Final report of the Anthropometric Committee / F. Galton, Chairman.

Date:
[1883]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Final report of the Anthropometric Committee / F. Galton, Chairman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    inhabitants of both these countries being taller in the northern than in the southern provinces. The same rule applies to the whole of the countries of Europe, in their relation to each other, as will be seen in Table IV., con¬ structed to show the position held by the inhabitants of the British Isles relative to- the stature of other European countries. The Committee regrets that it has not been able to obtain any information on this subject direct from the European countries (except some referring to conscripts, which were not suitable for their purpose), and has been obliged to avail itself of the observations made in the United States of America on emigrants from European States. In reading this table it must be borne in mind that the statistics referring to the United Kingdom, collected by the Committee, and to the native-born population of the United States, refer to men of all classes; while those collected by the military autho¬ rities of 1863-4 in the United States, referring to Canada and the other American countries, and to those of all Europe, refer to emigrants, who belong almost entirely to the labouring classes. The close accord between the average stature of the United Kingdom (67*66 inches) and that of the native white population of the United States (67*67 inches) is accounted for in this way; and, on the other hand, the marked dif¬ ferences between the statures of the Scotch (68*71), Irish (67*90), Eng¬ lish (67*36), and Welsh (66*66 inches), as given by the Committee and those given by the United States Government (67*07, 66*74, 66*58, and 66*42 respectively) is explained. Some American writers on the subject have overlooked this important distinction, and, studying only the sta¬ tistics obtained in their own country, have concluded that the Anglo- Saxon race is of greater stature in America than in Great Britain. In the Report of the Committee for 1879 Mr. Roberts has given a paper, illustrated by a series of diagrams and statistical tables, of English and Americans, showing the close similarity which exists between the stature and weight of the two branches of our race, both in children and adults ; and the more extended observations of the Committee appear to confirm his conclusions. 34. Occupation and sanitary surroundings.—The various industries of this country are not often so defined by the county boundaries as to show their effects on the physical development. It is probable, however, that the low stature in the West Riding of Yorkshire is due to the large manufacturing town population included in the returns, and the rela¬ tively low stature of Durham to the large mining population. Lanca¬ shire and Stafford, which contain similar industries to those of the West Riding and Durham, do not show any falling off in stature, and it is probable that a large number of returns received from Sheffield have un¬ fairly lowered the West Riding. The very low position, lower than can be accounted for by their racial origin, taken by the home counties— Hertford, Middlesex, and Surrey—is no doubt due to their proximity to London ; the more vigorous men are attracted to the town by high wages, and the more feeble overflow into the surrounding districts. The counties which fringe the sea-coast possess a higher stature than those adjoining them but lying further inland. This may be due to race, as has already been suggested; but it may also be due to the more healthy situation or the fishing occupation. The lower stature of the river valleys would seem to imply that such situations are not favourable to physical development, especially as some of them were originally settled by the Scandinavian races.
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