In fact all the various segments of the spinal column show different proportions in the two sexes.
As we know, the spinal column consists of three parts; the cervical (corresponding to the neck), the thoracic (corresponding to the ribs), and the abdominal, including the os sacrum and the coccyx.
Now, Manouvrier, reducing the height of the spinal column to a scale of 100, expresses the relations of these different parts in the two sexes as follows:
| Segments | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Cervical | 22.1 | 23.9 |
| Thoracic | 58.5 | 55.4 |
| Lumbar | 11.4 | 23.7 |
| Sacro-coccygeal | 7.9 | 6.7 |
In woman the thoracic segment is shorter and the abdominal is longer than in man; but the total sum in woman is relatively greater in proportion to the whole stature.
In a case like this we have no right to speak of a morphological or psychosocial superiority of type; nor would a fact of this sort have any weight, for example, in establishing the anthropological superiority of woman. Nevertheless, it may be asserted that, if the day comes when woman, having entered the ranks of social workers, shall prove that she is socially as useful as man, she will still be, in addition, the mother of the species, and for that reason preeminently the greater producer.
Now, it is beyond question that this indisputable superiority is in direct relation with the type of stature. But without insisting unduly on a point like this, we should note the connection between the brachyscelous type and the tendency shown by women to accumulate nutritive substances, adipose tissue; consequently, as compared with man, she is the more corpulent—as are all brachysceles as compared with macrosceles.
Types of Stature at Different Ages.—Another factor that influences the types of stature is the age; or rather, that biological force which we call growth.
Growth is not an augmentation of volume, but an alteration in form; it constitutes the ontogenetic evolution, the development of the individual. The child, as it grows, is transformed. If we compare the skeleton of a new-born child with that of an adult, we discover profound differences between the relative proportions of the different parts. The child's head is enormously larger than that of the adult in proportion to its stature; and similarly, the chest measure is notably greater in the child. If we wish to compare the fundamental measurements of the new-born infant with those of the adult, we get the following figures, on a basis of 100 for the total stature:
| Adult | Child at birth | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total stature = 100 | Essential stature | 52 | 68 |
| Perimeter of thorax | 50 | 70 | |
| Height of head | 10 | 20 |
Fig. 14.
Accordingly, the child has to acquire, in the course of its growth, not only the dimensions of the adult, but the harmony of his forms; that is, it must reach not only certain determined limits of dimension, but also a certain type of beauty.
Among the fundamental differences between the new-born child and the adult one of the first to be noted is the reciprocal difference of proportion between the two statures. The child is ultra-brachyscelous, that is, he presents a type of exaggerated brachyscelia, calling to mind the form of the human fœtus, in which the limbs appear as little appendages of the trunk. In the course of growth, a successive alteration takes place between the reciprocal proportions of the two parts, so that the lower limbs, growing faster than the bust, tend to approach the total length of the latter. Godin has noted that during the years before puberty the lower limbs acquire greater dimensions, as compared with the bust, than are found in the fully developed individual; in other words, at this period a rapid growth takes place in the long bones of the lower limbs, and accordingly at this period of his life the individual passes through a stage of the macroscelous type. Immediately after puberty, there begins, in turn, an increase in the size of the bust, which regains its normal excess over the lower limbs, thus attaining the definite normal type of the adult individual. After the age of 17 years, by which time these metamorphoses have been completed, the individual may increase in stature, but the proportions between the parts will remain unaltered. In Fig. 14 we have a graphic representation of the relative proportions between the height of the bust and the length of limbs at different ages, the total stature being in every case reduced to 100. The upper portion of the lines represents the bust, and the lower portion the limbs, while the transverse line corresponding to the number 50 indicates one-half of the total stature. From such a table, it is easy to see how the bust, enormously in excess of the limbs at birth, gradually loses its preponderance.
