Fig. 33.-ret, sunshine. The occlusion of r is fairly definite, but the explosion is less clear, the succeeding continuant element being distinct, particularly as regards tongue movements. These appear even in the nasal tracing, numbering about four flaps during surdness and five or six during the voiced part of the sound. Final t shows a definite though weak explosion from the mouth. The duration of the occlusion is a quarter second, or typical of the occlusion of initial t. The voice momentarily strengthens before it suspends for the occlusion.

Fig. 34.-āt, gall. There is a slight mouth flow of surd breath before the vowel properly begins. The t occlusion is sudden and complete for the mouth, but gradually attained in the nose. The release is wanting in the mouth, but shows definitely, though weakly, through the nose.

MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY

OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

AFFILIATED Colleges,

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.

AM, ANTH., N. S., 13- 26

PROFESSOR BOAS' NEW THEORY OF THE FORM OF THE HEAD-A CRITICAL CONTRIBUTION

L

TO SCHOOL ANTHROPOLOGY

BY PAUL R. RADOSAVLJEVICH

I. INTRODUCTORY

AST year a government document was published by the Immigration Commission in which an attempt was made to show that New York environment is bringing about "fundamental" changes in the physical type of immigrants. The author of this document is Professor Franz Boas1 (i) of Columbia University.

Under his direction the heads of a large number of New York immigrants have recently been measured. These measurements include a study of: (1) the stature; (2) weight; (3) general physiological development of the individual; (4) two head measurements (length and width) and the corresponding cephalic index, indicating "the form of head"; (5) width of face; (6) color of hair, eyes, and skin. A majority of the individuals measured were school children.

The results of this investigation aroused much popular interest and considerable discussion in the daily press, and many popular magazines and semi-scientific journals repeated uncritically the several "unexpected" conclusions. It was widely believed that the results had dealt a death blow to the old theories regarding the stability of the form of the head, because they seemed to show that the form of the head is not a permanent characteristic of race as anthropologists had assumed; that the American environment rapidly affects the form of the head; that Jews are growing long-headed, and Sicilians short-headed, i. e., that the cephalic index of the Jews is decreasing and that of the Sicilians increasing. More especially on page 39 Boas concluded that

"on the whole, there has been a decrease in length of head, width of head, and width of face since the middle of the past century. . . . A feature that is particu

...

1 Numbers in parenthesis after authors' names or quotations refer to the numbers in the Bibliography at the end of this paper.

larly noticeable is the general drop of all the absolute measurements after the year 1894. An attempt to combine all the material, adult and children, for these years, brings out the sudden drop after 1893 even more clearly; and a similar phenomenon is repeated between the years 1907 and 1909. For this reason I am inclined to believe that the type of immigrants is directly affected by financial panics."

In another place (p. 28) Boas expresses the same conclusions in the following words:

"The type of immigrants changes from year to year, owing to a selection which is dependent upon the economic conditions of our country. This is shown by the fact that after the panic of 1893 a sudden decrease in the general development of immigrants may be observed, which persisted for several years. A similar change seems to have taken place after the panic of 1907."

How the "type" of immigrants was affected after the panic of 1893 is shown in Table III (p. 28) referring to the general deterioration in stature, length and width of head, width of face, and cephalic index (see Table VI of this study). According to these figures the panic of 1893 decreased stature, length and width of head, and width of face, but increased the cephalic index.

Does this increase and do these decreases affect the physical type of immigrants at all? Are the observed differences significant, and if so, are they due to the American environment and financial panics? Is there any scientific explanation of "far-reaching" changes in this new theory? Does it really mean a discovery in anthropological science that is of "fundamental" importance?

Before we enter into this large subject it is necessary to remind the reader of the older notions concerning the form of head, because it will help us in localizing various very important difficulties involved in the problem, and throw a new light on Boas' material and his explanation of it. Boas himself admits frankly that his "surprising and unexpected" results require "the most thoroughgoing criticism before being accepted as definitely established." We also believe that a healthy criticism will be beneficial.

