290 Height and Weight of School Children in Glasgow 
This means that we must add 2'28 lbs. to the weight nf the Glasgow boys and 
•90 inches to their height and 2'5 lbs. to the weight of Glasgow girls and "97 inches 
to their height before we can compare them with the Anthropometric Committee's 
standard. The Glasgow children still fall below the "Anthropometric Committee's 
Average" but not to the appalling extent shown in the diagram at the end of 
Dr Mackenzie's and Captain Foster's Report. Personally I should hesitate to 
compare actual height and weight of Glasgow school children with the so-called 
Anthropometric Committee's standard. The so-called standard is taken from the 
Final Report of the Anthropometric Committee of the British Association, 1883. 
In Tables XVI — XIX, the average heights and weights at different ages of males 
and females of diffei'ent classes of the population of Gi'eat Britain are given. For 
example in the case of stature we have four classes: Class I, Professional Classes, 
Town and Country, 10,739 individuals, ages 9 to 60 ; Class II, Commercial Classes, 
Towns, 5472 individuals, ages 8 to 60 (5 below 8 are of no service for means); 
Class III, Labouring Classes, Country, 8727 individuals, ages 3 to 70 (8 below 3 
are of no service); Class IV, Artizans, Towns, 126, 2o6 individuals, ages 3 to 60, and 
451 babies at birth. All these data are pooled and the column headed "General 
Population, All Classes, Town and Country," and it is this "General Population" 
which is so frequently cited by various medical authorities, including Dr Leslie 
Mackenzie and Captain Foster, as the Anthropometric Committee's "standard." 
What they understand by such a "standard" it is impossible to say. It does not 
represent the "General Population" of Great Britain, but the total population 
measured by the Committee. In this all the babies are artizan babies, there 
are only 8 children from 0 to 2 and these belong to the labouring rural classes, and 
there is no professional class contribution until after 9 years of age. Then the 
various age groups are made up from various social classes in proportions which 
bear no relation whatever to their actual proportions in the kingdom at large. For 
example, the average height of lads of 18 is determined from 1724 of the pro- 
fessional, 62 of the commercial, 14S of the rural labourer, and 371 of the town 
artizan classes! It will be quite clear that a "standard" reached in this way 
means absolutely nothing at all, and yet this is the "standard" which, attached to 
numerous weighing machines is posted in innumerable public places up and down 
this country. It does not in the least represent any "General Population" of 
Great Britain. To be a standard of the general population each class should have 
been properly weighted, and this cannot be done as in certain classes certain ages 
are quite inadequately represented, or not represented at all. There is in fact no 
such thing as an "Anthropometric Committee's standard" for either height or 
weight. The only thing that is possible is to compare the corresponding social 
class in that Committee's measurements with the measurements under considera- 
tion. In the case of Dr Leslie Mackenzie's and Captain Foster's data, this is 
undoubtedly the Class IV, " Artizans, Towns." Such a comparison is made in the 
accompanying diagrams. It will be seen that the Glasgow children as far as 
height is concerned are the equals if not the superiors of the Anthropometric 
