• DV DM THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT BY BURCHARD W. DE BUSK University of Oregon A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF CLARK UNIVERSITY. WORCESTER, MASS.. IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DE- GREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, AND ACCEPTED ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF G. STANLEY HALL Reprinted from the Pedagogical Seminary March, 1917, Vol. XXIV, pp. 1-18 THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT BY BURCHARD W. DE BUSK A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF CLARK UNIVERSITY. WORCESTER. MASS.. IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DE- GREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, AND ACCEPTED ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF G. STANLEY HALL Reprinted from the Pedagogical Seminary March, 1917, Vol. XXIV, pp. 1-18 ■LAAsu' t^j^rl. LJ5 ■ THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT By BuRCHARD W, De Busk, University of Oregon There is perhaps no more important problem for educa- tion than that of the physiological development of children during the school age. It would seem that the rate of growth sets a limit to learning beyond which the skill of the teacher can not go. For since the work of Porter (20) there has been good reason to believe that learning is not only condi- tioned by growth but that in these earlier years the rate of physiological maturing and that of mental development are closely related. Not only this early study but the later work of Smedley (24), Crampton (7), Goddard (13), Arnold (i) and others show that physical and mental retardation go to- gether. The work of Gilbert (12) on the other hand would indicate that the reverse is true. Whether or not these dif- ferences in conclusions are due to technique and methods of classification is still a problem. It would seem that there ought to be a close agreement between the grade position of a pupil and the teacher's estimate of his ability, yet the con- clusions of investigators using these two methods of classi- fication are not in agreement. A preliminary investigation of the writer (9) using the grade age method of classification agreed in the main with the conclusions of Porter (20) and Smedley (24). It was noticed in this study that the vital indices of those children below grade averaged much lower than that of those above grade. A study was accordingly begun using the mental age as the basis of classification. It was hoped if a satisfactory method were employed which would select out the mentally 2 THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT retarded and accelerated that a comparison of the anthropo- metric measurements of the two groups would reveal some fundamental difference. The two hundred children of the Colorado Teachers' College, one hundred and four boys and ninety-six girls were selected for the study. The number is small but the growth curve of the individual is very similar to that of the group. And the small number enabled one to keep sight of the individual in the group. The following data were secured, the name, age, physiolog- ical age from the teeth, the mental age, grade, height, weight, vital capacity, condition of the teeth and of the tonsils, and the presence or absence of nasal obstruction. To these were added from the records of the school the results of the eye and ear examinations made by Dr. J. D. Heilman of the department of psychology. The height and weight were meas- ured by scales and stadiometer in use in the clinical depart- ment. A wet spirometer was used to determine the vital capacity. For this measurement the children were taken in groups and the element of competition introduced into the test. Each child was permitted a number of trials and the best record taken. It may be stated here that the children had had frequent experience with the spirometer. From the above the relation of weight to height was determined, believ- ing that this index would express the general state of nutri- tion of the individual. The vital indices were also computed. It will be remembered that this index marked the greatest difference between the accelerated and the retarded groups in the preliminary investigation. The classification into the three groups, the accelerated, the normal and the retarded, was based upon the 191 1 revision of the Binet scale. The averages are given in the tables. Historical. In 1889 Gratsianoff (14) in Russia measured the children of Arznus and brought out the fact that the suc- cessful children were larger than the unsuccessful and that their rate of growth was quicker. Sack (23) rejected this because of the small number but his own investigation con- firmed Gratsianoff's ( 14) results. These studies ^ were un- known to Dr. W. T. Porter (20) when he began his work in St. Louis, which was undertaken to find the laws of growth, in order that the school work might be fitted to the ability of the pupil. The method of classification was that of the grade age. Porter raised three questions all of which he answered in the affirmative. Are dull children weaker if size is to be taken as the index of strength? Is mediocrity associated with mediocrity of physique? Is