II. HISTORICAL: ON THE FORM OF THE HEAD

Until the appearance of this new theory, the historical answers to the question, "Does the form of the head change?" may be summarized in the following theories:

1. The Mechanical-functional Theory

Thus

According to this theory the shape of the head may be caused by the mechanical influences during the postnatal life. the head-form may be modified individually by the kind of cradle in which baby sleeps. In his Descent of Man, Darwin says

that the

"habitual spasm of the muscles, and a cicatrix from a severe burn, have permanently modified the facial bones. In young persons whose heads have become fixed either sidewise or backward, owing to disease, one of two eyes has changed its position, and the shape of skull has been altered apparently by the pressure of the brain in a new direction."(2)

He quotes Jarrold's Anthropologia (1880, pp. 115–6) in which are given the cases of modification of the skulls from the head being fixed in an unnatural position. Darwin says that Jarrold believed "that in certain trades, such as that of a shoemaker, where the head is habitually held forward, the forehead becomes more rounded and prominent."(2)

In another place Darwin says that the skulls of many of our improved and domesticated species of animals have varied perceptibly; and he cites in addition pigs, diverse species of fowls, and rabbits. From his own observations on domestic rabbits he inferred that some kinds of skulls

"have become very much larger than in the wild animal, while others have retained nearly the same size, but in both cases the brain has been much reduced relatively to the size of the body. Now I was at first much surprised on finding that in all these rabbits the skull had become elongated or dolichocephalic; for instance, of two skulls of nearly equal breadth, the one from a large domestic kind, the former was 3.15 and the latter 4.3 inches in length.''(3)

He also thinks that the tall men may be compared with the larger and longer-bodied rabbits, all of which have elongated skulls, or are dolichocephalic (2). And about fifty years ago, a German anthropologist, Welcker (4), found that short men more frequently have rounded heads and tall men elongated ones.

The mechanical-functional theory has been supported in quite recent times by a Stockholm anthropologist, Nyström (5), who believes that the form of head may change under the influence of diet. The osteologist Holden (6) claims that different habits develop different muscles. and that these muscles give rise to

modifications in the form of the bones as well as the bodily configuration. In short, function makes structure. He contrasts the skulls of the Carnivora with those of the Ungulata (or hoofed animals). His examples are the tiger and deer. He says:

"The skull of the tiger is in perfect adaptation to his enormous temporal muscle. It has a high median ridge, to which the muscles are attached, great arches of the zygoma, under which they pass, and broad and lofty coronoid processes, into which they are inserted. But his masseters are comparatively small, therefore the zygomata and the angles of the jaw are not specially strong. Now, the sole action of this temporal muscle is to clench the teeth together as on a hinge; so we find that his jaw articulation is hinge like, and allows no other motion. This mechanism is admirably fitted for cutting purposes, but is quite unfit for grinding; so his teeth are cutters. He has no grinders. Exactly the converse of all is true of the deer: his temporals are small; he has no median ridge, the passage under the zygoma is small, and his coronoid process is delicate and scarcely deserves notice. On the other hand, his masseters and pterygoid plates are greatly expanded, the angles of the jaw massive and extensive. The masseters acting with the internal pterygoids cause the grinding action; so here the articulation of the jaw is nearly flat, allowing of a free grinding movement; and in accordance with this, we find the teeth are flattened on the surface, and good grinders. It will be seen how clearly this conformation is in keeping with the habits and nature of each animal”(6).

And the slight differences between opposite sides of the same skull is explained by Holden on the basis of the law of Cuvier (7): "That an invariable co-relation exists not only between the different parts of an animal's body, but likewise between the parts of his body and his mode of life." Holden says that

"the posterior condyloid foramen of one side may be wanting, the mastoid process of one side may be larger than that of the other, or the digastric fossae may be of unequal size; one nasal passage may be larger than the other; the lateral sinus may be much deeper on the one side than on the other, or there may be a middle clinoid process on one side only. Asymmetry may occur in men highly gifted as in the celebrated French anatomist Bichat. This is no more than one might expect, seeing the difference often existing between features of the two sides of the same face. Such want of symmetry is greatly exaggerated in many of the lower animals, as may be seen in the Cetacea, in the head of the great sperm-whale, or in that of the narwhal. . . . But the most striking example of asymmetry is seen in those of flat-fish which lie usually on their left sides, viz., soles and plaice. . . . For in them both eyes are on the right or upper side of the skull, and one orbit only is completed, the eyes being directed away from the ground on which they lie. The teeth are chiefly developed on the left side of their jaws