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Apparent learning disability, as measured by European/American tests and exam/nations, may, in fact, represent a false positive and an artifact of the testing, when the subjects are members of an ethnic culture in which traditions of skills and knowledge do not match those of the culture of those who devised the test. For an authentic estimate of abilities, one must have tests that fit the cultural traditions of the subjects being tested. This principle is extremely relevant to the testing of members of minority cultures in the United States, as well as of Aboriginal Australians who provided the raw data for this paper. In nonminority cultures, the same principle may also be relevant to the testing of a child with a learning disability; for a learning disability may, unsuspectedly, be the specific response of a particular child to his family's inchoate, covert, and paradoxical tradition, directive, or taboo against a specific facet of learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnocentrism as a concept, defined as a sociopsychological syndrome, has functioned as an integral part of sociological theory at least since the time of Gumplowicz. The plausibility of Gumplowicz's "natural theory of the State" was predicated on the assumption of the mutual hostility of heterogeneous groups. The concept passed into the substance of American sociological theory construction primarily through the influence of W. G. Sumner. Since the beginning of the century it has become a commonplace in the literature, and among his last papers Alfredo Niceforo made the "law" of the "attraction of similars and repulsion of dissimilars" one of the "invariable facts" of intergroup relations. In the work of Corrado Gini ethnocentrism occupies a central role in a general theory of race formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals primarily with Australian aboriginal society and culture, and compares these with the society and culture of white Australia in the special realm of the family. It assumes that white Australia is a complex but fundamentally coherent whole, and that aboriginal Australia can also be viewed as a coherent whole, irrespective of regional variations, for comparative purposes. The major distinction between the aboriginal family and the white family is a significant difference in the relationship between social structure and culture in the context of family. The only differentiations in modes of livelihood in an aboriginal tribe were the obvious ones based on age and sex. The familial cultures of aboriginal Australia exhibited a remarkable uniformity, even from tribe to tribe, compared with the diversity of familial cultures in white Australia, but the reverse is true of family structure. Earlier works on the aborigines had over-stressed "group marriage" to such an extent that the presence of some monogamists in the tribe was ignored. A typical aboriginal family consists of a man aged 50 years old or above, two wives, and children. Each family, whether polygynous or monogamous, constituted a separate camping unit with its own shelter and fire.

Trichophyton rubrum infections are endemic among Aborigines living in the high rainfall areas of the Northern Territory of Australia, Over sixty cases have been verified by Laboratory examinations. In this preliminary report a few early observations are mentioned. The clinical, mycological and histological findings to date are described and some comments on epidemiology are made as a forerunner to a subsequent report on this disease in these parts of Australia. In general, the changes seen in the skin due to this infection are similar to those often observed in sub-acute and chronic eczema. So far as we know, T. rubrum infections among Aborigines of the Northern Territory have not been confirmed previously by isolation of the causative fungus. The isolates of T. rubrum concerned are described as granular strains of the species. The colonies become increasingly powdery with age due to the production of numerous microconidia and variable numbers of macroconidia. These findings contrast with the fluffy strains usually isolated from Caucasians in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the mentality of the Australian native. The Australian native has been repeatedly chosen to illustrate the lowest point of human development. The lowest stage of all straight-haired men, and perhaps of all the human species, is occupied by the Australian aborigines or Austral Negro. Between the most highly developed animal souls and the lowest developed human souls, there exist only a small quantitative, but no qualitative difference, and this difference is much less than the difference between the lowest and highest human souls, or than the difference between the highest and the lowest animal souls. In disposition, the Australian aborigines are bright, laughter-loving folk, but they are treacherous, untruthful and hold human life cheaply. They have no great physical courage. They are mentally in the condition of children. None of them have an idea of what the West calls moral, except the simple one of right or wrong arising out of property. The mentality of the Australian aborigines really places them nearly on a level with the apes. It is found that a backward culture, such as that of the natives of Australia, has much more substance, and affords wider scope of mental activity.

The main findings of an exploratory survey conducted in the Northern Territory are presented. The data used were subject to considerable margins of error, but, nevertheless appear to have provided a plausible outline of the demographic characteristics of the Aboriginal population. The attempt to correct the age data by a smoothing procedure is encouraging; interesting and intelligible results can thus be obtained by cautious treatment. It is shown that age data can only be reliable when an efficient system of vital registrations has been instituted, which requires not only appropriate legislation, but also sufficient social and economic incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses efforts to use data about racial differences in dentition to identify the racial characteristics of skeletal remains found in Bali, Indonesia. The occlusal patterns in the remains are examined to determine whether they indicate Mongoloid or Australoid racial identity. While there are aspects of this specimen that do not conform to the dentition patterns observed in either race, the researcher concludes that they are closer to Mongoloid patterns.

This article discusses the partial results of a research study conducted to examine the dental characteristics of the Wailbri people, an aboriginal Australian tribe. Information is offered on the size of the dental arches of these people. Further studies have been conducted on characteristics including measurable aspects of their teeth and craniofacial structure.