:
toward life.
This solidarity which we recognise as existing among men at
the present moment, ought to be extended to the men of the future.
And since the species is closely bound up in the individual who is
destined to reproduce it, this gives us at once the basis for a code
of individual moral conduct, such as would assure to everyone the
integrity of the fruit of his own reproduction. Sexual immorality
which is the stigma of the barbarity of our times, entails the most
ignominious form of slavery; the slavery of women through
prostitution. And emanating from this form of barbarity, the
slavery has expanded and spread to all women, more or less
oppressive, more or less conscious. The wife is a slave, for she
has married in ignorance and has neither the knowledge nor the
power to avoid being made the instrument for the birth of weakly,
diseased or degenerate children; and still more deeply enslaved
is the mother who cannot restrain her own son from degradations
that she knows are the probable source of ruin of body and soul.
We are all silently engaged in an enormous crime against the
species and against humanity; and like accomplices we have made a
tacit agreement not to speak of it. Indeed, the mysterious
silence regarding sexual life is absolute ; it is as though we feared to
compromise ourselves in the sight of that great and powerful
474 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
judge, our own posterity; we hide under an equal silence the good
and the bad in relation to sexual life. This sort of terror goes by
the name of shame and modesty. Such an excuse for silence
certainly sounds like pure irony, coming as it does in the full midst
of the orgy, at a time when we all know that every man is laden
with his sins, and that we are all either accomplices or slaves in
the common fault. It would seem that a race so modest as to blush
at the mere mention of sexual life ought to be eminently chaste,
and far removed from the age of foundling asylums and houses of
ill fame; the age in which infanticide exists as proof of absolute
impunity in regard to sexual crimes.
What we call shame and modesty, is in reality not shame or
modesty in regard to sexual acts and phenomena, but only in
regard to sins against them.
These acts and phenomena, being directly related to creation
and the eternity of the species, ought to be regarded by men as in
the nature of a lofty religious culte, equally, for instance, with
that which from the earliest prehistoric times placed the symbol
of maternity, the mother and the child, side by side with the scythe,
symbol of labour, in places of worship. We cannot admit that
love, sung by the poets as a divine sentiment, is the moral exponent
of unworthy and shameful acts. It is the error, the perversion of
sexual life, the source of degeneration, of degradation and of the
death of the species, that makes us keep silent, conceal and blush
with shame.
In reality, all this ought to stir us, not to embarrassment and
shame, but to a formidable rebellion, a sharp awakening of con-
science, a redemption from a state of inferior civilisation.
It was a barbarous sovereign who, in the delusive hope that it
would cure him of eczema, caused the throats of little children to
be cut, so that he might immerse himself in the warm bath of their
blood.
To-day anyone who would sacrifice the lives of children to
allay the itching of his own skin, would be in our eyes a monster
of criminality.
And yet almost equally criminal are the men of our time,
lords, in a barbaric sense, of sexual life; and we silently acquiesce
in customs which in the future centuries will perhaps be remem-
bered as a monstrous barbarism.
The whole moral revival which awaits us, revolves around the
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY 475
struggle against the sexual sins. The emancipation of woman, the
protection of maternity and of the child, are its most luminous
exponents; but no less efficacious evidences of such progress are all
the efforts directed against alcoholism and the other vices and
diseases which are reflected in their unhappy consequences to
posterity. There is just one side of the question that has hitherto
been scarcely touched at all, and that is the chastity of man and
his responsibility as a father; but even this has already come to be
felt as an imperative necessity for progress. In place of reducing
other human beings to slavery and prostituting them; instead of
betraying them and shattering their lives by seduction and the
desertion of their offspring, the man of the future will choose to
become chaste. He will feel that otherwise he is dishonoured,
morally lost. Man will not be willing to be so weak as to confess
himself dragged down to degradation and crime because unable
to conquer his own instincts; man who has nothing but victories
on the credit side of his history, and who even succeeded in over-
coming the greatest of all his irresistible instincts, that of self-
preservation, in showing himself capable of going into combat and
dying for the ideals of his fatherland.
Man is capable of every great heroism; it was man who found
a means of conquering the formidable obstacles of his environ-
ment, establishing himself lord of the earth, and laying the founda-
tions of civilisation. He will also teach himself to be chaste,
within sufficiently narrow limits to guarantee the dignity of the
human race and the health of the species; and in this way he will
prescribe the ethics for the centuries of the near future: sexual
morality. There are customs and virtues, lofty ethical doctrines
that stand in direct accord with the conservation and the progress
of life. Bodily cleanliness, temperance in drink, the conquest of
personal instincts, human brotherhood in the full extent of the
thought, the feeling, and the practice, chastity; all these are just
so many forms of the defense of life, both of the individual and
of the species. To-day, in hygiene, in pathology and in anthro-
pology, science is showing us the truth through positive proofs,
through experiments and statistics. But these virtues which are
paths leading to life, are simply being reconfirmed by science;
just as they are being little by little attained by civil progress,
which prepares their practical elements; but they were always
intuitively recognised by the human heart : nothing is older in the
476 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
ethics of mankind than the principal of brotherhood, of victory over
the instincts, of chastity. Only, these virtues, intuitively perceived,
could not be universally practised, because universal practice de-
manded time for preparation. But they survived partly as af-
firmations of absolute virtue and partly as prophesies of a future
age and were considered as constituting the highest good. Just as
the esthetic sense led to the recognition of normality at a time when
this scientific concept was very far from being understood as it is
to-day; in the same way the ethical and religious sense was able to
feel intuitively and to separate from customs and from sentiments
belonging to an evanescent form of transitory civilisation or from
the temporary racial needs, those others that relate fundamentally
to the biological preservation of the individual and the species and
the practical attainment of human perfection. And while the
medial intellectual man or the artistic genius combines wholly or
in part the thoughts of his time, the medial moral or religious man
sums up the guiding principles of life which everyone feels pro-
foundly in the depth of his heart ; and when he speaks to other men
it seems as though he instilled new vigour into the very roots of
their existence, and he is believed, when he speaks of a happier
future toward which humanity is advancing. If the intellectual
genius is almost a reader of contemporaneous thought as it vibrates
around him, the religious genius interprets more or less completely
and perfectly the universal and eternal spirit of life in humanity.
Accordingly, the medial men incarnate the beautiful, the true,
and the good: in other words, the theories of positivism arrive at
the self-same goals as idealism, those of poetry, philosophy and art.
By following the path of observation, we reach a goal anal-
ogous to that sought along the path of intuition.
The theory of the medial man constructed fundamentally upon
positive bases of measurements and facts, represents the limit* of
perfection .of the human individual associated with the limit of
perfection of human society, which is formed in a two-fold way:
a close association between all human beings, or the formation
of a true social organism (complete hybridism in body; human
brotherhood in sentiment), and the steadily progressive emanci-
pation, of every individual member from anxiety concerning the
defense of life, in order to enjoy the triumph of the development of
life. All that was formerly included under defense will assume
* Limit, in the mathematical sense.
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY 477
collective forms of a high order (repressive justice replaced by
more varied forms of prevention: which have for their final goal
a widespread education and a gradual amelioration of labour
and social conditions); and in this reign of peace there will arise
the possibility of developing all the forces of life (biological liberty).
In such a conception, the individual organism depends more and
more upon the social organism: just as the cells depend upon the
multicellular organism; and we may almost conceive of a new
living entity, a super-organism made up of humanity, but in
which every component part is allowed the maximum expansion
of its personal activity emancipated from all the obstacles that
have been successively overcome. This conception of biological
liberty, in other words, the triumph of the free and peaceful
development of life, through the long series of more or less bitter
struggles and defenses of life, constitutes, in my opinion, the very
essence of the new pedagogy. And the evolution of modern
thought and of the social environment can alone prepare for its
advent, perhaps at no distant day.
31
TABLES SUMMARIZING
The Mean Proportions of the Body According to Age
Useful for judging of normal development and incidentally for
diagnosing forms of infantilism:
Preceded by figures (from Quetelet) giving the growth of stature
in man and in woman {it being well known that the stature
is the fundamental measurement for forming the aforesaid
judgments) .
480
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Age
Males
Females
0
0.496
0.483
1
0.696
0.690
2
0.797
0.780
3
0.860
0.850
4
0.932
0.910
5
0.990
0.974
6
1.046
1.032
7
1.112
1.096
8
1.170
1.139
9
1.227
1.200
10
1.282
1.248
11
1.327
1.275
12
1.359
1.327
13
1.403
1.386
14
1.487
1.447
15
1.559
1.475
16
1.610
1.500
17
1.670
1.544
18
1.700
1.562
19
1.706
1.566
20
1.711
1.570
25
1.722
1.577
30
1.722
1.579
40
1.713
1.555
50
1.674
1.536
60
1.639
1.516
70
1.623
1.514
New-born child.
Length of body 0 . 50 m.
Weight 3 kg.
Maximum cranial circumference 335 mm.
Circumference of thorax 350 mm.
Index of stature 68
Ponderal index 28 . 8 —
Age in years
1
2
3
Stature in metres
0.696
65
10
30.9
440
0.797
63
12
28.7
471
0.860
Index of stature
62
Weight in kilograms
13.21
Ponderal index. ... .
27.5
Maximum circumference of head in milh-
metres.
486
THE APPLICATION OF BIOMETRY
481
Age in years
4
5
6
Stature in metres
Index of stature
0.932
60
15
26.5
496
0.990
59
16.70
25.8
503
1.046
57
Weight in kilograms
18 04
Ponderal index
25 1
Maximum circumference of head in milli-
metres.
508
Age in years
7
8
9
Stature in metres
Index of stature
1.112
56
20.16
24.4
513
1.170
55
22.26
24
519
1.227
55
Weight in kilograms
Ponderal index
24.09
23 5
Maximum circumference of head in miUi-
meti-es.
523
Age in years
10
11
12
Stature in metres
1.282
54
26.12
23.1
527
1.327
53
27.85
22.8
531
1 359
Index of stature
53
Weight in kilograms
31
Ponderal index
Maximum circumference of head in milli-
metres.
23.1
535
Age in years
13
14
15
Stature in metres
Index of stature
1.403
52
35.32
23.4
539
1.487
52
40.50
23.1
543
1.559
51
Weight in kilograms
46 41
Ponderal index
23.1
Maximum circumference of head in milli-
metres.
547
Age in years
16
17
18
Stature in metres
Index of stature
1.610
51
53.39
23.4
551
1.670
52
57.40
23.1
555
1.700
52
Weight in kilograms
Ponderal index
Maximum circumference of head in milli-
metres.
61.26
23.2
561
TABLES OF CALCULATIONS
TABLES FOR CALCULATING THE CEPHALIC INDEX
CALCULATING THE CEPHALIC INDEX
CALCULATIONS OF THE CEPHALIC INDEX
Antero-posterior diameters from 160 to 174 mm.; bilateral diameters
from 120 to 159 mm.
485
Bi-
ateral
diam-
Antero-posterior diameters, in millimetres
eters
in
milli-
metres
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
120
75
75
74
74
73
73
72
72
71
71
71
70
70
69
69
121
76
75
75
74
74
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
70
70
70
122
76
76
75
75
74
74
73
73
73
72
72
71
71
71
70
123
77
76
76
75
75
75
74
74
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
124
77
77
77
76
76
75
75
74
74
73
73
73
72
72
71
126
78
78
77
77
76
76
75
75
74
74
74
73
73
72
72
126
79
78
78
77
77
76
76
75
75
75
74
74
73
73
72
127
79
79
78
78
77
77
77
76
76
75
75
74
74
73
73
128
80
80
79
79
78
78
77
77
76
76
75
75
74
74
74
129
81
80
80
79
79
78
78
77
77
76
76
75
75
75
74
130
81
81
80
80
79
79
78
78
77
77
76
76
76
75
75
131
82
81
81
80
80
79
79
78
78
78
77
77
76
76
75
132
82
82
81
81
80
80
80
79
79
78
78
77
77
76
76
133
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
80
79
79
78
78
77
77
76
134
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
80
79
79
78
78
77
77
135
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
80
79
79
78
78
78
136
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
80
80
79
79
78
137
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
80
79
79
138
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
80
79
139
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
80
140
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
141
89
88
87
87
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
82
81
142
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
143
89
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
144
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
145
91
90
90
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
146
91
91
90
90
89
88
88
87
87
'86
86
85
85
84
84
147
92
91
91
90
90
89
89
88
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
148
92
92
91
91
90
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
85
149
93
93
92
91
91
90
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
150
94
93
93
92
91
91
90
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
86
151
94
94
93
93
92
92
91
90
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
152
95
94
94
93
93
92
92
91
90
90
89
89
88
88
87
153
96
95
94
94
93
93
92
92
91
91
90
89
89
88
88
154
96
96
95
94
94
93
93
92
92
91
91
90
90
89
89
165
97
96
96
95
95
94
93
93
92
92
91
91
90
90
89
156
97
97
96
96
95
95
94
93
93
92
92
91
91
90
90
157
98
98
97
96
96
95
95
94
93
93
92
92
91
91
90
158
99
98
98
97
96
96
95
95
94
93
93
92
92
91
91
159
99
99
98
98
97
96
96
95
95
94
94
93
92
92
91
486 PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
CALCULATIONS OF THE CEPHALIC INDEX
Antero-posterior diameters from 175 to lS9 mm.; bilateral diameters
from 125 to 164 mm.
Bi-
lateral
diam-
Antero-posterior diameters,
n millimetres
eters
in
milli-
metres
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
125
71
71
71
70
70
69
69
69
68
68
68
67
67
66
66
126
72
72
71
71
70
70
70
69
69
68
68
68
67
67
67
127
73
72
72
71
71
71
70
70
69
69
69
68
68
68
67
128
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
70
70
70 ■
69
69
68
68
68
129
74
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
70
70
70
69
69
69
68
130
74
74
73
73
73
72
72
71
71
71
70
70
70
69
69
131
75
74
74
74
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
70
70
70
69
132
75
75
75
74
74
73
73
73
72
72
71
71
71
70
70
133
76
76
75
75
74
74
73
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
70
134
77
76
76
75
75
74
74
74
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
135
77
77
76
76
75
75
75
74
74
73
73
73
72
72
71
136
78
77
77
76
76
76
75
75
74
74
74
73
73
72
72
137
78
78
77
77
77
76
76
75
75
74
74
74
73
73
72
138
79
78
78
78
77
77
76
76
75
75
75
74
74
73
73
139
79
79
79
78
78
77
77
76
76
76
75
75
74
74
74
140
80
80
79
79
78
78
77
77
77
76
76
75
75
74
74
141
81
80
80
79
79
78
78
77
77
77
76
76
75
75
75
142
81
81
80
80
79
79
78
78
78
77
77
76
76
76
75
143
82
81
81
80
80
79
79
79
78
78
77
77
76
76
76
144
82
82
81
81
80
80
80
79
79
78
78
77
77
77
76
145
83
82
82
81
81
81
80
80
79
79
78
78
78
77
77
146
83
83
82
82
82
81
81
80
80
79
79
78
78
78
77
147
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
80
79
79
79
78
78
148
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
80
80
79
79
78
149
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
81
80
80
79
79
150
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
82
81
81
80
80
79
151
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
80
152
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
153
87
87
86
86
85
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
154
88
87
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
155
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
156
89
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
83
157
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
84
83
158
90
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
84
159
91
90
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
85
85
85
84.
