On the Relationship between Stature and the Length of the Appendages in Man

The purpose of this paper has been to consider the relationship between stature and the length of the upper and lower appendages in man. The data represent both children and adults of both sexes. The correlation between stature and the length of the appendages is fairly high. In the case of the lower appendages this relationship is the inevitable result of the fact that the appendages themselves are one of the chief components of stature. While the coefficient of correlation measuring this relationship has descriptive value, it fails to bring out fully the morphological relationship between these variables. A coefficient showing the relationship between stature and the deviation of the components (sitting height, leg length or thigh length) from their probable value shows that in tall individuals sitting height forms a relatively smaller and leg length a relatively larger proportion of total stature than in short ones. This relationship holds for both adults and children of various ages. The relationship between stature and the deviation of the length of the upper appendages from their probable value is relatively small and in some series of data can not be considered significant in comparison with its probable error. The coefficients for the anterior appendages are prevailingly negative in sign. Thus anterior and posterior appendages show quite different relations to total stature.