Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-21
CHANCE FOR RACF
LOST IN DRAFT I'M
Research Council of so,,..
Laments Methods Used si1l'e''| y
Examiners :"
URGES WAR ZONE Ro,,,
Warns of German Scientis, r..
Peace Conference.-The Ersr,a .'a'
Draftees' Brains

a golden opportunity n .,.
iirst time in the history Of N. r
states the racial Characteristic .~s
people was lost by the loose m.,,'.
examining men selected for N, ~
Army, according to the renor, :, "n
mittee on anthropology Of the n,s.s.
search council, read at the au,on,
Ing of the National Academy q, s,,.
in progress in the Engineerlnv p.s.
University of Pennsylvania.
The. report, which was prepared 4.
William H. Holmes, Of the iInltsa
National Museum was read by Dr.. rs,s1
B. Davenport, of the National Ac,a...s
Sciences.
1t recommends that expert ar,,,..
gists be commissioned and sent IA ~
to study racial conditions and exam,s.
historic remains that might be une,rss.is "
trench digging and shell-fre erc,v.,-
and urged that science be taken ,,,.
sideration when the final peacs n..,a
tions are made TO offset Germany. ''a
by the presentation of expert anthrnasIas
cal facts.
SCORES EXAMINING METHons
VIRTUALLY nothing has been don. ,,....
| the Improvement of the methods s,s ~
instruments employed in the exsnip,s,.
| the drafted men," the report saws ~
| blanks used for the examination a,
| cruits are essentially the same as N !.
| In the manual of directions for eYan,,..
! no directions were included RESPECTING a.
methods and the instruments TO bs ma.
| In the measuring.
| The committee has found that l,,.
| percentage of the instruments used n, ~ |
| examinations are more or less defstlv,
| that the methods of taking the m.,s,r,
| ments are regulated by individual opn,, |
| necessarily resulting in many errors IA
| that in some cases the measuring il r.h
gated by the examining physicians TO ,,.
listed men. without adequate supervisor
| 1T is painfully evident that no in.
| provement has been effected In thh M.
| portant matter since the Civil War. an
| that the millions of measurements "a N
taken will be entirely unreliable for sri,
tific purposes. Thus we lose deinoerapAs
data of the greatest value; data vhta
would have given to science and 10 d.
Government for the first time reliable 4.
formation regarding the physical eh,r.
acterstics of the American peopleain an.
ferent parts of the country, In different
occupations and under different environ.
ments."
WARNS OF GERMAN CLAIMS
With regard to peace conferences, when
the war shall have been concluded, ts
report says:
The political fate of Qany ol In
smaller nations in Europe must be decided
at these conferences. They include Bel.
sium, Alsace- Lorraine Poland, Llthuanl
Galctin, Bohemia. the Balkans, Turkey
Arabia, Armenia and Others
THE Germans will undoubtedly CON. u
the peace conferences well prepared to claim
everything to their advantage; and unlea
they can be confronted by anthropooEa
facts and expert presentations Of ophon
they will readily win in their unjust con
tentions."
That brain tests as vel as body tesa
may be applied to later drafts was hc
Gated by Prof. Edward l.. Thordike' .
Columbia University who reported on u
work of the psychology committee OF u
National Research Council. Protes'
Thorndke said that forty-two psycholces
have already been at work in four cah'o.
ments supplying company commanders VII
inventories of the intellectual capaelV
the men.
The aim of the examination Is to pfon'
company commanders with rough "
| yisional inventory of the intellectual G
pacities of their men. the report says =
in particular TO avoid the waste Of MON
and time upon men of very ihlerlo,
tellect who would in training, retard Y
4 Al ~ ~ a =
danger the lives of their fellows ~
work may he applied TO later ofal0
their entirety.
AN AID TO ARMY OFFICERS
"Of mere importance, perhaps. tnan
, routine work of this examination Is .e :"
that these psychologists can give 70 ~, s'l
officers who consult them about propN'
of education, discipline and mental hssN
A PSYCHOLOGIST cannot create genera -
| city or common sense--he may lhueeu' :.
self lack it--but psychological hn."Ms ~.
? can be used as multiplier OF gooo ~
, II is probable that. II competent psy.%
. gists are at hand in a camp, tney "M
used by enterprising officers o 'ne :.
in somewhat the same sense as 'nsy
: being used i'm school systems, large ou'''
, concerns and factories.
E AID IN SPECIAL PRoBLEMs'
psychologists are also aiding IN spV
o ized problems concerning the work "
pointing, fire control, listening ana ,ns
I ! | am not at liberty to give detaiis 49,
l ing this work and some OF It's most ~
Q tant aspects are known to nobody ssw
Q scientific men conducting the reseIs
and the army and navy officers convs ~,
You will readily understand tnat pvr
of sensory discrimination, It's Iaila,,I. a,,a,
the conditions of its efficient opetaI -,
of Significance in some or the h'os' -
tant features of modern warfare
There are other subcommittee oi
biologists at work upon the propiehl "
: processes of learning military VIVA sn,,s
susceptibilty TO shock, the rehasm n,,s
of men whose mentality mas oe. as,
pressed or disordered, vision anu hsa sS
relation to military work, tests W y
capacities. the like. .ssse IN
:, "It is hoped that each OIL .saylds
snecial field will be able 10 plvm 49,
Government with facts, methoelI osIsd for.
and men as fast as sucn are an old Ii
i A new fact. upsetti"s .,an ku
y and adding to the sum OF hu," ,hs !
edge as to how the surface .'.anos
is shaped in some places, was a1 Nav,
its discoyerer, Prof. Alfred v; n.s,
Princeton University and tne Cainss ss
stitution, who carried on long NO,
= in the island Cf Tutuila, saihoA'
could do so.