160
91
91
90
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
86
85
85
161
92
91
91
90
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
87
86
86
85
162
93
92
92
91
91
90
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
86
86
163
93
93
92
92
91
91
90
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
86
164
94
93
93
92
92
91
91
90
90
89
89
88
88
87
87
CALCULATING THE CEPHALIC INDEX
CALCULATIONS OF THE CEPHALIC INDEX
Antero-posterior diameters from 190 to 204 mm.; bilateral diameters
from 130 to 169 mm.
487
Bi-
lateral
diam-
Antero-posterior diameters in millimetres
eters
in
milli-
metres
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
130
68
68
68
67
67
67
66
66
66
65
65
65
64
64
64
131
69
69
68
68
68
67
67
66
66
66
65
65
65
65
64
132
69
69
69
68
68
68
67
67
67
66
66
66
65
65
65
133
70
70
69
69
69
68
68
68
67
67
66
66
66
66
65
134
71
70
70
69
69
69
68
68
68
67
67
67
66
66
66
136
71
71
70
70
70
69
69
69
68
68
67
67
67
67
66
136
72
71
71
70
70
70
69
69
69
68
68
68
67
67
67
137
72
72
71
71
71
70
70
70
69
69
68
68
68
67
67
138
73
72
72
72
71
71
70
70
70
69
69
69
68
68
68
139
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
71
70
70
69
69
69
68
68
140
74
73
73
73
72
72
71
71
71
70
70
70
69
69
69
141
74
74
73
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
70
70
70
69
69
142
75
74
74
74
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
71
70
70
70
143
75
75
74
74
74
73
73
73
72
72
71
71
71
70
70
144
76
75
75
75
74
74
73
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
71
146
76
76
76
75
75
74
74
74
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
146
77
76
76
76
75
75
74
74
74
73
73
73
72
72
72
147
77
77
77
76
76
75
75
75
74
74
73
73
73
72
72
148
78
77
77
77
76
76
76
75
75
74
74
74
73
73
73
149
78
78
78
77
77
76
76
76
75
75
74
74
74
73
73
160
79
79
78
78
77
77
77
76
76
75
75
75
74
74
74
151
79
79
79
78
78
77
77
77
76
76
75
75
75
74
74
162
80
80
79
79
78
78
78
77
77
76
76
76
75
75
75
163
80
80
80
79
79
78
78
78
77
77
76
76
76
75
75
164
81
81
80
80
79
79
79
78
78
77
77
77
76
76
75
156
82
81
81
80
80
79
79
79
78
78
77
77
77
76
76
166
82
82
81
81
80
80
80
79
79
78
78
78
77
77
76
157
83
82
82
81
81
81
80
80
79
79
78
78
78
77
77
158
83
83
82
82
81
81
81
80
80
79
79
79
78
78
77
169
84
83
83
82
82
82
81
81
80
80
79
79
79
78
78
160
84
84
83
83
82
82
82
81
81
80
80
80
79
79
78
161
85
84
84
83
83
83
82
82
81
81
80
80
80
79
79
162
85
85
84
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
81
80
80
79
163
86
85
85
84
84
84
83
83
82
82
81
81
81
80
80
164
86
86
85
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
82
81
81
80
166
87
86
86
85
85
85
84
84
83
83
82
82
82
81
81
166
87
87
86
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
83
82
82
81
167
88
87
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
83
83
83
82
82
168
88
88
87
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
84
83
83
82
169
89
88
88
88
87
87
86
86
85
85
84
84
84
83
83
II
TABLES FOR CALCULATING THE PONDERAL INDEX
CALCULATING THE PONDERAL INDEX
491
CALCULATIONS OF THE PONDERAL INDEX
Statures from 46 to 60 centimetres; weights from 2 to 16 kilograms
Statures in centimetres
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
2 —
27 4
26 8 26 2
25 7
25 2
24 7
24 2
23 8
23 3
22 9
22 5
22 1
21 7
21 4
21 0
2 10
27 8
27 3 26 7
26 1
25 6
25 1
24 6
24 2
23 7
23 3
22 9
22 5
22 1
21 7
21 3
2 20
28 3
27 7
27 1
26 6 26 0
25 5
25 024 5
24 1
23 7
23 2
22 8
22 4
22 1
21 7
2 30
28 7
28 1
27 5
26 9
26 4
25 9
25 4 24 9
24 4
24 0
23 6
23 2
22 8
22 4
22 0
2 40
29 1
28 5
27 9
27 3
26 8
26 2
25 7 25 3
24 8
24 3
23 9
23 5
23 1
22 7
22 3
2 60
29 5 28 9
28 3
27 7
27 1
26 6
26 1
25 6
25 1
24 7
24 2
23 8
23 4
23 0
22 6
2 60
29 9 29 3
28 6
28 1
27 5
27 0
26 4
25 9
25 5
25 0
24 6
24 1
23 7
23 3
22 9
2 70
30 3
29 6
29 0
28 4
27 8
27 3
26 8
26 3
25 8
25 3
24 9
24 4
24 0
23 6
23 2
2 80
30 6
30 0
29 4
28 8
28 2
27 6
27 1
26 6
26 1
25 6
25 2
24 7
24 3
23 9
23 5
2 90
31 0
30 3
29 7
29 1
28 5
28 0
27 4
26 9
26 4
25 9
25 5
25 0
24 6
24 2
23 8
3 —
31 3
30 7
30 0
29 4
28 8
28 3
27 7
27 2
26 7
26 2
25 7
25 3
24 9
24 4
24 0
3 10
31 7
31 0
30 4
29 8
29 2
28 6
28 0
27 5
27 0
26 5
26 0
25 6
25 1
24 7
24 3
3 20
32 0
31 4
30 7
30 1
29 5
28 9
28 3
27 8
27 3
26 8
26 3
25 9
25 4
25 0
24 6
3 30
32 4
31 7
31 0
30 4
29 8
29 2
28 6
28 1
27 6
27 1
26 6
26 1
25 7
25 2
24 8
3 40
32 7
32 0
31 3
30 7
30 1
29 5
28 9
28 4
27 9
27 3
26 9
26 4
25 9
25 5
25 1
3 60
33 0
32 3
31 6
31 0
30 4
29 8
29 2
28 6
28 1
27 6
27 1
26 6
26 2
25 7
25 3
3 60
33 3
32 6
31 9
31 3
30 7
30 1
29 5
28 9
28 4
27 9
27 4
26 9
26 4
26 0
25 5
3 70
33 6
32 9
32 2
31 6
30 9
30 3
29 7
29 2
28 6
28 1
27 6
27 1
26 7
26 2
25 8
3 80
33 9
33 2
32 5
31 8
31 2
30 6
30 0
29 4
28 9
28 4
27 9
27 4
26 9
26 4
26 0
3 90
34 2
33 5
32 8
32 1
31 5
30 9
30 3
29 7
29 1
28 6
28 1
27 6
27 1
26 7
26 2
4 —
34 5
33 8
33 1
32 4
31 7
31 1
30 5
29 9
29 4
28 9
28 3
27 8
27 4
26 9
26 4
4 10
34 8
34 1
33 4
32 7
32 0
31 4
30 8
30 2
29 6
29 1
28 6
28 1
27 6
27 1
26 7
4 20
35 1
34 3
33 6
32 9
32 3
31 6
31 0
30 4
29 9
29 3
28 8
28 3
27 8
27 3
26 9
4 30
35 3
34 6
33 9
33 2
32 5
31 9
31 3
30 7
30 1
29 6
29 0
28 5
28 0
27 6
27 1
4 40
35 6
34 9
34 1
33 4
32 8
32 1
31 6
30 9
30 4
29 8
29 3
28 8
28 3
27 8
27 3
4 50
35 9
35 1
34 4
33 7
33 0
32 4
31 7
31 2
30 6
30 0
29 5
29 0
28 5
28 0
27 5
4 60
36 2
35 4
34 6
33 9
33 3
32 6
32 0
31 4
30 8
30 2
29 7
29 2
28 7
28 2
27 7
4 70
36 4
35 6
34 9
34 2
33 5
32 8
32 2
31 6
31 0
30 5
29 9
29 4
28 9
28 4
27 9
4 80
36 7
35 9
35. 1
34 4
33 7
33 1
32 4
31 8
31 2
30 7
30 1
29 6
29 1
28 6
28 1
4 90
36 9
36 1
35 4
34 7
34 0
33 3
32 7
32 0
31 4
30 9
30 3
29 8
29 3
28 8
28 3
5 —
37 2
36 4
35 6
34 9
34 2
33 5
32 9
32 3
31 7
31 1
30 5
30 0
29 5
29 0
28 5
5 25
37 8
37 0
36 2
35 5
34 8
34 1
33 4
32 8
32 2
31 6
31 0
30 5
30 0
29 5
29 0
6 50
38 4
37 6
36 8
36 0
35 3
34 6
33 9
33 3
32 7
32 1
31 5
31 0
30 4
29 9
29 4
5 75
39 0
38 1
37 3
36 6
35 8
35 1
34 5
33 8
33 2
32 6
32 0
31 4
30 9
30 4
29 9
6 —
39 5
38 7
37 9
37 1
36 3
35 6
34 9
34 3
33 6
33 0
32 4
31 9
31 3
30 8
30 3
6 25
40 0
39 2
38 4
37 6
36 8
36 1
35 4
34 8
34 1
33 5
32 9
32 3
31 8
31 2
30 7
6 50
40 6
39 7
38 9
38 1
37 3
36 6
35 9
35 2
34 6
33 9
33 3
32 7
32 2
31 6
31 1
6 75
41 1
40 2
39 4
38 6
37 8
37 1
36 3
35 7
35 0
34 4
33 7
33 2
32 6
32 0
31 5
7 —
41 6
40 7
39 9
39 0
38 3
37 5
36 8
36 1
35 4
34 8
34 2
33 6
33 0
32 4
31 9
7 50
42 5
41 6
40 8
39 9
39 1
38 4
37 6
36 9
36 2
35 6
34 9 34 3
33 7
33 2
32 6
8 —
43 5
42 6
41 7
40 8
40 0
39 2
38 5
37 7
37 0
36 4
35 7
35 1
34 5
33 9
33 3
8 50
44 4
43 4
42 5
41 7
40 8
40 0
39 2
38 5
37 8
37 1
36 4
35 8
35 2
34 6
34 0
9 —
45 2
44 3
43 3
42 4
41 6
40 8
40 0
39 2
38 5
37 8
37 1
36 5
35 9
35 3
34 7
10 —
46 8
45 8
44 9
44 0
43 1
42 2
41 4
40 6
39 9
39 2
38 5
37 8
37 1
36 5
35 9
11 —
48 3
47 3
46 3
45 4
44 5
43 6
42 8
42 0
41 2
40 4
39 7
39 0
38 3
37 7
37 1
12 —
49 8
48 7
47 7
46 7
45 8
44 9
44 0
43 2
42 4
41 6
40 9
40 2
39 5
38 8
38 1
13 —
51 1
50 0
49 0
48 0
47 0
46 1
45 2
44 4
43 5
42 7
42 0
41 2
40 5
39 8
39 2
14 —
52 4
51 3
50 2
49 2
48 2
47 3
46 3
45 5
44 6
43 8
43 0
42 3
41 6
40 8
40 2
15 —
53 6
52 5
51 4
50 3
49 3
48 4
47 4
46 5
45 7
44 8
44 0
43 3
42 5
41 8
41 1
16 —
54 8
53 6
52 5
51 4
50 4
49 4
48 5
47 5
46 7
45 8
45 0
44 2
43 4
42 7
42 0
492
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
CALCULATIONS OF THE PONDERAL INDEX
Statures from 61 to 75 centimetres; weights from 2 to 16 kilograms.
