Abstract
IN the preparation of their great work “Anthropologia Suecica, Beitrage zur Anthropologie der Schweden,” Drs. Gustaf Retzius and Carl M. Furst had to deal with a vast mass of figures. It is the custom of physical anthropologists, not merely to publish their measurements, but also to give the ratio of a given measurement to another, and this is termed an “index”; for example, ther ratio of the breadth of the head to its length is called the cephalic index, and is obtained by multiplying the breadth by one hundred and dividing the product by the length. The calculating of a large number of indices is undeniably a very tedious process, and various devices have been employed to save the student this clerical labour. Certain mechanical and other devices have been invented, but the'se have never proved satisfactory and are not employed by serious workers. The most accurate and practical rapid method of determining an index is by means of tables which have been carefully computed. It is evident that such tables once constructed and published would materially lighten the labour of those who do this kind of work.
Index-tabellen zum anthropometrischen Gebrauche.
By Carl M. Fürst. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1902.) Price 5 marks.
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Index-tabellen zum anthropometrischen Gebrauche . Nature 67, 30 (1902). https://doi.org/10.1038/067030a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/067030a0