April 15, 1920] 



NATURE 



203 



formed the basis of our ethnographic kriowledge 

 until the present time. The South African War 

 led to the Commission on Physical Deterioration 

 in England and Wales, and to a similar Com- 

 mission on Physical Education in Scotland, from 

 the labours of which resulted the introduction of 

 medical inspection and treatment of school 

 children, and perhaps in part also the National 

 Health Insurance Act. 



The Report of the Ministry of National Service 

 on the Physical Examination of Men of Military 

 Age by National Service Boards contains a survey 

 Avhich in extent, in wealth of demographic detail, 

 and in narration of the associations of inferiority 

 of physique surpasses all previous efforts in this 

 country, and is approached elsewhere, as yet, only 

 by the report of the American Surgeon-General's 

 liepartment mentioned above. If similar data 

 could have been collected from all examina- 

 tions from the commencement of the war, a prac- 

 tically complete survey would have been available 

 for the use of future social hygienists. It is prob- 

 able that the earlier figures are irrecoverable, 

 \\hich may mean that while we shall in the future 

 he equipped with a knowledge of the nature and 

 sources of physical failure, we shall have fewer 

 data as to the measure of physical fitness among 

 the better-endowed members of the community. 

 The anthropologist will thus derive rather less 

 from the report than the social economist and 

 Jiygienist. 



The first volume of the report, which is all that 

 is, as yet, issued, contains a brief introduction ; 

 sections on grading as a criterion of health, the 

 comparison of grading results, the relation of 

 occupation and health, the causes of low 

 iifrading and rejection ; and regional reports 

 from the district Commissioners. Under each 

 head there is a series of statistics chiefly 

 taken from special areas, but an analysis of all 

 available observations on physique and disabilities 

 is promised for the second volume, which is stated 

 to be in active preparation, and will present 

 a complete survey of the conditions in Great 

 Britain. The data available are taken from nearly 

 two and a half million examinations, on a carefully 

 standardised uniform system, the subjects being 

 classified into four grades. Owing to re-examina- 

 lions. the actual numbers of individuals would be 

 slightly smaller save in the case of those rejected 

 as totally unfit for service. 



Grade i consists of those who attain to the 

 full normal standard of health and strength, and 

 are capable of enduring physical exertion suitable 

 to their age. They have no progressive organic 

 disease or serious disability or deformity. These 

 constituted 36 per cent, of the total. 



Grade 2. — Those who fall short of Grade i by 

 reason of partial disabilities amounted to between 

 21 and 23 per cent. 



Grade 3. — Those who presented such marked 



])hysical disabilities or such evidence of past 



disease as to be deemed unfit to undergo the 



degree of physical exertion required for the 



NO. 2633, VOL. 105] 



former, but including those fit only for clerical or 

 sedentary work, amounted to 31-32 per cent. 



Grade 4. — Those permanently and totally unfit 

 for any form of military service numbered 10 per 

 cent. « 



The proportions found in the different grades 

 varied from time to time and from place to place 

 according to whether the numbers coming up for 

 examination consisted largely of older categories 

 and those who had been rejected previously, or of 

 those just attaining military age and those 

 just combed out from previously protected occupa- 

 tions. In the main the distribution is in accord- 

 ance with probabilities, with the average, how- 

 ever, not, as might have been hoped, among the 

 fit, but among those with partial disabilities. 



Prof. Keith submitted a comment on the earlier 

 reports of the boards showing that on the basis 

 of the average man being fit 70 per cent, ought 

 to be in Grade i, 20 per cent, in Grade 2, 7^ per 

 cent, in Grade 3, and 2^ per cent, in Grade 4. 

 In practice there is a grave deficit from this, 

 though the results of examinations of certain 

 groups, as of miners from the western part of the 

 Welsh coalfield and of miners and agriculturists 

 from Yorkshire during the period of the combing, 

 showed that this theoretical standard was attained 

 by the best of the community. Bearing in mind 

 the physique of many who went to military 

 service in the earlier years, and of many who 

 remained to the end in protected occupations, the 

 total deficit of the country is probably less than 

 would appear from the figures in this report, yet 

 enough is shown to indicate the need for ameliora- 

 tive measures. 



Prof. Keith points out that from every area, or 

 at least from numerous and representative sample 

 districts, there should be not only the full return 

 of grading, but also frequency tables of stature, 

 weight, and chest dimensions, so that anomalies 

 in grading may be manifest and the nature of the 

 deterioration in physique, detected. He suggests 

 that indices of fitness should be determined and 

 shown on maps, which could then be compared 

 with maps of other physical and social data. The 

 indices he suggests are an index of efficient fitness 

 or the percentage of Grade i men, and an index 

 of average fitness to be derived by assigning 

 I unit to each Grade i man, | unit to each 

 Grade 2, ^ unit to each Grade 3, and \ unit- to 

 each Grade 4, the whole being then added and 

 expressed as a percentage of the total number of 

 men examined. Many such data are given for 

 isolated areas, so it is to be hoped that the maps 

 may appear in vol. ii., when they will carry more 

 conviction than tables or diagrams. Graphs of the 

 frequency of the different gradings are given 

 month by month for the areas, with, in the re- 

 gional reports, some commentary on the classes 

 examined. The total results show a relative 

 inferiority in the southern part of the country. 



The measurements recorded in this volume show 

 an average for Grade i of 5 ft. 6 in. j tature, 

 130 lb. weight, and 34 in. chest girth. The 