.9 ■»
Statures in centimetres
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
2 —
20 7
20 3
20 0
19 7
19 4
19 1
18 8
18 5
18 3
18 0
17 y
17 5
17 3
17 0
16 8
2 10
21 0
20 7 20 3
20 0 19 7
19 4
19 1
18 8
18 6 18 3
18 0
17 8
17 5
17 3
17 1
2 20
21 3
21 0 20 7
20 3 20 0
19 7
19 4
19 1
18 9 18 6
18 3
18 0
17 8
17 6
17 3
2 30
21 6
21 3 21 0|20 6 20 3
20 0
19 7
19 4
19 1
18 9
18 6
18 3
18 1
17 8
17 6
2 40
22 0
21 6 21 3
20 9,20 6
20 3
20 0
19 7
19 4
19 1
18 9
18 6
18 3
18 1
17 9
2 60
22 2
21 9 21 5
21 2 20 9
20 6
20 3
20 0
19 7
19 4
19 1
18 8
18 6
18 3
18 1
2 60
22 5
22 2 21 8
21 5
21 2
20 8
20 5
20 2
19 9
19 6
19 4
19 1
18 8
18 6
18 3
2 70
22 8
22 5 22 1
21 7
21 4
21 1
20 8
20 5
20 2
19 9
19 6
19 3
19 1
18 8
18 6
2 80
23 1
22 7 22 4
22 0
21 7
21 3
21 0
20 7
20 4
20 1
19 8
19 6
19 3
19 0
18 8
2 90
23 4
23 0,22 6
22 3
21 9
21 6
21 3
21 0
20 7
20 4
20 1
19 8
19 5
19 3
19 0
3 —
23 6
23 3 22 9
22 5
22 2
21 8
21 5
21 2
20 9
20 6
20 3
20 0
19 8
19 5
19 2
3 10
23 9
23 5 23 1
22 8
22 4
22 1
21 8
21 4
21 1
20 8
20 5
20 2
20 0
19 7
19 4
3 20
24 2
23 823 4
23 0
22 7
22 3
22 0
21 7
21 4
21 1
20 8
20 5
20 2
19 9
19 7
3 30
24 4
24 0 23 6
23 3
22 9
22 6
22 2
21 9
21 6
21 3
21 0
20 7
20 4
20 1
19 9
3 40
24 7
24 3 23 9
23 5
23 1
22 8
22 4
22 1
21 8,21 5
21 2
20 9
20 6
20 3
20 1
3 60
24 9
24 5 24 1
23 7
23 4
23 0
22 7
22 3
22 o'21 7
21 4
21 1
20 8
20 5
20 2
3 60
25 1
24 7
24 3
24 0
23 6
23 2
22 9
22 5
22 2j21 9
21 6
21 3
21 0
20 7
20 4
3 70
25 4
25 0
24 6
24 2
23 8
23 4
23 1
22 7
22 4
22 1
21 8
21 5
21 2
20 9
20 6
3 80
25 6
25 2
24 8
24 4
24 0
23 6
23 3
22 9
22 6
22 3
22 0
21 7
21 4
21 1
20 8
3 90
25 8
25 4
25 0
24 6
24 2
23 8
23 5
23 1
22 8
22 5
22 2
21 9
21 6
21 3
21 0
4 —
26 0
25 6'25 2
24 8
24 4
24 0
23 7
23 3
23 0 22 7
22 4
22 021 7
21 4
21 2
4 10
26 2
25 8 25 4
25 0
24 6
24 3
23 9
23 5
23 2
22 9
22 5
22 2 21 9
21 6
21 3
4 20
26 4
26 0!25 6
25 2
24 8
24 4
24 1
23 7
23 4
23 0
22 7
22 4 22 1
21 8
21 5
4 30
26 7
26 2
25 8
25 4
25 0
24 6
24 3123 9
23 6
23 2
22 9
22 6 22 3
22 0
21 7
4 40
26 9
26 4
26 0
25 6
25 2
24 8
24 5
24 1
23 8
23 4
23 1
22 8|22 5
22 1
21 9
4 50
27 1
26 6
26 2
25 8
25 4
25 0
24 6
24 3
23 9
23 6
23 3
22 9 22 6
22 3
22 0
4 60
27 3
26 8
26 4
26 0
25 6
25 2 24 8
24 5 24 1
23 8
23 4
23 1
22 8
22 5
22 2
4 70
27 5
27 0
26 6
26 2
25 8
25 4 25 0
24 6 24 3
23 9
23 6
23 3
22 9
22 6
22 3
4 80
27 7
27 2
26 8
26 4
26 0
25 6 25 2
24 8 24 4
24 1
23 8
23 4
23 1
22 8
22 5
4 90
27 8
27 4
27 0
26 5
26 1
25 7
25 3
25 0
24 6
24 3
23 9
23 6
23 3
22 9
22 6
5 —
28 0
27 7
27 1
26 7
26 3
25 9
25 5
25 1
24 8
24 4
24 1
23 7
23 4
23 1
22 8
6 25
28 5
28 0
27 6
27 2
26 7
26 3
25 9
25 6
25 2
24 8
24 5
24 1
23 8
23 5
23 2
5 60
28 9
28 5
28 0
27 6
27 2
26 7
26 3
26 0
25 6
25 2
24 9
24 5
24 2
23 9
23 5
6 75
29 4
28 9
28 4
28 0
27 6
27 2
26 7
26 3
26 0
25 6
25 2
24 9
24 5
24 2
23 9
6 —
29 8
29 3
28 8
28 4
28 0
27 5
27 1
26 7
26 3
26 0
25 6
25 2
24 9
24 6
24 2
6 26
30 2
29 7
29 2
28 8
28 3
27 9
27 5
27 1
26 7
26 3
25 9
25 6
25 2
24 9
24 6
6 50
30 6
30 1
29 6
29 5
28 7
28 3
27 9
27 4
27 0
26 7
26 3
25 9
25 6
25 2
24 9
6 75
31 0
30 5
30 0
29 5
29 1
28 6
28 2
27 8
27 4
27 0
26 6
26 3
25 9
25 5
25 2
7 —
31 4
30 9
30 4
29 9
29 4
29 0
28 6
28 1
27 7
27 3
26 9
26 6
26 2
25 9
25 5
7 50
32 1
31 6
31 1
30 6
30 1
29 7
29 2
28 8
28 4
28 0
27 6
27 2
26 8
26 4
26 1
8 —
32 8
32 3
31 7
31 2
30 8
30 3
29 9
29 4
29 0
28 6
28 2
27 8
27 4
27 0
26 7
8 60
33 5
32 9
32 4
31 9
31 4
30 9
30 5
30 0
29 6
29 2
28 7
28 3
28 0
27 6
27 2
9 —
34 1
33 5
33 0
32 5
32 0
31 5
31 0
30 6
30 1
29 7
29 3
28 9
28 5
28 1
27 7
10 —
35 3
34 7
34 2
33 7
33 1
32 6
32 1
31 7
31 2
30 8
30 3
29 9
29 5
29 1
28 7
11 —
36 5
35 9
35 3
34 7
34 2
33 7
33 2
32 7
32 2
31 8
31 3
30 9
30 5
30 1
29 7
12 —
37 5
36 9
36 3
35 7
35 2
34 7
34 2
33 7
33 2
32 7
32 2
31 8
31 4
30 9
30 5
13 —
38 5
37 9
37 3
36 7
36 2
35 6
35 1
34 6
34 1
33 6
33 1
32 7
32 2
31 8 31 3
14 —
39 5
38 9
38 3
37 7
37 1
36 5
36 0
35 4
34 9
34 4
33 9
33 5133 0
32 6 32 1
15 —
40 4
39 8
39 1
38 5
37 9
37 4
36 8
36 3
35 7
35 2
34 7
34 2 33 8
33 3
32 9
16 —
41 3
40 6
40 0
39 4
38 8
38 2
37 6
37 1
36 5
36 0
35 5
35 0 34 5
34 1
33 6
CALCULATING THE PONDERAL INDEX
493
CALCULATIONS OF THE PONDERAL INDEX
Statures from 76 to 90 centimetres; weights from 4 to 37 kilograms
Statures in centimetres
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
4 —
20 9
20 6
20 3
20 1
19 8
19 6
19 4
19 1
18 9
18 7
18 5
18 2
18 0
17 8
17 6
4 50
21 7
21 4
21 2
20 9 20 6'
20 4
20 1
19 9
19 7
19 4
19 2
19 0
18 8
18 6
18 3
5 —
22 5
22 2
21 9 21 621 41
21 1
20 9
20 6
20 4
20 1
19 9
19 7
19 4
19 2
19 0
6 60
23 2
22 9
22 6 22 3 22 1
21 8
21 5
21 3
21 0
20 8
20 5
20 3
20 1
19 8
19 6
6 —
23 9
23 6
23 3 23 0 22 6
22 4
22 2
21 9
21 6
21 4
21 1
20 9
20 6
20 4
20 2
6 50
24 6
24 2
23 9i23 6123 3
23 0
22 8
22 5
22 2
22 0
21 7
21 4
21 2
21 0
20 7
7 —
25 2
24 8
24 5
24 2
23 9
23 6
23 3
23 0
22 8
22 5
22 2
22 0
21 7
21 5
21 3
7 50
25 7
25 4
25 1
24 8
24 5
24 2
23 9
23 6
23 3
23 0
22 8
22 5
22 2
22 0
21 7
8 —
26 3
26 0
25 6 25 3
25 0
24 7
24 4
24 1
23 8
23 5
23 3
23 0
22 7
22 5
22 2
8 50
26 9
26 5
26 2
25 8
25 5
25 2
24 9
24 6
24 3
24 0
23 7
23 5
23 2
22 9
22 7
9 —
27 4
27 0
26 7
26 3
26 0
25 7
25 4
25 1
24 8
24 5
24 2
23 9
23 6
23 4
23 1
9 50
27 9
27 5
27 2
26 8
26 5
26 1
25 8
25 5
25 2
24 9
24 6
24 3
24 1
23 8
23 5
10 —
28 3
28 0
27 6
27 3
26 9
26 6
26 3
26 0
25 6
25 3
25 0
24 8
24 5
24 2
23 9
10 50
28 8
28 4
28 1
27 7
27 4
27 0
26 7
26 4
26 1
25 8
25 5
25 2
24 9
24 6
24 3
11 —
29 3
28 9
28 5
28 2
27 8
27 5
27 1
26 8
26 5
26 2|
25 9
25 6
25 3
25 0
24 7
11 50
29 7
29 3
28 9
28 6
28 2
27 9
27 5
27 2
26 9
26 6!
26 2
25 9
25 6
25 4
25 1
12 —
30 1
29 7
29 3
29 0
28 6
28 3
27 9
27 6
27 2
26 9i
26 6
26 3
26 0
25 7
25 4
12 50
30 5
30 1
29 8
29 4
29 0
28 7
28 3
28 0
27 6;27 3
27 0
26 7
26 4
26 1
25 8
13 —
30 9
30 5
30 1
29 8
29 4
29 0
28 7
28 3
28 0 27 7
27 3
27 0
26 7
26 4
26 1
13 50
31 3
30 9
30 5 30 1
29 8
29 4
29 0
28 7
28 3 28 0
27 7
27 4
27 1
26 8
26 5
14 —
31 7
31 3
30 9130 5
30 1
29 8
29 4
29 0
28 7 28 3
28 0
27 7
27 4
27 1
26 8
14 50
32 1
31 7
31 3!30 9
30 5
30 1
29 7
29 4
29 0 28 7
28 3
28 0
27 7
27 4
27 1
15 —
32 4
32 0
31 6
31 2
30 8
30 4
30 1
29 7
29 4
29 0,
28 7
28 3
28 0
27 7
27 4
15 50
32 8
32 4
32 0
31 631 2
30 8
30 4
30 0 29 7
29 3,
29 0
28 7
28 3
28 0
27 7
16 —
33 2
32 7
32 3
31 9131 5|
31 1
30 7
30 4 30 0
29 6'
29 3
29 0
28 6
28 3
28 0
16 50
33 5
33 1
32 6
32 2
31 8
31 4
31 0
30 7i30 3
30 0
29 6
29 3
28 9
28 6
28 3
17 —
33 8
33 4
33 0
32 5
32 0
31 7
31 4
31 0 30 6
30 2
29 9
29 6
29 2
28 9
28 6
17 50
34 2
33 7
33 3
32 9
32 4
32 0
31 7
31 3 30 9
30 5
30 2
29 8
29 5
29 2
28 8
18 —
34 5
34 0
33 6
33 2
32 8
32 4
32 0
31 631 2
30 8
30 5
30 1
29 8
29 4
29 1
18 50
34 8
34 4
33 9
33 5
33 1
32 7
32 3
31 9 31 5
31 1
30 8
30 4
30 1
29 7
29 4
19 —
35 1
34 6
34 2
33 8
33 3
32 9
32 5132 1
31 8
31 4
31 0
30 7
30 3
30 0
29 6
19 50
35 4
35 0
34 5
34 1
33 6
33 2
32 8
32 4
32 Oi31 7|
31 3
30 9
30 6
30 2
29 9
20 —
35 7
35 2
34 8
34 4
33 9
33 5
33 1
32 7
32 3
31 9
31 6
31 2
30 8
30 5
30 2
21 —
36 3
35 8
35 4
34 9
34 5
34 1
33 6
33 2
32 8
32 5
32 1
31 7
31 4
31 0
30 7
22 —
36 9
36 4
35 9
35 5
35 o:
34 6
34 2
33 8
33 4
33 0
32 6
32 2
31 8
31 5
31 1
23 —
37 4
36 9
36 5
36 0
35 5
35 1
34 7
34 3
33 9
33 5
33 1
32 7
32 3
31 9
31 6
24 —
37 9
37 5
37 0
36 5
36 0
35 6
35 2
34 7
34 3
33 9
33 5
33 2
32 8
32 4
32 0
25 —
38 5
38 0
37 5
37 0
36 5
36 1
35 7
35 2
34 8
34 4
34 0
33 6
33 2
32 9
32 5
26 —
39 0
38 5
38 0
37 5
37 0
36 6
36 1
35 7
35 3
34 8
34 4
34 0 33 7
33 3
32 9
27 —
39 5
39 0
38 5
38 0
37 5
37 0 36 6
36 1
35 7
35 3
34 9
34 5 34 1
33 7
33 3
28 —
40 0
39 4
38 9
38 4
38 0
37 5 37 0
36 6
36 2
35 7
35 3
34 9 34 5
34 1
33 7
29 —
40 4
39 9
39 4
38 9
38 4
37 9 37 5
37 0
36 6 36 1
35 7
35 3
34 9
34 5
34 1
30 —
40 9
40 4
39 8
39 3
38 8
38 4 37 9
37 4
37 0 36 6
36 1
35 7
35 3
34 9
34 5
31 —
41 3
40 8
40 3
39 8
39 3
38 8 38 3
37 8
37 4 37 0
36 5
36 1
35 7
35 3
34 9
32 —
41 8
41 2
40 7140 2 39 7|
39 2 38 7
38 3
37 837 4 '36 9
36 5 36 1
35 7
35 3
33 —
42 2
41 7
41 1
40 6 40 1
39 6 39 1
38 7
38 2'37 7 i37 3
36 9 36 5
36 0
35 6
34 —
42 6
42 1
41 5
41 0 40 5
40 0 39 5
39 0
38 6 38 1 37 7
37 2 36 8 36 4|36 0
35 —
43 0
42 5
41 9
41 4 40 9
40 4
39 9
39 4
