K. Pearson 
143 
index ; Diagram VII. the distribution of stature in 1000 women ; Diagram VIII. 
the distribution of head breadth in 3000 criminals*. I should be the last to assert 
that no human characters can be found that do not diverge sensibly from this 
Gaussian distribution. But I believe they are few, and that for practical purposes 
we may with nearly absolute safety assume it as a first approximation to the 
Diagram VII. Distribution of Stature in Women. 
1 
\ 
i 
K 
ii 
\\ 
\\ 
— W 
/ / 
// 
\ 
i- 
// 
// 
-k— 
ll 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
e 
<a 
f 
It 
V 
V 
/ 
' — : — f 
t ' 
56 57 58 
69 60 61 62 63 64 68 
Stature of Women in inches. 
69 70 71 7a 
actual state of affairs. This being once granted we can obtain the slope of our 
regression line by an exceedingly simple process. We can make a mere classifica- 
tion of the following kind, say, into boys with breadth of head below 145 mm., 
* Diagram VII. is from the paper on the " Inheritance of the Physical Characters in Man," Biometrika 
Vol. II. p. 364, and Diagram VIII. from Dr Maodonell's memoir in this journal, Vol. i. p. 184. 
