On Anthropological Colour Phenomena in Belgium and Elsewhere
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On Anthropological Colour Phenomena in Belgium and Elsewhere. Author(s): John Beddoe Source: The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 10 (1881), pp. 374-380 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2841539 . Accessed: 14/06/2014 10:12 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 195.34.78.242 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 10:12:06 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 374 J. BEDDOE.-On AnthropologicalColoutr Phenomena. From the SOCIETY.-Transactionsof the Royal Dublin Society, Vol. I, Vol. II, Parts 1, 2. -Journal of the Asiatic Societyof Bengal,Nos. 230-232,and extranumber to Part 1, 1878. Annual Report of the Leeds Philosophicaland Literary Society,1879-80. NeunzehnterBericht der OberhessischenGesellschaft fur Natur-undHeilkunde. - Schriftender Physikalisch-ikonomischenGesellschaft zu Kdnigsberg,1880-81. Fromthe EDITOR.-Revue Internationale des Sciences,Nos. 7,9,10. `- Nature,"Nos. 559-575. " Athenoeum,"Parts 631-634. RevueScientifique, Tom. XIX, Nos.1-19. --The AmericanAntiquarian, Vol. II, No. 4. Correspondenz-Blatt,August, 1880. --Revue d'Anthropologie,Nos. 3, 4. --Materiaux pourl'histoire de l'homme. Tom.Xl, liv. 6e, 7e. -- GeneralCatalogue of Books. Editedby BernardQuaritch. The AmericanNatuiralist, Vol XIV, No. 10. RockyMountain Medical Review, Vol. I, No. 1. The election of CHARLLESCOOMBE TENNANT, Esq., was announced. The followingpaper was read- On ANTHROPOLOGICALCOLouR PHENOMENAXXi BELGIUMand ELSEWHERE. By Dr. JOHNBEDDoE, F.R.S. WITHIN the last few years the numerical method has been applied pretty extensivelyto the determinationof ethnolo- gical colourtypes in severalcountries of WesternEurope. In Britain the AnthropometricCommittee is continuingits labours,and has alreadyacquired a considerablemnass of facts respectingcolours, from a numberof private anid some official observers. But in this special departuientcontinental Anth7ro- pologists,though theystarted behind us, have been enabled by their school organisationsto outstripus completely. In Ger- many, Virchow has been able to get counted and tabulated, quioad their hair and eyes, the whole school population of suitableage. The onlylocal exceptioniis the cityof Harnburgh, This content downloaded from 195.34.78.242 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 10:12:06 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions in Belgiumand Elsewhere. 375 which has always borne a Philistine reputationas regards mattersof science. In Switzerland,Dr. Guillaume,of Neu- chatel,and others,have successfullystirred up the cantonal authoritiesand schoolmasters;and I believe the entireschool population has been reportedon exceptin Geneva and Tessin, whence returnshave not come in. In Belgium, Professor Vanderkindere moved the Geographical Society, at whose instigationthe Ministerof the lnteriorenabled him to obtain fromthe schoolmastersof the whole countrythe particulars required. And I believe that a similarenquiry has been pro- jected,or actuallyundeTtaken, in Holland and in Bohemia. The drawbacks for the value of informationthus obtained are, of course,numerous. They are due partlyto faultsin the methodand the observers,partly to the nature of the material. The classificationof the coloursis verydifficult. Broca's plan is the best,but is too complicatedfor large numbersand un- scientificobservers. Moreover,it does not strictlyapply to the mixedvarieties of eye-colour, which are pretty frequent. Still, this is a small defect,and the illustriousauthor of the arrangement had foreseenit, and in some degreeprovided for it. The deter- minationof c9lourof hair is moredifficult. They run into each other by infinitegradation, they vary with the changes of illumination,and finallythey are not flattints, and the colour- standardsof Broca and GeneralPitt-Rivers, excellent for the skin, are by theirflatness incapable of beingidentified with the hues of hair. It is my opinion,and I think that Mr. Brabrookand GeneralPitt-Rivers agree with me, thatflat tints, striped with miniutedark lines, mightbe adopted as standards,but hitherto I have not succeededin bringingthis plan to bear. The personal equation of the observerhas also to be con- sidered. It varies exceediingly,and can, to some extent,be predicted. Thus a personwho has been broughtup amonga xanthous population,is apt to be inclined to apply the name black to dark