there a physical basis of pre- cocity? Bright children were found to be taller and heavier THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT i tv,an dull Successful children were also found to have larger chestsUian tile unsuccessful. These facts led Porter to con- ''"^No^'child whose weight is below the average of its age should be permitted to enter a grade beyond the ave age of ts age except after such a physical exammafon as sha 1 make it prSbable that the child's strength ^hall be equa to the task In November of the same year J. Allen Gilbert (12) ot Yale published his Researches on the Mental and Phys cal Development of School Children for the purpose of deter- mfnTnrthe correlation between the physical and mental de- velopment. He classified pupils on a basis of the teacher s estimate as bright, average and dull. He writes m regard *''*^e"sSement is made by Porter that the brighter the child the taller he is. Brightness and du Iness in his tests were decided by the examination grades, which it is needless to say are often very poor mental tests. In my results no such relation could be traced." . The same negative conclusion was drawn in legard to weio-ht The correlation between vital capacity and mental ability was also indifferent and limited. In his Iowa studies of 1807 the same negative conclusions were reached. If any- thing positive can be stated. Gilbert thinks, it is that the heavier and taller children are the duller G M. West (26) from his study of school children ot Canada found as a general rule that the poor, that is the dull children were more fully developed than the good. In fact the po"; were the better developed throughout except girls at fourteen and boys at thirteen. For this reason he coi^id- ered it safe to conclude that precocity bore an inverse ratio to 'I'lSedtrS -investigated the conclusions of Porter using the anthropometric measurements of the sd.ool children of Chicago. It is clear from his data that the children who have made the greater intellectual advancement are on the whole Slier hea.'ier and have the greater vital capacity. He found hat the pupils of the John Worthy school or truants and lncorrigibLs\vere inferior in all the principal measurements taken and that the inferiority increased with age. Kline (16) found in his study of truants that the mean height, weight and chest circumference was less than the correspond- TngVeasurements of public school boys '", 7«;y .«f ^^^^^ except the age of ten, when they were equal in height and "^ Bdieving that the correlations of Porter were essentially 4 THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT correct, Goddard (13) compared the growth in height and weight of feeble-minded children with the normal. He found that for boys the feeble-minded were shorter and weighed less, age for age, than the normal. For the girls the situation with regard to height was much the same. For weight the girls seemed to deviate less from the normal than the boys. Having established the above Goddard turned his attention to the difference in the different grades of defect. He concludes that it is evident that the mental condition is correlated with the physical. The idiot he finds to be inferior to the imbecile physically. Size and efficiency go together in the long run. The cause that has acted to impair mind and brain has affected the entire growth process. As the result of an extended study of physical growth and school progress, based on consecutive measurements at yearly and half yearly periods Baldwin comes to the conclusion that " If pedagogical age be accepted as a fair equivalent to mental development, the tall heavy boys and girls with good lung capacity are older physiologically and are further along in their stages of growth toward mental maturity as evidenced by school progress than are the short, light boys and girls." On the other hand Wiazemsky (27a) concluded from a study of factors that influence growth that the less endowed surpass the more intelligent in their physical development. This is true especially for the beginning and the end of the period studied by him, that is, from ten to twenty years. The recent study of Arnold on Weight and School Progress brings out again the fact that the heavier children of a given age are to be found in the more advanced grades. His results are confirmed by the results of Hogue, whose tables are reprinted by him. Historical Summary. Porter and Smedley in the United States conclude that the bright children are taller and heavier than the dull. These results are based on the age grade method of classification. Arnold and Hogue confirm the weight re- sults. Baldwin using school marks comes to the same con- clusion. On the other hand Gilbert found no constant relation and West a negative one. Both these investigators used the teachers' estimate of ability as the basis of classification. Mac- Donald, however, using the same method, confinned the results of Porter and Smedley. Using spirometry Smedley found that successful children had larger vital capacity than unsuccessful. Gilbert found that correlation to be indifferent or negative, except that from ten to fifteen the dull children have the larger capacities. The investigation of Baldwin and the preliminary