Athletic Sports (extract)

The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man above another inheight, and below him in weight. The significance of the fact lies in the degree of the difference. Then, again, the same man may be above the normal in one measurement, and below the normal in another. The extentof the va­ riation is the desirable thing to know. In one instance this variation might not ex­ ceed the physiological limits; in another instance it might result in a deformity. These differencesare but vaguely suggested when expressed in figures; yet it is futile to tell a person that he is above or below the aver­ age without indicatingthe degree, or informing him of its significance. The objectof the chart (see Charts I., II., III.) is to meet this difficulty, and to furnish the youth of both sexes with a laudable incentive tosystematic and judicious physical training, by showing them, at a glance, their relation in size, strength, symmetry, and development to the normal standard, as de­ duced from the measurements of ten thousand individuals. Figure E. 27