It was drawn up from the following figures calculated by me:
TYPES OF STATURE ACCORDING TO AGE IN YEARS
| At birth | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 68 | 65 | 63 | 62 | 60 | 59 | 57 | 56 | 55 | 55 | 54 | 53 | 53 | 52 | 52 | 51 | 51 | 52 |
Godin furnishes the following figures, relating to the type of stature at the period preceding and following puberty:
RATIO OF SITTING STATURE TO TOTAL STATURE REDUCED TO SCALE OF 100 (GODIN)
| Age | 13½ | 14 | 14½ | 15 | 15½ | 16 | 16½ | 17 | 17½ |
| Ratio | 52 | 52 | 51 | 51 | 51 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 52 |
Hrdlicka has calculated the index of stature for a thousand white American children and a hundred coloured, of both sexes, and has obtained the following figures, some of which, based upon an adequate number of subjects, (10-13 years) are what were to be expected, while others, owing to the scarcity of subjects (under 6 and above 15 years) are far less satisfactory:
PROPORTION BETWEEN THE SITTING STATURE AND THE TOTAL
STATURE
(American Children)
| Age in years | Number of subjects of each age | Males, white | Females, white | Number of subjects of each age | Males, coloured | Females, coloured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | — | — | — | 1 | 60.8 | 59.5 |
| 4 | — | — | — | 1 | — | 58.9 |
| 5 | 2 | 57.4 | 57.3 | 3 | 57.3 | 57.9 |
| 6 | 15 | 56.6 | 57.4 | 5 | 55.9 | 55.6 |
| 7 | 38 | 56.3 | 57.2 | 5 | 54.9 | 55.4 |
| 8 | 56 | 55.9 | 56.2 | 13 | 55.1 | 53.3 |
| 9 | 62 | 55.2 | 55.9 | 25 | 54.2 | 54.1 |
| 10 | 98 | 54.6 | 54.2 | 12 | 54.9 | 53.7 |
| 11 | 99 | 54.0 | 55.0 | 12 | 52.8 | 53.8 |
| 12 | 93 | 53.5 | 54.1 | 10 | 57.7 | 54.0 |
| 13 | 86 | 52.9 | 53.8 | 13 | 52.9 | 51.9 |
| 14 | 53 | 52.7 | 54.1 | 7 | 52.3 | 51.8 |
| 15 | 20 | 53.1 | 53.7 | 6 | 51.7 | 53.0 |
| 16 | 9 | 52.0 | 55.0 | 2 | 53.0 | — |
| 17 | 3 | 52.2 | 54.7 | — | — | — |
Which goes to prove (in spite of the inaccuracies due to the numerical scarcity of coloured subjects of any age) that the females are more brachyscelous than the males; and that the blacks are more macroscelous than the whites.
The above table of indices of stature was worked out by Hrdlicka from the following measurements:
SITTING STATURE
| Age in years | Males, white | Females, white | Males, coloured | Females, coloured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | — | — | 476 | 476 |
| 4 | — | — | — | 534 |
| 5 | 551 | 576 | 597 | 571 |
| 6 | 595 | 608 | 616 | 607 |
| 7 | 631 | 621 | 630 | 625 |
| 8 | 644 | 635 | 659 | 671 |
| 9 | 672 | 663 | 679 | 680 |
| 10 | 684 | 687 | 697 | 695 |
| 11 | 711 | 718 | 718 | 703 |
| 12 | 728 | 734 | 797 | 792 |
| 13 | 751 | 770 | 737 | 767 |
| 14 | 764 | 809 | 787 | 808 |
| 15 | 777 | 825 | 753 | 819 |
| 16 | 839 | 824 | 795 | — |
| 17 | 864 | 850 | — | — |
TOTAL STATURE
| Age in years | Males, white | Females, white | Males, coloured | Females, coloured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | — | — | 783 | 839 |
| 4 | — | — | — | 906 |
| 5 | 961 | 1004 | 1044 | 985 |
| 6 | 1051 | 1060 | 1101 | 1091 |
| 7 | 1120 | 1086 | 1147 | 1127 |
| 8 | 1152 | 1130 | 1196 | 1260 |
| 9 | 1212 | 1187 | 1251 | 1257 |
| 10 | 1248 | 1267 | 1271 | 1295 |
| 11 | 1315 | 1304 | 1360 | 1307 |
| 12 | 1362 | 1357 | 1381 | 1467 |
| 13 | 1420 | 1431 | 1392 | 1477 |
| 14 | 1449 | 1495 | 1505 | 1559 |
| 15 | 1462 | 1535 | 1455 | 1545 |
| 16 | 1615 | 1498 | 1500 | — |
| 17 | 1654 | — | — | — |
| 18 | — | 1554 | — | — |
The following chart, prepared by MacDonald, on the growth of the total stature and the sitting stature of male white children, born in America, gives a very clear idea of the rhythm of each of the two statures. The sitting stature increases quite slowly, and its greatest rate of growth is immediately after puberty (from 15 to 17 years) (Fig. 15)
Lastly, in order to make this phenomenon still more clear, I have reproduced an illustration given by Stratz, consisting of a series of outlined bodies of children representing the proportions of the body at different stages of growth; and not only the proportions between the bust and the lower limbs, but also between the various component parts of the bust, as for instance the head and trunk. The transverse lines indicate the changes in the principal levels: the head, the mammary glands, and the bust (Fig. 16).
