Hooton Tells Dentists They Can Get Anthropology Data

The dentist's chair could be a seat of knowledge, Earnest A. Hooton, Professor of Anthropology, suggested yesterday.

The man who pulls teeth should also extract data that would shed light on man's origin and future, he told the Massachusetts Dental Society.

"The dental practitioner gets the whole blooming family--Ma, Pa and the children--coming to him year after year. Have a measuring stick in your office. Measure the brats and weigh them every time they come in. Get ma's and pa's medical history. You'd have a genetic history of every family, and among you you'd accumulate a body of data vastly superior to any in existence."

"Carry out this kind of research, and you can laugh at the rest of the medical profession, because they don't do any of this, either."

Professor Hooton suggested the Society establish a central record bureau to place anthropological data forms in the hands of every member. He also got in a plug for one family of apes he has always respected--the chimp. "They're the closest to man--shove the chimpanzee in almost any situation among men and he wouldn't stick out--except perhaps favorably."