study of the writer confirmed Smedley's re- THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT 5 suits. Wiazemsky measured the chest circumference and found good pupils to be superior at all ages except from twelve to thirteen and from fourteen to fifteen. Height. Height is the most distinctly human of all the measurements, representing as it does a definite racial char- acteristic. Heredity preserves a definite norm which all its members tend to attain within rather narrow limits. So having the norm for the different ages established, height gives a fair index of the development of the individual. Bowditch pointed out that the taller individuals, that is, those in advance of the norm for their age reached the rapid growth period earlier. This fact has again been brought out recently by Baldwin. These taller boys and girls he says are the physio- logically accelerated boys and girls. They complete their ele- mentary school course earlier, he continues, and as a rule make higher grades than the shorter boys and girls whom he regards as physiologically retarded. If this finding holds as it certainly does for relatively large numbers then height in relation to the norm of a given age is a criterion of physio- logical age and these taller boys and girls have attained a greater proportion of their mature height. Growth in height is rapid in early childhood and falls to a minimum about ten or eleven. This period of retardation is followed by one of acceleration beginning with pubescence. Acceleration alternating with retardation is a general law of growth, true of the individual as well as of the group. Every study since Quetelet has shown the period of retardation from eight or nine to ten or eleven, followed by a period of acceleration lasting about four years. With girls this period of accelera- tion begins a year or two earlier than with boys and accounts for the fact that from eleven to fifteen in general, girls are taller than boys. Thus the data presented in this study are typical. But not only are the girls taller during pubescence but also at seven and nine, a fact which may be due to some accident of numbers or may show some variation of growth since the same fact is noted in the results of several investi- gators. As mentioned before, the pubescent crossing of the curve is due to the earlier rapid growth of the girl. Some investigators think that the comparison should not be one of attainment at a given chronological age but rather should be between the percentages of adult height attained at a given age. Let us turn now to the analysis of the data on the basis of mental age. The accelerated boys are taller than the normal till twelve. At this age and all succeeding ages studied they are not so tall. On the other hand the retarded are 6 THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT shorter than the normal at all ages studied except eight and thirteen, when they are also taller than the accelerated. Thus the accelerated are taller than the retarded at all ages except eight and thirteen. If we compare the accelerated and the retarded girls the former are taller until the rapid growth period begins at eleven. At this age they are surpassed by the retarded who remain taller until fourteen. The delayed growth of the retarded girl in the earlier years seems to be compen- sated for by the three years of rapid growth from eleven to thirteen inclusive. Thus we find retarded boys to be taller at thirteen and girls at eleven, twelve and thirteen. This conclu- sion is not in accord with' Wiazemsky who found good pupils to be superior in height only during the period of rapid growth. The periodicity of growth is much more marked in the re- tarded than in either the accelerated or the normal. With the latter, growth is much more steady and uniform. With the retarded the earlier years mark a period of very little growth. This is followed by a period of acceleration perhaps shortened in time but compensated for by intensity. Some investigators think that this rapid growth can have only a harmful effect on the individual from the standpoint of the physical and the mental life. As to the cause of the extreme periodicity of growth we can not say. Some investigations indicate that this picture is usually accompanied by eft'ects which follow harmful conditions, namely the precipitate growth and the delay of puberty. (See Table L) Weight. Unlike height, which when once gained cannot be lost, weight varies greatly, is easily lost and gained. It is an experimental datum as Montessori (19) calls it, a barometer, an index of the child's health deserving of the most careful study. Environmental factors as illustrated in McKenzie's studies, deprivation, fatigue, anxiety, worry, malnutrition, ill- ness, all affect adversely the weight of the child. A careful study of the weight may not only reveal the effect of factors in the environment but may serve to reveal the strength or weakness of the child's organs. As with height, growth in weight is not uniform but rhythmic. There is in general a slight acceleration in girls at seven and in boys at eight. The following period of re- tardation in growth reaches its lowest with girls at nine and with boys at eleven. At about eleven the period of rapid