The Growth of Children. 73 



lower curves). The figures at the bottom of the plate show 

 for each ajje the number of observations from which the 

 averages were computed. 



Plates II and III exhibit in a similar way the rate of 

 growth in height and weight of children of American and of 

 Irish parentage. 



The curves on these plates are less regular than those of 

 Plate I, owing to their being constructed from a smaller 

 number of observations; but they have the same general 

 character. The observations on children of other than Amer- 

 ican or Irish parentage were so few in number that it was 

 not considered important to construct curves to express the 

 results. An examination of the figures in Tables Nos. 1 and 

 2 shows that the curves of growth present everywhere the 

 same general features. 



The curves on the other plates are constructed in a similar 

 way, and will be described in connection with the subjects 

 which they illustrate. 



Comparative Rate of Growth of the Two Sexes. 



An inspection of Tables Nos. 1 and 2, or of Phites I, II, 

 and III, shows in the most conclusive manner that at about 

 13 or 14 years of age girls in this community are, during 

 more than two years, both taller and heavier than boys at the 

 same age, though before and after that period the reverse is 

 the case. Table No. 3, giving the annual rates of growth, 

 shows the same thing iji a different way. Here we see, in 

 the column of totals, that the greatest annual increase in 

 height occurs for girls at 12 and for boys at 16 years of age, 

 while the maximum increase in weight is for boys at the same 

 age and for girls one year later than the maximum increase 

 in height. Similar, though not identical, facts are obtained 

 by examination of the columns in which the observations 

 are distributed according to the nationality of the parents. 



This difference in the age at which the rate of growth 

 attains its maximum in the two sexes suggests a connection 



