The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-04-04
STATURE OF MEN
AMERICANS AVERAGE TALLER THAN
ANY OTHER RACE.

ANY OTHER RACE.
Our Indian Comes First, and the White
Citizen OF the United States IL Next.
Opinions OF Men Who Have Studied the
Subject OF Changes In Stature.
Professor Donath, q naturalist OF Buda
pest, makes the startling announcement
to the scientific world that the standard
of mans stature is rapidly deteriorating
After examining the recruiting statistics
of those European countries in which en-
listment in the srmy is compulsory to ev-
cry male citizen he has found that during
the past decade there has been a surpris-
ing increase in the proportion Of men IN
qualified for active service on account Of
shortness OF stature. The number Of those
rejected last year from the Austro-H Hun
garian army WAS found to be 76 per cent
more in proportion than those refused en-
trance ten years ago. Within the last ten
years the proportion of those unqualified
In Italy has risen from : to IS per cent.
In Germany, during the same space, al
though the required standard has lately
been lowered, the rejected class has gone
up from TO 10 per cent, and within l6
years the proportion of those refused serv
Ice in the French army on the same
grounds has been raised from 6 to 10 per
cent. Statistics from Russia have not as
yet been received, but of all the other
countries included in Professor Donath's
list Switzerland alone was found to be free
from this deterioration in the height OF
her average man.
DR.. Theodore gill, when asked at the
Smithsonian whether he was startled by
Professor Donath' S examination, expressed
his opinion that man is now at the maxi
mum in the scale of health and stature.
Various theories, he says, have been pro-
mulgated by anthropologists trying TO
prove that mans prehistoric ancestors
were races Of giants, and that the human
race has been on the gradual decrease ever
since, but he has no respect for such doc
trines. AS proof of this, he says, most OF
the ancient armor worn by the best physi-
cal types of men many centuries ago is too
small and too short for the average man
Of today.
Professor ". ]. MCGEE, the ethnologist,
says that Americans need have no fear
that any such condition may result from
Ger visited this country, he prophesied that
our nation would soon develop into
stunted, unhealthy race, because in their
struggle for intellectual and commercial
superiority our citizens were burning the
candle at both ends but since this proph-
ecy was made the census statistics have
continued year by year to prove that we
are the tallest and healthiest nation on
the globe. a decrease in mans stature,
the professor continued, would be brought
about by improper nutrition or neglect OF
exercise. AS an example Of thhe effects
Of insufficient food, the Indian tribes
which have existed for centuries in our
arid regions are much thinner and shorter
in stature than those whose fathers en-
joyed the abundant game of the prairie.
DR.. Fletcher, the anatomist Of the Unit
Cd States Army Medical museum, to whom
the writer is also indebted, when asked to
give his opinion as TO the stature Of the
American people, referred to the anthro-
pometric statistics OF the provost marshal
generals office, issued in 1915. These
statistics were compiled with DIR. fetch.
ers aid from the measurements of our SOL
diers during the late war. They comprise
the latest census of the kind which has
been taken in the country. In the COM
parative table of stature, arranged &C.
cording to nationalities, the United States
Indian was found to stand higher than
any of the other races of the world His
average height was given as 61-93 inches.
The white citizen of the United States
comes next, with an average stature OF
67.67 inches. The United States negro
ranks fourteenth in the scale, and of all
the countries of the world considered the
Portuguese were found to be the shortest,
averaging only 65 i9 inches. The total
mean height Of man was e. inches.
In the table giving the relative heights
of United States soldiers those from Ken
lucky ranked first, with an average height
of 6S. 81 inches, Kansas came second, and
Connecticut was last, with an average OF
&c 90 inches. As compared with tables
ten years before the close of the
war these statistics showed an increase of
average height in each one OF the states,
without exception.
1t has always been proverbial among
anatomists that blond nations are greater
in stature than their darker neighbors.
This is not due to the difference in the
pigment Of the complexion or the hair,
but to the geological position of the blond
races. They are characteristic Of the north,
and on account of the lower degree OF
temperature are induced to take more ex-
ercise, which throws them more in the
open air. At the top Of the list Of the
arranged in order of stature,
the first seven, after the United States
white men, are Norway. Scotland, British
America, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark and
Holland, all northern nations.
The American negro further illustrates
that the poorer races arc shorter in stature
than the richer occupying the same terri
tory. The impoverished races generally
their growth more rapidly than
the more luxurious, who continue 70 in
crease gradually in bone and muscle until
. much later period in life. Most men are
still growing in height until they are over
% years old, and the thorsx, or framework
ABOUT the chest, usually continues 10 eK-
pand until the tbirtieth year.
The western man Of the United States
Is generally superior to the eastern man
In height This is attributed TO the for
Iner's enjoyment o: freer air and a greater
abundance Of food as the time the ives.
was first opened. Il has also been sug
yested that this Is due to the fac. that
only the best physical specimens dared 70
penetrate the Wild plains in the days o.
the pioneers. w asnington Coz. Bos.cu
Transcript.
Artist sold picture yesterday.
Frieud-Ahl What are you going 70 dc
With the money;