490 



HEIGHT AND WEIGHT IN RELATION TO BUILD 



imates 91.8 per cent of the thousandth part of the cube of the stature. In an adult 

 male 68 inches tall it usually approximates 47.8 per cent at 30 to 35 years of age. 



We have used the inch-pound units because a large part of the best statistical 

 studies on height and weight have been made in England and America with the use 

 of these units. For the sake of uniformity in this article we have made use of the 

 inch-pound height-weight index even when dealing with material expressed in 

 metric system units. In general, however, in dealing with the latter it is best to use 



FIG. 1. Diagram to illustrate the proportions of the body relative to the cube of the height in 

 infancy, childhood, and adolescence. The infant is 21 inches long, the child 42 inches long, 

 and the youth 63 inches long. For further description see text, p. 491. 



a height- weight index based directly on these units. If we divide the weight in 

 grains by the cube of the height in centimeters we obtain an index which has 2.768 

 per cent of the value of the inch-pound index here adopted. To reduce the inch- 

 pound index to the centimeter-gram index multiply the former by 0.02768. To 

 change the centimeter-gram index to the inch-pound index either divide it by 

 0.02768 or multiply it by 36.13. Rohrer, in 1908, clearly pointed out the value of 

 the quotient obtained by dividing the weight in grams X 100 by the cube of the 



