Antkropol ogical Measurements of Children. 33 



frequently ()V)taiiied witli difficulty, especially in pupils who 

 are unusually ambitious, and who over-study from choice. 

 An objective symptom is therefore necessary, — a symptom 

 easily demonstrated and almost never wanting. Such a 

 s3^mptom is the failure to gain weight at the normal rate. A 

 persistent loss of weight in an adult is regarded as a matter 

 of grave concern ; the persistent failure of a child t(j make 

 the normal gain in weight is no less grave. It is not pre- 

 tended that the failure to gain weight always accompanies 

 overstrain, but it is claimed that the number of exceptions is 

 small, and that frequent weighing is the mo;^ practical and, 

 in the whole, the most certain method of detecting the pres- 

 ence of influences that are working injury to the develop- 

 ment of the child. The skillful breeder of cattle depends on 

 systematic weighing to inform him whether his efforts to 

 secure well-developed animals are meeting with success, but 

 children are left to grow at hap-hazard. 



It is not enough that overstrain should be recognized by 

 the liarm it has done. The child should be guarded against 

 the possibility of harm. The anthropometrical system pro- 

 posed in this article offers ^ means of doing this. It infalli- 

 bly discovers those whose physical development is below the 

 standar d of the ir age. It no less certainly indicates the 

 physical development which most often accompanies the 

 power to do the mental work of any grade. It therefore 

 divides the pupils into two bodies, those physically compe- 

 tent and those physically incompetent for a clearly defined 

 degree of mental exertion. When working with great num- 

 bers, the infallibility of this system is practically absolute and 

 theoretically almost absolute. When applied to individuals, 

 errors will certainly occur, but the number of errors will, 

 according to the laws of probability, be less than the number 

 of correct conclusions. And these errors cannot influence 

 the great fact that such a system is competent to call atten- 

 tion to the children who shall probably be unable to do the 

 normal work of their age without injury. Each individual 

 case must then be treated on its own merits. 