acceleration of weight begins and lasts about four years. In the present study the growth in weight follows the usual course. There is little difference between the sexes until twelve. Girls are slightly superior at seven and nine. The pubertal superiority begins at twelve. As with height this THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT 7 superiority is due to the fact that the rapid growth period begins eariier with girls than with boys. The accelerated boys weigh less than the normal boys except at the ages seven, twelve and thirteen. Retarded boys are heavier than the normal at eight, twelve and thirteen. When compared with the accelerated the retarded are heavier at the ages of eight and thirteen. With girls the accelerated are lighter than the normal at all ages except thirteen and fourteen. Retarded girls are lighter than the normal until eleven, then heavier except at thirteen and fourteen. Retarded girls are lighter than the accelerated at eight but heavier in all other groups presented. While retarded boys are lighter than the accelerated at almost all ages, retarded girls are heavier at ten and subsequent ages. The gain in weight is not so uniform as the gain in height probably for the reasons mentioned in a preceding section. Nevertheless accelerated and normal show a rather uniform rate of growth until the rapid gain at puberty. With the re- tarded we have the law of compensation at work as in height. The rapid growth of puberty tends to bring both retarded boys and girls above the accelerated at this period, boys at thirteen and girls from eleven on. (See Table II.) Vital Capacity, The development of the chest is of the greatest importance. No part of the body undergoes greater changes. Hastings speaks of the want of breadth in the infant chest. Woods Hutchinson writes of the widening of the chest in the animal series. The human chest is almost unique, he writes, in that its transverse diameter is the greater. This transformation from the narrow almost animal form to the more human adult form is destined to receive greater consideration in the future than it has in the past. The rate of transformation will give us another index of the rate of the maturing of the individual. The circumference of the chest has received considerable attention especially in its relation to height. The general rule is that the chest circumference should equal half the total stature. This has been one of the determining marks for mili- tary fitness. It is generally conceded that the more the chest circumference exceeds half the height the greater is the vitality and the greater the ease with which the individual adjusts to the varying effects of the environmnt. The measurement of the chest must of necessity give some idea of the develop- ment of the lungs. These are the organs that furnish the means for the inter-communication between the blood and the oxygen which is so essential not only for all growth but for all functioning as well. The lungs are responsible for 8 THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT oxygenating the tissues of the body and in this way aid in cellular metabolism. If the lungs are relatively small then the body is without that factor of safety, metabolism is prob- ably slowed down and the amount of exertion under stress is limited. A large supply of oxygen stimulates interchange. The want of it reduces activity. For the growing person the rate of approach to maturity, the physiological age, is re- tarded. Two methods of measuring have been used by stu- dents of the mental and physical growth of school children, the chest circumference and spirometry or the measurement of vital capacity. Porter studied the girth of the chest of the school children of St. Louis and found that the bright children have a larger chest circumference than the dull. The results of Gratsianoff and Sach agree with Porter in this respect. Kline found the chest girth of truants to be less than that of public school children at all ages except at ten. Wiazemsky found good children, that is the bright, to be superior to the poor at all ages except twelve to thirteen and fourteen to fifteen. He also found that robust children were superior at all ages. Also those of good conduct were superior to those of bad at all ages except thirteen to fourteen and sixteen to seventeen. Not only did Wiazemsky point out the above but also the significant fact that the occupation reflects itself in the development of the chest. From the above it is safe to conclude that there is a correlation between school progress and chest circumference. While there must, it seems, be a high correlation between chest capacity as shown by chest circumference and vital capacity the two are not synonymous. Other investigators have used spirometry. Spirometry only measures directly the respiratory capacity and indirectly the pulmonary capacity. Gilbert found that there was no constant relationship be- tween mental ability and vital capacity until ten to fifteen when the duller children had the larger capacity. Smedley in his investigation found that the vital capacity was much greater in the children of higher school standing. Goddard has pointed out that the vital capacity of feeble-minded children is smaller than