Linear Body Proportions

.... "the child" as revealed by mass statistics of any sort is a bit of fiction. Reality is found only in the growth changes of individual children: Mary, John, Greta, Hans, Giovanna, Antonio, Rose and Isidore.—C. B. Davenport(Sc. Month. 52: 197-202 [March] 1941) The concept of differences in linear bodily proportions is a familiar one. We refer to persons as "long-legged" or "short-trunked" in the same definitive sense that we say "tall" or "short." We are also well aware that changes in proportions occur during growth, since the body form of the young child differs from that of the adult in more than size. As a continuation of the investigation of growth of the subjects being studied at the Child Research Council, this present study will deal with linear segmental proportions, their changes during growth, and the variations observed in the young adult. Previous publications1,2on the growth