all the four composites are closely alike.

I will now show a few typical portraits I selected out of 82 male
portraits of a different series of consumptive male patients; they
were those that had more or less of a particular wan look, that I
wished to elicit. The selected cases were about 18 in number, and
from these I took 12, rejecting about six as having some marked
peculiarity that did not conform well with the remaining 12. The
result is a very striking face, thoroughly ideal and artistic, and
singularly beautiful. It is, indeed, most notable how beautiful all
composites are. Individual peculiarities are all irregularities, and
the composite is always regular.

I show a composite of 15 female faces, also of consumptive patients,
that gives somewhat the same aspect of the disease; also two others
of only 6 in each, that have in consequence less of an ideal look,
but which are still typical. I have here several other typical faces
in my collection of composites; they are all serviceable as
illustrations of this memoir, but, medically speaking, they are only
provisional results.

I am indebted to Lieutenant Leonard Darwin, R.E., for an interesting
series of negatives of officers and privates of the Royal Engineers.
Here is a composite of 12 officers; here is one of 30 privates. I
then thought it better to select from the latter the men that came
from the southern counties, and to again make a further selection of
11 from these, on the principle already explained. Here is the
result. It is very interesting to note the stamp of culture and
refinement on the composite officer, and the honest and vigorous but
more homely features of the privates. The combination of these two,
officers and privates together, gives a very effective physiognomy.

Let it be borne in mind that existing cartes-de-visite are almost
certain to be useless. Among dozens of them it is hard to find three
that fulfil the conditions of similarity of aspect and of shade. The
negatives have to be made on purpose. I use a repeating back and a
quarter plate, and get two good-sized heads on each plate, and of a
scale that never gives less than four-tenths of an inch between the
pupils of the eyes and the mouth. It is only the head that can be
used, as more distant parts, even the ears, become blurred hopelessly.

It will be asked, of what use can all this be to ordinary
photographers, even granting that it may be of scientific value in
ethnological r