that of the normal. Montessori states that among children that are recognized as the brightest she has been able to recognize two categories, those who are excep- tionally intelligent and those who are exceptionally studious. The former have better chest development than the latter. In general vital capacity in its growth follows the same laws as weight, showing the same periods of retardation and acceleration. Practically all investigators have found that boys have larger vital capacities at all ages than girls. Bald- THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT 9 win's study shows girls with greater vital capacity between thirteen and fourteen. The present study would add also the ages of seven and nine. On the basis of mental age the accel- erated boys have better vital capacity than normal at all ages except eight and fourteen. The retarded are inferior to the normal except at eight, when they are equal, and at twelve. At no age do the retarded show a vital capacity equal to the accelerated except at eight. Accelerated girls are superior to normal at all ages except seven and twelve. The retarded are superior to the normal at thirteen and fourteen. At thir- teen the retarded are superior to the normal but at no other age. Thus accelerated boys have greater vital capacity than re- tarded at all ages except that of eight, when they are equal, and the same general rule is true of girls except for the age of thirteen. Again the same tendency toward a uniformity of growth is noticed for the accelerated and the normal. Also the same period of retardation in the earlier school years, followed by rapid growth, which is more marked with the retarded girls than with the boys. (See Table III.) Growth, which is an exceedingly complex process, manifests itself in three laws studied by many investigators but espe- cially discussed by Wiazemsky. First is the law of periodicity. According to this law, the growth of the organism is subject to accelerations and retardations. While this law is seen to an extent in all the groups studied it is much more noticeable in the retarded. It would seem that during the earlier school years some factor, or perhaps several is at work which tends to slow down the growth process. Baldwin, studying the taller and heavier children as a group found that the period of acceleration and arrest began and ended earlier with them than among those below the median height and weight. Then when development is arrested at any of its regular growth periods by unfavorable circumstances, there is a tendency for a later rapid growth to compensate for lost time. The brevity of the period of retardation is compensated for by the extent of growth and vice versa the slowness of the growth rate by the length of time. In the third place there is the law of correlation. The human body is wonderfully complex. If it is to grow and function properly there must be a proper correlation of its parts. The digestive system must be equal to the task of furnishing an adequate amount of nutritive material. The lungs must be large enough to supply not only the average need but also a factor of safety for the moments of intense effort. The heart and the arteries are responsible for conveying a sufficient amount of material to the growing 10 THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT and functioning parts. Unless such a correlation exists growth can not be equal and uniform. Some parts must grow at the expense of others. Protective measures for the preserving of energy must arise. On this point in the absence of further investigation we can not speak. As the matter now stands, the brighter children are those who seem to have this balance or even an excess on the side of vital capacity. The other systems mentioned have not been studied in this con- nection. On the basis of mental age, accelerated boys are as a rule taller and heavier and have larger vital capacities than the retarded, while with the girls studied the retarded excel in height and weight during the rapid growth period and also in vital capacity at the age of thirteen. This of necessity means that there are many groups of accelerated that are below the average of their age in the measurements mentioned. This was recognized by Porter and the investigators follow- ing him. It was pointed out by these that the small acceler- ated were taller and heavier than the small retarded. If height and weight are to be considered as expressions of physiological age as many think, and the writer believes that this is true of the average, then it would seem that chil- dren must be differentiated into types. Then as a rule the taller and heavier for the type would be physiologically the more mature. But it is yet a question whether or not this would solve the problem. For one would have yet in classifying a child to determine whether it was a case of type or physiological retardation, in which case the height and weight would be the result of some unfavorable factor acting upon the growth process. Is there not some under- lying principle which will harmonize the conflicting data? Not only the energy of growth but the energy of work hangs on the metabolic balance. With the production of work there must be consumption of fuel either