Abstract of a Lecture on the Pathology and Treatment of Talipes

Abstract

6i8THE BRITISH MEDICAL YOURNAL. [April 26, I879. then, in the greater length of the distal segment of each limb, as compared with the proximal segment: a peculiarity most especially manifested in the upper extremity.Little attention had been paid to the form of the scapula as a racecharacter until the publication of a memoir by Broca in the Bulletin of the Paris Anthropological Society of last year. In this communication, it was shown that one of the principal modifications of the form of this bone could be expressed by an index formed of a ratio between the two chief diameters of the bone; i. e., the length from the posterior superior angle (c) to the inferior angle (D), and the breadth from the middle of the posterior margin of the glenoid cavity (A) to the point on the posterior or vertebral border from which the spine arises (B). The ratio of the length (c D) to the breadth (A B), the latter being Ioo, is called the scapular index. In the anthropoid apes, the index varies between 70 and ioo. In most of the lower forms of monkeys and other mammals, it is considerably higher. A high index is, therefore, a sign of inferiority. Broca found that the average scapular index of twenty-three Europeans was 65.91. In order to verify this result and to obtain a good standard for comparison with other races, Dr. Garson has measured two hundred scapule of Europeans, and finds the average index 65.2, showing a remarkable agreement with Broca's figures; but, as the number of specimens measured was greater, the latter may probably be considered as more accurate. The twenty-five Negro skeletons in the Paris museum gave an average scapular index, in Broca's hands, of 68. i6. In our own collection, the number of Negro skeletons is very small-only three, in fact; but from the six scapule (for it is always desirable to measure both, as variations are frequently met with on the two sides) an average of 71.7 was obtained; and Australians (of which we have a larger number) gave an average of 68.9. As it is only safe to measure such scapuloe as have the epiphyses united, otherwise the relative dimensions will be considerably altered, several of the Andaman skeletons had to be rejected on this account. The number of scapute remaining available for comparison was twenty-one. These gave an average index of 69.8, showing quite satisfactorily that in this character, as in the proportions of the limbs, they stand in close relationship to the Negro, and also to the Australian, and differ widely from the European. Another sign of inferiority in the scapula of the Andamanese is the almost constant absence of the suprascapular notch, the upper border being smoothly and evenly concave, as in the anthropoid apes.Fewparts of the skeleton yield more important characters forcomparison than the pelvis; but in this case, as well as in that of the limb-bones, our available materials are still too scanty to enable us to draw many general conclusions. The striking difference between the form of the pelvis in the apes and in man would naturally lead t...