The seasonal distribution of deaths in the United States has progressively altered since 1940. The proportion of deaths in the first half of the year has declined. During the 1940s there were 7·44% more deaths in the first half than in the second half of the year, but during the 1960s the difference was only 4·85%.

The continuous shift in the seasonal distribution of the crude death rates from all causes is in association with a similar movement in the monthly fertility rates of the United States.

The paper reports an attempt to use the Pickford-Nicolson anomaloscope on an unselected sample of all art students in 1 year's intake in a School of Art, and to compare their colour vision with that of an unselected control group of non-art students.

There is evidence that male first year School of Art students match a yellow with a mixture of red and green containing slightly more green than the male control group of the same age. It would seem possible that there is an age effect for women matching green and blue with turquoise whereby the older women required more green in the match.

Apart from these two points there appears to be no significant difference between the groups studied.

Data from a representative sample of 736 women aged 45–54 living in or near London in 1965 were analysed with respect to menopausal status and median and mean age at menopause (final menses). The median age at the natural menopause was 50·78 years. The validity of the measures used and the reliability of the data in this and previous studies are discussed. The conclusions are reached that median age of menopause is a more valid measurement than mean age and that there is no conclusive evidence of an increase in the age at menopause over the last century. The data also indicate understatement of the age at the last menstrual period (LMP) by women, with increasing lapse of time.

The menopause was found to occur markedly later in currently married women than in unmarried or previously married women. When marital status was controlled by considering currently married women only, increased parity was shown to be related to a late menopause among women of higher socio-economic status, but not among those of lower socio-economic status. There was no notable association between the menopause and early or late menarche and socio-economic status.

Although the face is one of the most variable parts of the human physique, there is little recent work on this region. Consequently, there is a need for an appraisal of the variation, new thinking as regards the methodology of recording and analysis, and further thought as to the possible applications of such methods. The present exploratory study uses information derived from standardized photographs, to try to elucidate the affinities—and thus the population history—of the people of Tristan da Cunha and the Ainu of Japan. The methods used have also permitted a consideration of within-group variation from the point of view of family differences and varying degrees of admixture. The potential biosocial as well as anthropological value of this type of investigation is discussed.

This report is based on the findings of an epidemiological study of 29,468 rural, semi-rural and urban inhabitants of the Agra region of Uttar Pradesh. The survey was made in order to find out the prevalence of severe mental disorders and associated conditions in an Indian community. The sampling was purposive and areas selected were contiguous. Census methods were used. All inhabitants were investigated by a team consisting of a psychologist, a statistician, social workers and psychiatrists. After reconnaissance and initial contact by home visits, suspected cases were detected by a searching inquiry and the information so obtained was carefully documented. These cases were subjected to psychiatric examination and abnormal ones identified. Consultation with another psychiatrist was necessary to make a final diagnosis.

The lifetime prevalence rate of schizophrenia was 2·2 per thousand, about the same frequency as found in other parts of the world. The maximum number of cases occurred in males between the ages of 15 and 24 and in females between the ages of 35 and 44. Single people, that is, never married, widowed, divorced or separated suffered significantly much more from the disease than bachelors and married people. A significant relationship was found between schizophrenia and castes in Vaish and Brahmin males as compared with others. The highest rate of schizophrenia was found among people in unremunerative status. Intoxicants were used more by schizophrenics than by normal people. Caste group indulgents had their own preferences in drug use, cannabis indulgence being highest among Brahmins. No association of schizophrenia with residence, educational status or sex was found.

The attachment of the infant to the mother can be seen in open parkland when an infant is set free for exercise and play. In an area of safe space, a mother has little cause to restrain her child, nor, owing to other attractions around, to entertain or otherwise divert him. In order to deduce which of the women and infants make up kinship pairs, the observer postulates criteria for recognizing a pair; attachment is then conceived of as factors which identify a mother and her infant in field conditions.

The infant detaches himself from his mother but he maintains proximity to her, particularly around the age of 2 years, when his proximity- and contact-seeking are at their height. Yet, at this age, the infant shows most alertness to remote events. From 2 years old onwards, the presence of age-mates competes for the infant's proximity. Hence, the statistical data presented below is from observations which were made when the likelihood of interruption by neighbouring people was minimal.

Proximity to the mother can be defined as the child's being at rest beside her, or as his playing in her vicinity, or as a pattern of exploratory locomotion with the mother the centre of the territory he covers. In each of these aspects, the behaviour of 1-, 2- and 3-year-olds is distinguished by typical distances from the mother.

The infant's responsiveness to unexpected sights or sounds is inferred from the orientation responses he makes to them. In his postures and the distances he takes up from the mother, his feeling-states of alertness, fear, anger, uncertainty, fatigue and conflict are expressed; when thus activated, he tends to relate himself to his mother.

It seems that women whose first-born children are very heavy (9 lb and more) or very light (less than 5 1b) have more subsequent children than other women. This finding does not appear to arise from any of the possible artifacts discussed, and it could have some bearing on the present secular increase in the height and weight of the population.

A prevalent feature of American society is the strong desire to live in areas of low population density and close to nature, a phenomenon which can perhaps be most appropriately termed a ‘rural ideal’.* It is paradoxical that this phenomenon has been little studied and totally disregarded in quantitative research, for it apparently has a long-standing and central place in American history (Schmitt, 1969; White & White, 1962). The ideal, which some would argue conforms to a basic biological need of the human species (e.g. Iltis, Loucks & Andrews, 1970), may help to explain and predict such social phenomena as migration to the suburbs (Schmitt, 1969; Strauss, 1961), the growth and prevalence of recreational activities which bring the individual into closer contact with nature and/or into lesser contact with other people (e.g. camping, fishing, hunting, visits to national parks) (Schmitt, 1969), and rising rates of deviant behaviours such as neuroses and violence with increasing population density (Ehrlich & Ehrlich, 1970).