Chapter I: Certain Principles of General Biology (3)

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_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 manoeuvre 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 AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF BIOLOGICAL ETHICS

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:

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.

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.

ABNORMAL TYPES ACCORDING TO DE GIOVANNI'S THEORY

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.

Brachyscelous type (from Viola).]

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 (diarrhoea), 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._

TYPES OF STATURE IN CRIMINALS

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.

TYPES OF NON-VIOLENT CRIMINALS (_Parasites_)

Case No. 24.--_St._ 168; _Wt._ 56. Farm steward, three years'
sentence for theft. Pallid complexion, visible veins, scant
muscles. Heart small and weak, pulse feeble and slow.

Case No. 34.--_St._ 175; _Wt._ 61. Baker, comfortable financial
circumstances, has received a number of sentences for theft,
amounting altogether to ten years. Is twenty-four years of age.
Cyanosis of the extremities (bluish tinge, due to excessive
venous circulation). Cardiac action feeble. Scant muscles.

Case No. 43.--_St._ 156; _Wt._ 51. Peasant. Straitened
circumstances. Four years' sentence for theft. Rejected by the
army board for defective chest measurement. Dark complexion.
Extensive acne. Scant muscles. Bronchial catarrh. Has had
hemoptysis (spitting of blood). Cardiac action weak. Pulse very
feeble.

Case No. 52.--_St._ 173; _Wt._ 66. Book-binder. Prosperous
circumstances. Four years' sentence or thereabouts, for theft;
age, twenty-four. Conjunctivitis and blepharitis from early
childhood. Frontal and parietal nodules prominent. Muscles
scant; cardiac action weak; lymphatic glands of the neck
enlarged.

The following is an example of the typical thief:[12]

_St._ 162; _Wt._ 46.--Exceedingly small heart, feeble cardiac
action. Suffers from chronic bronchial catarrh. Cranial nodules
very prominent. Began as a small child to steal in his own
home, and since then has received sentence after sentence for
theft, up to his present age of twenty-nine.

TYPES OF VIOLENT CRIMINALS (_Assault_, _Mayhem_, _Homicide_)

Case No. 54.--_St._ 157; _Wt._ 62. Peasant. Good financial
circumstances. Condemned to thirty years in prison for
homicide. Well-developed muscles. Blood vessels congested.
Strong heart action; the pulsation extends as far down as the
epigastrium. Ample pulse.

Case No. 60.--_St._ 156; _Wt._ 70. Shoemaker. Bad financial
circumstances. Condemned to fifteen years' imprisonment for
homicide, after having been previously convicted three times
for theft. The chest circumference exceeds one-half the stature
by 11 centimetres. Subject to frequent pains in the head. Good
muscles. Corpulent. Full pulse. (It should be noticed that the
florid complexion, accompanying this type of stature, persists
in spite of straitened circumstances!)

Case No. 85.--_St._ 168; _Wt._ 70. Turner in iron. Comfortable
circumstances. Sentenced to thirty years in prison after one
previous conviction for criminal assault. Ruddy complexion.
Veins not visible. Abdomen very prominent. Gastrectasia
(dilation of the stomach). Entire cardiac region protuberant.
Laboured breathing. Cardiac action abundant.

Hence we perceive, in the etiology of crime, the importance of the organic factor, connected directly with the lack of harmony in the viscera and their functions, and consequently accompanied by special morbid predispositions.

As a result of this line of research, criminality and pathology are coming to be studied more and more in conjunction. For that matter, it was already observed by Lombroso that in addition to the various external malformations found in criminals, there were also certain anomalies of the internal organs, and a widespread and varied predisposition to disease. In short, his statistics reveal a prevalence of cardiac maladies and of tuberculosis in criminals, as well as a great frequency of diseases of the liver and the intestines.

