Abstract
LONDON Anthropological Institute, November 11.—Prof. Flower, F.R. S., President, in the chair.—The election of Horatio Hale, D. H. Talbot, Dr. F. A. Colby, and Mrs. E. A. Smith was announced.—Mr. Francis Galton described the object, method, and appliances of the late Anthropometric Laboratory at the International Health Exhibition, reserving the statistical results, which were not yet fully worked out, for another occasion. He established it to show with how little expense an elaborate course of measurements might be made, and how popular such a system of measurements would be. The result was that 9344 persons passed through the laboratory, each of them being measured in seventeen distinct particulars for the sum of 3l., in a compartment only 6 feet wide and 36 feet long. The popularity of the laboratory was so great that its door was besieged by far more applicants than could be admitted, and maiy persons made repeated attempts and waited long for their turn, but at last gave up their attempts as hopeless. So many applications have been made abroad and at home for duplicates of the instrumental outfit that it was advisable that any suggested improvements in them should be considered before they became established in use. The present paper was to invite discussion. An identical set of instruments to those used at the Exhibition have been set up by Mr. Gammage, optical instrument maker, at 172, Brompton Road, assisted by Mr. Williams, who, between them, conducted all the measurements at the Healtheries; they make a moderate charge for measuring and keeping a register of the results.—Mr. H. O. Forbes read a paper on the people of the island of Buru.
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Societies and Academies . Nature 31, 95–96 (1884). https://doi.org/10.1038/031095a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/031095a0