The Shape of Man

Anthropology studies Man in all his aspects, including his customs and cultures. Physical anthropology, which gives Man a much narrower look, measures his (and her) physical characteristics. The American Association of Physical Anthropologists recently met in Washington to swap some new measurements.

A favorite study at present seems to be the blood (it used to be the skull). Dr. Victor E. Levine of Creighton University, Omaha, used blood tests to determine where Eskimos came from. In blood groups, he said, Eskimos are practically identical with American Indians. Therefore they are not descendants of Europe's ice-age population (as one theory maintains), or recent immigrants from Siberia. They are probably Indians who moved north and developed their peculiar culture. This theory, said Dr. Levine, is supported by the fact that ancient Eskimo-like relics have been reported as far south as Manhattan Island.

Blood & Baldness. Blood was also on the mind of Anthropologist C. Wesley Dupertuis of Presbyterian Hospital, New York City. He measured the blood volume of 53 medical students (by injecting dye into their veins) and compared it with their general body-build. The plump, rounded subjects (endomorphs) and the slender, delicate ones (ectomorphs) had less blood compared to weight than the mesomorphs, or husky, athletic types. Conclusion: if you have lots of muscle, you probably have lots of blood.

Dr. R.E.G. Armattoe, of Londonderry, Northern Ireland, whose paper was read to the meeting, is a student of human hairiness, which varies, he said, with geography and intellect. For some undetermined reason, the most intellectual men are apt to be the baldest. Dr. Armattoe attended the 1947 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Dundee, Scotland, and found that 55% of the male delegates showed "central baldness" and 22% "frontal baldness." Swedish intellectuals were found to be in the most desperate shape: 70% of them are bald before they are 40. In Switzerland the incidence of intellectual baldness is only 52%.

Mustaches & Models. Intellectual women have hair problems too, but of a different sort. At the Dundee convention, said Dr. Armattoe, 58% of the female scientists between 21 and 45 showed "hirsutism in the form of mustaches." Swedish women are luckier than others. Most of them are as bald on their upper lips as the male Swedes are on their pates. But on the whole, Dr. Armattoe concluded sadly, mustaches are an increasing problem to the cultured young women of Europe.

Mansfield Lonie, of the National Bureau of Standards, is involved in commercial anthropometry. His job, he said, is to set up scientific size standards for the clothing industry. So far, he has had poor cooperation. Clothiers, particularly women's dress manufacturers, refuse to face anthropometric facts. They persist in designing garments on "model forms" which have little resemblance to real female bodies. They assume that women will change their shapes with the shifting moods of fashion. It makes life pretty difficult, Mr. Lonie hinted, for a serious anthropometrist.

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