The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1871-03-03
THE MEASURE OF A MAN.

CATER the measure of a man; that is,
of an angel" says the seer of the Apo
calypso, suggesting that the perfection
of the human form is the physical mas
sterpieee efcseafiec- Bat the question
what that perfection is has been great
" disputed, and from the days of Phidia
and the great school of Athenian plas-
tic art to those of muscular Christian
ity" and fashionable athletic training at
Oxford, it has never been regarded as a
settled question.
Perhaps, after all, it can only be solv-
ed at last by science, not by art; and
the test of physical completeness is to
be found in harmony with the laws of
life, and in the full powers of labor and
endurance, rather than in beauty and
grace. 1t is from a mere statistical
point of view, at least, that the subject
has been lately approached, and an in
teresting su mary of the results is Civ
en- by DR.. Lancaster in Nature.
His first inquiry is, what ought man
of given height to weigh? He con-
cludes, from the best statistics yet col
lected, that a person five feet in height
ought to weigh II5 pounds; and that,
for each additional inch in height, five
pounds ought to be added to the weight
so that the proper weight of the man
six feet high is It's pounds. If the
weight is much less than this rule indi-
Gates, the deficiency of fatty matter
gives reason to suspect some disease or
unsoundness in the system, which may
shorten life; if much greater, it may
sometimes result from an unusual de-
velopment of the muscle and the bones,
but more commonly from an excess of
fat.
Since the differences in the weights
Of Of hn hniohfC
chiefly on the amount of fat present,
DR.. Lancaster inquired carefully into
the use of this substance in the body.
1t is medium for sustaining and nour-
ishing the muscular and other tissues
and it is besides a reserve of material to
be used up when wanted, in producing
muscular force. Thus all animals grow
fat IN summer and lean again in winter,
when they use up their store. The SER
ious loss of weight, or great deficiency
in fat, then shows that this reserve OF
strength and life is consuming.
This loss of weight is the first symp-
tom in consumption of the lungs, and
may be observed long before any tuber-
Giles are formed, and while the progress
of the disease may still be prevented
This is the secret of the success of cod.
liver oil and other fatty substances in
such diseases; they are concentrated
nourishment for the wasting tissues
and supply the needed fat. In the opin.
| ion of many physicians, they ought tC
| be given together with butter, cream
and similar articles of food, in every
case in which there is prolonged ten
| dency to lose weight.
On the other hand an excess of weight
above the proper standard is a disad
vantage in life. The man has more t.
carry his heart must throw more blood
into the tissues to keep them alive
when fat aecumulates around particular
organs it partly smothers them anC
hampers their action. In such cases, i
taken in early life and with judicioui
caution, there is commonly no difficulty
in relieving the system and IN bringing
the weight down to the proper standard
| by selected diet. But this is import
ant only in those persons who have {
real tendency to oppressive corpulency
"a stfull habit" is better than the VIC
lence sometimes practiced to overcome
it.
The study of this subject is recon
mended by DIR. Lancaster to life assur
ance companies, whose officers certainl,
| ought to know how much defcienc,
or excess of weight, as compared wit
the normal standard, affects the expec
tdtion oI lie. buC ne Ia1ls 10 re1narl
that not merely the weight, as proper
toned TO the height, ought to be regard
ed, but the height itself.
DwaFfs and giants are notoriousl.
Trailer of frame and of fewer days thai
men of average stature, and the ques
ton how great the deviation of heigh
may be without affecting the prospec
of life is one which has never, SO far a
we know, been investigated. That an
such deviation, beyond quite marrow
limits, is defect, in an artistic point Q
view, is admitted, although popula
heroes and demigods, in the Imagination
of men whose taste is not critical. hav
generally been distinguished rather 70
great size than for perfect form.-N. ]
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