Fig. 16.
The different types of stature at different ages deserve our most careful consideration, yet not from the point of view already set forth regarding the different types in the fully developed individual. In the present case for instance, we cannot say of a youth of sixteen that, because he is macroscelous he is a weakling as compared with a boy of ten who is brachyscelous; nor that a new-born child represents the maximum physical potentiality, because he is ultra-brachyscelous. Our standards must be completely altered, when we come to consider the various types as stages of transition between two normal forms, representing the evolution from one to the other. At each age we observe not only different proportions between the two fundamental parts of the stature, but physiological characteristics as well, biological signs of predispositions to certain determined maladies, and psychological characteristics differing from one another, and each typical of a particular age. From the purely physical and morphological point of view, for example, a child from its birth up to its second year, the period of maximum brachyscelia and consequent visceral predominance, is essentially a feeding animal. After this begins the development of psychic life, until finally, just before the attainment of full normal proportions, the function of reproduction is established, entailing certain definite characteristics upon the adult man or woman. In accordance with its type of stature, we see that the child from its birth to the end of the first year shows a maximum development of the adipose system together with a preponderance of the digestive organs; while the adolescent, in the period preceding puberty, shows in accordance with his macroscelous type of stature, and reduction in the relative proportion of his visceral organs, a characteristic loss of flesh.
These evolutionary changes in the course of growth having been once established, it remains for us to consider the individual variations. The alterations observed at the various ages, or rather, the notable characteristics of each age, serve as so many fundamental charts of the normal average child; and we may consider each successive type of stature, from the new-born infant to the adult man, in the same light as we do the average type of the mature mesatiscelous type. In the case of the latter, we found that both above and below the medium stature, there were a host of individual types departing more or less widely from it, and tending toward brachyscelia on the one hand and toward macroscelia on the other, thus constituting the oscillations of type in the individual varieties. Similarly, in the case of the medium type of each successive age we may find brachyscelous or macroscelous individuals whose complex personal characteristics may be compared to those already observed in the adult, and may be summed up as follows: that the macroscele is a weakling; and that the brachyscele may be, according to the degree of variation, either a robust individual or an individual that has been arrested in his morphological development, and retained the type of a younger age.
Pedagogic Considerations.—From the above conclusion, we may deduce certain principles that can be profitably applied to pedagogy, especially in regard to some of the methods suited to our guidance in the physical education of children. Let us begin with the happy comparison drawn by Manouvrier, who describes an imaginary duel with swords between a macroscelous and a brachyscelous type. The duel, according to social conventions, must take place under equal conditions: hence the seconds take rigorous care in measuring the ground, the length of the swords, and determine the number of paces permitted to the duelists. But since they have forgotten the anthropologic side, the conditions are not entirely equal: by having a longer arm, the macroscele is in the same position as though he had a longer sword; and because he has a greater development of the lower limbs, the established number of strides will take him over a greater space of ground than his adversary. Consequently, the conditions as a matter of fact are so favourable to the macroscele, that is, to the weaker individual, that the latter has a greater chance of victory. The brachyscele might, to be sure, offset this by a different manœuvre depending on his superior agility; but both he and the macroscele were trained in the same identical method, which takes into consideration only the external factor, the arms of defence, and the immutable laws of chivalry.
Well, something quite similar happens in the duel of life, which is waged in school and in the outside social environment. We ignore individual differences, and concern ourselves solely with the means of education, considering that they are just, so long as they are equal for all. The fencing-master, if he had been an anthropologist, might have counteracted the probability that the stronger pupil would be beaten by the weaker, by advising the brachyscele always to choose a pistol in place of a sword, or by teaching him some manoeuvre entirely different from that which affords the macroscele a favourable preparation for fencing. And in the same way, it is the duty of the school-teacher to select the arms best adapted to lead his pupil on to victory.
That is, the teacher ought to make the anthropological study of the pupil precede his education; he should prepare him for whatever he is best adapted for, and should indicate to him the paths that are best for him to follow, in the struggle for existence.
