ANTHROPOLOGY OF EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS 193 



learned the trade. Their average stature is only 162 cm., 2.5 

 cm. (one inch) shorter than the general average for the Jews in 

 New York City. Deplorably deficient in this regard were 

 found the cobblers and tailors, 160.4 cm. for the former, and 

 161.3 for the latter. The proportion of short men was 32.79 

 among the tailors and reached nearly 38 percent among the 

 shoemakers. 



These figures, though based on comparatively few observa- 

 tions tend to show that the deficiency of the Jews' stature, as 

 compared with the other races in eastern Europe, may at least 

 partly, be ascribed to the wretched social and economic condi- 

 tions under which he finds himself within the gates of the East- 

 ern European Ghettoes. Dr. S. Weissenberg also observed that 

 the stature of the Jews in South Russia depends greatly on 

 their occupations and social status, and Zakrzewski's maps of 

 the city of Warsaw confirm this in Poland — the largest Jewish 

 center in Europe. The first generation of Jews in New York 

 City, which only rarely works at indoor occupations, lead a 

 more active open-air life, which is conducive to normal growth 

 and development, are also taller. This condition also confirms 

 that the shortness of stature of the Jews is due in a great 

 measure to their social conditions and environment. 



The influence of occupation, active open-air life and general 

 prosperity on the stature of the Jews, is best seen from Mr. 

 Joseph Jacobs' measurements of English Jews. He found the 

 average height of the Jews in London was 164. i cm. (65 inches), 

 but the Jews living in the " West-End " of London were much 

 taller, they averaged 17 1.4 cm. (67.5 inches). Jacobs attributes 

 this superior stature of the '* West- End " Jews to their superior 

 " nurture," and social conditions generally.^ An analysis of the 

 stature of the Jews born in the United States, as compared with 

 that of their foreign-born parents, confirms Jacobs' observations 

 on English Jews. Among the 1,528 Jews under consideration 

 124 were native born. Their average stature was 167.9 c"^-* 

 as against 164.2 cm. of the 1,404 Jews of foreign birth. This 



1 Joseph Jacobs, '' On the Comparative Anthropometry of English Jews," Journal 

 Anthropological Institute, London, XIX, 1893, pp. 76-88. 