of food or of body material. In work of course this consumption is greatly in excess over rest. Probably in no organ is the demand for quick change so great as in the brain. There is growing evidence that the oxygen consumption of the brain is greater than previously thought and it has already been shown that there is a direct relation between the rate of recovery from fatigue and the rate of transmission of the nerve current. In view of these facts it seems reasonable that Whipple's state- ment of the vital index is correct, that the vital index, the ratio of vital capacity to weight " expresses the balance between body size and the rate and completeness with which oxida- tion of the blood is or may be affected." THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT U The vital index should it seems give a rough measure of the endurance of the subject and of his recuperative powers. The subject with the higher vital index would then do the greater amount of work. It was shown by illustration in the preliminary work that those children of a given age who were the farther advanced had the higher vital indices. Kotelman in 1878 was the first to study lung capacity in relation to weight and pointed out the fact that lung capacity increased slightly faster than weight. This conclusion was con- firmed by Vierordt. Bobbett in 1909 studied the vital index of Philippine children. Since then Pyle (22) has figured the vital index for Smedley's data showing that the vital index for boys is almost constant at 25 cc. per pound of weight and for girls 23 cc. until eleven. There is then a gradual decrease until fourteen. At this age the index is 21 cc. Baldwin also gives the vital index in his studies of growth. Our method of classification permits the study of the vital indices of the different groups. At the ages of seven and nine the vital indices of boys and girls are practically the same. At all other ages boys have the higher vital indices. Compared with Smedley's data the vital index of the boy throughout is about the same. The girls do not show the progressive drop after the age of eleven. At the age of eight in our table the average vital index of the accelerated boy is slightly lower than that of the normal. But at no age is the vital index of the retarded as high as that of the acceler- ated. ^ Consequently there is a marked difference between the vital indices of the accelerated and the retarded boys. With the accelerated girls the vital index is higher at all ages than that of the retarded. However at ten the retarded slightly surpass the normal. But as with boys there is a marked difference between accelerated girls and the retarded. Regard- less of age the accelerated show a relatively high vital index while the retarded are relatively low. (See Table IV.) There is undoubtedly a high correlation between the results of the Binet scale and the teacher's estimate, also between the teacher's estimate and the grade position. So classifica- tion on these bases should show the same differences in vital indices although not so great. For the purpose of deter- mining, the vital indices were figured for the work of Gilbert at Yale and the study of Smedley. V^ith Gilbert's study the bright, on the basis of the teachers' estimate, show the higher vital indices at all ages except those of eleven and twelve. The Iowa study does not give as high a correlation. Of the total number of ages studied by Gilbert at Iowa the dull show the lower vital indices in eight and the higher in the remaining 12 THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT four. Smedley classified the Chicago children into two groups on the basis of the grade age position as follows, those at and above grade and those below grade. The at and above grade group shows the higher vital index at every age except eight and ten. It is to be expected that the difference will be greater in the upper grade, where there is a greater accumula- tion of retarded on this method of classification. The below grade girls have the higher indices at ten and eleven and are equal to the at and above grade group at thirteen. When compared with the at and above grade boys, the boys from the John Worthy school for truants show lower vital indices except at the ages of nine and twelve. (See Table IV.) From the above comparisons, in spite of differences of classification, technique, etc., one fact stands out and that is that accelerated children, regardless of the method of classi- fication, show at almost every age the higher vital indices. We believe that the vital index is much more closely correlated with acceleration and retardation than height, weight or vital capacity, and that it is a measure which will harmonize the otherwise conflicting data. Is there any relation between a high or a low vital index and the development of the child? If it is shown that a relation exists, then the problem becomes an important one for education and hygiene. The vital index can be increased by training which decreases surplus weight and increases the vital capacity. This increase means a better aeration of the blood and, it would seem, an increase in metabolism which would show in endurance and resistance to fatigue or, in other words, in a greater output