38 9138 5
38 0 37 6 37 2;36 8 36 3
36 —
43 4
42 9
42 3
41 8 41 3
40 8
40 3
39 8;39 3|38 8;
38 4 38 0 37 5 37 136 7
37 —
43 8
43 3
42 7
42 2 41 6
41 1
40 6
40 1
39 7
39 2
38 7 38 3 37 9 37 4 37 0
32
494
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
CALCULATIONS OF THE PONDERAL INDEX
Statures from 91 to 105 centimetres; weights from 4 to 37 kilograms
Statures in centimetres
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
4 —
17 4
17 2
17 0 16 9
16 7
16 5
16 4
16 2
16 0
15 9
15 7
15 6
15 4
15 3 15 1
4 50
18 1
17 9
17 8
17 6
17 4
17 2
17 0
16 8
16 7 16 5
16 3
16 2
16 0
15 9,15 7
5 —
18 8
18 6
18 4
18 2
18 0
17 8
17 6
17 4
17 317 1
16 9
16 8
16 6
16 5jl6 3
6 50
19 4
19 2
19 0
18 8
18 6
18 3
18 2
18 0
17 8
17 6
17 5
17 3
17 1
17 0!l6 8
6 —
20 0
19 7
19 5
19 3
19 1
18 9
18 7
18 5
18 4
18 2
18 0
17 8
17 6
17 5
17 3
6 50
20 5
20 3
20 1
19 9
19 6
19 4
19 2
19 0
18 8
18 7
18 5
18 3
18 1
17 9
17 8
7 —
21 0
20 8
20 6
20 4
20 1
19 9
19 7
19 5
19 3
19 1
18 9
18 8
18 6
18 4
18 2
7 50
21 5
21 3
21 1
20 8
20 6
20 4
20 2
20 0
19 8
19 6
19 4
19 2
19 0
18 8
18 6
8 —
22 0
21 7
21 5
21 3
21 1
20 8
20 6
20 4
20 2
20 0
19 8
19 6
19 4
19 2
19 0
8 50
22 4
22 2
22 0
21 7
21 5
21 3
21 0120 8
20 6
20 4
20 2
20 0
19 8
19 6
19 4
9 —
22 9
22 6
22 4
22 1
21 9
21 7
21 4
21 2
21 0
20 8
20 6
20 4
20 2
20 0
19 8
9 50
23 3
23 0
22 8
22 5
22 3
22 1
21 8
21 6;21 4
21 2
21 0
20 8
20 6
20 4
20 2
10 —
23 7
23 4
23 2
22 9
22 7
22 4
22 2
22 021 8
21 5
21 3
21 1
20 9
20 7
20 5
10 50
24 1
23 8
23 5
23 3
23 1
22 8
22 6
22 3
22 1
21 9
21 7
21 5
21 3
21 1
20 9
11 —
24 4
24 2
23 9
23 7
23 4
23 2
22 9
22 7
22 5
22 2
22 0
21 8
21 6
21 4
21 2
11 50
24 8
24 5
24 3
24 0
23 8
23 5
23 3
23 0
22 8
22 6
22 3
22 1
21 9
21 7
21 5
12 —
25 2
24 9
24 6
24 4
24 1
23 8
23 6|23 4
23 1
22 9
22 7
22 4
22 2
22 0
21 8
12 50
25 5
25 2
25 0
24 7
24 4
24 2
23 9
23 7
23 4
23 2
23 0
22 8
22 5
22 3
22 1
13 —
25 8
25 6
25 3
25 0
24 7
24 5
24 2
24 0
23 7
23 5
23 3
23 0
22 8
22 6
22 4
13 50
26 2
25 9
25 6
25 3
25 1
24 8
24 5
24 3
24 1
23 8
23 6
23 3
23 1
22 9
22 7
14 —
26 5
26 2
25 9
25 6
25 4
25 1
24 8
24 6
24 3
24 1
23 9
23 6
23 4
23 2
23 0
14 60
26 8
26 5 26 2
25 9
25 7
25 4
25 1
24 9
24 6
24 4
24 1
23 9
23 7
23 4
23 3
15 —
27 1
26 8
26 5
26 2
26 0
25 7
25 4
25 2
24 9
24 7
24 4
24 2
23 9
23 7
23 5
15 50
27 4
27 1
26 8
26 5
26 2
26 0
25 7
25 4
25 2
24 9
24 7
24 4
24 2
24 0
23 7
16 —
27 7
27 4
27 1
26 8
26 5
26 2
26 0
25 7
25 5
25 2
25 0
24 7
24 5
24 2
24 0
16 50
28 0
27 7
27 4
27 1
26 8
26 5
26 2
26 0
25 7
25 5
25 2
25 0
24 7
24 5
24 2
17 —
28 3
27 9 27 6
27 4
27 1
26 8
26 5
26 2
26 0
25 7
25 5
25 2
25 0
24 7
24 5
17 50
28 5
28 2 27 9
27 6
27 3
27 0
26 8
26 5 26 2
26 0
25 7 25 5
25 2
25 0
24 7
18 —
28 8
28 5'28 2
27 9
27 6
27 3
27 0
26 7 26 5
26 2
26 0 25 7
25 4
25 2
25 0
18 50
29 1
28 7:28 4
28 1
27 8
27 6
27 3
27 0 26 7
26 4
26 2 25 9
25 7
25 4
25 2
19 —
29 3
29 0
28 7
28 4
28 0
27 8
27 5
27 2
26 9
26 7
26 4
26 2
25 9
25 7
25 4
19 50
29 6
29 3
28 9
28 6
28 3
28 0
27 8
27 5
27 2
26 9
26 7
26 4
26 1
25 9
25 6
20 —
29 8
29 5
29 2
28 9
28 6
28 3
28 0
27 7
27 4
27 1
26 9
26 6
26 3
26 1
25 8
21 —
30 3
30 0
29 7
29 4
29 0
28 7
28 4
28 2
27 9
27 6
27 3
27 0
26 8
26 5
26 3
22 —
30 8
30 5
30 1
29 8
29 5
29 2
28 9
28 6
28 3
28 0
27 7
27 5
27 2
26 9
26 7
23 —
31 2
30 9
30 6
30 3
29 9
29 6
29 3
29 0
28 7
28 4
28 2
27 9
27 6
27 3
27 1
24 —
31 7
31 3
31 0
30 7
30 4
30 0
29 7
29 4
29 1
28 8
28 6
28 3
28 0
27 7
27 5
25 —
32 1
31 8
31 4
31 1
30 8
30 5
30 1
29 8
29 5
29 2
28 9
28 7
28 4
28 1
27 8
26 —
32 5
32 2
31 8
31 5
31 2
30 9
30 5
30 2
29 9
29 6
29 3
29 0
28 8
28 5
28 2
27 —
33 0
32 6
32 3
31 9
31 6
31 2
30 9
30 6
30 3
30 0
29 7
29 4
29 1
28 8
28 6
28 —
33 4
33 0
32 7
32 3
32 0
31 6
31 3
31 0
30 7
30 4
30 1
29 8
29 5
29 2
28 9
29 —
33 8
33 4
33 0
32 7
32 3
32 0
31 7
31 3
31 0
30 7
30 4
30 1
29 8
29 5
29 3
30 —
34 1
33 8
33 4
33 1
32 7
32 4
32 0
31 7
31 4
31 1
30 8
30 5
30 2
29 9
29 6
31 —
34 5
34 1
33 8
33 4
33 1
32 7
32 4
32 1
31 7
31 4
31 1
30 8
30 5
30 2
29 9
32 —
34 9
34 5
34 1
33 8
33 4
33 1
32 7
32 4
32 1
31 7
31 4
31 1
30 8
30 5
30 2
33 —
35 3
34 9
34 5
34 1
33 8
33 4
33 1
32 7
32 4
32 1
31 8
31 5
31 1
30 8
30 6
34 —
35 6
35 2
34 8
34 5
34 1
33 7
33 4
33 1
32 7
32 4
32 1
31 8
31 5
31 2
30 9
35 —
35 9
35 6
35 2
34 8
34 4
34 1
33 7
33 4
33 0
32 7
32 4
32 1
31 8
31 5
31 2
36 —
36 3
35 9
35 5
35 1
34 8
34 4
34 0
33 7
33 4
33 0
32 7
32 4
32 1
31 7
31 4
37 —
36 6
36 2
35 8
35 4
35 1
34 7
34 4
34 0
33 7
33 3
33 0
32 7
32 3
32 0
31 7
CALCULATING THE PONDERAL INDEX
495
CALCULATIONS OF THE PONDERAL INDEX
Statures from 106 to 120 centimetres; weights from 11 to 60 kilograms
.9 ^
m S
Statures in centimetres
MM
•53-2
106 107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116 117
118
119
120
11
21 0 20 8
20 6
20 4
20 2
20 0
19 9
19 7
19 5
19 3
19 2 19 0
18 8
18 7
18 5
12
21 621 4
21 2 21 0
20 8
20 6
20 4
20 3 20 1
19 9
19 7 19 6
19 4
19 2
19 1
13
22 2
22 0
21 8
21 6
21 4
21 2
21 0
20 8
20 6
20 4
20 3 20 1
19 9
19 8
19 6
14
22 7
22 5
22 3
22 1
21 9
21 7
21 5
21 3
21 1
21 0
20 8 20 6
20 4
20 3
20 1
15
23 3
23 0
22 8
22 6
22 4
22 2
22 0
21 8
21 6
21 4
21 3 21 1
20 9
20 7
20 6
16
23 8
23 6
23 3
23 1
22 9
22 7
22 5
22 3 22 1
21 9
21 7 21 5
21 4
21 2
21 0
17
24 3
24 0
23 8
23 6123 4
23 2
23 0
22 8|22 6
22 4
22 2 22 0
21 8
21 6
21 4
18
24 7
24 5
24 3
24 0
23 8
23 6
23 4
23 2 23 0
22 8
22 6i22 4
22 2
22 0
21 8
19
25 2
24 9
24 7
24 5
24 3
24 0
23 8
23 6 23 4
23 2
23 0|22 8|22 6
22 4
22 2
20
25 6 25 4
25 1
24 9
24 7
24 5
24 2
24 0 23 8
23 6
23 423 2|23 0
22 8
22 6
21
26 0 25 8
25 5
25 3
25 1
24 9
24 6
24 4'24 2
24 0
23 8'23 6 23 4
23 2
23 0
22
26 4 26 2
25 9
25 7
25 5
25 2
25 0
24 8,24 6!24 4
24 2 23 9:23 7
23 5
23 3
23
26 8 26 6
26 3
26 1
25 9
25 6
25 4
25 2 24 9i24 7
24 524 3 24 1
23 9
23 7
24
27 2
27 0
26 7
26 5
26 2
26 0
25 7
25 5 25 3
25 1
24 9 24 6,24 4
24 2
24 0
25
27 6
27 3
27 1
26 8
26 6
26 3
26 1
25 9
25 6
25 4
25 2,25 0,24 8
24 6
24 4
26
27 9
27 5
27 4
27 2
26 9
26 7
26 4
26 2
26 0
25 8
25 5
25 3^25 1
24 9
24 7
27
28 3
28 0
27 8
27 5
27 3
27 0
26 8
26 5
26 3
26 1
25 9
25 6 25 4
25 2
25 0
28
28 7
28 4
28 1
27 9
27 6
27 4
27 1
26 9
26 6
26 4
26 2
26 0|25 7
25 5
25 3
29
29 0
28 7
28 4
28 2
27 9
27 7
27 4
27 2
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 3 26 0
25 8
25 6
30
29 3
29 0
28 8
28 5
28 2
28 0
27 7
27 5
27 3
27 0
26 8
26 6 26 3
26 1
25 9
31
29 6
29 4
29 1
28 8
28 6
28 3
28 0
27 8
27 6
27 3
27 1
26 8 26 6
26 4
26 2
32
30 0
29 7
29 4
29 1
28 9
28 6|28 3
28 1
27 9
27 6
27 4
27 1 26 9
26 7
26 5
33
30 3
30 0
29 7
29 4
29 2
28 9!28 6
28 4 28 1
27 9
27 7
27 4'27 2
27 0
26 7
34
30 6
30 3
30 0
29 7
29 5
29 2,28 9
28 7 28 4
28 2
27 9
27 7]27 5
27 2
27 0
35
30 9
30 6
30 3
30 0
29 7
29 5
29 2
28 9
28 7
28 4
28 2
28 0 27 7
27 5
27 3
36
31 2
30 9
30 6
30 3
30 0
29 7
29 5
29 2
29 0
28 7
28 5
28 2 28 0
27 7
27 5
37
31 4
31 1
30 9
30 6
30 3
30 0
29 7
29 5
29 2
29 0
28 7
28 5
28 2
28 0 27 8
38
31 7
31 4
31 1
30 8
30 6
30 3
30 0
29 7
29 5
29 2
29 0
28 7
28 5
28 3 28 0
39
32 0
31 7
31 4
31 1
30 8
30 5
30 3
30 0
29 7
29 5
29 2
29 0
28 7
28 5 28 3
40
32 3
32 0
31 7
31 4
31 1
30 8
30 5
30 3
30 0 29 7
29 5
29 2
29 0
28 7 28 5
41
32 5
32 2
31 9
31 7
31 3
31 1
30 8
30 5
30 2 30 0
29 7
29 5
29 2
29 0 28 7
42
32 8
32 5
32 2
31 9
31 6
31 3
31 0
30 8
30 5 30 2
30 0
29 7
29 5
29 2
29 0
43
33 0
32 7
32 4
32 1
31 8
31 6
31 3
31 0
30 7 30 5
30 2
29 9
29 7
29 4
29 2
44
33 3
33 0
32 7
32 4
32 1
31 8
31 5
31 2
31 0 30 7
30 4
30 2
29 9
29 7
29 4
45
33 6
33 2
32 9
32 6
32 3
32 0
31 8
31 5
31 2 30 9
30 7
30 4
30 1
29 9
29 6
46
33 8
33 5
33 2
32 9
32 6
32 3
32 0
31 7
31 4
31 2
30 9
30 6
30 4
30 1
29 9
47
34 0
33 7
33 4
33 1
32 8
32 5
32 2
31 9
31 7
31 4
31 1
30 8
30 6
30 3
30 1
48
34 3
34 0
33 6
33 3
33 0
32 7
32 4
32 2
31 9
31 7
31 3
31 1
30 8
30 5
30 3
49
34 5
34 2
33 9
33 6
33 3
33 0
32 7
32 4
32 1
31 8
31 5
31 3
31 0
30 7
30 5
60
34 8
34 4
34 1
33 8
33 5
33 2
32 9
32 6
32 3 32 0
31 8
31 5
31 2
31 0
30 7
51
35 0
34 7
34 3
34 0
33 7
33 4
33 1
32 8
32 5
32 2
32 0
31 7
31 4
31 2
30 9
62
35 2
34 9
34 6
34 2
33 9
33 6
33 3
33 0
32 7
32 5
32 2
31 9
31 6
31 4
31 1
63
35 4
35 1
34 8
34 5
34 1
33 8
33 5
33 2
32 9
32 7
32 4
32 1
31 8
31 6
31 3
54
35 7
35 3
35 0
34 7
