540 MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM OF HEIGHT. 



movements of the lip or the eye, and the painter can express every shade 

 of feeling, and every emotion, by the mere configuration of the outward 

 form. 



The monthly growth of the foetus for six months before birth is es- 

 Mean length tablished at two inches. At birth, the mean length of boys 

 of the infant. j s jgi. j ncneS) an d of girls 18 inches, the former being there- 

 fore a little the longer. 



At sixteen or seventeen years the growth of girls is relatively as much 

 Growth of boys advanced as that of youths of eighteen or nineteen. For 

 and girls. the most part, the inhabitants of towns are taller than those 

 of the country. The full height is not reached, in some instances, until 

 twenty-five years ^ in very warm and very cold climates it is more quick- 

 ly attained. The recumbent position is regarded as being favorable to 

 growth, and, influenced by his own weight, an individual is shorter in 

 the evening than when he first rises from bed in the morning. 



With regard to the rate of growth, it may be observed that it is most 

 rapid immediately after birth, and continually diminishes until about five 

 years, the epoch of maximum of probable life. It then remains equable 

 to about sixteen years, the annual growth being 2-^ inches. After pu- 

 berty it declines, being, from sixteen to seventeen years, 1J inches, and 

 during the next two 1 inch only. The annual increment relatively to 

 the height then attained continually diminishes from birth. The foetus 

 grows as much in length in a month as the child from 6 to 16 years 

 does in a year. The limits of growth of the two sexes are unequal, be- 

 cause women are smaller than men, terminate their growth sooner, and 

 annualjy grow less. Individuals in affluent circumstances may often 

 surpass the standard height, but misery and fatigue are liable to produce 

 the opposite effect. Longevity is generally less for persons of great 

 height. 



As to the maximum and minimum of height, it may be remarked that 

 Maximum and Frederick the Great had a Swedish body-guard whose height 

 minimum was eight feet three inches ; and, on the other hand, Birch 

 ian ' states that there was an individual, 37 years old, whose 

 height was sixteen inches. In view of these and other such facts, 

 Quetelet fixes on 8 feet 3 inches as the maximum, and 1 foot 5 inches 

 as the minimum of height ; he gives as the mean 5 feet 4 inches. Half 

 the men of France, at the age of conscription, are between 5 feet 2 inches 

 and 5 feet 6 inches, but the wars incident on the great Revolution made 

 a permanent impression on the French in this respect by lowering the 

 standard through the consumption of the taller men. M. Quetelet more- 

 over remarks, that in ten millions of men there is but one more than 6 

 feet 8 inches, and one less than 4 feet. There is reason, however, to be- 

 lieve that this statement will not hold good of America. 



