Oct, 31, 1889] 



NATURE 



651 



ing capacities for each of these statures was constructed in 

 pencil, on the principle of one of the lines in Fig. i ; 

 then bold lines were drawn from above downward to 

 connect all the pencilled entries of the same value, just 

 as isobars, isotherms, and other contour lines are drawn 

 (to which the general name of tsograins might well be 

 given). This completed the figure, which hardly needs 



further description, either how to make or to use it. The 

 importance of taking stature into account now becomes 

 very evident. A breathing capacity of 220 cubic inches 

 in a man of 72 inches stature has the rank of only 6', but 

 in a man of 60 inches it has the rank of 94"^. Fig. 3 shows 

 in a similar way the grade of any given strength of grasp, 

 ! when the weight of the person is taken into account. 



Fig. 2. 



WEIGHT 

 IN LBS. 



GRADES OF RANK, 0° to 100° 



^ 





■HHHHHHH 



Fig. 3. 



When the quality that has to be marked depends upon 

 more than one other quality— as it may be desired to 

 mark breathing capacity with reference both to weight 

 and to stature — the simplest plan is to make a separate 

 diagram for each inch or second inch of stature, which is 

 quite near enough. I have, however, contrived to make 

 a single page serve for the whole process by using a 



sliding strip of paper. I have submitted it for inspection, 

 but do not care to describe it. 



A strong reason for giving prominence to relative rank 

 is that it affords the only feasible way of measuring many 

 qualities ; differences in absolute performance being in- 

 ferred from rank, according to a principle now familiar to 

 most anthropologists, by using the well-known _table of 