But, aside from general considerations, we may point out that something very similar to the above-mentioned duel takes place in school when, in the course of gymnastic exercises, we make the children march, arranging them according to their total height. We expect them to march evenly and walk, not run, yet we do not trouble to ask whether their legs are of equal length. When we wish to know which of our pupils is the swiftest runner, we start them all together, macrosceles and brachysceles alike, neglecting to measure their lower limbs, the weight of their bodies, the circumference of their chests. Then we say "bravo!" to the macroscele, that is, the pupil who is most agile but at the same time the weakest, and we encourage him in a pride based upon a physiological inferiority. When we practise exercises of endurance, we find that certain children weary sooner, suffer from shortness of breath, and frequently drop out of the contest, in which the victory is reserved for others. The latter are the brachysceles, who have big lungs and a robust heart at their disposal. In this case we say "bravo!" to the brachysceles. Then we try to arouse a noble rivalry between the two types, encouraging emulation, and holding up before the brachyscele the example of the macroscele's agility, and before the macroscele the example of the brachyscele's endurance—and perhaps we reward the two types with different medals. Such decisions by the teacher evidently have no such foundation in justice as he supposes; the diverse abilities of the two types of children are associated with the constitution of their organisms. A modern teacher ought instead to subject the brachyscelous child to exercises adapted to develop his length of limb, and the macroscelous to gymnastics that will increase the development of his chest; and he will abstain from all praise, reward, exhortation and emulation, that have for their sole basis the pupil's complete anthropological inefficiency.
"The judgment passed by the teacher in assigning rewards and punishments is often an unconscious diagnosis of the child's anthropological personality."
Similar unconscious judgments are exceedingly widespread. Manouvrier gives a brilliant exposition of them in the course of his general considerations regarding the macroscelous and brachyscelous types. A brachyscelous ballet-dancer, all grace and endurance in her dancing, thanks to the strength of her lungs, can never be imitated in her movements by a macroscelous, angular woman, with legs ungracefully long. The latter, on the contrary, wrapped in a mantle, may become the incarnation of a stately matron, extending her long arms in majestic gestures. Yet it often happens that the stately actress envies and seeks to imitate the grace of the dancer, while the latter envies and emulates the grave dignity of the actress.
In any private drawing-room the same thing occurs, in the shape of different advantages distributed among persons of different types. There are some gestures that are inimitable because they are associated with a certain anthropologic personality. Every one in the world ought to do the things for which he is specially adapted. It is the part of wisdom to recognise what each one of us is best fitted for, and it is the part of education to perfect and utilise such predispositions. Because education can direct and aid nature, but can never transform her.
Manouvrier is constantly observing how the macroscelous and brachyscelous types are adapted to different kinds of social labour; thus, for example, the macroscele will make an excellent reaper, because of the wide sweep of his arms, and he is well adapted to be a tiller of the soil; while the brachyscele, on the contrary, will succeed admirably in employment that requires continuous and energetic effort, such as lifting weights, hammering on an anvil, or tending the work of a machine.
In the social evolution now taking place, the services of the macrosceles are steadily becoming less necessary; intensive modern labour requires the short, robust arm of the brachyscele. Such considerations ought not to escape the notice of the teacher, who sees in the boy the future man. He has the high mission of preparing the duelists of life for victory, by now correcting and again aiding the nature of each. And the first point of departure is undoubtedly to learn to know, in each case le physique du role.
Abnormal types of stature in their relation to moral training.—Macroscelia and brachyscelia in pathologic individuals (De Giovanni's hyposthenic and hypersthenic types).—Types of stature in emotional criminals and in parasites.—Extreme types of stature among the extra-social classes: Nanism and gigantism.
Let us start from a picture traced in the course of the preceding lessons; the types of stature as related to race. The Chinese, being brachyscelous, ought to be hearty eaters; instead, they are the most sparing people on earth. Such parsimony, equally with religion and social morality, may be considered as a racial obligation. The whole life of the Chinese is founded upon duty: fidelity to religion, to the laws, to the spirit of discipline, to the spirit of sacrifice, which always finds the Chinese citizen ready to die for his ethics and for his country, are strong characteristics of these invincible men. Their whole education rests solely upon a mnemonic basis; and their laws, which are highly democratic, make it possible for anyone to rise to the highest circles, provided he can pass the competitive examinations. In other words, the laws aid in the natural selection of the really strong, and regard favouritism as a crime against the State. On such individual and national virtues is founded the survival of the race and of the massive empire. If to-morrow the Chinese should renounce his creed, become a glutton, a pleasure-seeker, and follow the instincts of nature, he would be advancing in mighty strides on the path that leads to death. Accordingly, what we call virtue may have a biologic basis, and represent the active force that tends to correct the defects of nature.
