REPORT OF THE ANTHROPOMETRIC COMMITTEE. 207 



15-| the weight of the two sexes is again identical, and after this period 

 the excess is largely on the side of the boys ; at 16^ it is 7"73 lbs., at 17^, 

 13-85 lbs., and at 18£, 19-27 lbs. 



' As M. Quetelet's tables are the only complete series of observations on 

 the height and weight of both sexes, and at all ages, we possess, and as 

 they have been generally accepted by anthropologists and physiologists 

 as reliable standards, especially at ages below the adult period of life, I 

 have added his figures to my tables, and traced their relation to the British 

 statistics on the diagrams 3 and 4, for the purpose of comparison. M. 

 Quetelet does not state the number of observations on which his tables 

 were based, but they were few (" peu considerable." " Anthrop." p. 182); 

 and probably did not exceed ten individuals for each age (" Anthrop." p. 

 24); moreover, the measurements were made on persons "regularly formed," 

 and therefore to a certain extent selected. It is necessary to bear these 

 facts in mind in estimating the value of M. Quetelet's tables as standards 

 of reference, and when comparing them with the English and American 

 tables based on many hundreds of observations for each age. M. Quetelet 

 does not state whether the values for each age are for the birthday or for 

 the interval between two birthdays, and I have therefore arranged them 

 like the British, as representing the age between two birthdays. This is 

 important, as bearing on the absolute height and weight, but not on the 

 curves of growth. In the tracings on diagrams 3 and 4 the lines repre- 

 senting the Belgians would be one division of the scale nearer to the lines 

 representing the English if the figures represent the birthdays, but the 

 relative position of the various curves would remain the same. If M. 

 Quetelet's figures represent the heights and weights of the birthdays 

 exactly, there is a diff erence of half a year in favour of the British at all 

 ages after that of birth. 



' The curves show that growth in height is greater in the British from 

 birth to 5 years than in the Belgians. From 6 to 12 years the curves 

 approximate, and the difference is two-thirds less than it was at 5 years of 

 age. From 13 to 17 years the growth of the British is much more rapid 

 than that of the Belgians, the difference in stature at the latter age 

 being about four times greater than it is at 12 years. At adult life the 

 difference in height of the males of the two countries is nearly 2 inches, 

 while the height of the females is the same in both. The most marked 

 differences of the height of the two peoples, is in the relation of the two 

 sexes, the British girls being taller than boys from 11 to 14 years, while 

 the Belgian females are shorter than the males throughout their lives. 



' The curves of the weight of the body in the two countries are very 

 similar, except that the weight of the British girls from 12 to 15 is 

 greater than that of the boys of the same ages, whereas the weights of the 

 Belgians of both sexes are the same at 12, but at all other ages the 

 females are lighter than the males. 



' The differences between British and Belgian statistics cannot be attri- 

 buted to differences in race, as they are not uniform throughout, and we 

 must consider M. Quetelet's tables, based as they are on so small a number 

 of observations, rather as approximations or estimates of the stature and 

 weight of his countrymen. The difference in the height and weight of the 

 sexes, which was first pointed out by Dr. Bowditch (" Boston Med. and 

 Surg. Journal," 1872), has quite escaped the notice of M. Quetelet, 

 although he has published some British statistics, which demonstrate its 

 existence, and it has been confirmed by all the statistics which have been 