of work. It will be objected that spirometry is not altogether a meas- ure of vital capacity. This objection is not without founda- tion but we believe that the evidence at present shows or at least indicates strongly that the retarded children have smaller chests and presumably smaller lungs due, w^e believe, to a physiological retardation. It was shown by Porter that those children who were below grade had the smaller chests. While the measurements of height, weight and vital capacity are of undoubted value they do not give a complete picture of child development. Growth is more than an addition of mass or stature. At birth the child is quite different from the adult in its body proportions. Its growth is an onto- genetic development passing from the form and proportion of the infant to that of puberty and then on to that of the adult. This ontogenetic development can best be traced by the indices of growth, that is, by the relation of weight to height, the height-weight index, by the ratio of sitting to THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT 13 Standing height and by the ratio of chest circumference to height. Not having in mind at the time of collecting the above data the question raised above, the measurements for tracing all these changes were not made, nor is there any- single study which enables one to trace all these changes in the same group. However, data of those investigations in which the vital index differences have been shown give some idea of the relationships which we are seeking to establish. The height-weight index " expresses the comparative solid- ity or robustness of the individual and other things being equal his general nutrition. There have been two methods of obtain- ing the height-weight index. The division of the weight by the height gives the proportion of mass for a given unit of height. The most important conclusion on the basis of this method is that the weight increases somewhat faster than the height. This method is held to be faulty by many because it is a comparison of a linear measure with a volume and the resulting indices do not show the transformations of the body as it approaches maturity. It is a matter of common observation that young children have a relatively large pro- portion of weight for their height, that is, are, as we say, plump. They become thinner before puberty and heavier afterwards. The above method does not bring out this fact. The method used in this connection is expressed by the fol- lowing formula. The height-weight index equals one hundred times the cube root of the weight divided by the stature. There is a gradual decrease in the indices until just before puberty. From this time until about the age of seventeen the index remains rather constant and then begins to rise as the individual takes on weight, following the pubertal transi- tion. An important study cited by Montessori brings out the fact that the height-weight index of the studious is lower than that for the non-studious. Also that the index is higher for the feeble-minded than for the normal. Consequently she thinks that the sole cause of the physical inferiority of studious children is cerebral fatigue. Calculating for our own groups and also for Smedley and for Gilbert, the height-weight indices bring out the fact that there is a tendency for the retarded to show the higher indices. (See Table V.) The second important index is that of the relation of sitting to standing height. This ratio may very well represent the physiological efficiency of the individual. In fact, Collignon spoke of it as the essential stature. This index also enables us to trace the rate of development of the growing child. In early childhood there is an exaggerated trunk length. The 14 THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT vegetative life is then the most important. With growth this excess gradually decreases until it is least at puberty, fol- lowing which there is a gradual increase in the excess of trunk length, a return as it were to the more childlike proportion. Thus growth in height until puberty is mainly due to growth of the long bones of the legs. As Godin pointed out, at puberty the lower limbs have a greater dimension in proportion to total height than at any other time. After puberty the pro- portion of the trunk for boys) increases until about seventeen, after which the individual may grow in height but the pro- portion remains rather constant. With girls the proportion of the trunk continues to increase after this age. The deviation from the norm of a given age represents in the growing child either a retarded or an accelerated develop- ment; and in connection with the other indices gives us a measure of the rate of approach to maturity. A study of the Smedley groups not only bears out this generalization but shows a close relation between the rate of development and the vital index. Those with the higher, show the more rapid transformation, while the below grade are the retarded and show the lower vital indices. These differences are seen when we compare the retarded and the accelerated girls also with the two groups of the boys and again when we compared the at and above grade boys and the boys from the John Worthy School. (See Table VI.) We