We can conceive of a type of man, whose life is associated with sacrifice; and whose path of evolution is necessarily limited, first because his personality is imperfect, secondly because a part of his individual energy is necessarily expended in conquering, or if you prefer, in correcting his own nature. Evolution ought to be free; but instead, such a type is necessarily in bondage to duty, which stops its progress. Accordingly, the civilisation of China remains the civilisation of China; it cannot invade the world.
The European on the contrary has no such racial virtues; whatever virtues he has are associated with transitory forms of civilisation, and are ready to succeed one another on the pathway of unlimited progress. The race can permit itself the luxury of not being virtuous on its own account; its biological conditions are so perfect, that they have reached the fullness of life. If virtue is the goal of the Chinese, happiness is the goal of the European. The race may indulge freely in the joys of living; and dedicate its efforts solely to the unlimited progress of social civilisation, and to the conquest of the entire earth.
The Tasmanian, on the other hand, sparing by nature, lacking sufficient development of the organs of vegetative life, avoids every form of civilisation, and precipitates himself, an unconscious victim, upon the road to death. His natural parsimony, the scantiness of his needs, have prevented him from ever feeling that spur toward struggle and conquest which has its basis in the necessities of life. Neither virtue, nor felicity, nor civilisation, nor survival were possible to that race, whose extermination began with the first contact with European civilisation. Hence we may draw up a table that will serve to make clear certain fundamental ideas that may prove useful guides along our pedagogic path:
| Biological types | Brachysceles | Mesatisceles | Macrosceles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Races and peoples | Chinese. | Europeans. | Tasmanians. |
| Civilisation | Stable civilisation, but limited. | Changeable civilisation, with unlimited powers of evolution. | Outside the pale of civilisation. |
| Psycho-moral types | High ideal of virtue and sacrifice. | Happiness. | Insensibility. |
We ought to strive for the supreme result of producing men who will be happy; always keeping clearly before us the idea that the happy man is the one who may be spared the effort of thinking of himself, and dedicate all his energies to the unlimited progress of human society. The preoccupation of virtue, the voluntary sacrifice are in any case forces turned back upon themselves, that expend upon the individual energies that are lost to the world at large; nevertheless, such standards of virtue are necessary for certain inferior types. There exist, besides, certain individuals in rebellion against society, outcasts whose lives depend upon the succor of the strong, or may be destroyed by their adverse intervention, but in any case have ceased to depend upon the will of the individuals themselves.
Between two inferior types the one with the better chances is the one with the larger chest development; apparently, in the case of biological deviations, melius est abundare quam deficere.
Accordingly, let us draw up a chart. Human perfectionment tends toward harmony. If we wish to represent this by some symbolic or intuitive sign, we could not do so by a mere line; because perfection is not reached by the quantitative increase of favourable parts; robustness, for instance, cannot be indefinitely increased by augmenting the degree of brachyscelia; nor can intelligence be increased by augmenting the volume of the head; but perfection is approached, in the race and in the individual, through a central harmony. It is accordingly in the direction of this centre that progress is made; and whoever departs furthest from this centre, departs furthest from perfection, becomes more eccentric, more untypical, and at the same time also loses the psycho-moral potentiality to attain the highest civic perfection.
In Fig. 17, we have a graphic representation in three concentric circles.
Fig. 17
Let us begin by considering the middle circle, that of the abnormals. Here we have inscribed, as psycho-moral and physio-pathological traits, abstemiousness, anti-social tendency, predisposition to disease. Abstemiousness represents a corrective, without which the individual tends toward an anti-social line of action and contracts diseases. Abstemiousness is present within the circle of abnormal human beings, as a more or less attainable ideal; but it must be regarded as the pedagogic goal, when the problem arises of educating an untypical class of individuals. In other words, there are certain abnormal individuals who, if they are not to turn out criminals, must exercise a violent corrective influence over their psycho-physical personality, and they must be trained to do so; for it is an influence unknown to the normal man, who not only has no inclination to commit a crime, but recoils from doing so, and on the contrary may arise to degrees of moral perfection that are inconceivable to the abnormal man. Consequently, in order to maintain a relatively healthy condition, certain abnormal individuals are constrained to submit themselves to a severe hygienic régime throughout their entire life; a régime useless to the normal man, who indulges naturally in all the pleasures which are consistent with the full measure of physical health, and which remain forever unknown, and unattainable, to the abnormal individual organically predisposed to disease.
