An inquiry into the physiognomy of phthisis by the method of 'composite portraiture' / by Francis Galton and F.A. Mahomed.

  • Galton, Sir Francis, 1822-1911.
Date:
[1881]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An inquiry into the physiognomy of phthisis by the method of 'composite portraiture' / by Francis Galton and F.A. Mahomed. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    fifteen and forty years of age. These limits of age were fixed, partly because the faces between these ages are more fairly comparable, and partly to exclude the more evidently acquired phthisis of advanced age. Mr. Galton then engaged the services of Mr. Mackie as photographer, who has had large experience in rapid photo- graphy, having been employed professionally for some years in photographing, for the use of the authorities, the prisoners at the Pentonville Convict Prison. He was often able to secure for us twenty and thirty portraits from the out-patients in the course of an hour or two, and we were enabled to obtain the number we required during the months of April and May. We now found at our disposal 442 portraits of patients suffering from phthisis, of whom 261 were males and 181 females. They were obtained as follows : From Brompton— Males 140 Females . 116 „ Victoria Park- —Males 36 Females . 42 „ Guy's Males . 85 Females . 23 261 181 Total . 442 For comparison with these we next proceeded to photograph 100 male and 100 female patients, taken without selection from the wards and out-patient rooms at Guy's, none of whom were suffering from phthisis ; these we propose to use as a standard to represent the average of the population of the same class, but suffering from diseases other than phthisis. During the process of making composites, we received some valuable assistance from Mr. George Turner, who came to our help when we were much pressed for time and made several composites for us, besides assisting in the selection of faces out of which they should be formed. Before discussing the results obtained, it will be well to say a few words in explanation of the method followed. Com- posite portraits may be described as pictorial averages, they