EXTREME OR INFANTILE TYPES, NANISM AND GIGANTISM, EXTRA-SOCIAL TYPES

Whenever the disproportion between the bust and the limbs surpasses the extreme normal limits, the whole individual reveals a complex departure from type. Thus, for example, in connection with extreme _brachyscelia_, there exists a characteristic form of nanism (dwarfishness), called _achondroplastic nanism_, in which, although the bust is developed very nearly within normal limits, the limbs on the contrary are arrested in their growth so as to remain permanently nothing more than _little appendages_ of the trunk. This calls to mind the foetal form of the new-born child, and the resulting type, because of this morphological coincidence, is classed among the infantile types.

Achondroplastic nanism is associated with a _pathological_ deformity due to foetal rickets. It is not only the child after birth, but the foetus also which, during its intrauterine life, may be subject to diseases. Rickets (always a localised disease, usually attacking some part of the skeleton) in this case fastens upon the enchondral cartilages of the long bones. As we know, the long bones are composed of a body or _diaphysis_ and of extremities or articular heads, the _epiphyses_. Now, these different parts, which form in the adult a continuous whole, remain separate throughout the foetal and the immediate post-natal period: so that the heads of the humerus and the femur, for example, in the case of the new-born child, are found to be joined to the _diaphysis_ by cartilages (destined to ossify later on), which are the chief seat of growth of the bones in the direction of length. Well, in these cases of pre-natal rickets, the union of the bony segments takes place prematurely, and since the bones can hardly grow at all in length, they develop in thickness, and the result is that the limbs remain very short and stocky. Meanwhile the bust, the bones of which have in no way lost their power of growth, develops normally.

Now, these dwarfs, who have abundant intelligence, because they have the essential parts of stature in their favour, constituted the famous jesters of the mediæval courts, whose misfortune served to solace the leisure hours of royalty. Paolo Veronese went so far as to introduce a dwarf buffoon, of the achondroplastic type, into his famous painting, _The Wedding at Cana_.

Conversely, in connection with an exaggerated _macroscelia_, we have gigantism.

Ordinarily, a giant has a bust that is not greatly in excess of normal dimensions. The limbs, on the contrary, depart extremely from the normal limits, in an exaggerated growth in the direction of length: so much so that the bodies of giants present the appearance of small busts moving around on stilts.

Nevertheless, many different forms of gigantism occur. The pathology of this phenomenon is quite complex; but we can not concern ourselves with it here. It is a scientific problem of no immediate utility to our pedagogic problems. Dwarfs and giants, whatever their type and their pathological etiology, constitute extra-social individuals, who have been at all times excluded from any possibility of adaptation to useful labour, and employed, whether in the middle ages or in the twentieth century, to a greater or less extent as a source of amusement to normal beings, because of their grotesque appearance, either at court or in the theatres, or in moving pictures, or (in the case of giants) as figures suited to adorn princely or imperial gateways. These individuals are as completely independent of the social conditions of the environment in which they were born as if they were extraneous to humanity. In relation to the species, they are _sterile_.

From the biological side, a consideration of these types serves merely as an illustration of an important law: _the essential part_ _of the organism_ (the vertebral column) is _less variable_ than the accessory parts (the limbs).

SUMMARY OF THE TYPES OF STATURE

According to the relative development of bust and limbs we have distinguished three types, the macrosceles, the brachysceles and the mesatisceles, within their respective limits of oscillation.

Since the type of stature gives us a proportion between the different parts of an individual, it constitutes a fundamental criterion for a morphological judgment of the personality. That is, it leads to a diagnosis of the individual constitution, with which are associated not only the "character" but also certain predispositions to disease.

A knowledge of these _types_ shows us the necessity we educators are under of taking into consideration the individual pupils, each of whom may have separate needs, tendencies and forms of development; and of demanding separate _schools_, in which even the _methods_ _of moral education_ must differ. Because men are not only not all adapted to the same forms of work, but they are not even all adapted to the same standards of _morality_. And since it is our duty to assume the task of aiding the _biological development_ and the _social adaptation_ of the new generations, it will also be part of our task to _correct_ defective organisms, and at the same time to correct the types of mental and moral inferiority.

