Jan. 17, 1 884 J 



NATURE 



267 



The only evidence I know that coulJ thro^v much light 

 upon it is summarised in a Parliamentary paper on prison 

 discipline/ whence it appears (p. 54) that a certam 

 amount of irregularity is normal among prisoners, that 

 thev are heavier in summer than in winter, and that the 

 changes are abrupt ; also, that fluctuations in weight, 

 bearing no sort of proportion to previous changes of diet, 

 are of constant occurrence. 



I calculated a rough numerical measure of the irregu- 

 larity of each trace for the purpose of classifying them. 

 I did so on the same principle that one might adopt to 

 measure the discursiveness of a rambling path, in com- 

 parison with that of a straight turnpike road between the 

 same points, namely, by finding the proportion that the 

 length of the one bore to the other. I measured the 

 trace and also the general sweep of the trace with a map- 

 maker's " perambulator," divided one by the other, and 

 corrected each result on the principle that a fluctuation 

 of 12 lbs. in a man of 16 stone should not count more 

 than one of 9 lbs. in a man of 12 stone. I also exercised 

 some judgment in my measurements, to avoid the error 

 of deahng with ups and downs in the trace that were 

 apparently due to the fragmentary character of the ob- 

 servations (sometimes only one record in a year, and 

 sometimes two), as if they were real fluctuations. Each 

 available trace was marked on this principle, and the 

 traces were classified according to their marks. Figs, i 

 and 2 are the "quartiles " of this class. 



.^gc-Wcight of Brit.bh Noble 

 generatic 



One quarter of all the traces are more irregular than 

 Fig. I, one quarter are less irregular than Fig. 2, and the 

 remaining two quarters lie between them. The "median" 

 trace occupies the half-way position ; it is unnecessary to 

 reproduce it here, as an imaginary interpolation between 

 Figs. I and 2 will suffice. 



I next divided the traces into three divisions. A, B, and 

 C, according to the dates of birth of the persons they re- 

 ferred to. It happened that each division covered a 

 period of thirty years, so A, B, and C may be taken 

 to represent three successive generations, born respect- 

 ively between 1740 and 1769, 1770 and 1799, 1800 and 

 1829. The numbers of traces available for the present 

 purpose were 21, 22, and 26 respectively. It appeared 

 that the most irregular trace in Group C would rank only 

 as the seventh in Group B, and as the fifth in Group .A, 

 and yet C contains the greatest number of cases. 



There can be no doubt that the dissolute life led by the 

 upper classes about the beginning of this century, which 

 is so graphically described by Mr. Trevelyan in his " Life 

 of Fox," has left its mark on their age-weight traces. It 

 would be most interesting to collate these violent fluctua- 

 tions with events in their medical life-histories; but, 

 failing such information, we can only speculate on them, 



* Copies of correspondence between the Secretao' of State for the Home 

 Department and the Inspector of Prisons, &c. . and the Report of a Com- 

 mittee, Ac Ordered to be printed May 20, 1864. 



much as Elaine did on'the dints in the shield of Launce- 

 lot, and on looking at some huge notch in the trace, 

 may hazard the guess, " Ah, what a stroke of gout was 

 there ! " 



The age at which the weight reaches its maximum is earlier 

 in the earlier generations. I attempted eye estimates, 

 and found it comparatively easy to form them in respect 

 to the traces of the earlier period, where the culmination 

 was usually distinct, and found that it frequently occurred 

 at an early age ; the number of times in which it took 

 place in the successive decades of life in those days being 

 as follows : under the age of 29, 2 cases ; 30-9, 5 cases ; 

 40-9, 6 ; 50-9, 7 ; 609, 12 ; 70 and upwards, 2. In the 

 latter generations the culminating point was frequently too 

 indistinct to be localised, so that I am unable to offer a 

 corresponding statement for comparison that would be 

 trustworthy. In short, the development of the latter 

 generations was more regular. 



The clearest evidence of the different age-weights in the 

 three generations. A, B, and C, is obtained by comparing 

 their Means. The following is a brief numerical abstract 

 of them to which the number of cases upon which each 

 mean is based is added in a diflerent type below it. The 

 figures in parentheses are doubly meaned results, those to 

 the left being derived from observations made at the ages 

 of 26 and 28, and those to the right from observations at 

 68 and 72. For purposes of comparison I subjoin the 

 weights of the professional classes, extracted by interpo- 

 lation from the table, published by the Anthropometric 

 Committee of the British Association in their Report, 18S3, 

 p. 40. The number of observations on which these are 

 based, are given in a form that does not admit of strict 

 comparison with those of my series. They are 24, for 

 observations at the ages 30-35 ; 24, for 35-40 ; 44, for 

 40-50 ; 13, for 50-60 ; 5, for 60-70. 



Mean Weights at Various Ages 



These figures are rendered much more expressive by 

 translating them into smoothed curves ; those from which 

 A was drawn are shown by crosses ; those from which C 

 was drawn are shown by small circles ; but those from 

 which B was drawn are omitted for clearness' sake. 



Whatever may be the exact significance of these mean 

 values, which is by no means so clear as may at first 

 sight be imagined, and whatever may be their absolute 

 worth, which I do not rate very highly, there can be no 

 doubt as to their differential importance. They show 

 with great distinctness that the noblemen of the genera- 

 tion which flourished about the beginning of this century 

 attained their meridian and declined much earlier than 

 those of the generation 60 years their juniors. They were 

 nearly a stone heavier at the age of 40. 



The weights of these two generations were identicalat 

 the age of 62 or 63, but at that period of life the earlier 

 generation was declining in weight with almost the exact 



