SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— H. 361 



Dr. Alfred A. Mumford. — Body Measurements, Respiratory Tests and 

 School Progress. 



Body measurements and respiratory tests have been taken during school life in 

 order to study (A) Body Growth, (B) Progress in power and endurance, (C) the relation 

 A and B bear to School progress. Some prebminary enquiry has also been made 

 into their relation to subsequent University career. 



The measurements usually taken during school life are those of Height and Weight. 

 When considered in relation to each other, as well as to age, such measurements often 

 afford useful indication of the degree of nutrition and the presence of circumstances 

 favourable to general growth among pre-adolescent children. But when we come to 

 consider the physical progress of the adolescent child, other measurements and tests 

 must be added, particularly those connected with the degree of respiratory develop- 

 ment, viz., chest girth and vital capacity. If we wish to estimate the value of special 

 kinds of physical training in sports, we need to make additional measurements, e.g. 

 thoracic diameters, shoulder girth in relation to trunk length, upper and lower arm 

 girth, &c. We may also use the endurance test, or power to hold the breath against 

 a definite pressure, or we may study the regional movements of the chest walls. 



We gain little by considering body measurements or respiratory tests singly. 

 We must consider them in their mutual relationship. This may be described in the 

 form of ' indices.' Height- Weight indices give us some knowledge of nutrition. 

 Thoracic indices, based on the relation of antero-posterior to lateral diameters, provide 

 information about the shape of the chest and, when combined with shoulder trunk 

 indices, that is the relation of shoulder girth to trunk length, provide information 

 about the development not oidy of the shoulders and arms, but of the underlying 

 development of the respiratory organs. Further, height, weight and chest girth not 

 only give an index of body build but, combined in the form of a certain index, provide 

 a relevant figure descriptive of the relation of volume to weight, that is the specific 

 gravity or buoyancy of the body. 



The terms physical fitness and physical efficiency are frequently used as if there 

 were some uniform standard either of body build or physiological function by which 

 we coidd measure the vigour of all classes of individuals. It is necessary to take 

 into consideration the special characteristics of the body build and the aptitude for 

 special activities before we assign these terms, for there are probably as many forms of 

 physical fitness and physical efficiency as there are forms of physical activity. 

 Swimming, harriers, sprinting, boxing, wrestbng, all make special demands both on 

 body form and method of respiratory action. 



Although body measurements and respiratory tests have been principally con- 

 sidered in relation with physical activity, yet full enquiry shows they are also related 

 to mental activity and to the capacity to withstand and recover from mental strain 

 in school life. School work calls for activity of the same organs and tissues, e.g. 

 brain, heart, lungs, and skin, as does bodily exercise, though in a different way and in 

 a different degree. Undue activity of body or mind leads to overstimulation of one 

 and neglect of the other. In either case the complete functions of the body organs 

 are not called out. Early failure follows overstimulation of one aspect and under- 

 stimulation of the other. 



Numerous tables, diagrams and charts will be shown to illustrate the above- 

 mentioned points. 



Prof. H. S. Fleure and Miss R. M. Fleming. — Demonstration of a new- 

 type of Anthropometric Instrument. 



Mr. E. K. Tratman. — The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Mendips. 



Nearly all past writers and many present ones on the prehistory of England either 

 completely ignore the Mendip Hills of Somerset as an area of importance in relation 

 to the subject or make but passing reference to such remains as they happen to have 

 heard about. The Ordnance Survey maps too show but comparatively few sites, 

 and one is left with an impression, after studying these maps, that the Mendips were 

 but very sparsely populated during the various prehistoric periods. 



Actually the reverse is the case. A survey shows that the caves in which parts 

 of this district abound were, when they were at all suitable for habitation, occupied 



