November i i, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



239 



instructor in geology at Yale, and rapidly became known among 

 literary men as a logical thinker and superior instructor. He ac- 

 quired a knowledge of local botany that was considerably more ex- 

 tensive than was possessed by any other scientist in the city or 

 state. Professor Marsh valued his assistant very highly, and the 

 two geological works of which Professor Marsh is the author were 

 given to the printers in Mr. Harger's handwriting, having been 

 very largely prepared by him under the immediate direction of the 

 professor. In 1878 Mr. Harger married Miss Jessie Craig, sister of 

 James R. and Alexander Craig of New Haven. Mrs. Harger survives 

 him, but he leaves no children. 



— Mr. P. W. M. Trap of Leyden is about to issue the first num- 

 ber of the Internationales Archi-vfur Ethnographie, which will be 

 edited by Dr. J. D. E. Schmelz, curator of the National Ethno- 

 graphical Museum at Leyden. The principal object of the new 

 journal is the study of ' descriptive ethnology ; ' i.e., of the ma- 

 terial, form, method of manufacture, and use of objects made by 

 peoples still extant. It will be illustrated by color-plates, a mag- 

 nificent sample of which accompanies the publisher's announce- 

 ment. 



— In Science of Nov. 4, p. 226, 23d line of 'Search for Gems and 

 Precious Stones,' '.792074' should read '.7920792.' 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



* ^* Tke attention oy scientific jnen is calledto the advantages o/the correspondence 

 columns o_f?'C\KiiZE./or placing promptly on record briefipreliininary notices of 

 their investigations. Tiventy copies o/tke number containing his communication 

 vjill be furnished free to any correspondent on request. 



The editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant tuith the character of 

 the journal. 



Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The ivriter's name is 

 in allcases required as proof of good faith. 



Cheyenne. 



Your espousal of the true pronunciation of ' Arkansaw ' should 

 give a shock to New England self-conceit, unaware that the New 

 England type of mind is essentially shallow. 



In regard to the name' Cheyenne.' In youth I was able to speak 

 enough Sioux to trade with the Indians. The French trappers told 

 me that the Sioux say that the first Cheyennes they ever saw had 

 their thighs painted red, and they (Sioux) remarked to them, Shah- 

 ee-aie-loo-hah, which means, ' You have painted yourselves red.' 

 They call the Cheyennes 'Sky-aie-lah,' an abbreviation of the above 

 sentence. 5/^(7/z-j//a/z means "red ;' and /oo-j'^/z, ' you have.' The 

 change to ' Cheyenne ' might easily occur in the transfer from 

 Indian to white, and the first attempt to spell it by Frenchmen 

 would of course be with ch instead of sk. The ' squaw-men,' trap- 

 pers and hunters, do not believe it has any connection with the 

 French word chien, notwithstanding the name of the Cheyennes in 

 the intertribal sign-language is ' wolf-ears made with forefingers 

 and thumbs at sides of head.' Geo. Wilson. 



Lexington, Mo., Nov. 5. 



The American Physique. 



L.4ST spring I received a letter from an English gentleman who 

 is interested in anthropology and biology, asking me if there were 

 any facts to sustain the impression abroad that the white man is 

 deteriorating in size, weight, and condition in the United States. I 

 had no positive information of my own to give, and I could only 

 refer my correspondent to the data of the measurement of soldiers, 

 and to some other investigations of less importance. 



It occurred to me, however, that, since by far the greater part of 

 the men of this country are clad in ready-made clothing, the experi- 

 ence of the clothiers might be valuable, and that, from their figures of 

 the average sizes of the garments prepared by them for men's use, 

 very clear deductions could be made as to the average size of the 

 American man. 



I therefore sent a letter to two clothiers in Boston who have been 

 long in the business, one in Chicago, one in New York, one in Bal- 

 timore, one in Detroit, one in Texas, and one in Montreal. The 

 information received in return is to this effect. 