In the following chart we may summarise the points of view from which we have studied the types of stature:

SYNOPTIC CHART

Types of { Macrosceles {long legs, short bust.
stature { Brachysceles {short legs, long bust.

{ { / Mongols (brachysceles).
{ { { Tasmanians (macrosceles).
{ { { Dark Mediterranean race
{ { { (mesatisceles tending
{ { Race { toward brachyscelia).
Variations in { { { Blond race (mesatisceles
types of { Normal { { tending toward macroscelia).
stature { { / Woman more brachyscelous.
{ { Sex \ Man more macroscelous.
{ { { Childhood brachyscelous.
{ { Age { Old age macroscelous.
{ / De Giovanni's { Macrosceles
{ { hyposthenic { predisposed to
{ Pathologically{ types { tuberculosis.
{ abnormal. { De Giovanni's { Brachysceles predisposed
Variations in { { hypersthenic { predisposed to
types of { { types. { diseases of
stature { { { the heart.
{ Criminals. / Macrosceles......parasites.
{ \ Brachysceles.....violent.
{ Infantile / Achondroplastic nanism.
{ types \ Gigantism.

SUMMARY OF THE SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES ILLUSTRATED IN THE COURSE OF OUR DISCUSSION

_Biological Laws._--_a._ Growth is not only an augmentation in volume, but also an evolution in form.

_b._ The more essential parts vary less than the accessory parts in the course of their transformations.

_The Index._--The index is the mathematical relation between the measurements belonging to the same individual, and as such it gives us an idea of the _form_; since the form is determined by the relations between the various parts constituting the whole.

THE STATURE

While the figure and the type of stature tend to delineate the _individual_ considered by himself, the different measurements considered separately may guide us in our study of individuals in their relation to the race and the environment.

Among the measurements of the _form_, we will limit ourselves to a study of the _stature_ and the _weight_, which serve to give us respectively the linear index of development and the volumetric estimate of the body taken as a whole. We shall reserve the study of the other measurements, such as the total spread of the arms and the perimeter of the thorax, until we come to the analytical investigation of the separate parts of the body (limbs, thorax).

The _stature_ is expressed by a _linear measure_ determined by the distance intervening in a vertical direction between the plane on which the individual is standing in an erect position and the top of his head.

It follows that the _stature_ is a measurement determined by the _erect position_; on the other hand, when a man is in a recumbent position, what we could determine would be the _length_ of body, which is not identical with the stature.

In fact, a man on foot, resting his weight upon articulations that are elastic, and therefore compressible, is a little shorter than when he is recumbent.

If we examine the skeleton (see Fig. 9), we discover that the single synthetic measure that constitutes the stature results from a sum of parts that differ greatly from one another. To be specific, it is composed of the long and short bones of the lower limbs; of flat bones, such as the pelvis and the skull; of little spongy bones, such as the vertebræ; all of which bones and parts obey different laws in the course of their growth. Furthermore, intervening between these various bones are _soft_, elastic parts, known as the articulations, which, starting from below, succeed each other in the following order:

1. _Calcaneo-astragaloid_, between the _calcaneus_ and the superimposed
_astragalus_.

2. _Tibio-astragaloid_, between the _astragalus_ and the superimposed
_tibia_.

3. Of the _knee_, between the _tibia_ and the _femur_.

4. Of the _hip_, between the _femur_ and the _os innominatum_.

5. _Sacro-iliac_, between the _os iliacum_ and the _sacrum_.

6. _Sacro-vertebral_, between the _sacrum_ and the _last lumbar
vertebra_.

7. Of the _vertebræ_, consisting of 23 intervertebral disks, that is to
say interposed between the vertebræ, which include the following: _5
lumbar,_ _12 thoracic, 7 cervical_.