34 4
34 1
33 7
33 5
33 2
32 9
32 6
32 3
32 0
31 8
31 5
55
35 9
35 5
35 2
34 9
34 6
34 3
34 0
33 7
33 4
33 1
32 8
32 5
32 2
32 0
31 7
56
36 1
35 8
35 4
35 1
34 8
34 5
34 2
33 9
33 6
33 3
33 0
32 7
32 4
32 2
31 9
57
36 3
36 0
35 6
35 3
35 0
34 7
34 4
34 1
33 8
33 5
33 2
32 9
32 6
32 3
32 1
68
36 5
36 2
35 8
35 5
35 2
34 9
34 6
34 3
34 0
33 7
33 4
33 1
32 8
32 5
32 3
59
36 7
36 4
36 0
35 7
35 4
35 1
34 8
34 5
34 1
33 9
33 6
33 3
33 0
32 7
32 4
60
36 9
36 6
36 2
35 9
35 6
35 3
35 0
34 6
34 3
34 0
33 7
33 5
33 2
32 9
32 6
496
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
CALCULATIONS OF THE PONDERAL INDEX
Statures from 121 to 135 centimetres; weights from 11 to 60 kilograms
.9 t"
Statures in centimetres
MM
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
11
18 4
18 2
18 1
17 9
17 8
17 7
17 5
17 4
17 2
17 1
17 0
16 8
16 7
16 6
16 5
12
18 9
18 8
18 6
18 5
18 3
18 2
18 0
17 9
17 7
17 6
17 5
17 3
17 2
17 1
17 0
13
19 4
19 3
19 1
19 0
18 8
18 7
18 5
18 4
18 2
18 1
17 9
17 8
17 7
17 6
17 4
14
19 9
19 8
19 6
19 4
19 3
19 1
19 0
18 8
18 7
18 5
18 4
18 3
18 1
17 9
17 9
15
20 4
20 2 20 0
19 9
19 7
19 6
19 4
19 3
19 1
19 0
18 8
18 7
18 5
18 4
18 3
16
20 8
20 7
20 5
20 3
20 2
20 0
19 8
19 7
19 5
19 4
19 2
19 1
18 9
18 8
18 7
17
21 2
21 1
20 9
20 7
20 6
20 4
20 2
20 1
19 9
19 8
19 6
19 5
19 3
19 2
19 0
18
21 6
21 5
21 3
21 1
21 0
20 8
20 6
20 5
20 3
20 2
20 0
19 9
19 7
19 6
19 4
19
22 0
21 9 21 7
21 5
21 3
21 2
21 0
20 8
20 7
20 6
20 4
20 2
20 1
19 9
19 8
20
22 4
22 2
22 1
21 9
21 7
21 5
21 4
21 2
21 0
20 9
20 7
20 6
20 4
20 3
20 1
21
22 8
22 6
22 4
22 2
22 1
21 9
21 7
21 6
21 4
21 2
21 1
20 9
20 7
20 6
20 4
22
23 2
23 0
22 8
22 6
22 4
22 2
22 1
21 9
21 7
21 6
21 4
21 2
21 1
20 9
20 8
23
23 5
23 3
23 1
22 9
22 8
22 6
22 4
22 2
22 0
21 9|
21 7
21 5
21 4
21 2
21 1
24
23 8
23 6
23 4
23 3
23 1
22 9
22 7
22 5
22 4
22 2;
22 0
21 8
21 7
21 5
21 4
26
24 2
24 0
23 8
23 6
23 4
23 2
23 0
22 8
22 7
22 5
22 3
22 222 0
21 8
21 7
26
24 5
24 3
24 1
23 9
23 7
23 5
23 3
23 1
23 0
22 8
22 6 22 4^22 3
22 1
21 9
27
24 8
24 6 24 4
24 2
24 0
23 8
23 6
23 4
23 3
23 1
22 9 22 7 22 6
22 4
22 2
28
25 1
24 9 24 7
24 5
24 3
24 1
23 9
23 7
23 5
23 4
23 2 23 0 22 8
22 7
22 5
29
25 4
25 2
25 0
24 8
24 6
24 4
24 2
24 0
23 8
23 6
23 523 323 1
22 9
22 8
30
25 7
25 5
25 3
25 1
24 9
24 7
24 5
24 3
24 1
23 9
23 7
23 5 23 4
23 2
23 0
31
26 0
25 7
25 5
25 3
25 1
24 9
24 7
24 5
24 3
24 2
24 0
23 8
23 6
23 4
23 3
32
26 2
26 0
25 8
25 6
25 4
25 2
25 0
24 8
24 6
24 4
24 2
24 1
23 9l23 7
23 5
33
26 5
26 3
26 1
25 9
25 7
25 5
25 3
25 1
24 9
24 7
24 5
24 3
24 1
23 9
23 8
34
26 8
26 6
26 3
26 1
25 9
25 7
25 5
25 3
25 1
24 9
24 7
24 5
24 4
24 2
24 0
36
27 0
26 8
26 6
26 4
26 2
26 0
25 8
25 6
25 4
25 2
25 0
24 8
24 6
24 4
24 2
36
27 3
27 1
26 8
26 6
26 4
26 2
26 0
25 8
25 6
25 4
25 2
25 0
24 8
24 6
24 5
37
27 5
27 3
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 4
26 2
26 0
25 8
25 6
25 4
25 2 25 1
24 9
24 7
38
27 8
27 6
27 3
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 3
26 1
25 9
25 7
25 5 25 3|25 1
24 9
39
28 0
27 8
27 6
27 3 27 1
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 3
26 1
25 9
25 7 25 5
25 3
25 1
40
28 3
28 0
27 8
27 6|27 4
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 3
26 1
25 9
25 7
25 5
25 3
41
28 5
28 3
28 0
27 8,27 6
27 4
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 3
26 1
25 9
25 7
25 5
42
28 7
28 5
28 3
28 0
27 8
27 6
27 4
27 2
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 3
26 1
25 9
25 7
43
29 0
28 7
28 5
28 2
28 0
27 8
27 6
27 4
27 2
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 3
26 1
25 9
44
29 2
28 9
28 7
28 5
28 2
28 0
27 8
27 6
27 4
27 2
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 3
26 1
46
29 4
29 2
28 9
28 7
28 5
28 2
28 0
27 8
27 6
27 4
27 2
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 3
46
29 6
29 4
29 1
28 9
28 7
28 4
28 2
28 0
27 8
27 6
27 4
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 5
47
29 8
29 6
29 3
29 1
28 9
28 6
28 4
28 2
28 0
27 8
27 5
27 3
27 1
26 9
26 7
48
30 0
29 8
29 5
29 3
29 1
28 8
28 6
28 4
28 2
28 0
27 7
27 5
27 3
27 1
26 9
49
30 2
30 0
29 7
29 5
29 3
29 0
28 8
28 6
28 4
28 1
27 9
27 7
27 5
27 3
27 1
60
30 4
30 2
30 0
29 7
29 5
29 2
29 0
28 8
28 6
28 3
28 1
27 9
27 7
27 5
27 3
61
30 6
30 4
30 1
29 9
29 7
29 4
29 2
29 0
28 7
28 5
28 3
28 1
27 9
27 7
27 5
62
30 9
30 6
30 3
30 1
29 9
29 6
29 4
29 2
28 9
28 7
28 5
28 3
28 1
27 9
27 7
63
31 0
30 8
30 6
30 3
30 0
29 8
29 6
29 3
29 1
28 9
28 7
28 5
28 2
28 0
27 8
64
31 2
31 0
30 7
30 5
30 2
30 0
29 8
29 5
29 3
29 1
28 9
28 6
28 4
28 2
28 0
66
31 4
31 2
30 9
30 7
30 4
30 2
29 9
29 7
29 5
29 3
29 0
28 8
28 6
28 4
28 2
68
31 6
31 4
31 1
30 9
30 6
30 4
30 1
29 9
29 7
29 4
29 2
29 0
28 8
28 6
28 3
67
31 8
31 5
31 3
31 0
30 8
30 5
30 3
30 1
29 8
29 6
29 4
29 2
28 9
28 7
28 5
68
32 0
31 7
31 5
31 2
31 0
30 7
30 5
30 2
30 0
29 8
29 5
29 3
29 1
28 9
28 7
69
32 2
31 9 31 7
31 4
31 1
30 9 30 7
30 4
30 2 29 9
29 7
29 5
29 3
29 1
28 8
60
32 4
32 131 8
31 6
31 3
31 130 8
30 6
30 3,30 1
29 9
29 7
29 4
29 2
29 0
CALCULATING THE PONDERAL INDEX
497
CALCULATIONS OF THE PONDERAL INDEX
Statures from 136 to 150 centimetres; weights from 26 to 75 kilograms
QQ M
Statures in centimetres
MM
j
136
137
138
139
140 '
141
142 143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
26
21 8
21 6
21 5
21 3
21 2
21 0
20 9
20 7 20 6
20 4
20 3
20 1 20 0
19 9
19 7
27
22 1
21 9'21 7
21 6
21 4
21 3 21 1
21 0120 8
20 7
20 5 20 4 20 3
20 1
20 0
■ 28
22 3
22 2 22 0
21 8
21 7
21 5 21 4
21 2 21 1
20 9
20 8 20 7 20 5
20 4
20 2
29
22 6
22 4122 3
22 1
21 9
21 8 21 6
21 5 21 3
21 2
21 0 20 9 20 8
20 6
20 5
30
22 8
22 7:22 5
22 4
22 2
22 021 9
21 7 21 6
21 4
21 3 21 1
21 0
20 9
20 7
31
23 1
22 9 22 8
22 6
22 4
22 3 22 1
22 0 21 8
21 7
21 5
21 4
21 2
21 1
20 9
32
23 3 23 2
23 0
22 8
22 7
22 5 22 4
22 2 22 021 9
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 3
21 2
33
23 6 23 4
23 2:23 1
22 9
22 8
22 6
22 422 3 22 1
22 0
21 8
21 7
21 5
21 4
34
23 8 23 6
23 5
23 3
23 1
23 0
22 8
22 7 22 5 22 3
22 2
22 0
21 9
21 7
21 6
36
24 1
23 9
23 7
23 5
23 4
23 2
23 0
22 9 22 7 22 6
22 4
22 3
22 1
22 0
21 8
36
24 3
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 4
23 3
23 1 22 9 22 8
22 6
22 5
22 3
22 2
22 0
37
24 5
24 3
24 1
24 0
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 323 123 0 22 8 22 7
22 5
22 4
22 2
38
24 7
24 5
24 4
24 2
24 0
23 8
23 7
23 523 323 2 23 022 9
22 7
22 6
22 4
39
24 9
24 8
24 6
24 4
24 2
24 0
23 9
23 723 5I23 4
23 2 23 1
22 9
22 8
22 6
40
25 1
25 0
24 8
24 6
24 4
24 3
24 1
23 9 23 7 23 6
23 4 23 3
23 1
23 0
22 8
41
25 4
25 2
25 0
24 8
24 6
24 5
24 3
24 1 23 9 23 8
23 6 23 5
23 3
23 1
23 0
42
25 6
25 4
25 2
25 0
24 8
24 7
24 5
24 3 24 124 0 23 8 23 6:23 6
23 3
23 2
43
25 8
25 6
25 4
25 2
25 0
24 8
24 7
24 524 3 23 2 ,24 0 23 8 23 7
23 5
23 4
44
26 0
25 8
25 6
25 4
25 2
25 0
24 9
24 7 24 5 24 3|;24 2 24 0123 9,23 7
23 5
45
26 2
26 0
25 8
25 6
25 4
25 2
25 0
24 9 24 7 24 51
24 4 24 2 24 Ol23 9
j
23 7
46
26 3 26 2
26 0*25 8
25 6
25 4
25 225 124 9'24 7|
24 5 24 4 24 2'24 0
23 9
47
26 5 26 3
26 2 26 0
25 8
25 6
25 4 25 2 25 1 24 9
24 7 24 6 24 4 24 2
24 1
48
26 7
26 5
26 3 26 1
26 0
25 8
25 6 25 4I25 2 25 1
24 9 24 7
24 6 24 4
24 2
49
26 9
26 7
26 5 26 3
26 1
26 0
25 8
25 6.25 4 25 2.
25 1 24 9
24 7,24 6
24 4
60
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 3
26 1
25 9
25 8:25 6
25 4
25 2
25 1
24 9
24 7
24 6
61
27 3
27 1
26 9
26 7 26 5
26 3 26 1
25 9'25 7
25 6
25 4
25 2
25 1
24 9
24 7
62
27 4
27 2
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 5 26 3
26 1
25 9
25 71
25 6
25 425 2
25 1'24 9
63
27 6
27 4 27 2
27 0
26 8
26 6 26 5
26 3
26 1
25 9|
25 7
25 6 25 4
25 2|25 0
64
27 8
27 6 27 4
27 2
27 0
26 8 26 6
26 4
26 2
26 1
25 9
25 7 25 5
25 4 25 2
65
28 0
27 8 27 6
27 4
27 2\
27 0
26 8
26 6
26 4
26 2
26 0
25 9 25 7
25 5|25 4
66
28 1
27 9 27 7
27 5
27 3'
27 1
26 9
26 8
26 6
26 4
26 2
26 0 25 9
25 7
25 5
57
28 3
28 1
27 9
27 7
27 5|
27 3
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 4
26 2 26 0
25 8
25 7
68
28 5
28 3
28 1
27 8
27 61
27 5
27 3
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 3 26 2
26 0
25 8
59
28 6
28 4
28 2
28 0
27 8!