shades of brown,and one belongingto a melaino- chroicdistrict will call the chestnuts" blonde" and the yellows "red." In this way local differencesare likely to be under- estimated,and I am disposedto thinkthat theyhave been so in Belgiumand in Germany. The materialutilised consistsof school children. Undoubt- edly the hair graduallydarkens frominfancy up to adult age in the immensemajority af persons; but it does so with such uniformitythat provided we always compare chi]dren with children and adults with adults,there is littlefear of serious error. Dr. Guillaume has givenus a valuable comparisonof the coloursin the schoolchildren and in the conscriptsof Neu- chatel. Hair called " black" is several timesmore frequlent in This content downloaded from 195.34.78.242 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 10:12:06 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 376 J. BEDDOE.-On AnthropologicalColour Phenomena the latter than in the former. Sexual differencesexist; thus brown eyes are more commonamong women and grey eyes amongmen; at least this is the case in England,and, I think, everywhereelse; but if all the children of both sexes are examined,this becomes quite immaterial. It is a questionwhether it is betterto combinethe eyes and lhairin a single observation,making, such categories-as, e.g., lighteyes withdark hair, dark eyes withred hair,and so forth, or to observe and tabulate the eyes and the hair separately. The latterplan is much mioresimple and easy,and likelyto be moreaccurately worked, and some have accordinglyadopted it. I myselfhave always adoptedthe formerplan, because it yields some informationwhich in the simplerone slips throughone's fingers. Virchow and the Swiss hlave also adhered to it (the former),but Virchowhas, I think,needlessly complicated it by askingin some cases for the colourof the skin also. Thus he has a categoryof " brown eyes, brown hair, fair skin," and anotherof " brown eyes,brown hair, dark skin or complexion." I confessthat I think the determin-ationof the colourof the child's skin, washed or unwashed, is a matterof which the difficultyexceeds the importance. I have always miadefive colours of hair-red, fair, brown,dark, and black-and three colours,or, as my lamentedfriend, Broca correctedme, shades of eyes; and thusI gotfifteen categories, and providefor every pos- sible combination.Virchow's plan has but twelvecategories, but leaves a number of combinationsunprovided for. He miakes but fourcolours of hair-red, fair,brown, and black-anid Vander- kinderefollows him, with the result,I am sure,that the number of black-hairedis enormouslyexaggerated. With thisexception the plan of the latteris perfect;he rightlyneglects the skin,and gets the particularsseparately for each child, so as to be able to formtwelve categories if he pleases. Thoughhe has not pub- lished thefigures for all of these,he has madea mostuseful selec- tion,and based thereupona series of irnstructivemaps, showilng the distributionof the blonde and brunettetypes in theseveral arrondissernentsand cantonsof Belgium. Virchowand his coad- jutorshave also producedan excellelntmap, but I do not thinkthe ligureson whichit is basedhave beenpublished so fullyand acces- sibly as by Vanderkindere. I do not thinkthe Swiss statistics have been puiblishedat all; at least I have beenunable to pro- cure any of themnexcept those of IDr.Guillaume for Neufchatel. I will now state brieflythe results of these enquiries,so far as I am acquaintewdwith them. In Germany,speaking roughly,I may say that the blonde type prevails most decidedly in Schleswig-Holstein,and not muclhless so in the north-westernand nortlh-easternprovinces; This content downloaded from 195.34.78.242 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 10:12:06 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions in Belgiutmand Elsewhere. 377 and that it graduallyyields to the brunetteas one proceeds southwardsand south-westwards,the brown maxinlumbeing attained in parts of Alsace-Lorrainieand Bavaria. The most considerableanomaly is the comparativeprevalence of the browntype in the Thuringianregion. I confessto havingbeen somewhatsurprised at the little differencethat existsbetween the partlyFrisian or Danish provincesabout the Lower Elbe, and the semi-Slavonicregions of Prussia and Saxony. I should have thoughtthe latterless blonde than theyappear to be; and my own impressionis a littlestrengthened by anothervaluable series of observations,to which I have not hithertoalluded, because they