CHAPTER IV 

 The Measuring 



For the measuring you will need a steel tape 

 measure, a height standard, scales, and, of course, 

 printed cards for your records. Remember your 

 main object in taking measurements is not to 

 find valuable averages of measurements — the 

 measurements themselves are a secondary matter. 

 The object is to interest the child in his physical 

 development, first, and other matters should come 

 afterwards. Therefore, every move should be 

 intelligible to the child, and, for the same reason, 

 the measurements should be made in inches and 

 pounds. 



I have great doubt if the Anglo-Saxon race will 

 ever give up its inch or its pound. The endeavor 

 to force the common metric system upon the gen- 

 eral public is likely to be doomed to failure. But 

 it is quite possible that we can make a rational 

 metric system, so to speak, from our own units, 

 using, for instance, the foot as a unit, divided 

 into tenths and so on, and dividing the pound 

 into tenths likewise. In fact this is already being 

 done to some extent, or sometimes the inch is 

 divided into tenths, though still kept one twelfth 



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