8. _Occipito-atloid_, between the first cervical vertebra, called the
_atlas_ and the _os occipitale_ of the cranium.

Accordingly, there are _thirty_ articulations in all; and of these, 23 are the intervertebral disks, which constitute, taken together, a fourth part of the complex height of the vertebral column.

Furthermore, the height of the body cannot be considered simply the _sum_ of the component parts, since these are not superimposed in a straight line. As a matter of fact, if we examine the vertebral column, we see that it is not straight as in the case of animals, but exhibits certain curves that are characteristic of the _human species_, and must be taken into consideration in their relation to the _erect position_. In fact, the vertebral column presents two curvatures, the one _lumbar_, and the other _cervical_, which together give it the form of an S. These curvatures are _acquired_ along with the _erect position_, and are not innate; one of the points of difference between the skeleton of the new-born child and that of the adult is precisely this, that the former has a _straight_ vertebral column.

A fact of no small importance to note, since in the _course of_ _growth_ a certain _determined_ form of normal curve, and no other, ought to establish itself; otherwise, _abnormal deviations_ in the vertebral column will become established. And for the very reason that it is _plastic_ and _destined_ to assume a _curve_, the vertebral column may very easily be forced into exaggerating or departing from its morphological destiny. In such a case, the resulting stature would be _inferior_ to what it should normally have been.

Accordingly, the stature is the resultant of the sum of _anatomical_ _parts_ and of _morphological conditions_.

Hence it is a _linear index_ not only of _biological man_, that is, of man considered in relation to his racial limitations; but also of social man, that is, of man as he has developed in the struggle for adaptation to his environment.

_The limits of stature, according to race._ Stature is an anthropological datum of great _biological_ value, since it is a definite _racial_ characteristic and is preserved from generation to generation by _heredity_. The first distinguishing trait of a race is the height of the body in its natural erect position. It is also the first characteristic that strikes us when a stranger comes toward us for the first time. And that is why we make it the leading descriptive trait: a person of tall, or of low stature. If, for a moment, we should picture to ourselves the legend of Noah's Ark--quite incredible, because emigration and embarkation of all the known species would have required more than a century of time (it is enough merely to think of the embarkation of the tortoises and the sloths!), and the necessity of an ark as big as a nation, what must inevitably have struck Noah and his sons would have been the _stature_ of the individuals belonging to each separate species.

The _stature_ is the linear index of the limit of mass.

Among the human races the variations in stature are included between fairly wide oscillations: coming down to facts, the average stature of the Akkas is 1.387 m. (4 ft. 6-1/2 in.) for the males; and that of the Scotchmen of Galloway is 1.792 m. (5 ft. 10-1/2 in.). Accordingly between the average heights of the two races that are considered as the _extremes_, there is a difference of 40 cm. (15-3/4 in.); but since the averages are obtained from a complex mass of normal measurements, some of which are _above_ and others necessarily _below_ the average itself, we may assert that the "_normal human individuals_" may differ in stature to an extent of more than half a metre; the oscillations of normal individuals on each side of the racial average being estimated at about 10 cm. (3.937 in.).

If we should see a little Akka 4 ft. 4 in. (1.33 m.) in height alongside of a Scotchman 6 ft. (1.83 m.) high we should say "a _dwarf_ beside a _giant_." But such terms are _pathological_ and should never be employed to indicate _normal individualities_. As a matter of fact dwarfs and giants are as a class extra-social and sterile; normal individuals, on the contrary, represent the physiopsychic characteristics of their respective races. Consequently we may say that normal people have a _low stature_, or a _high stature_; or if it is a question of extremely low stature (such as that of the Akkas) we may make use of the term _pigmies_ or of the _pigmy race_, in speaking of such individuals. Sergi has proved the existence, among the prehistoric inhabitants of Europe, of various pigmy races.

