INTRODUCTORY. I,XIX 



and beauty of result, is not excelled by any of the geometric schemes of his prede- 

 cessors.* Pie preludes his theory with some fanciful allusions to the Cabala, and a 

 disquisition upon the typical and mystic qualities of the triangle, the square, and the 

 circle, which, if seriously meant, seem strangely inappropriate to a work of scientific 

 character. To obtain his canon, Mr. Story directs that one-fourth of the entire height 

 of the intended figure be laid down as the side of an equilateral triangle. The triangle 

 being completed, from its apex a line is to be di-opped, bisecting the base, and extend- 

 ing below it a distance equal to one-third of its length above it ; this line forms the 

 diameter of a circle, in which circle is inscribed a square. The diagram thus consists 

 of a triangle and a square inclosed in a circle ; and when the lines of these figures are 

 divided into thirds, fourths, &c., a vast number of dimensions are obtained, and in 

 them all the measurements of the intended figure are to be found. The author of this 

 ingenious scheme gives minute instructions for tlie application of it, and exliibits a 

 male and female figure constructed by its rules, in illustration. The selection of the 

 different lines of the diagram to rejiresent the various dimensions of tlie body is, of 

 course, theoretic, or arbitrary. 



It is both curious and instructive to observe what labor and ingenuity have been 

 bestowed upon these various attempts to redixce human proportions to an exact scheme. 

 From the " Silpi Sastri" down to the "improved canon" of Mr. Story, the same follacy 

 pervades them all, a belief, namely, that the key to the theory is to be found in the 

 occult relation of numbers or in the parts of a geometrical diagram. It remains now 

 to give an account of the work of those investigators who, discarding theories or 

 ignorant of their existence, have resorted to actual measurements of living men in such 

 numbers as to afford more or less valuable mean results. 



In 1817, there appeared, in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal,^ an article 

 setting forth the height and girth of chest of 5,731 members of the Scottish local 

 militia. From the large number of men examined, and the character of the journal 

 which printed the communication, and to some extent vouched for their credibiht}-, the 

 tables became authoritative and of importance. M. Quetelet based some interesting 

 calculations upon them f and they have been made use of by Sir John Herschel, 

 Dr. Gu}^, Bertillon, and other writers, so that some examination as to their trust- 

 worthiness seems desirable, especially as one dimension presents a remarkably high 

 mean residt. 



The article in question was anonymous, but it was stated by the editor of the 

 journal to have been contributed by an "army-contractor." The mean girth of chest 

 obtained from all these observations was 39.86 inches and the mean height 67.90 

 inches ; the maximum and minimum measures of the whole series are not given, but 

 of the groups by regiments the largest mean girth of chest was 41.01 inches, the 

 smallest 38.71 inches ; the greatest mean heiglit was 68.60 inches, and the least 67.20 

 inches. No mention is made Avhether the girth was taken at inspiration or expiration, 

 nor Avhether the men were stripped for the ))urpose of measurement, nor whether the 

 height was obtained from the men in naked feet or while shod. If the unusual trouble 



' Tlic proporiioiis of the human figure, according to a neiv canon, for practical use, &c., 8vo, London, 1«;G6. 



- Vol. xiii, ]). 203. 



^ Sur la theorie des probahilUes appliqtiSKS aux sciences moralen et poUtiriues, 8vo, Bruxellcs, 184r>, p. 400. 



