﻿NO. I NATIVES OF KHARGA OASIS HRDLICKA 3 1 



could be determined full-blood American negro men gave the writer, 

 with the same instrument, as the mean pressure in the right hand 41.5, 

 in the left hand 38.6 kg., and traction of 30 kg. In the Indian, 1 in 

 general, the corresponding figures are about 40, 34, and 25 kg. At 

 Kharga they are, as seen above, 34, 31, and 22 kg. 



The debility of the Kharga men is in all probability the effect, in 

 the main, of poor and scant nutrition. The Valley fellaheen impress 

 one as somewhat better off in this respect, and also as somewhat 

 stronger, yet even they, so far as observed, do not approach in 

 muscular strength the whites or the negro of similar vocations. 



The average difference between the pressure force of the right and 

 that of the left hand is less marked in the Kharga natives than that 

 in the white and also the Indian, showing that the right hand is not 

 only absolutely but also relatively weaker in those of the Oasis. 



The age differences in strength are quite pronounced and follow 

 what is probably a general rule, showing a gradual decline after 40 

 years of age. The maximum mean of muscular power is reached 

 between 30 and 40, or more properly between 25 and 35 years, 

 which appears also to be most frequently the case in the whites as 

 well as in the American Indians. 



KHARGA OASIS, MEN: RESULTS OF TESTS OF MUSCULAR STRENGTH OF THE 

 HANDS (PRESSURE) AND ARMS (TRACTION), ACCORDING TO AGE 2 



Age groups Maximum pressure Maximum pressure Maximum traction, 



2I-?0 years right hand left hand horizontal 



Number of subjects (42) (42) (39) 



Average 33.9 3i-6 22.3 



Minimum 26 21 14 



Maximum 49 45 35 



31-40 years 



Number of subjects (20) (20) (19) 



Average 36.5 33.7 24.6 



Minimum 29.5 26 16 



Maximum 46 45 33 



41-50 years 



Number of subjects (35) (35) (35) 



Average 33.2 31.0 21.6 



Minimum 24 21 14 



Maximum 46 44 30.5 



51-60 years 



Number of subjects (17) (17) (14) 



Average 31.6 29.1 21.2 



Minimum 25 24 12 



Maximum 42 41 33 



1 Details in writer's " Physiological and Medical Observations, " etc., p. 143 

 et seq. The tests on the Indians were equally made by the same method and 

 instrument. 



2 All records in kilograms. 