In the field of anthropology the scientific terminology ought always to be based upon certain determined limits. The authorities indicate the normal extremes of individual stature, beyond which we pass over the into realm of _pathology_, incompatible with the survival of the species; and even in the pathological cases they determine the extreme limits, obtained from the individual monstrosities that have actually existed in the course of the centuries, and that seem to indicate the furthest limits attained by the human race.

Deniker, in summing up the principal authorities, assigns the following limits:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Normal statures, range of oscillations among the races|
|-------|----------------------------------------------|
Statures|Lowest |Exception-|Extreme|Extreme |Exception-|Highest|Statures
less |indi- |ally low |low |high |ally high | indi- |from
than |vidual |individual|racial |racial |individual|vidual |2 m.
1.25 m. | | stature |average|average | stature |extreme|upward
--------+-------+----------+-------+--------+----------+-------+---------
Nanism |1.25 m.| 1.35 m. | Akkas |Scotch- | 1.90 m. |1.99 m.|Gigantism
| | | 1.387 | men of | | |
| | | m. |Galloway| | |
| | | |1.792 m.| | |
----------------|--------------------------------------------------------

The pathological extremes that would seem to indicate the limits of stature compatible with human life would seem to be on the one hand the little female dwarf, Hilany Agyba of Sinai, described by Jaest and cited by Deniker,[13] 15 inches high (0.38 m.--the average length of the Italian child at birth is 0.50 m. = 19-1/2 in.), and on the other, the giant Finlander, Caianus, cited by Topinard[14], 9 ft. 3-1/2 in. in height (2.83); the two extremes of human stature would accordingly bear a ratio of 1:7. On the other hand, Quétélet[15] gives the two extremes as being relatively 1:6--namely, the Swedish giant who was one of the guardsmen of Frederick the Great, and was 2.523 m. tall (8 ft. 3 in.); and the dwarf cited by Buffon, 0.43 m. in height (16-3/4 in.).

When there is occasion for applying the terms _tall_ or _low_ stature to individuals of our own race, it is necessary at the same time to establish limits that will determine the precise meaning of such terms. Livi[16] gives as the average stature for Italians 1.65 m. (5 ft. 5 in.), and speaking authoritatively as the leading statistician in Anthropology, establishes the following limits:

STATURE OF ITALIANS (LIVI)

Averages Determining The Terminology of Stature

-----------------------+-------------------------+--------------------
1.60 m. and below, low | 1.65 m. and all between |1.70 m. and above,
statures. | 1.60-1.70, mean statures| tall statures.
-----------------------+-------------------------+--------------------

The individual extremes among the low statures tend to approach the average stature of the Japanese race (1.55 m.), and those among the high statures approach the Anglo-Saxon average (the Scotch = 1.79 m.)

There is much to interest us in studying the _distribution_ of statures in Italy.

In Livi's great charts, he has marked in _blue_ those regions where the prevailing percentage of stature is high (1.70 m. and upward), and in red those where the low statures prevail (1.60 m. and below); and the varying intensity of colouration indicates the greater or lesser prevalence of the high or low statures.

Thus it becomes evident in one glance of the eye that tall statures prevail in northern Italy and low statures in the south; while the maximum of low stature (indicated by the most intense red) is found in the islands, and especially in Sardinia.

In the vicinity of the central districts of Italy (the Marches, Umbria, Latium) the two colours fade out; this indicates that here all notable prevalence of stature, either tall or low, ceases; consequently we have here, as the prevailing norm, the mean stature (1.65 m.).

Anyone wishing to analyse the natural distribution of stature, has only to study these charts by Livi, which are worked out with great minuteness. If a study of this sort, extending over the entire peninsula, seems too great an undertaking, it is at least advisable for a teacher to acquaint himself with the _local distribution_ of stature; in order that when it becomes his duty to judge of the stature of pupils in his school he will have the necessary idea regarding the _biological_ (racial) _basis_ on which so important an anthropological datum can oscillate.

