126 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[June 1, 1899. 



proportiona thus expressed, the experimenter will at once 

 begin to realise the weakness of many of the systems of 

 measurement. Taking the total height as one thousand, 

 the length of the lower limb can be readily enough ascer- 

 tained by deducting from this the sitting height. It ia 

 obvious, of course, that such measurement does not include 

 the entire length of the femur, but for all practical purposes 

 the length of the leg in the living may be expressed in this 

 way. On looking up the various tables of measurements 

 which the investigator may wish to compare, he will realise 

 that some employ the method above described, whilst others 

 measure the length of the limb from the perineum to the 

 sole of the foot. As a matter of fact, these measurements 

 may be regarded as practically the same. It is otherwise, 

 however, when the length of the limb has been taken from 

 the great trochanter, the pubis, or the anterior superior 

 iliac spine, for then it is necessary to ascertain the exact 

 position of these points in relation to the trunk ; and here 

 the difficulties begin. In regard to the length of the leg, 

 using that term to mean the segment of the limb below 

 the knee, we find that this is measured by some from the 

 sole to the articular plane of the knee. In such cases it is 

 easy to mark it off on the plan, but, unfortunately, others 

 measure this distance from the lower border of the pro- 

 jection of the outer ankle instead of from the sole. This, 

 no doubt, gives a more accurate measurement of the length 

 of the bones of the leg as distinct from those of the foot, 

 but, unfortunately, leaves us in a state of uncertainty as to 

 the position of the knee, unless we know the distance of 

 the summit of the malleolus from the ground ; a measure- 

 ment which in many of the tables given is omitted. But 

 whilst, by a considerable amount of care and the exercise 

 of much ingenuity, we may reduce the measurements of 

 the lower limb to a common standard, we will find when 

 we come to map out the proportions of the upper limb that 

 the difficulties are much increased. No fault need be found 

 with the methods recommended for the measurement of 

 the various segments, but the experimenter with these 

 figures will at once realise that there are insufficient data 

 given to fix precisely the position of the summit of the 

 limb. The point from which the entire length of the limb 

 is usually measured is the tip of the acromion process. 

 Now, it is only exceptionally that the height of this process 

 from the ground is given ; hence, although we may know 

 the breadth of the trunk at this point (bi-acromial width), 

 we have no means of assigning this width to its proper 

 position in relation to the figure. It seems to us that 

 this is a point of very considerable importance in dis- 

 cussing the proportionate lengths of the limbs ; commonly 

 we can readily distinguish the difference between long- 

 and short- armed people by getting them to stand in 

 the military position of attention and then note the 

 level reached by the tip of the middle finger as it is applied 

 to the side of the thigh. Thus Prof. Tylor, in his 

 manual of anthropology, refers to the fact that "negro 

 soldiers standing at drill bring the middle finger tip an 

 inch or two nearer the knee than white men can do, and 

 some have been even known to touch the knee pan." 

 Now this is precisely what we wish to place on record, but 

 so far as we know, the simple expedient of measuring the 

 distance from the tip of the middle finger to the ground 

 has never been adopted. We fear we are falling into the 

 same error that we have discovered in others, but in sug- 

 gesting such a measurement, we should be able to dispense 

 with others which are of little use. The gain of such a 

 measurement is obvious, for it would enable us to fix with 

 certainty the position of the summit of the shoulder, for 

 that would be easily ascertained by adding the total length 

 of the upper limb to the measure of the distance of the 



tip of the middle finger from the ground. As the summit 

 of the shoulder corresponds to the position of the acromion 

 process of the blade-bone, it would at once enable us to 

 assign the bi-acromial width to its proper position on the 

 figure. That some such method is necessary must, we 

 think, be admitted by anyone who has taken the trouble 

 to endeavour to construct a figure from the data supplied. 

 Furthermore, attention should be directed to the matter, 

 for in the instructions provided for the measurement of the 

 living, in the Notes and Queries on Anthropology, published 

 by the Anthropological Institute for the use of travellers, 

 there are no measurements suggested, either in what are 

 termed the essential, the additional, or the special measure- 

 ments, which would enable us either to determine the point 

 on the thigh reached by the tip of the middle finger, or the 

 height of the summit of the shoulder from the ground. 



We fully agree with many of the suggestions therein 

 contained. It is of great advantage to have the height of 

 the sternal notch, and chin, from the ground, as these 

 readily enable us to assign the correct proportions to the 

 head and neck as distinct from the trunk. It may be that 

 the measurement of the trunk, as determined by the 

 distance between the perineum and the sternal notch, is 

 not without objection, but, on the other hand, it is much 

 more convenient than taking the length of the trunk from 

 the seventh cervical spine to the perineum or tip of the 

 coccyx, more especially because all the points of measure- 

 ment may be viewed from the front of the body. We lay 

 stress upon this fact, for it enables us to measure photo- 

 graphs of the nude figure and compare them with the 

 data supplied by other observers. In taking these 

 measurements, however, it cannot be too much insisted 

 upon that the head must in the first instance be correctly 

 adjusted with the axis of vision horizontal ; or placed in 

 such a position that the orifice of the ear and the lower 

 orbital margin fall in the same horizontal plane-; further- 

 more, once adjusted it should not be moved until most of 

 the other measurements have been taken, for inattention 

 to this rule leads to errors which oftentimes only attract 

 attention when some such method of reconstruction as 

 that suggested above is adopted. In our own experience 

 in the work of some recent observers we have got results 

 which were without doubt erroneous and misleading, and, 

 no doubt, this was due to a change in the position of the 

 head whilst some of the measurements were being taken. 



For the purposes of proportion, apart from those 

 especially relating to the head and face, the following 

 measurements would in most instances suffice : — Total 

 height, chin to sole of foot, sternal notch to sole, perineum ■ 

 to sole, articular plane of knee to sole, distance from sole 

 to tip of middle finger (assuming the person measured is 

 in the military position of attention), total length of upper 

 limb, length of cubit. If further measurements can 

 conveniently be taken, then measure distance from sole to 

 trochanter, this gives us the total length of lower limb, 

 and we are now in a position to place the bi-acromial and 

 bi-trochanteric widths in their proper positions. Were 

 such data universally adopted it would be possible to map 

 out the general proportions of the figure in graphic form. 

 We do not in the least wish to prevent enthusiastic 

 observers from taking what additional measurements they 

 may consider advisable, but many of those universally 

 adopted, such, for instance, as the span of the arms, are 

 of little or no value. 



The next difficulty we have to face is to know what to 



* Or the height of the seated figure may be cleducted from tlie 

 totiil height in oi'dev to give tlie length of the lower lirab, or tha 

 equivalent measurement, — the distance of the perineum from tlie sole. 



