is not satisfactory--it does not inform us that the persons
measured had reached their full development; for men continue to grow,
as has been shewn by M. Quetelet, even after twenty-five. The height
given, notwithstanding--five feet seven inches--in all probability
approximates pretty closely to the true average; and the very
different result shewn in Professor Forbes's measurements in the
University must be set pretty nearly out of the question. The number
of Scotsmen measured by the professor was 523 in all; but these were
of eleven different ages, from fifteen to twenty-five, all averaged
separately; and supposing the number of each age to have been alike,
this would give less than fifty of the age of twenty-five--the average
height of whom was 69.3 inches. But independently of the smallness of
the number, the professor's customers were volunteers, and it is not
to be supposed that under-sized persons would put themselves forward
on such an occasion. It may be added, that even the height of the
boot-heels of young collegians of twenty-five would tend to falsify
the average.

Men do not only differ in their proportions from other men, but from
themselves. The arms and legs may be paired, but they are not matched,
and in every respect one side of the body is different from the other:
the eyes are not set straight across the face, neither is the mouth;
the nose is inclined to one side; the ears are of different sizes, and
one is nearer the crown of the head than the other; there are not two
fingers, nor two nails on the fingers, alike, and the same
disagreement runs through the whole figure. This, however, is so
common an observation, that we should not have thought it necessary to
mention it, but for the bearing the facts given by our statist have
upon the common theory by which the irregularity is sought to be
accounted for. This declares, that use is the cause of the greater
growth of one limb, &c.: that the right hand, for instance, is larger
than the left, because it is in more active service. It appears,
however, that although the left limbs are in general smaller, this is
not, as it is usually supposed, invariably the case; while the ears
and eyes, that are used indiscriminately, present the same relative
difference of size. We do not, therefore, make our own proportions in
this respect: we come into the world with them, and our occupations
merely exaggerate a natural defect. An idle man will have one arm half