Livi's charts, based upon the male stature, correspond almost perfectly with my own regional charts based upon the _average_ _statures_ of the women of Latium. Both Livi and I find that in the region of Latium the tall statures prevail north of the Tiber, especially toward the confines of Umbria; while the lowest statures are found in the neighbourhood of the valley of the Tiber, toward the sea (Castelli Romani). That is to say, the stature becomes lower from north to south, and from the mountains toward the sea. Furthermore, there exist certain nuclei of pure race, such as at Orte and in Castelli Romani, where we may find the extremes of average stature, which for women are found to be 1.61 m. at Orte, and 1.47 m. at Castelli Romani; while the extreme individual statures, according to my figures, oscillate between 1.42 m. (Castelli) and 1.70 m. (Orte). It would be helpful to the teachers of Rome and Latium, if they would acquire some idea regarding the racial types of the district, by studying my work on the _Physical Characteristics_ _of the young Women of Latium_, which is the only work on regional anthropology taken directly from life that so far exists in anthropologic literature.[17]

_The Stature in Relation to Sex._--It is sufficient to point out that the stature varies normally between the sexes, so that the average figures differ by about 10 centimetres (nearly 4 in.) in the direction of a lower stature for woman.

VARIATIONS IN STATURE THROUGH THE DIFFERENT AGES

Notwithstanding that growth is an evolution, it manifests itself also by an _absolute augmentation of mass_; and the linear index of such augmentation is given by the _growth in stature_, or by its variations at different ages.

This exceedingly important measurement ought to be taken in the case of all pupils; and undoubtedly in the course of time anthropometry will form a part of our school equipment; because, by following the increase of stature in a child, we follow his physical development.

In Chapter VII, in which the technique of the stature is discussed, there is a graphic representation of the annual increase of stature in the two sexes; the upper parabolic line refers to the male sex, and the lower one to the female. On the vertical line are marked the measures of growth, from the base upward, and on the horizontal line the ages. All the dotted vertical lines which rise from the horizontal, each corresponding to a successive year of life, and stop at the parabolic line, represent the relative proportion of stature from year to year; while the parabola which unites the extremities of such lines may be regarded as a line drawn tangent to the top of the head of an individual through the successive periods of his life.

If we analyse this table, we find that the greatest increase in stature takes place during the first year; in fact, a child which at birth has an average length of body of 0.50 m. for males, and 0.48 m. for females (the new-born child does not have _stature_, but only _length of body_, since it has not yet acquired an erect position) has by the end of the first year augmented the length of body by 20 centimetres, which gives an average length of 0.70 m. In no other year of life will the stature acquire so notable an increase; it is very important for mothers to watch the growth of the child during this first year of its life; and the following figures may be useful for comparison:

It will be seen that the maximum increase takes place during the first four months--especially in the first month (4 cm. = 1.57 in.) the rate diminishing from this point up to the fourth month (2 cm. = 0.78 in.), after which the monthly increase remains steadily at one centimetre (0.39 in.).

FIG. 23--Skeleton of a child from birth to the age of one year.]

GROWTH IN LENGTH OF BODY DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE
(FROM FIGUEIRA)

--------------+-------------------+-----------------
Age in months | Length of body in | Monthly increase
| metres |
--------------+-------------------+-----------------
0 | 0.50 | 0
1 | 0.54 | 4
2 | 0.57 | 3
3 | 0.60 | 3
4 | 0.62 | 2
5 | 0.63 | 1
6 | 0.64 | 1
7 | 0.65 | 1
8 | 0.66 | 1
9 | 0.67 | 1
10 | 0.68 | 1
11 | 0.69 | 1
12 | 0.70 | 1
--------------+-------------------+-----------------

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Pedagogical AnthropologyChapter I: Certain Principles of General Biology (3)

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