488 



KEPOKT — 1902. 



in those scliools taken in .July 1901. The superintendents in industrial 

 schools were asked to furnish the height, weight, and chest measurement 

 of all boys, and weight of all girls, between the ages of eleven and twelve 

 and fourteen and fifteen. These ages were selected because they were 

 convenient for comparison with the statistics published by the Anthropo- 

 metric Committee in 1883. The height was taken without boots, the 

 weight in clothes but without boots, and the chest girth with the chest 

 empty. The results with some important comments upon them will be 

 found in the Blue-book referred to, and the Committee are glad to know 

 that Mr. Legge contemplates calling for a similar return in 190.'5, when 

 the boys and girls who were between the ages of eleven and twelve will 

 have reached tliat which wa.'J the higher age in the previous census, and 

 then a double compirison may be etf'ected. The Committee have been 

 favoured by Mr. Legge with an expression of his strong opinion that 

 incjuiries of this sort are far more likely to get results if the particulars 

 asked for are few and the apparatus to be used perfectly simple and as 

 little like a laboratory instrument as possil)le. In asking merely for 

 height, weight, and chest measurement he obtained those particulars 

 from practically everybody he applied tO; so that minor inaccuracies were 

 checked by the great mass of figures (3,679 boys, 1,246 girls) he had to 

 deal with. Had he asked for arm-stretch, force of resistance, and 

 nervous tests, he might not have obtained one-tenth as many returns, and 

 those with greater difficulty. The following is the form he used : — 



lieformatonj School. 

 Boys hetwecji 14 and 15. 



Height (without bcot.s]', weight (in clothes, but without boots), chest measurement 

 (over shirt, but with chest empty). 



Thus far with regard to tlie collection of anthropometric observations 

 in schools. With regard to the practical application of them and the 

 deductions to be made from them, the Committee desire to draw atten- 

 tion to an excellent paper on the physical examination and development of 

 public schoolboys read before the medical officers of Schools Association 

 on April 4, 1899, by Mr. Cecil Hawkins, of Haileybury College. Taking 

 the records of over 40,000 observations and adopting a modification of 

 Mr. Francis Galton's plan of percentiles, the author has constructed 

 diagrams showing from each year of age, from eleven to eighteen, a series 

 of twenty curves of growth, increase of weight, and increase of chest 

 girth. The application of these diagrams is simple and effective where 



