494 



HEIGHT AND WEIGHT IN RELATION TO BUILD 



divided into thighs, legs, and feet), and that of the upper extremities (subdivided 

 into arms, forearms, and hands). Curved lines show the alteration in the relative 

 volumetric proportions as we pass from a stature of 20 inches at the left to one of 

 75 inches at the right. A curve of the height-weight index of build has been inserted 

 in the chart to show the course of development of the average American male who 

 reaches a stature of 67.5 to 68 inches. The part of a similar curve for the average 

 female where it departs markedly from that of the male is shown by broken lines. 

 Curves for volume are likewise shown by broken lines where the proportions of the 

 female body diverge markedly from those of the male. The ages given at the 

 bottom of the chart represent the approximate ages at which average Americans 

 reach the stature given at the top of the chart. It will be noted that there is a 

 marked dip in the curve separating trunk volume from the volume of the lower 

 extremities and that the center of this dip lies at the line of average adult male 

 stature. This dip represents the change in relative bodily proportions which takes 

 place during adolescence, an increase in the size of the trunk marked by a relatively 

 greater growth in length than that which takes place in the lower extremities, and 

 by even greater relative increase in girth. In a group of individuals reaching less 

 than average American stature this dip shifts to the left. In a group of more than 

 average stature it shifts to the right and is less marked. The older the group of 

 individuals studied the deeper the dip up to 50 years of age. In women the lower 

 extremities from the calf up are relatively greater in girth and in volume than in 

 men and take a greater part in the relative lateral expansion which marks adoles- 

 cence and early maturity. We have no data on changes in relative volumetric 

 proportions of trunk and lower extremities corresponding to those in men, but if it 

 occurs it is much less marked. The studies of the volume of the lower extremities 

 of the 20 young men, 21 to 25 years of age, referred to above may be summarized 

 as follows : 



TABLE 5. 



The volume of the body is estimated from the weight, the specific gravity being 

 assumed to be 1.0252. The relative volumes of the lower extremities and their 

 subdivisions are expressed in relation to volume =1. The volumes of the thighs, 

 legs, and feet of each individual are averaged. The volume of each extremity was 

 measured to the level of the crotch. Meeh likewise measured the volume of the 

 lower extremities to the level of the crotch and this is the level represented in chart 

 K. Harless, in weighing the lower extremities, made a cut which included the great 

 trochanters. This must be taken into account in the use of table C. Meeh's data 