Such self-restraint we may call the culte of virtue, a necessity only to certain categories of men; and we may also call it the virtue of inferior individuals. It applies and is limited almost wholly to the individual.
Meanwhile, there is the normal man's high standard of virtue, which is an indefinite progress toward moral perfection; but the path it follows lies wholly in the direction of society collectively, or toward the biological perfectionment of the species. In life's attainment of such a triumph, man both feels and is happy rather than virtuous.
The separation between the circles, or rather between the different categories of individuals, the normal and the abnormal, is not clear-cut. There always exist certain imperceptibly transitional forms, between normality and abnormality; and furthermore, since no one of us is ideally normal, no one who is not abnormal in some one thing, it follows that this "some one thing" must be corrected by the humbling practice of self-discipline. At the same time it is rare for a man to be abnormal in all parts of his personality; in such a case he would be outside the social pale, a monstrosity; the high, collective virtues can, therefore, even if in a limited degree, illuminate the moral life of the abnormals. St. Paul felt that it "is hard to kick against the pricks"; and the picciotto of the Camorra feels that he is obeying a society that protects the weak.
It is a question of degree. But such a conception must lead to a separation in school and in method of education, for the two categories of individuals.
Certain very important pathological types have been distinguished and established in Italy by De Giovanni, the Paduan clinical professor who introduced the anthropological method into clinical practice. Through his interesting studies, he has to-day fortunately revived the ancient theory of temperaments, explaining them on a basis of physio-pathological anthropology.
De Giovanni distinguishes two fundamental types; the one hyposthenic (weak), the other hypersthenic (over-excitable); these two types obey the following rules: morphologically considered, the hyposthenic type has a total spread of arms greater than the total stature and a chest circumference of less than half the stature: these data alone are enough to tell us that the type in question is macroscelous; as a matter of fact, the chest is narrow and the abdomen narrower still. De Giovanni says that, owing to the scant pulmonary and abdominal capacity the organs of vegetative life are inadequate; the heart is too small and unequal to its function of general irrigator of the organism; the circulation is consequently sluggish, as shown by the bluish network of veins, indicating some obstacle to the flow of blood.
The type is predominantly lymphatic, the muscles flaccid, with a tendency to develop fatty tissues, but very little muscular fibre; there is a predisposition to bronchial catarrh, but above all to pulmonary tuberculosis. This hyposthenic type, which corresponds to the lymphatic temperament of Greek medicine, is in reality a macroscelous type somewhat exceeding normal limits and therefore physiologically inefficient and feeble.
The following is De Giovanni's description:
Morphologically.—Deficient chest capacity, deficient abdominal capacity, disproportionate and excessive development of the limbs; insufficient muscularity.
Physiologically.—Insufficient respiration, and consequent scanty supply of oxygen (a form of chronic asphyxia of internal origin), insufficient circulation, because the small heart sends the blood through the arteries at too low a pressure; and this blood, insufficiently oxygenated, fails to furnish the tissues with their normal interchange of matter, and therefore the assimilative functions in general all suffer; finally, the venous blood is under an excessive pressure in the veins, the return flow to the heart is rendered difficult and there results a tendency to venous hyperemia (congestion of the veins), even in the internal organs. This is accompanied by what De Giovanni calls nervous erethism (in contradistinction to torpor), which amounts to an abnormal state of the central nervous system, causing predisposition to insanity and to various forms of neurasthenia (rapid exhaustion, irritability).
This type is especially predisposed to maladies of the respiratory system, subject to bronchial catarrh recurring annually, liable to attacks of bronchitis, pleurisy, and pneumonia, and easily falls victim to pulmonary tuberculosis.
Here are a few cases recorded by De Giovanni.[9] (It must be borne in mind that the total spread of the arms, Ts, ought to equal the total stature, St. The measurements are given in centimetres.)
