August 16, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



251 



To interpret Fig. 1, which is for condi- 

 tion of height in terms of this description, 

 by following the heavy curve — that for 

 children designated ' tall ' — we find that 8 

 per cent, (in every case omitting fractions 

 of percentages) of such children were in the 

 1st quarter of the class in their grading 

 (left-hjand column), 23 per cent, in the 2d 

 quarter (3d column), 28 per cent, in the 

 3d quarter (3d column), and 32 per cent, 

 in the quarter at the foot of the class as far 

 as scholarship goes (last column). By fol- 

 lowing in the same way the dotted, the 

 broken and the light entire curve we can 

 see the relation between the children ad- 

 judged to be above medium, below medium 

 and short of stature. To generalize from 

 the figure as a whole, its indications are 

 that the short children, as a class, were the 

 ones for whom promotion was most prob- 

 able, while the tall children seem to stand 

 lower in their school work according to 



1st 



2d 



4fch 



Fig. 1. Height. 



the estimation of their teachers. This is 

 not in accordance with the conclusions of 

 some others who have studied the same 

 problem ; notably, MacDonald (see ' Ex. 

 Study of Children,' U. S. Com. Ed., 1897-8, 

 Vol. I.), who finds a slight preponderance 

 of height in favor of the bright pupils. A 

 fixed relation, however, may exist between 



height and physical conditions, and since 

 the latter forms the basis of study for an- 

 other figure I shall allude to it under that. 



WEIGHT. 



The curves upon Fig. 2, and the succeed- 

 ing ones are to be determined exactly as the 

 preceding. We find from an inspection of 

 Fig. 2 that the heavy children gravitate 

 toward the foot of the class, though not to 

 a very marked degree. From the study of 

 the separate sexes I find this to be more 

 marked for the boys than the girls, though 

 showing slightly for the latter. In the re- 



Ist 2d 3d 4th 



30% 



20% 



10% 



Fig. 2. Weight. 



lation between weight and success in school 

 work shown here we are also opposed by 

 the authoritjT- just cited, as MacDonald 

 states that in height, sitting height, weight 

 and cranial circumference the bright boy 

 excels the dull. This contradiction may 

 be due to geographical differences. Some- 

 thing more than three-fourths of the chil- 

 dren included in my study were residents of 

 the mountain towns of an altitude of nearly 

 two miles, and none were much lower than 

 one mile. If the differences be due to this 

 fact they are in accord with general anthro- 

 pological studies made upon adults. 



HEALTH. 



We find upon Fig. 3 a very probable cor- 

 roboration of the old dictum inens sana in 



