Mr. Tate on Stature, fyc, of Northumbrians. 137 



It will be seen that the natives of the northern districts 

 are taller and bulkier than those of the southern. The militia- 

 men of Newcastle are only 5ft. 6-llin. high, while those of 

 Alnwick and Berwick reach 5ft. 7in. We have but few 

 returns of volunteers from the south ; but those few yield 

 an average of 5ft. 7 , 64in., which is nearly \\ inches below 

 that of the north. In some districts the men are very large — 

 those along the coast from Alnmouth to North Sunderland 

 are 5ft. 9'41in. in stature, with a weight of 166J lbs, being 

 about 3 inches taller and 21 lbs. heavier than the average 

 of all England. At Bennington, a village four miles north- 

 east of Alnwick, the men average 5ft. 9'8in. in height and 

 168 lbs. in weight. 



Returning again to Table A, we find grey the predominat- 

 ing colour of the eyes, forming a little more than f (or "42) 

 of the whole ; blue occurs in more than a \ ("27) but it pre- 

 vails more in the north than in the south ; brown appears in 

 a little more than i (•22) ; but of black, or very dark eyes, 

 the proportion is only about & or ("088). 



Of hair, brown everywhere is the prevailing colour, form- 

 ing nearly f ('74) of the whole ; black and very dark colour 

 yield only to ('ll); fair or light hair occurs seldomer than 

 was expected, and chiefly in the northern district, the pro- 

 portion being A ('85) ; and of red and red brown there is 

 only £> (-05). 



Dr. Beddoe remarks that, " in most parts of Britain, the 

 average stature of fair-haired is higher than that of dark- 

 haired men ; but in several districts the men who combine 

 light eyes with dark hair carry off the palm." I have tested 

 our returns to see what light they throw on the question ; 

 and I find that out of 63 of the tallest Northumbrians of the 

 height of 5ft. lOin. and upwards, nearly one half ('48) had 

 blue eyes and brown hair, while those, with dark eyes and 

 dark hair were only i (*14) of the whole. Light brown and 

 fair hair formed about ^ ("3). 



In the following Table D, both voluuteers and militiamen 

 are arranged according to occupations, and the average 

 height of the militiamen and the average height and weight 

 of the volunteers are given, so that we may see what relation 

 there may be between the different kinds of employment, 

 and the physical characters of the men respectively engaged 

 in them. 



