Anatomy and politics / by W.E. Le Gros Clark.

  • Wilfrid Le Gros Clark
Date:
[1936?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Anatomy and politics / by W.E. Le Gros Clark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/12 (page 5)
    has gained a certain amount of publicity in the popular press and partly because it is suggested that it has a very direct bearing on the policy of colonial adrainistrators in respect of native populations. Dr. Gordon is a specialist in mental disorders, and he was primarily impressed by the apparent inefficiency of the average Kenya native in work requiring a modicum of skill and intelligence.^ He carried out a systematic survey of natives with a view to assessing their intelligence, and he found a very high proportion of aments. He found this to be correlated with a rather low cranial capacity as inferred by measurements of the head in life and with a general retarda¬ tion of growth. Whereas the young and immature native is often bright and quite markedly intelligent (contrasting favourably with the white youth of the same age), as he approaches maturity his development in physique and mental ability slows up and he is outstripped by the European of corresponding age. Gordon has applied the term Bradyphysis to this phenomenon of intellectual and bodily retardation. The microscopic anatomy of the cerebral cortex of the Kenya native has been studied by Vint,^ and he came to the conclusion that in the thickness of the cortex, in the relative differentiation of its cell layers and in the structure of the cells them¬ selves, the brain of the Kenya native is definitely less well developed than the European brain. If substantiated, these observations are certainly of the greatest importance. It is necessary to point out, however, that the technique involved in such a study is exceptionally difficult and must be most rigidly standardised to allow of accurate comparisons. Very slight differences in the method of fixation and staining of the cortex may lead to quite marked differences in the histological appearance of the cortical cells. I myself feel rather dubious in regard to the interpre¬ tation of Vint's results, and Dr. Vint himself is careful to note that corroboration is required by similar studies pursued on a more extensive scale. What he does stress, and I think very rightly, is that his preliminary work emphasises the necessity for a comprehensive programme of research into the growth and physique of native populations as a necessary basis for a rational development of colonial administration. In all these questions of intelligence tests and brain structure the first doubt that arises is whether we are dealing with normal healthy people. How much is the apparent dullness of intellect due to a discouraging social environment either at the time or during the early years of mental development in childhood ? How much is due to chronic ill-health—^the result perhaps of intermittent infections with tropical fevers, or to persistent parasitic infestation extending over many years ? Only a few weeks ago a contributor to the British Medical Journal stated that, in his experi¬ ence of Africa, as soon as natives were brought into hygienic surroundings, ridden of parasitic infections, and given full scope for their normal development, they showed remarkable improvement in physique and also in mental alertness. During a period of three years' work in Borneo I had a great deal of experience with the local Malay population. Malays are an easy-going people and have the reputation as a race of being lethargic and even lazy. This is commonly regarded 1 H. L. Gordon. Amentia in the East African. Eugenics Review, Jan., 1934. 2 Г. W. Vint. The Brain of the Kenya Native. Joum. Anat., Vol. 68, 1933-34. 5