434 HISTORY OF 



not equally divided until it has acquired its full 

 growth. 



The size of men varies considerably. Men are 

 said to be tall who are from five feet eight inches 

 to six feet high. The middle stature is from five 

 feet five to five feet eight ; and those are said to 

 be of small stature who fall under these measures. 

 " However, it ought to be remarked, that the 

 same person is always taller when he rises in the 

 morning, than upon going to bed at night ; and 

 sometimes there is an inch of difference, and I 

 have seen more. Few persons are sensible of 

 this remarkable variation ; and, I am told, it was 

 first perceived in England by a recruiting offi- 

 cer. He often found that those men whom he 

 had inlisted for soldiers, and answered to the 

 appointed standard at one time, fell short of it 

 when they came to be measured before the colo- 

 nel, at the head-quarters, This diminution in 

 their size, proceeded from the different times of 

 the day, and the different states of the body, 

 when they happened to be measured. If, as was 

 said, they were measured in the morning, after 

 the night's refreshment, they were found to be 

 commonly half an inch, and very often a whole 

 inch taller than if measured after the fatigues of 

 the day : if they were measured when fresh, in 

 the country, and before a long fatiguing march 

 to the regiment, they were found to be an inch 

 taller than when they arrived at their journey's 

 end. All this is now well known among those 

 who recruit for the army ; and the reason of this 

 difference of stature is obvious. Between all the 



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