do not have the data to show the relation existing be- tween the ratio of chest circumference on the one hand and the vital index on the other. However retarded children have a smaller chest circumference than accelerated as was shown by Porter. There is a need of study of all of these relation- ships in the same group of children. While no thoroughgoing conclusion can be drawn, yet as a general rule accelerated boys are taller, weigh more and have the greater vital capacity. Accelerated girls have the greater vital capacity but the retarded are taller and heavier during the greater part of the rapid growth period. With both the boys and girls the vital index of the accelerated is greater at all ages than that of the retarded. With weight the reverse is true. The retarded show a greater proportion of weight per unit of height than do the accelerated. There are, however, exceptions to this rule, but the general tendency seems to be for the accelerated to show the lower proportion of mass with the higher vital index, as it were a relatively low mass highly oxygenated. The opposite holds for the re- tarded. The study of the ratio of sitting to standing height brings out the fact that those children with the higher vital THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT I5 quently then compulsory school entrance at Ste of sTx" must mean that a large number of the entering children a e faiurTi/Se" r^r"^ °' '"^"'^">' '"'^ - afe doomed o Srk iaJv of tT ""T"""' 1 ^^'^'y ""'f°™ ^t-"dard oi d Tcriied . ^''" f'' '^"f ^''°" '^ "'^^'l whethi^he two group .fS^of^^dTatSrTnt t^at:i^^WiU^ =^1^ 1 '^^'^ £tS^°^'!^tSSifil~^^^^ wClrfehn:^ U'L'thfup'rS" T^^ ^'f °^ *°- 't^rr'^ -bject of\Tera;j:t;^estiSfo'n'°™^^'^^' '^ ^°r F™9°",-^^^ Tranmg School who made possible the collection of the dafa ffTrc^h'LTs:^^^^^^^^ and suggestion, gave so generously of thei; W '''"" TABLE I Height in Inches i-::::::: si is ts as m ii ii k ii Boys Ret ^^ 5?g ^^-^ ^?-5 56.1 57.5 60.0 63.4 67.0 ^"^-^ •••• 51.5 52.0 55.5 60.5 58.0 64.0 Girls Norm:;:;;: lo ios IH ^U i®? ^e.o 60.3 es.o .... Ret 50 3 ^^-^ 1^? f4.7 57.8 59.2 59.3 62.0 "'^■■^ ■■■■ 52.5 57. 57.5 62.8 61.7 64.3 testing one year and not more iC^r^ bTow !?,? ch?o^n'?,;^^a. a^e?" 16 THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT TABLE : II Weight in Pounds Age Boys Girls 7 . 49.8 . 54.7 8 61.3 57.3 9 60.4 63.7 10 67.8 64.3 11 75.5 72.3 12 81.1 79.7 13 90.6 100.1 14 15 87.0 116.5 107.1 113.0 Boys Ac Norm Ret . 51.0 . 46.5 61.0 61.0 65.0 59.4 61.7 69.6 71.5 59.0 72.6 78.3 64.0 82.2 77.0 82.0 91.3 89.0 94.5 84.5 .... 93.0 137.0 82.3 114.0 Girls Ac Norm Ret . 44.0 . 60.5 58.0 61.5 53.0 62.5 65.4 60.0 68.0 61.0 70.0 72.0 76.0 70.0 83.2 77.8 96.6 85.4 121.2 101.0 .... 100.0 116.0 112.8 112.0 TABLE III Vital Capacity in Liters Age Boys Girls 7 1.24 1.23 8 1.53 1.30 9 1.50 1.59 10 1.76 1.64 11 2.01 1.77 12 2.18 1.90 13 2.34 2.36 14 2.15 2.35 15 2.98 2.63 Boys Ac Norm Ret 1.30 1.15 1.50 1.55 1.50 1.60 1.37 1.94 1.75 1.35 2.07 2.02 1.50 2.60 1.95 1.75 2.60 2.25 2.25 2.30 2.36 2.10 3."66 2.91 Girls Ac Norm Ret 1.20 1.30 1.53 1.45 1.00 1.63 1.57 1.80 1.63 1.50 1.90 1.66 1.60 1.90 2.40 1.72 2.47 2.06 2.65 2.80 2.25 2.38 3.66 2.50 TABLE IV Vital Index Age Boys Girls 7 24.9 22.5 8 24.9 22.8 9 24.8 24.9 10 25.9 25.5 11 26.6 24.5 12 26.9 23.8 13 25.8 23.6 14 24.7 21.9 15 25.6 23.3 Boys Ac Norm Ret 25.5 24.7 24.6 25.4 23.1 26.7 22.2 27.9 24.6 22.9 28.5 25.7 23.4 30.4 25.3 21.3 28.5 25.3 23.9 27.2 25.4 23.5 26^2 25.5 Girls Ac Norm Ret 27.3 21.5 26.0 23.6 18.9 26.2 24.2 30.0 23.9 24.6 27.1 23.1 21.1 27.1 24.5 22.1 25.6 24.2 21.9 27.7 22.5 21.1 25.'9 22.3 Smedley Boys At and above grade Below grade John Worthy School 25.1 26.3 25.8 24.9 26.1 25.0 25.5 25.0 25.3 25.0 24.4 25.4 24.3 25.7 25.5 25.2 24.8 25.0 25.0 25.1 26.3 24.7 24.5 THE VITAL INDEX IN DEVELOPMENT 17 TABLE TV— Continued Girls At and above grade 23 . Below grade 22.7 Gilbert— Yale Study Bright 22.1 21.9 Dull 20.8 20.1 .3 .9 22.6 23.4 22.4 22.5 21.8 21.1 20.6 20.6 20.6 20.3 20.6 19.1 .8 .1 21.4 19.3 21.7 21.9 20.8 21.7 22.6 18.9 19.4 17.3 21.8 19.9 TABLE V Height- Weight Index Boys Age 7 8 9 10 11 12 Ac 22.9 23.9 22.7 22.6 22.3 23.5 Ret 23.3 .... 22.7 23.3 23.5 Girls Ac 21.9 22.8 23.0 22.4 22.1 22.1 Ret 22.7 22.7 22.3 22.9 Smedley Boys At and above grade 23.8 23.1 23.2 23.2 23.1 Below grade 23.5 23.5 23.5 23.3 23.3 John Worthy School .... 23.5 23.9 23.6 23.6 Girls At and above grade 23.4 23.1 23.1 22.8 22.8 Below grade 23.5 23.2 23.4 22.9 22.9 Gilbert Bright 23.4 23.0 23.2 22.4 22.8 Dull 23.6 23.3 22.9 21.6 22.8 13 22.7 22.6 23.2 23.8 22.9 23.0 22.7 22.8 14 21.8 22.7 22.4 23.6 23.1 23.1 22.8 22.4 15 23'6 22.7 23.0 23.0 22.9 23.1 22.9 23.2 23.5 23.4 23.4 23.3 23.1 22.1 22.8 TABLE VI Ratio of Sitting to Total Stature Smedley Boys Age 8 9 10 11 12 13 At and above grade 54.8 54.0 53.5 53.1 52.5 52.1 Belowgrade 55.1 54.7 53.8 53.3 52.9 52.2 John Worthy School .... 53.7 54.5 53.6 53.4 52.6 Girls At and above grade 53.9 54.0 53.5 53.1 52.7 52.6 Belowgrade 55.4 54.3 53.8 53.4 53.1 52.8 14 52.1 52.2 52.9 52.9 52.1 15 52.0 51.8 51.0 53.4 53.1 Bibliography For a complete bibliography on the subject of growth the reader is referred to Physical Growth and School Progress, Bird T. 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