27 6
27 4
27 2
27 0
26 8
26 7
26 5 26 3
26 1
26 0
60
28 8
28 6
28 4
28 2
28 0
27 8
27 6
27 4
27 2
27 0
26 8
26 6
26 5
26 3
26 1
61
28 9
28 7
28 5
28 3
28 1
27 9
27 7
27 5
27 3
27 1
27 0
26 8
26 6
26 4
26 2
62
29 1
28 9,28 7
28 5
28 3
28 1
27 9
27 7
27 5
27 3
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 6
26 4
63
29 3
29 0 28 8
28 6
28 4
28 2
28 0
27 8
27 6
27 4
27 3
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 5
64
29 4
29 2 29 0
28 8
28 6
28 4
28 2
28 0
27 8
27 6
27 4
27 2
27 0
26 8
26 7
65
29 6
29 4
29 1
28 9
28 7
28 5
28 3
28 1
27 9
27 7
27 5
27 4
27 2
27 0
26 8
66
29 7
29 5
29 3
29 1
28 9
28 7
28 5
28 3
28 1
27 9
27 7
27 5
27 3
27 1
26 9
67
29 9
29 6
29 4
29 2
29 0
28 8
28 6
28 4
28 2
28 0
27 8
27 6:27 4
27 3
27 1
68
30 0
29 8
29 6
29 4
29 2
29 0
28 8
28 6
28 4
28 2
28 0
27 8I27 6
27 4
27 2
69
30 2
29 9
29 7
29 5
29 3
29 1
28 9
28 7
28 5
28 3
28 1
27 9
27 7
27 5
27 3
70
30 3
30 1
29 9
29 6
29 4
29 2
29 0
28 8
28 6
28 4
28 2
28 0
27 8
27 7
27 5
71
30 4
30 2
30 0
29 8
29 6
29 4
29 2
29 0
28 8
28 6
28 4
28 2I28 0
27 8
27 6
72
30 6
30 4
30 1
29 9
29 7
29 5
29 3
29 1
28 9
28 7
28 5|28 3
28 1
27 9
27 7
73
30 7
30 5
30 3:30 1
29 8
29 6
29 4
29 2
29 0
28 8
28 6:28 4
28 2
28 0
27 9
74
30 9
30 6
30 4130 2
30 0
29 8
29 6
29 4
29 2
29 0
28 8
28 6
28 4
28 2
28 0
75
31 0
30 8
30 6
30 3
30 1
29 9
29 7
29 5
29 3
29 1
28 9
28 7
28 6
28 3
28 1
498
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
CALCULATIONS OF THE PONDERAL INDEX
Statures from 151 to 165 centimetres; weights from 26 to 75 kilograms
a m
'It
Statures
m centimetres
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
.165
26
19 6
19 5
19 4 19 2
19 1
19 0
18 9
18 7
18 6
18 5
18 4
18 3
18 2
18 1
18 0
27
19 9
19 7
19 6
19 5
19 4
19 2
19 1
19 0
18 9
18 7
18 6
18 5
18 4
18 3
18 2
28
20 1
20 0
19 8
19 7
19 6
19 5
19 3
19 2
19 1
19 0
18 9
18 7
18 6
18 5
18 4
29
20 3
20 2
20 1
19 9
19 8
19 7
19 6
19 4
19 3
19 2
19 1
19 0
18 8
18 7
18 6
30
20 6
20 4
20 3
20 2
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 7
19 5
19 4
19 3
19 2
19 1
18 9
18 8
31
20 8
20 7
20 5
20 4
20 3
20 1
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 6
19 5
19 4
19 3
19 2
19 0
32
21 0:20 9
20 8 20 6
20 5
20 4
20 2
20 1
20 0
19 8
19 7
19 6
19 5
19 4
19 2
33
21 2 21 1
21 0 20 8
20 7
20 6
20 4
20 3 20 2
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 7
19 6
19 4
34
21 5 21 3 21 2 21 0
20 9
20 8
20 6 20 5 20 4
20 2
20 1
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 6
35
21 7|21 5 21 4 21 2
21 1
21 0
20 8 20 7 20 6
20 4
20 3
20 2
20 1
19 9
19 8
86
21 9 21 7
21 6 21 4
21 3
21 2
21 0 20 9 20 8
20 6
20 5
20 4
20 3
20 1
20 0
37
22 1 21 9
21 8 21 6
21 5
21 4
21 2
21 1
21 0
20 8
20 7
20 6
20 4
20 3
20 2
38
22 3 22 1
22 0 21 8
21 7
21 6
21 4
21 3
21 1
21 0
20 9
20 8
20 6
20 5
20 4
39
22 522 3
22 2 22 0
21 9
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 3
21 2
21 1
20 9
20 8
20 7
20 6
40
22 6 22 5
22 4
22 2
22 1
21 9
21 8
21 6
21 5
21 4
21 2
21 1
21 0
20 9
20 7
41
22 8 22 7
22 5
22 4
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 8
21 7
21 5
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 0
20 9
42
23 0 22 9
22 7
22 6
22 4
22 3
22 1
22 0
21 9
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 3
21 2
21 1
43
23 2 23 0
22 9
22 7
22 6
22 5
22 3
22 2
22 0
21 9
21 8
21 6
21 5
21 4
21 2
44
23 4^23 2
23 1
22 9
22 8
22 6
22 5
22 3
22 2
22 1
21 9
21 8
21 7
21 5
21 4
46
23 6 23 4
23 2
23 1
22 9
22 8
22 7
22 5
22 4
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 8
21 7
21 6
46
23 7 23 6
23 4
23 3
23 1
23 0
22 8
22 7
22 5
22 4
22 3
22 1
22 0
21 8
21 7
47
23 9 23 7
23 6
23 4
23 3
23 1
23 0
22 8
22 7
22 6
22 4
22 3
22 1
22 0
21 9
48
24 1 23 9
23 8
23 6
23 4
23 3
23 1
23 0
22 9
22 7
22 6
22 4
22 3
22 2
22 0
49
24 2 24 1
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 3
23 2
23 0
22 9
22 7
22 6
22 4
22 3
22 2
60
24 4 24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 3
23 2
23 0
22 9
22 7
22 6
22 5
22 3
51
24 6 24 4
24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 3
23 2
23 0
22 9
22 7
22 6
22 5
62
24 7 24 6
24 4
24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 3
23 2
23 0
22 9
22 8
22 6
53
24 9 24 7
24 5
24 4
24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 3
23 2
23 0
22 9
22 8
64
25 024 9'24 7
24 5
24 4
24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 3
23 2
23 0
22 9
66
25 2 25 024 9
24 7
24 5
24 4
24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 3
23 2
23 0
66
25 3
25 2 25 0
24 8
24 7
24 5
24 4
24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 3
23 2
67
25 5
25 3|25 2
25 0
24 8
24 7
24 5
24 4
24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5 23 3
68
25 6
25 5:25 3
25 1
25 0
24 8
24 7
24 5
24 3
24 2
24 0
23 9
23 7
23 6 23 5
59
25 8
25 6
25 4
25 3
25 1
25 0
24 8
24 6'24 5
24 3
24 2
24 0
23 9
23 7 23 6
60
25 9
25 8
25 6
25 4
25 3
25 1
24 9
24 8,24 6
24 5
24 3
24 2
24 0
23 9 23 7
61
26 1
25 9
25 7
25 6
25 4
25 2
25 1
24 9 24 8
24 6
24 4
24 3
24 1
24 0 23 9
62
26 2
26 0
25 9
25 7
25 6
25 3
25 2
25 1 24 9
24 7
24 6
24 4
24 3
24 1 24 0
63
26 4
26 2
26 0
25 8
25 7
25 5
25 3
25 2 25 0i24 9
24 7
24 6
24 4
24 3 24 1
64
26 5
26 3
26 1
26 0
25 8
25 6
25 5
25 3 25 2
25 0
24 8
24 7
24 6
24 4|24 2
66
26 6
26 5
26 3
26 1
25 9
25 8
25 6
25 4
25 3
25 1
25 0
24 8
24 7
24 5
24 4
66
26 8
26 6
26 4
26 2
26 1
25 9
25 7
25 6
25 4
25 3
25 1
24 9
24 8
24 6
24 5
67
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 4
26 2
26 0
25 9
25 7
25 5
25 4
25 2
25 1
24 9
24 8 24 6
68
27 0
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 3
26 2
26 0
25 8
25 7
25 5
25 4
25 2
25 0
24 9 24 7
69
27 2
27 0
26 8
26 6
26 5
26 3
26 1
26 0|25 8
25 6
25 5
25 3
25 2
25 024 9
70
27 3
27 1
26 9
26 8
26 6
26 4
26 2
26 1
25 9
25 8
25 6
25 4
25 3
25 1
25 0
71
27 4
27 2
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 4
26 2
26 0
25 9
25 7
25 6
25 4
25 3
25 1
72
27 5
27 4
27 2
27 0
26 8
26 7
26 5
26 3
26 2
26 0
25 8
25 7
25 5
25 4
25 2
73
27 7
27 5
27 3
27 1
27 0
26 8
26 6
26 4
26 3
26 1
26 0
25 8
25 6
25 5 25 3
74
27 8
27 6
27 4
27 3
27 1
26 9
26 7
26 6
26 4
26 2
26 1
25 9
25 8
25 6 25 4
75
27 9
27 7
27 6
27 4
27 2
27 0
26 9
26 7
26 5
26 4
26 2
26 0
25 9
25 7 25 6
CALCULATING THE PONDERAL INDEX
499
CALCULATIONS OF THE PONDERAL INDEX
Statures from 166 to 180 centimetres; weights from 46 to 95 kilograms
r1 ^
Statures in centimetres
•53-2
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174 175
176
177
178
179
180
46
21 6
21 5
21 3 21 2
21 1
21 0
20 8 20 7
20 6
20 5
20 4
20 2 20 1
20 0
19 9
47
21 7i21 6
21 5,21 4
21 2
21 1
21 0 20 9
20 7
20 6
20 5
20 420 3 20 2 20 1
48
21 9 21 8
21 6 21 5
21 4
21 3
21 1
21 0
20 9
20 8
20 6
20 5 20 4 20 3t20 2
49
22 021 9
21 8
21 7
21 5
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 0
20 9
20 8
20 7 20 6 20 4 20 3
60
22 2 22 1
21 9
21 8
21 7
21 5
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 1
20 9
20 8,20 7 20 6 20 5
51
22 3 22 2I22 1
21 9
21 8
21 7
21 6
21 4
21 3
21 3
211
20 9 20 8
20 7
20 6
52
22 5i22 4
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 8
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 4
21 3
21 121 0
20 9
20 7
53
22 6 22 5
22 4
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 8
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 4
21 3 21 1
21 0
20 9
54
22 8 22 6
22 5
22 4
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 9
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 421 3
21 1
21 0
65
22 9,22 8
22 6
22 5
22 4
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 9
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 4
21 3
21 1
56
23 0 22 9
22 8
22 6I22 5!
22 4
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 9
21 7
21 6
21 5 21 4
21 3
57
23 2 23 0 22 9 22 8 22 6
22 5
22 4
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 9
21 7
21 6 21 5
21 4
58
23 3 23 2 23 0 22 9 22 8
22 6
22 5
22 4
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 9
21 7 21 6
21 5
69
23 5(23 3i23 2
23 0 22 9
22 8
22 6
22 5
22 4
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 9 21 7
21 6
60
23 6
23 4 23 3
23 2,23 0
22 9
22 8
22 6
22 5
22 4
22 2
22 1
22 0 21 9
21 7
61
23 7
23 6 23 4
23 3 23 2
23 0
22 9 22 8
22 6
22 5
22 4
22 2
22 1 22 0
21 9
62
23 8 23 7
23 623 423 3
23 1
23 0 22 9
22 7|22 6
22 5
22 4
22 2 22 1
22 0
63
24 0
23 8
23 7i23 5 23 4
23 3
23 1
23 0
22 9!22 7
22 6 22 5
22 4 22 2
22 1
64
24 1
24 0
23 8^23 7i23 5
23 4
23 3
23 1
23 0 22 9
22 7 22 6
22 5 22 3
22 2
65
24 2
24 1
23 9|23 8,23 6
23 5
23 4
23 2
23 1 23 0
22 8 22 7
22 6 22 5
22 3
66
24 3
24 2 24 l!23 9'23 7I
23 6
23 5
23 4
23 2 23 1
23 0 22 8
22 7^22 6
22 4
67
24 5
24 3 24 2!24 0 23 9
23 7
23 6
23 5
23 323 2
23 1 22 9
22 8:22 7
22 6
68
24 6
24 4 24 3 24 2^24 O;
23 9
23 7
23 6
23 5!23 3
23 2 23 1
22 9'22 8
22 7
69
24 7
24 6 24 4
24 3,24 1
24 0
23 8
23 7
23 6:23 4
23 3 23 2
23 022 9
22 8
70
24 8
24 7
24 5
24 4,24 2
24 1
24 0
23 8
23 7
23 6
23 4
23 3
23 2
23 0
22 9
71
24 9
24 8
24 6
24 5*24 4
24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 7
23 5
23 4
23 3
23 1
23 0
72
25 1
24 9
24 8
24 6 24 5;
24 3
24 2
24 0
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 4
23 2
23 1
73
25 2
25 0
24 9
24 7
24 6 24 4
24 3
24 2
24 0i23 9
23 7
23 6
23 5
23 3
23 2
74
25 3
25 1
25 0
24 8 24 7ji24 5
24 4
24 3
24 1
24 0
23 9
23 7
23 6 23 5
23 3
75
25 4
25 3
25 1
25 0 24 8 24 7
24 5
24 4
24 2
24 1
24 0
23 8
23 7 23 6
23 4
76
25 5
25 4
25 2
25 1 24 9' 24 8
24 6
24 5
24 3
24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8 23 7
23 5
77
25 6
25 5 25 3
25 2 25 0|24 9 24 7
24 6
24 4
24 3
24 2
24 0
23 9 23 8
23 6
78
25 7
25 6:25 4
25 3 25 1 25 0 24 8
24 7
24 6
24 4
24 3
24 1
24 0 23 9
23 7
79
25 8
25 7
25 5
25 4
25 2 |25 1
24 9
24 8
24 7
24 6
24 4
24 2
24 1
24 0
23 8
80
26 0
25 8
25 6
25 5
25 3
25 2
25 1
24 9
24 8
24 6
24 5
24 3
24 2
24 1
23 9
81
26 1
25 9 25 8
25 6
25 5
25 3
25 2
25 0
24 9
24 7
24 6
24 4
24 3
24 2
24 0
82
26 2
26 0 25 9
25 7
25 6
25 4
25 3
25 1
25 0
24 8'
24 7
24 5
24 4
24 3
24 1
83
26 3
26 1
26 0
25 8
25 7
25 5
25 4
25 2
25 1
24 9
24 8
24 6
24 5
24 4
24 2
84
26 4
26 2
26 1
25 9
25 8
25 6
25 5
25 3
25 2
25 0
24 9
24 7
24 6
24 5
24 3
85
26 5
26 3
26 2
26 0
25 9
25 7
25 6
25 4
25 3
25 1
25 0
24 8
24 7
24 6 24 4
86
26 6
26 4
26 3
26 1
26 0
25 8
25 7
25 5
25 4
25 2
25 1
24 9
24 8
24 7
24 5
87
26 7
26 5
26 4
26 2
26 1
25 9
25 8
25 6
25 5'25 3
25 2 25 0
24 9
24 8
24 6
88
26 8
26 6
26 5
26 3
26 2 26 0
25 9
25 7
25 6 25 4
25 3
25 1
25 0
24 8
24 7
89
26 9
26 7 26 6
26 4
26 3 26 1
26 0
25 8
25 7 25 5
25 4
25 2
25 1
24 9
24 8
90
27 0
26 8 26 7
26 5
26 4 ;26 2
26 1
25 9'25 825 6 {25 5
25 3
25 2
25 0
24 9
91
27 1
26 9 26 8
26 6
26 5'
26 3
26 2
26 0I25 9 25 7
25 6 25 4
25 3
25 1
25 0
92
27 2
27 026 9
26 7
26 6
26 4
26 2
26 1125 9'25 8
25 6 25 5
25 4
25 2
25 1
93
27 3
27 l!27 0
26 8
26 7:
26 5
26 3
26 2 26 0 25 9
25 7 25 6
25 5
25 3
25 2
94
27 4
27 2 27 1
26 9
26 7
26 6
26 4
26 3 26 1 26 0
25 8 25 7
25 5
25 4
25 3
96
27 5
27 3 27 2
27 0
26 8
26 7
26 5
26 4 26 2 26 1
25 9 25 8
25 6
25 5
25 3
MONTESSOBI. — Antrop. pedag.
