THE HEIGHT-WEIGHT INDEX OF BUILD IN RELATION TO LINEAR 



AND VOLUMETRIC PROPORTIONS AND SURFACE-AREA OF THE 



BODY DURING POST-NATAL DEVELOPMENT, 



BY C. R. BARDEEN. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the value of the height-weight ratio 

 as an index of the proportions of the human body and to suggest the usefulness of 

 an index of this character as an important factor in coordinating investigations in 

 the field of gross human anatomy. In the study of human embryology it has become 

 the custom to use the vertex-breach length as an index of stage of development. 

 While not a perfect method, this index is of great value and has done much to 

 coordinate the investigations of different observers and to aid in the formation of a 

 science of early human growth. In studies of post-natal development the most 

 commonly used, simple characteristics of differentiation of the body are sex, age, 

 height, and weight. Even these simple characteristics are too frequently disregarded 

 in anatomical studies, and there has accumulated a vast amount of descriptive and 

 statistical material which it is impossible to coordinate because of this neglect. 

 For a satisfactory science of human anatomy the data concerning human structure 

 must be coordinated into an orderly system of knowledge regarding organic differen- 

 tiation in relation to the life-cycle of varied types of human beings under varied 

 conditions. 



We can not make progress in the study of types without the use of common 

 standards with which to compare studies made on different individuals or groups 

 of individuals. For such standards to be established we need the general adoption 

 of systematic methods of investigation. Methods of this kind have been adopted 

 by anthropologists in the study of cranial and other measurements with success. 

 Anatomists, however, have no uniform standards of recording the general charac- 

 teristics of the development of the body in describing human structure. Data 

 concerning race, sex, age, height, and weight (at least) should be furnished in con- 

 nection with all investigations regarding the organization of the human body. 



Race and sex furnish definite information, the importance of which we need not 

 discuss. Age is of interest chiefly as a measure of the stage in the life-cycle reached 

 by the individual at the time the study of his structure is made. As such it is 

 imperfect, since some individuals pass more rapidly through the life-cycle than 

 others, and the rapidity of development in individuals of the same essential life- 

 cycle may vary greatly at different periods. Thus the studies of Roberts (1878) 

 show that the children of the artisan classes in England grow more slowly than 



485 