F. M.—St 147; Ts 151.—Extremely frail; frequent attacks of hemorrhage of the nose; habitually pale and thin. Certain disproportions of the skeleton, hands and feet greatly enlarged; extreme development of the subcutaneous veins. Pulmonary tuberculosis.
A. M.—St 161; Ts 193.—Nervous erethism; from the age of twelve subject to laryngo-bronchial catarrh; every slight illness accompanied by fever; habitually thin. Pulmonary tuberculosis.
F. M.—St 150; Ts 150; Ct 67.—Lymphatic, torpid, almost chronic bloating of the abdomen. Enlargement of the glands; scars from chilblains on hands and feet. Primary tuberculosis of the glands, secondary tuberculosis of the lungs.
A. M.—St 172; Ts 179.—Extreme emaciation, heart singularly small. Chronic bronchial catarrh.
If it is important for us, as educators, to be acquainted with this type in the adult state, it ought to interest us far more during its ontogenesis, that is, during the course of its individual evolution.
Since, in the process of growth, man passes through different stages, due to alteration in the relative proportions of the different organs and parts, it follows that this hyposthenic type correspondingly alters its predisposition to disease. Its final state, manifested by various defects of development, gave unmistakable forewarnings at every period of growth.
In early infancy symptoms of rickets presented themselves, and then disappeared, like an unfulfilled threat: dentition was tardy or irregular; the head was large and with persistent nodules. This class, as a type, is weak, sickly, easily attacked by infectious diseases, tracoma, purulent otitis.
When the first period of growth is passed, glandular symptoms begin, with liability to sluggishness of the lymphatic glands (scrofula) or persistent swelling of the lymphatic ganglia of the neck. This is supplemented by bronchial catarrh, recurring year after year; finally intestinal catarrh follows, accompanied in most cases by loss of appetite.
Such conditions are influenced very slightly or not at all by medical treatment.
During the period of puberty, cardiopalmus (palpitation of the heart) is very likely to occur, often accompanied by frequent and abundant epistasis, or by the occurrence of slight fever in the evening, and by blood-stained expectorations, suggestive of tuberculosis. The patient is pale (oligohæmic), very thin, and shoots up rapidly (preponderant growth of the limbs); he is subject to muscular asthenia (weakness, exhaustibility of the muscles) and to various forms of nervous excitability.
These symptoms also (some of them so serious as to arouse fears, at one time of rickets and at another of tuberculosis), are all of them quite beyond the reach of medical treatment (tonics, etc.).
Now, a fact of the highest importance, discovered by De Giovanni, is that of spontaneous corrections, that is, the development of compensations within the organism, suited to mitigate the anomalous conditions of this type, and hence the possibility of an artificial intervention capable of calling forth such compensations. Such intervention cannot be other then pedagogic; and it should consist in a rational system of gymnastics, designed in one case to develop the heart, in another the chest, in another to modify the intestinal functions or to stimulate the material renewal of the body; while every form of overexertion must be rigorously avoided.
"I think that we should regard as an error not without consequences what may be seen any day in the gymnasiums of the public schools, where pupils differing in bodily aptitude, and with different gymnastic capacity and different needs are with little discernment subjected to the same identical exercises, for the same length of time.
"And day by day we see the results: there are some children who rebel outright against the required exercise which they fear and from which they cannot hope to profit, because it demands an effort beyond their strength. Some have even been greatly harmed; so that one after another they abandon these bodily exercises, which if they had been more wisely directed would assuredly have bettered their lot.
Fig. 18. Fig. 19.
Brachyscelous type (from Viola).
Fig. 20. Fig. 21.
Macroscelous type (from Viola).
"Experience also teaches that one pupil may be adapted to one kind of exercise and another to another kind. Accordingly a really physiological system of gymnastics requires that those movements and those exercises which are least easily performed should be practised according to special methods, until they have strengthened the less developed functions, without ever causing illness or producing harmful reactions.[10]"
So that the final results are an improvement in the morphological proportions of the organism, and consequently a correction and improvement in the relative liability to disease.
The other fundamental pathological type described by De Giovanni is the hypersthenic (second morphological combination), corresponding in part to the sanguine temperament of Greek medicine, and in part to the bilious temperament. In this type the total spread of the arms is generally less than the stature, and the perimeter of the chest notably exceeds one-half the stature. Consequently we are dealing with the brachyscelous type.