28'
500
PEDAGOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
CALCULATIONS OF THE PONDERAL INDEX
Statures from 181 to 195 centimetres; weights from 46 to 95 kilograms
faO M
Statures in centimetres
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
46
19 8
19 7
19 6
19 5
19 4
19 3
19 2
19 1
19 0
18 9
18 8
18 7
18 6
18 5
18 4
47
19 9
19 8
19 7
19 6
19 5
19 4
19 3
19 2
19 1
19 0
18 9
18 8
18 7
18 6
18 5
48
20 1
20 0
19 9
19 7
19 6
19 5
19 4
19 3
19 2
19 1
19 0
18 9
18 8
18 7
18 6
49
20 2
20 1
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 7
19 6
19 5
19 4
19 3
19 2
19 1
19 0
18 9
18 8
50
20 4
20 2
20 1
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 7
19 6
19 5
19 4
19 3
19 2
19 1
19 0
18 9
61
20 5
20 4
20 3
20 2
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 7
19 6
19 5
19 4
19 3
19 2
19 1
19 0
62
20 6
20 5
20 4
20 3
20 2
20 1
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 6
19 5
19 4
19 3
19 2
19 1
53
20 8
20 6
20 6
20 4
20 3
20 2
20 1
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 7
19 6
19 5
19 4
19 3
64
20 9
20 8
20 7
20 5
20 4
20 3
20 2
20 1
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 7
19 6
19 5
19 4
55
21 0 20 9
20 8
20 7
20 6
20 4
20 3
20 2
20 1
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 7
19 6
19 5
66
21 1
21 0
20 9
20 8
20 7
20 6
20 5
20 4
20 2
20 1
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 7
19 6
57
21 3
21 1
21 0
20 9
20 8
20 7
20 6
20 5
20 4
20 3
20 2
20 0
19 9
19 8
19 7
68
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 0
20 9
|20 8
20 7
20 6
20 5
20 4
20 3
20 2
20 1
20 0
19 9
59
21 6
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 0
20 9
20 8
20 7
20 6
20 6
20 4
20 3
20 2
20 1
20 0
60
21 6
21 5
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 0
20 9
20 8
20 7
20 6
20 5
20 4
20 3
20 2
20 1
61
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 0
20 9
20 8
20 7
20 6
20 6
20 4
20 3
20 2
62
21 9 21 7
21 6
21 5
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 1
20 9
20 8
20 7
20 6
20 5
20 4
20 3
63
22 0:21 9
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 1
20 9
20 8
20 7
20 6
20 5
20 4
64
22 1122 0
21 9
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 4
21 3
21 2 21 1
20 9 20 8
20 7
20 6
20 5
65
22 2,22 1
22 0
21 9
21 7
21 6 21 5
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 1
20 9
20 8
20 7
20 6
66
22 3 22 2
22 1
22 0
21 8
21 7 21 6
21 6
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 0
20 9
20 8
20 7
67
22 4 22 3
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 8
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 0
20 9
20 8
68
22 6
22 4
22 3
22 2
22 1
21 9
21 8
21 7
21 6
21 6
21 4
21 3
21 2
21 0
20 9
69
22 7
22 6
22 4
22 3
22 2
22 1
21 9
21 8
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 3
21 3
21 1
21 0
70
22 8
22 6
22 5
22 4
22 3
22 2
22 0
21 9
21 8
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 4
21 2
21 1
71
22 9
22 8
22 6
22 5
22 4
22 3
22 1
22 0
21 9
21 8
21 7
21 6
21 5
21 3
21 2
72
23 0
22 9
22 7
22 6
22 5
22 4
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 9
21 8
21 7
21 6
21 4
21 3
73
23 1
23 0
22 8
22 7
22 6
22 6
22 3
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 9
21 8
21 7
21 5
21 4
74
23 2
23 1
22 9
22 8
22 7
22 6
22 4
22 3
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 9
21 8
21 6
21 5
75
23 3
23 2
23 0
22 9
22 8
22 7
22 6
22 4
22 3
22 2
22 1
22 0
21 8
21 7
21 6
76
23 4
23 3
23 1
23 0
22 9
22 8
22 7
22 5
22 4
22 3
22 2
22 1
21 9
21 8
21 7
77
23 5
23 4
23 2
23 1
23 0
22 9
22 8
22 6
22 5
22 4
122 3
22 2
22 0
21 9
21 8
78
23 6
23 6
23 3
23 2
23 1
23 0
22 9
22 7
22 6
22 5
[22 4
22 3
22 1
22 0
21 9
79
23 7
23 6^23 4
23 3
23 2
23 1 22 9
22 8
22 7
22 6
22 5
22 3 22 2:22 1
22 0
80
23 8
23 7|23 5
23 4
23 3
23 2 23 0
1
22 9
22 8
22 7
22 6
22 4
22 3
22 2
22 1
81
23 9
23 8 23 6
23 5
23 4
23 3 23 1
23 0
22 9
22 8
22 7
22 5
22 4
22 3
22 2
82
24 0
23 9|23 7
23 6
23 5
23 4 23 2
23 1
23 0
22 9
|22 7
22 6122 6
22 4
22 3
83
24 1
24 0:23 8
23 7
23 6
23 5
23 3
23 2
23 1
23 0
22 8
22 7|22 6
22 5
22 4
84
24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 7
23 5
23 4
23 3
23 2
23 1
22 9
22 8122 7
22 6
22 5
86
24 3
24 2
24 0
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 4
23 3
23 1
123 0
22 9
22 8
22 7
22 5
86
24 4
24 3
24 1
24 0
23 9
23 7
23 6
23 5
23 4
23 2
23 1
23 0
22 9
22 8
22 6
87
24 5
24 3
24 2
24 1
24 0
23 8
23 7
23 6
23 4
23 3
'23 2
23 1
23 0
22 8
22 7
88
24 6
24 4
24 3
24 2
24 0
23 9
23 8
23 7
23 6
23 4
23 3
23 2
23 0
22 9
22 8
89
24 7
24 5
24 4
24 3
24 1
24 0
23 9
23 7
23 6
23 5
23 4
23 3
23 1
23 0
22 9
90
24 8
24 6 24 5
24 4
24 2
24 1
24 0
23 8
23 7
23 6
23 5
23 3,23 2
23 1
23 0
91
24 9
24 7 24 6
24 4
24 3
24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 7
23 5
23 4 23 3
23 2
23 1
92
24 9
24 8 24 7
24 5
24 4
24 3
24 1
24 0
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 4
23 3
23 1
93
25 0
24 9:24 8
24 6
24 5
24 4
24 2
24 1
24 0
23 8
23 7
23 6
23 6
23 4
23 2
94
25 1
25 0
24 8
24 7
24 6
24 4
24 3
24 2
24 1
23 9
23 8
23 7
23 6
23 4
23 3
96
25 2
25 1
24 9
24 8
24 7
24 5
24 4
24 3
24 1
24 0
23 9
23 8
23 6
23 5
23 4
INDEX
Agyba, Hilany, 110
Alix, 319
Ammon, 217
Aristotle, 9
Auvard, Alfred, 175
Baj^noff, N., 250
Bateson, William, 63
Beethoven, Ludwig v., 268
Bellini, 264
Bencivenni, Ildebrando, 15
Benedickt, 446
Bianco, 131
Bichat, Xavier, 183
Binet, Alfred, 184, 217, 219, 223,
231, 235, 244, 250, 273, 274, 275
Bischoff, Theodor L. W., 229
Blumenbach, Johann Friedrich, 320
Bonnifay, Jules, 165, 166, 235
Borghese, Pauline, 267, 270
Botticelli, Sandro, 80
Boxich, G. T., 101, 102
Boyd, 225, 227
Broca, Paul, 1, 2, 201, 208, 210, 212,
221, 228, 229, 243, 250, 251, 254,
364, 377, 382
Brugia, Raffaele, 244, 271, 355
Bruno, Giordano, 340
Buff on, 110
Byron, Lord, 256
Cabanis, 135
Caianus, 110
Calcagni, Menotti, 416
Calori, 229
Camper, 370, 382
Carducci, Giosue, 15, 470
Carrara, Mario, 318
Cassan, 154
Cavalieri, Lina, 264, 267
Celli, 160
Cervesato, 153
CoUignon, Rene, 73, 381
Correns, 50
Cromwell, Oliver, 256
Cuenot, Lucien, 51
Cuvier, 256, 260
Daffner, Franz, 138, 236, 237
Dante, 246, 359
Darbishire, 55
{A. — Names)
Darwin, Charles, 2, 3, 46, 264, 280, 340,
455
Davenport, Charles Benedict, 455
De Giovanni, Achille, 11-14, 17, 96, 98,
99, 101, 364, 428, 465
Deniker. Joseph, 109, 110, 211, 217, 242,
243
De Sanctis, Sante, 146, 149, 151, 156,
281, 319, 352, 408, 409, 425, 446
Dubois, Eugene, 192, 257
Duncan, 173
Dunker, 455
Fawcette, 217
230, F^n^lon, 142
Fer^, Ch., 301
Ferri, Enrico, 250
Ferriani, Lino, 413
Figueira, Fernandes, 113
Fraebelius, 296
Galton, Francis, 455
Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 340
213, Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, Ettienne, 46
321^ Godin, Paul, 83, 182, 282, 298, 309, 325
Goethe, 469
Goldstein, 284, 296
Gosio, 137
Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich, 38, 200, 343
Heinke, 455
Helguero, Fernando de, 460
Herodotus, 340
Hertoghe, 155
Holler, von, 208
Homer, 339
Hrdh6ka, Ales, 84, 128, 218, 349
Humphry, 200
Huxley, 38
Hurst, C. C, 50
Ingerslevs, 173
Jaest, 110
James, William, 140
Johannson, 217
Koch, Robert, 159
Kollman, 210
Laloy, 40
Lamarck, 2, 46
501
502
INDEX
Lange, 140
Lapique, Louis, 257
Lasegue, 146
Lebon, 230, 250
Lelut, 338
Leopardi, 244
Le Play, 452, 453
Lexis, 115
Linnaeus, 2, 320
Livi, Ridolfo, 110, 111, 129, 181, 182,
183, 215, 218, 369, 393, 397, 402
Lombroso, Cesare, 4-10, 11, 14, 17, 67,
101, 103, 244, 257, 339, 340, 341, 343,
351, 384, 411, 416, 445
Lombroso, Gina, 313
Luccheni, 15
Luciani, Luigi, 153
Ludwig, 455
MacDonald, 85, 167
Mahomed, 135
Malpighi, Marcello, 319
Mancini, Maria, 264
Manouvrier, L6on, 74, 76, 81, 88, 90, 91,
119, 230, 257, 258, 268, 375
Mantegazza, Paolo, 261
Marconi, Guglielmo, 15
Marro, Antonio, 130, 131, 142
Massa, Signorina, 185, 293
Massini, 224, 225
Maurel, 299, 301
Mazzoni, Ofelia, 288
Meckel, 154
Mendel, Gregor, 50, 51, 53, 56, 58, 60,
62, 64, 66, 455, 460
Messedaglia, 257
Meunier, 176
Michelangelo, 340
Mill, John Stuart, 10
Misdea, Michele, 412
Moige, 148
Moleschott, Jakob, 340
Monti, 364
Morel, 6, 339
MorseUi, Enrico, 6, 21-23, 319, 344
Mosso, Angelo, 364
Musolino, 15
Naegeli, Karl Wilhelm von, 46, 47
Newton, Sir Isaac, 398
Niceforo, Alfredo, 19, 127, 182, 184, 253
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 251
Oloriz, 130
Pagliani, 131, 296
Parchappe, 250
Pastor ello, 419
Pearson, Karl, 217
Pieraccini, 120, 121
Pinard, 173
Purkinje, 319
Qu^T^LET, Lambert Adolphe-Jacques,
10, 65, 110, 113, 117, 179, 217, 233,
234, 235, 295, 297, 391, 393, 398, 400,
454, 455, 459, 469
Ranke, 210
Retzius, Anders Adolph, 207, 208, 210,
212, 213
Rosa, 48, 49, 50
Rossi, 345, 347, 348
Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 141, 355
Rubens, 80
Russell, 50
Riitemeyer, Louis, 208
Sacchi, 164
Sandler, 118
Schafer, 173
Schiller, 256
Schultze,,38
S^guin. Edouard, 33, 426, 449
Sergi, Giuseppe, 14-21, 60, 62, 109, 202,
205, 207, 208, 209, 243, 270, 323, 327,
371, 428, 450, 451
Sergi, Sergio, 221, 247, 327
Sick, 152, 153
Simon, 223
Stoppato, 153
Stratz, 86, 113
Tarde, 261
Thuh6, Hemi, 441
Topinard, Paul, 110, 210, 211, 243
Tschermak, E., 50
Tiircker, Ada, 412
Veronese, Paolo, 104
Verworn, 39
Vierordt, 180
Viola, Giacinto, 65, 364, 455, 461, 463,
464, 465, 468
Virchow, Rudolf, 208, 243
Vitah, Vitale, 232, 235
Vitruvius, 315
Voltaire, 140
Vries, Hugo de, 47, 50, 62, 455
Wagner, 228
Welcker, Hermann, 200, 224, 225
Wernicke, 173
Wester marck, 217
Winckel, 172
Zander, 154
ZanoUi, Velio, 257
Zimmermann, 314
INDEX
(B. — Subjects)
Abdomen, measurements of the, 386
Abnormal types of man, 94
Abortion due to syphilis, 157
Akkas, stature of the, 108-09
Acromegalia, 154
Addison's disease, 154
Albinism, 329
Anatomical points, 361, 373, 374, 378,
385
Anger, expression of, 279
Angles, facial, 269, 381-382
Anomalies of buccal apparatus, 336
of ear, 333-335
of eye, 333
of eyebrows and beard, 331
of hair, 330
of nose, 335-336
of pigment, 329
of teeth, 336
of thorax, 300, 301
of wrinkles, 329
Antecedents of pupil, 405 et seq.
near bio-pathological, 407
remote, 406
sociological, 411
Anthropological form used in New York
Juvenile Asylum, 421
Anthropology, criminal, 4-11
defined, 1
physiological, 11-14
technique of, 361-387
Anthropometer, 362-363
Ape, brain of, 229
Arms, total spread of, 69, 74, 310, 367
Arrest of development, 145-170, 295
due to alcohol, 156
due to infant illnesses, 162
due to malaria, 160-161
due to pellagra, 161
due to rickets, 164
due to syphilis, 157
Asymmetry, cranial, 196, 372
facial, 271, 282, 346, 383
functional, 271
Biographic chart. Commune of Bologna,
431
of Italian reformatories, 432
Pastorello's, 420
Sergi's, 429
Biographic history of pupil, 404
pedagogical advantages of, 441
of an idiot boy, 431 et seq.
Birth-marks, 329
Brachycephalic races, 214
Brachydactyhsm, 317
Brachyscelia, 82-91
Brain, chemistry of, 247
convolutions of, 221-223
embryonal development of, 220-221
morphological normality in relation to
age, 237
rhythm of growth of, 225-227
volume of, 229
weight of, 224
Brunettes, suppressed, 324
Buccal apparatus, anomalies of, 336
Calf of leg, absence of, 311
Garnet maternel, 174-175, 273
Cells, animal, 43
vegetable, 43
Cephalic index, 207-220
at different ages, 217
for Italy, 214
nomenclature, 210-211
Cephalometry, 370
Cephaloscopy, 370
Cerebral development, influence of bio-
logical factor upon, 255
influence of economic conditions, 253
influence of exercise, 254
Cerebral hypophysis, 152, 153
Cervical pleiades, 157
Chameprosopic face, 263, 265
Cheiromancy, 312, 318
Childbirth, dangerous modern, 307
Children's Houses, 123-124, ' 138, 143-
145, 280, 288, 422, 423, 443
Chinese, civilization of, 91-92
psycho-ethnic character of, 77
Chromatic charts, Broca's, 321
Circumference, axillary, 385
of cranium, 233-242, 376
submammary, 385
of thorax, 368, 385
Club-foot, 312
Convolutions of the brain, 222-223
Coordinates, 394
Craniology, 186-283
503
504
INDEX
Craniometric points, 373-374
Cranfometry, 370, 373
Cranioscopic norms, 371-372
Cranioscopy, 370
Cranium, animal, 189
bones of human, 187-188
characteristics of human, 191-192
measurements of, 369-385
morphological evolution of, 197
of new-born child, 197
normal forms of, 202
ossification of, 200-201
varieties of:
aerocephalic, 207, 374
beloid, 205
clinocephalic, 207, 372
cuboid, 205
cymbocephalic, 372
ellipsoid, 203
ovoid, 203-204
oxycephalic, 372
pentagonoid, 204
plagiocephalic, 196, 372
platycephalic, 205
rhomboid, 204
scaphocephalic, 196, 372
sphenoid, 205
spheroid, 205
trapezoid, 206
trigonocephalic, 371
volume of, 220-259, 377
Criminals, non-violent, types of, 101-102
violent, types of, 102
stature in, types of, 101, 103
Cubic index, Broca's, 377
Curves, DeHelguero's, 460
Depoemations, definition of, 344
due to field labour, 121
due to mining, 121
due to school benches, 122, 302, 307,
349
due to stone-breaking, 121
Degeneration, signs of:
abnormal frontal diameters, 384
kinky hair, 330
polytrichia, 330
precocious wrinkles, 330
united eye-brows, 331
social causes of, 6
Dentition, record of first, 410
Diameter, biacromial, 385
bigoniac, 379, 383
bimammillary, 385
bizygomatic, 379, 383
of cranium, maximum antero-poster-
ior, 374
Diameter of cranium, maximum trans-
verse, 375
minimum frontal, 384
vertical, 375
of thorax, antero-posterior, 385
transverse, 385
Diameters of cranium, increase of maxi-
mum, 231
measurement of, 374
Diastemata, 337
Diet of children, 127
Dimensions of the body at different ages,
146-147
Dismimia, 282
Dolichocephalic races, 214
Dystrophies, toxical, 162
Ear, anatomy of, 334
anomalies of, 333-335
handle-shaped, 346
Morel's, 335
Wildermuth's, 335
Education of new-born child, 442
Electricity, effect on growth of stature,
139
Embryo, development of human, 45, 72
Embryonal face, 272
Environment, adaptation to, 79
influence of, 415
Enzymes, 154, 155
Ludwig's theory of, 42
Epilepsy, 136
a factor in criminality, 445
treatment of, 446
Error, personal, 387-390, 457
Eurafrican race, 214, 270
Eurasian race, 79, 214, 323
Evolution, theories of, 46-50
Exophthalmia, 333
Experimental sciences defined, 23
Expression, facial, 276 et seq.
