On the stature and bulk of man in the British isles / by John Beddoe.

  • Beddoe, John, 1826-1911.
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the stature and bulk of man in the British isles / by John Beddoe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    rate and irregular, decline in A. Thus is exhibited the unfa- vourable action of those causes which may be compendiously described as those affecting the town-born more than the rural population. On the other hand, the action of the causes con- nected with the employment itself is brought out conspicuously by the facts that in every territorial division class B stands below class A, and that in the metropohs, contrary to what might perhaps have been expected, the difference is greater than anywhere else.* It would seem, in fact, that the influ- ence of town-birth is greatest in class B, and that the influence of unfavourable occupation is greatest in the towns; that while each class of agencies has a moderate deteriorating in- fluence while at work separately, its effect is very greatly increased when it co-operates with the other. These results agree very satisfactorily with those I have obtained from per- sonal observation in Bristol and elsewhere, and from the reports of my correspondents. Thus 30 natives of Bristol, employed by Messrs. Derham Brothers as rivet-shoemakers, yielded an average stature and weight of 6 ft. 4.90 in.f and 125.67 lbs., while the same number of men born in the county of Somerset, and employed in the same place and manner by the same firm, yielded averages of 5 ft. 6*74 in. and 134-0 lbs. And Mr. P. J. Worsley found that of the men employed in the Netham Chemical Works, 15 natives of Bristol averaged only 5 ft. 676 in. and ]35*70 lbs., and 30 of the suburban parish of St. George's 5 ft. 6-24 in. and 138-13 lbs., while 27 from the rural parishes of Bitten and Hanham rose to 6 ft. 8-0 in. and 145*16 lbs. So much for the influence of birth; that of occupation seems to come out best in the details of the Shef- field and Bristol returns (96 and 220). Pending further inves- tigations, I am disposed to think that the facts are best ex- plained by the theory of a hereditary and progressive physical degeneration in certain classes of the inhabitants of towns. But, be this as it may, there can hardly, I think, be any ques- * There is a wider opportunity for selection in towns than in the country, and men more often, probably, enter those trades for which they are bodily qualified. t The following figures include shoes and clothes.