The Mortal Remains of Swedenboeg 43 



and in lying position, and as it has been found by repeated experi- 

 ments that . living persons in a lying position are 1 to 2 cm. longer 

 than when standing, and as it is furthermore probable that the re- 

 laxation of the muscles and joint connections which takes place after 

 death increases the length still more by some millimetres, it is plain 

 that, if we regard the length during life and in upright position, 2 cm. 

 at least must be subtracted from the figures given above, by which 

 Swedenboeg's body-length would have been between 1.62 and 1. es metres. 

 For reasons into which 1 cannot here enter, I am inclined to believe 

 that Manouvriee's tables in a case of this kind furnish a value which 

 is somewhat too low, but that nevertheless the stature of Swedenborg 

 did not in any case exceed l.es metres. 



A further support for the calculation made I find in the circumstance 

 that the leaden coffin, which measured 184 cm. in length, evidently 

 had been not inconsiderably larger than the corpse laid therein. In 

 the pillow, which had evidently not been removed from its original 

 position, a round depression was seen, which had manifestly arisen 

 through the pressure of the head resting upon it. This depression was 

 situated at a distance from the head-end of the coffin, which I ocul- 

 arly estimated to have been nearly 2 decimetres. It could further be 

 concluded from the position of the heelbones, which had manifestly 

 also not been displaced, that the feet had not quite reached to the 

 foot-end of the coffin. 



According to the body-length thus calculated (l.es m. at the 

 most), Emanuel Swedenborg must be regarded as having been a rather 

 short man, compared with present-day conditions. It should be men- 

 tioned, for the sake of comparison, that the average length for the 

 adult Swedish man in our days is fully I.72 m., and that among the men, 

 21 years of age, measured at the military enrollment during the years 

 1907 — 8, (whose growth, however, was certainly not completed), there 

 were only 12.7 °/'o having a length below 1.65 m. Still, the average 

 length in Sweden has, during the last decades, been steadily increas- 

 ing \ and it is therefore quite probable that in the 18th century it was 

 not inconsiderably lower than at the present time. The conclusion at 

 which we have arrived regarding Swedenborg's body-length seems 

 under such circumstances to be in fair agreement with Cuno's state- 



^ Investigations lately made by me, but not yet published, have shown that the average 

 length among Swedish conscripts since 1887 has increased more than 2 cm., and since 

 about 1840 more than 4 cm. I have not had access to any similar material from older times, 



