Abstract
FOR a considerable period it has been apparent that the time was ripe for a measure of revision of the methods of anthropometry, although caution was enjoined by a not unnatural reluctance to take any steps which might lessen the value, for comparative purposes, of thousands of measurements taken by generations of anthropologists in the field and laboratory. The feeling of dissatisfaction with existing methods, however, both among British and Continental anthropologists, was sufficiently strong to warrant discussion; but it cannot be said that anything practical had emerged until recently, when certain suggestions were put forward jointly by Miss M. L. Tildesley, Dr. E. G. Morant, and Dr. L. H. Dudley Buxton as a report to the council of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Briefly, these suggestions are that for the moment there should be an agreed abbreviated technique of observations in anthropometry, confined to the racial characters of adults of both sexes; and that this should be determined and elaborated as required by an international committee. But it is put forward as a first step that a technique should be formulated for Great Britain and Ireland; and at the same time representative bodies in other countries should be invited to do the same for their areas, with the view of international discussion later. The proposal, with further suggestions as to detail, will be found in Man for July. While this courageous attempt to deal with a difficult situation scarcely calls for comment at the present stage, it may be pointed out that without an assurance of external support the proposal risks a great deal of wasted effort. British anthropologists cannot work in isolation, however considerable the proportion of their output in the world of anthropometric science may be.
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Methods in Anthropometry. Nature 130, 196 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130196b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130196b0