Extra-social types, 103-105
Eye, anomalies of, 333
Mongolian, 333
Eye-brows, oblique, 331
united, 331
Face, chamoprosopic, 262
embryonal, 272
evolution of, 272
human characteristics of, 260
leptoprosopic, 262
limits of, 259 et seq.
mesoprosopic, 263
orbicular, 263
skeleton of, 188-189
symmetry of, 383
INDEX
505
Facial norm, 378
Family monograph, Le Play's, 452
Final causes, 40-42
Fingers, proportion between, 316
Flat-foot, 311
Fontanelles, cranial, 197
Form, the, 67-75, 361-369
canons of the, 74 et seq.
definition of, 69
fundamental laws of, 69
Freckles, 329
Frontal index, 232
Galloway, stature of Scotchmen of,
108-109
Gastrula, 45
Generation, hygiene of, 173, 176
Genius, man of, 264, 469, 476
Germinal potentiaUties, 63, 64
Gigantism, 104
Glands of internal secretion, 151-155-
163, 164
Goniometer, Broca's, 382
Gray hair, 326, 330
precocious, 330
Growth, defined, 81
effect of psychic stimuli on, 140-
145
need of heat for, 132
of brain, due to alimentation, 245
due to cerebral exercise, 245
in woman, 227
rhythm of, 225, 226, 227
of head, rhythms of, 274
of hmbs, 309
of neck, 282
of pelvis, 306
of stature, 112-114
of thorax, 294
Hair, curly, 327,' 328
form of, 327-329
kinky, 327, 328
pigmentation of, 323-325, 327
smooth, 327
vortices, 330
wavy, 327, 328
Hair-roots, line of, 330
Hand, the, 312-319
dimensions of, 315
functional characteristics of, 316
in figurative speech, 313-314
in relation to other dimensions of the
body, 315
psychological types of, 314
Heart, the, 285
Heredity, phenomena of, 50
Hexadactylism, 317
Hybridism, human, 60-65, 78, 79, 351,
467, 471
phenomena of, 51-67
Hygiene of generation, 173, 176
Hymn to bread, 126
Hypermimia, 281
Hypersthenic type, De Giovanni's, 99-
100
Hyposthenic type, De Giovanni's, 96-98
Hypothyroidea, 153
Ichthyosis, 329
Index, cephahc, 207-220, 376
of ear, 380
facial, 380-381
of nose, 380
ponderal, 368
of segments of limbs, 310
of sexual mass, 257
thoracic, 299, 385
of visage, 263
vital, 296, 368
Indices, formula of, 367
Individual liberty of pupil, 123
Infantile atrophy, 153
types, 147-151
InfantiUsm, 146-164
due to alcohol, 156-157
anangioplastic, 162
due to denutrition, 162
dystrophic, 155-162
hereditary causes of, 155
hypertrophic, 162
myxedematous, 153, 155-156
pathogenesis of, 151 et seq.
due to syphilis, 157, 158
due to tuberculosis, 159
Intelligence, human, what it is, 252
human, how to diagnose it, 253
cerebral volume in relation to, 250
Invagination of cells, 43
Iris, pigmentation of, 325
Italians, stature of, 110-111
Japanese, stature of, 110
Joints, loose and stiff, 311
Juvenile delinquents, antecedents of, 413
psycho-physical character of, 413
teachers' notes on, 414
Knock-knees, 312
Kyphosis, 303, 306
Latitjm, young women of, 65, 78, 111, 216,
466
506
INDEX
Leg, calf of, 311
curvature of, 312
Leptoprosopic face, 262
Liberty of children, 144
Light, effect on growth of stature, 136,
138
Limbs, the, 308-319
growth of, 309
index of segments of, 310
malformations of, 310
measurement of, 386
Limitations of mass, 40-42
Little's disease, 312, 408
Livi's charts, 110, 393
Lordosis, 303, 306
Lungs, the, 286-287
Macrocephaly, 243
Macrodontia, 337
Macroglossia, 338
Macroplastic type, 119
Macrosceha, 77, 88-90
Malformations, 331-350
distribution of, 344-350
of cranium, 195-6
of limbs, 310
origin of, 355
synoptic chart of, 332
Marie's disease, 154
Marriage, proper age for, 118
precocious, 117
Maternal diaries, 409
Mean averages, 391
Measurement of abdomen, 386
of cranium, 375-377
of face, 378-385
of limbs, 386-387
of stature, 362-366
of thorax, 385
of total spread of arms, 367
Medial man, theory of the, 65, 454-470
Mediterranean race, 79, 214, 264, 270, 323
Melanosis, 329
Mendel's laws, 50-59
Mesoprosopic face, 263
Metabolism, 40-42, 124
Method, importance of, in experimental
sciences, 23-30
Methodology, statistical, 391-403
Microcephaly, 243
Microdontia, 337
Microphthalmia, 333
Mongolians the most brachyscelous race,
77
Monkey-like traits:
flat hand, 317
lack of certain lines in palm, 318
Monkey-like, long fore-arm, 310
thin lips, 336
Morphological adaptation of hand, 314
combinations, De Giovanni's, 65
evolution of cranium, 197
Morphology of body at various ages, 146-
147
of the brain, 247
importance of, 338
Mortality, curve of general, 115
infant, in relation to vital index, 296
in Italy, 293
Morula, 44
Mother's love, psychic stimulus of, 142
Multicellular organisms, formation of,
42-46
Muscles of head and face, 277-278
of thorax, 285
Mutations, De Vries' theory of, 47
Myxedematous idiocy, 153
Nails, the, 317
Nanism, achondroplastic, 103-105
Neanderthal skull, 192
Neck, the, 282-283
Norm, facial, 378
frontal, 372
lateral, 372
occipital, 372
of profile, 379
vertical, 371
Nose, anomalies of, 335-336
Nutrition, influence of, on school chil-
dren, 418
Oligodactylia, 316
Onycogryposis, 317
Orientation, line of, 265
Orthognathism, 268, 271
Ovum, human, 44
Palate, cleft, 272
ogival, 338, 352
Palms, lines of the, 318
Papillary lines, 319
Paralysis, infantile, 408
Parasites, social duty towards, 168
Parasitism, stigma of, 314, 317
Peasant, class stigma of, 271, 326, 346
Pedagogical method, need of reform in,
123, 144, 302
Pellagra, symptoms of, 161
Pelvis, 304-307
growth of, 306
rotation of, 307
sexual differences in, 305
skeleton of, 304
INDEX
507
Personal error, 387-390, 457
Photogenic conditions, 136-138
Phototherapy, 136
Pia Barolo society, 131
Pigments, the, 320-331
during growth, 323
Pigmentation of hair, 326
of iris, 325
of skin, 325
Pigmy races, 109
Pithecanthropus, skull of, 192
Plagiocephalic cranium, 196, 372
Plagioprosopy, 271, 383
Platyopic profile, 271
Playthings, children's natural contempt
for, 143
Pleasure, expression of, 279
necessary to human existence, 141
Polytrichia, 330
Polydactylism, 317
Ponderal index, 181
evolution of, 183, 184
method of computing, 181-183
Pregnancy, too frequent, 173
Profile, Egyptian, 270
Greek, 269
low types of, 271
norm of, 379
proopic, 271
Roman, 269
Progeneism, 267, 385
Prognathism, 267, 268, 385
Prophatnia, 385
Prosopometry, 379-385
Prosoposcopy, 378-379
Protoplasm, 38
Psychic stimuli, effect on health of chil-
dren, 144
test, De Sanctis', 425
Puberty, change in pigments at, 323, 326
growth of jaw at, 274
of limbs at, 310
of nose at, 274
influence of climate on, 135-136
of cold on, 132
of direct sexual stimuli on, 131
of heat on, 135
of nutrition on, 130-132
of psychic stimuli on, 134, 141, 142
repose preceding, 115
of Russian girls, 135
of women of Lapland, 135
relation of growth of brain and face to,
230
Pulmonary capacity, 288-294
Quetelet's binomial curve, 398
Race, Eurafrican, 214, 270
Mediterranean, 79, 214, 264, 270, 323
Rachitic rosary, 302
Racial types in Europe, different charac-
teristics of two principal, 353
Rewards and punishments, fallacy of,
123, 144-145, 432, 441, 443
Rhythm of brain growth, 232-7236
of facial growth, 274
of stature, triennial, 113
Rickets, 97, 103, 164-166, 244, 268, 296,
302
foetal, 103
School benches, deformations due to,
122, 302, 307, 349
records, 411
School-sanatorium, 160
Scientific philosophy, MorselM's, 21
Sea-shore, benefit to children, 136-137
Seriation, 396
importance of, 455
Sexual education, 356
function, dignity of the, 126
morality, 117, 126, 473-476
Sitting stature, 365-366
at different ages, 85
Skeleton, human, 71-72
articulations of, 107
of face, 188-189
of hmbs, 308
of pelvis, 304
Skin, the, 320-344
Sohtary confinement, 141
Sorrow, expression of, 278
Space, empirical relation to stature, 139
Specific gravity, of body, 178
of brain, 229
Spirometry, 288-294, 385
Stature, 106-171
of abnormals, 167
according to sex, 80 et seq.
of American children, 128
brachyscelous type of, 75
cycle of, 363
definition of, 70, 106, 362
in relation to dimensions of thorax,
295-297
effect of nutrition on, 124-132
of erect position on, 120
of heat on, 132-136
essential, 73
mean average, of European, 459
growth in, during first year, 112-113
index of, 84, 366, 367
involution of, 114
of Italians, mean average, 392
508
INDEX
Stature, Livi's charts of, 110-111
macroscelous type of, 76
maximums and minimums, compared
with cranial circumference, 238-242
measurement of, 362
parabohc curve of, 112, 114
pathological variations of, 145-170
of rachitic children, 165
racial limits of, 108-111
in relation to sex, 111-112
rhythm of, 86
summary of, 170-171
terminology of, 110
total, at different ages, 85
triennial rhythm of growth of, 113-
114
types of, 67 et seq.
abnormal, 91
according to age, 81
in art, 80
according to race, 77
according to social conditions, 79
summary of, 105-106
variations in, according to age, 112-118
according to seasons, 138
due to mechanical causes of adapta-
tion, 119-124
night and morning, 119
transitory, 120
Sterility of dwarfs and giants, 104
due to precocious marriage, 117
due to work in rice-fields, 121
Stigmata of degeneration, 342
among beggars, 348
among orphans, 348
Stimulants poisons for children, 127
Studious children, denutrition of, 185
physical inferiority of, 25, 159, 185, 293
Sun-baths, 137
Superiority, social, 258
of women, moral, 259
Suprarenal capsule, 152, 154
Surprise, expression of, 279-280
Syndactyhsm, 317
Syphilis, abortion due to, 157
symptoms of, 157-158
Tasmanian, civilization of, 92-93
most macroscelous race, 77
Teacher of the future, the, 360
of abnormal pupils, 449
responsibility of the, 116
Teeth, anomalies of the, 336
first and second dentition, 336
Temperaments, De Giovanni's doctrine
of, 12-14
Thermal gymnastics, 133-134
Thermic conditions of schools, 132-135
Thoracic index, 299
perimeter, 368
Thorax, the, 284-303
anatomical parts of, 284-286
anomalies of shape of, 301
descent of, 294
dimensions of, in relation to stature,
295, 297
growth of, 294
measurement of, 385
physiological importance of, 286
shape of, 299
triangulation of, 295
Thought, expression of, 280
Thymus gland, 152, 153
Thyroid gland, 152-153
Toe, opposable big, 311
Tongue, the, 338
Total spread of arms, 367
Tuberculosis, 291
Type of civilized man, 468
Uvula, double, 338
Vertebral column, normal curves of,
107-108
Visage, index of, 263
normal, 262
Roman, 263
Vital index, 296, 368
Voice, education of the, 287-288
Warmth, fallacy of demoralizing effect
of, 133-134
Weight, the, 172-185, 368
of brain, 224
the, as exponent of health, 172
of new-born child, 172
of child, effect of too frequent preg-
nancy on, 173
of child, effect of mother's age on, 173
child's gain in, 174
and growth of separate organs, com-
parative, 180
child's loss in, significance of, 176
increase according to sex, 179
Women, fallacy of pretended cerebral
inferiority of, 256
Wrinkles, anomalies of, 329
precocity of, 326, 329
■^.
«. o
''[■r-5s..
"O
^
<<
'^
.s^ •>
.- .r>^
■X^
.^ A
,-v
J^-
aV^^-'^.
'v^ o^
/ . ^ . \ V » n /^. n
-<■
-oV^
^^.
•\-
-'A
' 0 e X
1 o.
y^ <?
-^--.^ •=-
0
^■%, ^'^WM: vT"^ Ellis' ^ .>^%.
''NVvbi^'^,
•>t
0 , .V -^ A^
V S ■ _ V 'V
A'
, V 1 fl
<^ ^ 0 , X ■» ^O
,S
"'^/'
^ir ^
x^-V^
0 ' ,r^5>cv._,_ /^ •--
o '" /u '"^"^dM^'^
■•^o^
x^^"'^.
» 4 "-
A n\*