THEIR HEIGHT, POEM, AND STRENGTH. 139 



and has been repeatedly quoted abroad, noticeably 

 by M. de Quatrefages* and by M. Devay,f that the 

 descendants of the Ulster people, driven two 

 centuries ago into Sligo and Mayo, had dwindled 

 into dwarfs of five feet two inches high, prognathous 

 and pot-bellied. This most certainly does not apply 

 to any section of the inhabitants of this part of 

 Mayo, if, indeed, it were ever true of any part of 

 the counties named, which repeated inquiries and 

 personal observation agree in denying most posi- 

 tively. The statement is quite unsupported by other 

 writers dealing with this region at the same time. 



" The people, on the whole, are good-looking, 

 especially when young ; many of the girls and young 

 women are very handsome, but they appear to age 

 rapidly and early become wrinkled. 



" The men of this district are as a rule of fair 

 average stature, very stoutly built, and broad- 

 shouldered ; while there are few who can fairly be 

 termed very tall, yet many reach a good height, 

 and the proportion of small men is by no means 

 large. The average stature of the 62 adult males 

 measured was 1,725 mm., or about 5 feet 8 inches. 

 The extremes were 1,628 mm. (5 feet 4 inches), and 

 1,820 mm., or about 5 feet 11J inches. 



* L'Unit6 de I'Espece Humain, ii., 316. 

 f Devay, Fr., Du Danger des Manages consanguins sous le 

 Rapport Sanitaire. 



