158 



SCIENCE. 



LKS. Vol. IV. No. 84. 



many cases due to a greater amount of 

 '■ pushing ' on the part of their parents. 

 This would naturally mean a dimunition in 

 the amount of exercise, resulting in de- 

 creased rate of growth, while, on the other 

 hand, their more sedentary life would re- 

 sult in a greater relative girth and conse- 

 quent weight. The weight depending on 

 the stature as well as on the girth, we have 

 the reason for the less marked difference in 

 weight between these two classes than be- 

 tween the same classes in respect to stature. 

 The difference in stature is fairly constant ; 

 the difference in weight fluctuates consider- 

 ably. We see here, from both points of 

 view, the relative effects of insufl&cient and 

 of proper exercise. On comparing the dif- 

 ference between the two pairs of groups of 

 the girls and the corresponding groups of 

 the boys we find that there is less contrast 

 in the case of the former than in that of the 

 latter. The diagram illustrating the girls' 

 stature is fairly regular in both groups 

 and the difference fairly constant and 

 comparable with that of boys. But 

 when we examine the weight groups we 

 find the girls' diagrams to be much more 

 irregular and the differences much more 

 marked. It is difficult to estimate the 

 cause of this difference, unless it be that 

 the difference in exercise taken by the two 

 groups of girls is more than that taken by 

 the two groups of boys, though the reverse 

 would seem to be most probable. The 

 meaning of the remarkable irregularity of 

 the curves of finger reach is not apparent. 

 The differences in favor of the ' poor ' chil- 

 dren is due to the fact that the finger reach 

 bears a fairly constant, though not exact, 

 ratio to the stature. This is seen in the 

 general trend of the curves of stature and 

 of finger reach. 



On the whole, we may from these obser- 

 vations consider it safe to say that precocity 

 bears an inverse ratio to bodily develop- 

 ment. In making this statement, however. 



we are directly contradicting the result 

 set forth by Dr. W. Townsend Porter, 

 in his paper on 'The physical basis of 

 precocity and dullness' (Transactions of 

 the Academy of Science of St. Louis, Vol. 

 VI., No. 7). A short discussion will per- 

 haps show the reason for this discrepancy. 

 In the first place, we find that Dr. Porter 

 has grouped his material in two ways ; first 

 as to age, and next within the age, as to 

 school grades. In this way he has made 

 the school grade of the pupil the criterion 

 of his mental powers. The policy of this 

 arrangement will be appreciated at once 

 when it is remembered that the school 

 grade of the child depends partly upon the 

 age at which he entered school, e. gr., a child 

 who enters the I. grade at nine years of 

 age will naturally not be so far advanced 

 in his studies as a child who enters that 

 grade at six years of age, and who at nine 

 years would naturally be in the IV. grade. 

 Again, it would be necessary to ascertain 

 whether the pupil has been able to attend 

 regularly. The reason of the two chil- 

 dren's entrance at the respective ages 

 mentioned might depend upon a variety of 

 causes irrelevant to the question of their 

 mental caliber, as means, health, and, in the 

 case of a large heterogeneous population, 

 knowledge of the language. Any or all of 

 these would serve to determine the child's 

 grade irrespective of its ability. In the ma- 

 terial obtained from Toronto this error has 

 been avoided by considering the two ques- 

 tions of school standing in the class and the 

 measurement, and these only. We thus 

 avoid the question of the age at which the 

 child first entered school, and the question 

 whether its attendance has been contin- 

 uous. Dr. Porter ignores these and evi- 

 dently proceeds on the hypothesis that all 

 children enter school at the same age and 

 pursue their studies uninteruptedly there- 

 after, both of which are assuredly far from 

 being the case. Again, while in arranging 



