376
Life and Letters of Francis Galton
Anthropometric Percentiles'.
Values Surpassed and Values Unreached, by various percentages of the persons measured
at the Anthropometric Laboratory at the late International Health Exhibition.
Values surpassed by percents. below
|
Character measured |
Age |
Unit of
measure-
merit |
Sex |
No.
of
sons |
95%
5°/ 0 |
90% |
80% |
Values
unreached |
by |
70.10 60-1150%14%
0.10
'
percents. |
3% 0% 20°oy10°oi
below |
90°/ 0 |
501o
95°/ 0 |
|
10°/ 0 |
20°/ 0 |
30°/ 0 |
40°/ 0 |
50°/0 |
0 60°/ |
70°/0 |
80°/ 0 |
|
Height standing |
23- |
Inches |
M. |
811 |
63-264-5 |
|
65.8 |
66.5 |
67.3 |
67.9 |
68-569-2 |
|
70.0 |
71.3 |
72.4 |
|
without shoes |
51. |
17 |
F. |
770 |
.58-959-9 |
|
61.3 |
62.1 |
62.7 |
63.3 |
63-964-6 |
|
65.3 |
66.4 |
67.3 |
|
Height sitting from |
23- |
Inches |
M. |
1013 |
|
33-634-2 |
34.9 |
35.3 |
35.4 |
36.0 |
36-336-7 |
|
37.1 |
37.7 |
38.2 |
|
seat of chair |
51 |
91 |
F. |
775 |
|
31-832-3 |
32.9 |
33.3 |
33.6 |
33.9 |
34-234-6 |
|
34.9 |
35.6 |
36.0 |
|
Span of Arms ... |
23- |
Inches |
M. |
811 |
65-066-1 |
|
67.2 |
68.2 |
69.0 |
69.9 |
|
70-671-4 |
72.3 |
73.6 |
74.8 |
| |
51 |
„ |
F. |
770 |
58-659-5 |
|
60.7 |
61.7 |
62.4 |
63.0 |
63-764-5 |
|
65.4 |
66.7 |
68.0 |
|
Weight in ordinary |
23- |
Pounds |
-M. |
520 |
121 |
125 |
131 |
135 |
139 |
143 |
147 |
150 |
156 |
165 |
172 |
|
indoor clothes |
26 |
„ |
F. |
276 |
102 |
105 |
110 |
114 |
118 |
122 |
129 |
132 |
136 |
142 |
149 |
|
Vital or Breathing |
23- |
Cubic |
M. |
212 |
161 |
177 |
187 |
199 |
211 |
219 |
226 |
236 |
248 |
277 |
290 |
|
Capacity |
26 |
Inches |
F. |
277 |
92 |
102 |
115 |
124 |
131 |
138 |
144 |
151 |
164 |
177 |
186 |
|
Strength of Pull as |
23- |
Pounds |
M. |
519 |
56 |
60 |
64 |
68 |
71 |
74 |
77 |
80 |
82 |
89 |
96 |
|
archer with bow |
26 |
„ |
F. |
276 |
30 |
32 |
34 |
36 |
38 |
40 |
42 |
44 |
47 |
51 |
54 |
|
Strength of Squeeze |
23- |
Pounds |
M. |
519 |
67 |
71 |
76 |
79 |
82 |
85 |
88 |
91 |
95 |
100 |
104 |
|
with strongest band |
26 |
„ |
F. |
276 |
36 |
39 |
43 |
47 |
49 |
52 |
55 |
58 |
62 |
67 |
72 |
|
Swiftness of Blow |
23- |
Feet per |
M. |
516 |
|
13.214.1 |
15.2 |
16.2 |
17.3 |
18.1 |
|
19-120-0 |
20.9 |
22.3 |
23.6 |
| |
26 |
second |
F. |
271 |
|
9.210.1 |
11.3 |
12.1 |
12.8 |
13.4 |
|
14.014.5 |
15.1 |
16-3 |
16-9 |
|
Keennessof Sight by |
23- |
Inches |
M. |
398 |
13 |
17 |
20 |
22 |
23 |
25 |
26 |
28 |
30 |
32 |
34 |
|
distance of reading
diamond type |
26 |
„ |
F. |
433 |
10 |
12 |
16 |
19 |
22 |
24 |
26 |
27 |
29 |
31 |
32 |
Taking the table, it can be shown by plotting in reverse directions that the male and female ogive curves, for squeeze of hand say, intersect at 7 °/° , or if we had to select the 100 strongest individuals out of 100 men and 100 women taken at random, we should select 93 men and seven women. On this Galton makes the comment
"Very-powerful women exist, but happily perhaps for the repose of the other sex, such gifted women are rare." (p. 278.)
It is probable that if Galton had taken the fisherfolk of Aberdeen, the peasantry of the Tyrol, or any primitive people, he would have found a considerably greater percentage of women in his 100 strongest individuals. He was largely dealing with a town population. Our experience in the Galton Laboratory shows that there are quite a few characters in which the absolute values reached by the women equal or excel those of the men, notably in Memory of Form, Discrimination of Colour, Steadiness of Hand, and SpeedAccuracy of Hand.
' The value that is unreached by n'/. of any large group of measurements and surpassed by (100 - n) °/, is called the nth percentile.