In any given thousand garments the average of all the returns is 

 as follows : chest-measure, 38 inches ; waist, 33* inches ; length 



of leg inside, 32* inches ; average height ranging from 5 feet 8+ to 

 5 feet 9 in New England, up to 5 feet 10 for the average at the 

 South and West. A few deductions of weight are given from 

 which one can infer that the average man weighs between 155 and 

 160 pounds. 



These measures cover the average of the assorted sizes of gar- 

 ments which are made up by the thousand. There are a few small 

 men who buy ' youths' sizes ' so called, and a few larger men who 

 buy 'extra sizes.' The remarks made in some of these letters are 

 interesting. 



My correspondent in Chicago states, " that, so far as relates to 

 the assertion that the race in this country deteriorates, our experi- 

 ence teaches us that the contrary is the case. We are now, and 

 have for several years past been, obliged to adopt a larger scale of 

 sizes, and many more extra sizes in width as well as length, than 

 were required ten years ago. I find that occupation and residence 

 have a great deal to do with the difference in sizes, the average of 

 sizes required for the cities and large towns being much less than 

 that required for the country. Again, different sections vary very 

 much in those requirements. For instance, an experienced stock- 

 clerk will pick out for South and South-western trade, coats and 

 vests, breast-measure 35 to 40, pants always one or two sizes 

 smaller around the belly than the length of leg inside ; for Western 

 and Northern trade, coats and vests, breast-measure 37 to 42, pants 

 33 to 40 around the belly, 30 to 34 length of leg inside." 



My correspondent in Texas gives the average 38 inches chest, 33 

 to 34 inches waist, 32^ leg-measure, 5 feet 10 inches height, adding, 

 " We find that the waist-measure has increased from an average of 

 32, to 33 inches during the past five years, and we think our people 

 are becoming stouter built." 



My correspondent in Baltimore had previously made the same 

 statement ; to wit, " Since the late war we have noticed that the 

 average-sized suits for our Southern trade has increased fully one 

 inch around the chest and waist, while there has been no apparent 

 change in the length of pants." 



I asked this firm if the change could be due to the fact that the 

 colored people had become buyers of ready-made clothing, but have 

 for reply that the fact that the negroes are buying more ready-made 

 clothing now than previous to the war, accounts in only a small 

 degree for the increase of the size, but is due almost entirely to 

 the increased physical activity on the part of the whites. The ex- 

 periences of this firm covers thirty-five years. 



My correspondent in New York states that " for the last thirty 

 years our clothing, numbering at least 750,000 garments yearly, has 

 been exclusively sold in the Southern States. We find the average 

 man to measure 37 inches around the chest, 32 to 33 around the 

 waist, 33 to 34 inches length of leg inside, average height 5 feet 10 

 inches. The Southerner measures more in the leg than around the 

 waist, — a peculiarity in direct contrast to the Western man, who 

 measures more around the waist than in the leg." 



My correspondent in Canada gives the following details ; experi- 

 ence covers twenty years, about 300,000 garments a year : — 



Breast-measure 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44. 



Waist " .^ 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37^, 39, 42. 



Cut per 1,000 of above sizes 80, 160, 240, 240, 140, 60, 60, 20. 



Average weight for each size 140, 150, 160, 168, 175, 180, 200, 225, 



" The information about the weight I got from a custom tailor of 

 some years' experience, and cannot, of course, vouch for its cor- 

 rectness." 



My correspondent in Detroit says, " We notice marked peculiar- 

 ities in regions where dwell people of one nationality. The Ger- 

 mans need large waists and short legs; the French, small waists 

 and legs ; the Yankees, small waists and long legs ; the Jews, 

 medium waists and short legs. We have found a decided demand 

 for larger sizes than we formerly used." 



This subject is foreign to my customary work. I give these state- 

 ments as a matter of general interest, and perhaps some of the 

 students who are engaged in this branch of investigation may take 

 a hint from this method and extend it still further. 



Possibly the average size for a woman could be deduced from 

 the data of the manufacturers of knit goods. From what I know 

 of the business of the clothiers to whom I made application, I should 

 infer that the figures which I have submitted above would cover 

 more than one hundred million garments ; and I know of no better 