This type has a greatly developed thorax, a large heart, an excessive development of the intestines; hence he is a hearty eater, subject to an over-abundance of blood; he is over-nourished, the ruddy skin reveals an abundant circulation, there is an excess of adipose tissue and a good development of the striped muscles. Such a constitution accompanies an excitable, impulsive, violent disposition, and conduces to diseases of the heart. "This type is characterised in general by robustness and a liability to disorders of the central circulatory system."[11]
But there are still other forms of disease that await the individuals of this class, such for example as disorders affecting the interchange of organic matter (diabetes, gout, polysarcia = obesity) and attacks of an apoplectic nature. In the case of acute illness individuals of this class suffer from excess of blood and may be relieved by being bled. They are readily liable to bloody excretions.
Here are a few cases illustrating this morphological combination, which is characterised by an exorbitant chest development (it must be borne in mind that the circumference of the thorax, Ct, should equal one-half the stature, St).
P. A.—St 156; Ct 93.—Endocarditis; insufficient heart-action.
Z. C.—St 168; Ct 95.—Cerebral hyperemia of an apoplectic nature. Hypertrophy of the left ventricle of the heart. Polysarcous (gluttonous) eater.
B. G—St 166; Ct 104.—Diabetic, obese, subject to diabetic ischialgia (neuralgia), frequent recurrence of gravel in the urine. Tendency to excesses of the table.
D. G.—St 160; Ct 96.—Polysarcia, the first symptoms of which appeared in early youth. At the age of sixteen, suffered from all the discomforts of obesity. Shows atheroma (fatty degeneration) of the aorta, irregular heart-action, hypertrophy and enlargement of the heart.
In this brachyscelous type it may happen either that the whole trunk (that is, both the thoracic and abdominal cavities) is in excess, or else that the excessive development is confined to the abdomen. This latter case is very frequent, and may easily be found even in early childhood. Such children are hearty eaters, are very active and, for this reason, the pride and joy of their parents. Nevertheless, there are many signs that should give warning of constitutional defects; constant digestive disturbances (diarrhœa), frequent headaches, pains in the joints, apparently of a rheumatic character, tendency to pains in the liver which is excessively enlarged; excess of adipose tissue; a tendency to fall ill very easily, of maladies that are almost always happily overcome (but the truly robust person is not the one who recovers from illness, but the one who does not become ill), and finally an excessively lively disposition, irritability and above all, impulsiveness.
Such individuals ought, like the macrosceles, to live under the necessary and perpetual tyranny of a hygienic régime, adapted to correct or to diminish the morbid predispositions associated with the organism. A special dietetic, a regular hydrotherapic treatment, a moderate gymnastic exercise designed to direct the child's motive powers, and thus to prepare the man for that form of existence to which it is necessary for him to subject himself, if he does not wish to shorten his own life, or at least his period of activity—all these things are so many duties which the school ought in great part to assume.
In this way we have briefly considered the abnormal types of brachyscelia and macroscelia, which by their very constitution are predisposed to incur special and characteristic forms of disease, which may be avoided only by subjecting the organism to a special hygienic regimen. Men cannot all live according to the same rules.
In these latter times, some very recent researches have been made by applying De Giovanni's method to the anthropological study of criminals, especially through the labours of Dr. Boxich. He has found that the great majority of parasitic criminals, thieves for example, are macrosceles. They exhibit the stigmata already revealed by Lombroso: great length of the upper limbs, with elongated hands; furthermore, a narrow chest and a small heart, insufficient for its vital function; such individuals are singularly predisposed to pulmonary tuberculosis, and hence in their physical constitution they are already stamped as organisms of inferior biological value—having little endurance and almost no ability as producers—consequently they are forced to live as they can, that is like parasites, profiting by the work of others. On the contrary, the great majority of criminals of a violent character present the brachyscelous type: the thorax is greatly developed, the heart hypertrophic, the arterial circulation superabundant. This class of criminals, including a large proportion of murderers, have a special tendency to act from impulse, corresponding to their large heart which sends an excess of blood pulsing violently to the brain, obscuring the psychic functions; or, in the speech of the people, such a man has "lost his reason," "the light goes from the eyes when the blood goes to the brain."
Here are some notes regarding these two different types: we will select as measures of comparison the stature and the weight, bearing in mind that in the macrosceles the weight is scanty and that the opposite is true of the brachysceles, while normally there ought to be a pretty close correspondence between the weight in kilograms and the centimetres of stature over and above one metre.