774 



REPORT — 1889. 



In Table II. is indicated the average height of the conscripts according as they 

 have either no wisdom-teeth at all, or one and two, or three and four. 



Table III. 



Table III. shows the average number of the wisdom-teeth in the individuals 

 of great stature and in those of lower height. 



If we consider only the general average height (Table II.) we should conclude 

 that the less the number of wisdom-teeth the more elevated is the height. But 

 a more careful analysis shows instead that the height sensibly increases in direct 

 proportion to the number of teeth. Certainly this is not caused by a direct in- 

 fluence of the height upon the number of the wisdom-teeth, but rather is it 

 owing to the fact that at twenty years and a half neither the evolution of the teeth 

 nor that of the height is complete, and we may hold that the conscripts with few 

 or no wisdom-teeth, who are of a lower height than the others, are just those 

 whose general development has been delayed in consequence of various disturbing 

 influences. 



Let us observe also that the difference of height between the conscripts with no 

 teeth and those with three or four is greater among the Lombards than among the 

 Marchigiani. It most probably signifies that the Marchigiani are nearer than the 

 Lombards to their definitive height. In fact, we know even from other studies ^ 

 that in the Italians of the north the growth from sixteen to twenty years is less 

 rapid than in those of the south, and that the epoch of menstruation and of puberty 

 comes later. 



I have endeavoured also to discover whether the social condition of the con- 

 scripts may have some influence on the number of the wisdom-teeth. The 704 

 individuals of whose profession I was aware are classed in the Table IV. according 

 to their being either agriculturalists, artisans, or possidents, students, tradesmen 

 and professional men. 



Table IV. 



' Raseri : Materiali licr la Etnologia Italiana, Annaii di Statistica, Serie II., 

 vol. 8°, Koma, 1879. 



