508 



HEIGHT AND WEIGHT IN RELATION TO BUILD 



to crotch is somewhat greater than distance stature less sitting-height. The differ- 

 ence is more in short than in tall men. A few examples may illustrate this point: 



TABLE 13. 



This difference may possibly be due either to the relatively greater adiposity 

 of the buttocks in short individuals or to a greater inclination of the pelvis. 



It appears probable that the level labeled "crotch" in chart 1 may be from 1 

 to 2 per cent lower than the distance that would be obtained by direct measurement. 

 Quetelet (table E) gives data for the distance sole to "bifurcation," which give a 

 curve essentially similar to but in general slightly lower than mine. It shows, 

 however, no decrease in relative distance during adolescence and is slightly higher 

 than mine for the adult. 



My curve, as stated above, is based on a study of data on sitting-height. The 

 most extensive series of such data are those of Weissenberg, table D, which extend 

 from infancy to old age. Valuable data on American school children are given by 

 Peckham (1881), Porter (1893), West (1893, 1894), Hastings (table F), Smedley 

 (1900), Boas and Wissler (1904), and other investigators. Godin (1910) has given 

 data on French youth. Curves based on data from these various sources, while 

 they show some minor variations, correspond essentially with the curve given in 

 chart I. All show a decrease in relative sitting-height from infancy to the time of 

 puberty and an increase after puberty. According to Weissenberg's data, table D, 

 the period of relatively least sitting-height or greatest length of free lower extremity 

 is at the age of 13 for girls, 15 for boys. After puberty the relative sitting-height in- 

 creases rapidly until the age of 18, then slowly to the age of 21 to 25, remains nearly 

 constant until the age of 41 to 50, and then increases. In old age it again decreases. 

 In females it attains a maximum at the seventeenth year, then with slight variations 

 it remains nearly constant until old age, when it again declines. In the adult the 

 relative sitting-height of women is about the same as that of men of the same stat- 

 ure; according to Manouvrier (1902) it is less. Quetelet (table E) shows the distance 

 sole to crotch to be slightly less in the female than in the male after infancy. 



The distance "sitting-height" less the distance "vertex to acromion" makes a 

 convenient measurement for the trunk. It will be noted in chart I that this distance 

 decreases from about 41 per cent of the stature in the infant to 33.3 per cent at the 

 period preceding puberty and then increases to maturity, except in unusually tall 

 individuals. If we divide the neck between the head and the trunk we may measure 

 the vertical height from the top of the larynx to the seat. Thus measured, the trunk 

 shows a similar decrease in relative length from infancy to late childhood and a 



