of India and made the subject of communication to some medical or statistical journal. It is no doubt interesting to know that the average weight for a given height is so and so, and that this has been found out from the examination of half a million cases, but the information has not, I should say, the practical value which Dr. Buchanan attributes to it. Nobody atto connect or tempts height weight or any ratio between the two with crime, and the only purpose to which the table can be put is to determine how much any given individual may vary from the standard ratio, and what treatment, if any, he should be accorded in
HEIGHTS AND WEIGHTS OF PRISONERS. By Surgn.-Capt. R. J.
Macnamara, m.d.,i.m.s., Supdt., Central Jail, Multan. In the Indian Medical Gazette for October 1897, Surgeon-Captain Buchanan goes into the subject of the relative heights and weights of Bengali prisoners, and furnishes us with a table drawn up from an observation of 28,000 cases. He tells us that his experience has shown him that the table is a safe rule for jailors and nonmedical officials to judge as to whether a given individual is suited for hard labour or not, and further on expresses regret that more weights and measurements are not taken in other parts
consequence. At the outset I may say that judging health solely from a table, and without any other aid, and that too by a non-medical official, is very likely to lead to disastrous results. It is easy to conceive a man being up to the standard weight or even above it for his height, but he may have enlarged spleen, anaemia, drops}7 or a dozen other complaints, about which your non-medical official knows nothing, still forsooth he may, or I might say must, be passed as tit for hard labour, if the examination solely depends the table. This is what Surgeon-Captain on Buchanan says is a safe rule, and the main benefit which he considers the table has achieved is that now the jailor can determine with mathematical accuracy whether a man is fit or not for hard labour, whereas formerly, when there was no table, the work of declaring a man's fitness rested after examination with the medical officer. Though the statistics of height and weight are valuable from a scientific standpoint, I venture to say that if thej7 are used as suggested, either to allow non-medical officials to judge health or to act in any way as a substitute for the careful medical examination hitherto made, their application will be mischievous. Indeed, it was a fear of this very mischief resulting from their that retarded their introduction into the use jails of the Punjab. Referring the matter further led to the reply that the table was in no way intended to be a substitute for the ordinary medical examination heretofore carried out in the case of each individual convict, but was merely intended to be a help in determining whether a man whose health was otherwise satisfactory, was fit for a certain kind of labour It was contended that the table was to or not. show the average weight for each height, and as the natives of this country who usually find their way into jail were not as a rule overburdened with flesh, any reduction in weight had a serious import, meant loss of health, and as a consequence unfitted them for the Without time being at least for hard work. questioning the general truth of this, it may reasonably be asked what deviation from the standard is allowable before it becomes neces-
s f
1
'
?Tan..
1898.]
MACNAMARA ON
HEIGHTS, &c.,
the labour, or, if it sary to alter the character of tens of to is really worth the trouble go into for a an strike weight to average -thousands, the worth also given height, should it not be limit the fix and further trouble to go a step labour where hard labour leaves off and medium
OF PRISONERS.
which have to be calculated. Men are much dead matter like wood or stone that can be measured and weighed, and can be depended on to undergo but little change in the progress of time. They change not alone in height and especially weight from year to year but from day to da}', and from one part of the raudom at begins ? Do this, take 100 prisoners da\7 to another. The ratio of weight to height belief and allot their work accordingly, and my in men undoubtedly would health}', and fit for hard -is that the majority of medical officers labour is seldom the same, and the same person that and allotted, consider the tasks unfairly measured by different people very often gives a to mathematics and medicine cannot be got different result. Any table constructed out of run in line. such shifting elements, and even when the greatThe object of striking averages from large as est care is taken, can scarcely pretend to be an truth numbers is to arrive as near the to accuracy, and bringing in the aid of into approach out repreit possible, and if necessary run the multiplication table does not materially imBuchanan sentative decimals of a lb. and an prove matters. If 100 healthy men of the same coolly brushes aside fractions and class, measuring exactly 5 feet 5 inches are inch, when dealing with 28,000 heights291bs. and weighed, and fractions of a pound are neglected weights, varying within 9 inches not alone in each individual case, but in the himself respectively, and then congratulates it follows almost as a matter of that his original investigations on 5,000 cases average weight, men course that 1,000 cases. By weighed under the same were confirmed by 20,000 subsequent the same result. This would circumstances and give of pounds striking out those fractions the would probably never be the case, if small fracabout to bring inches he certainly helped satisfied. By tions were looked on as important, and taken agreement with which he is so There would always be a error of into the calculation. discarding fractions there is a possibleand over difference, no matter how small; perhaps it might total the heights nearly 800 yards in con- be in the decimal place, but still it is there, 12 tons in the total weights of his 28,000 out though the whole numbers may correspond. victs. It seems a bit ridiculous scoring On the face of it Dr. Buchanan's table appears numbers the make to fractions with one hand to be incorrect. Who will believe that the inother the round and seeking large figures with crement of weight from 5 feet to 5 feet 1 inch accuracy When j-0 ensure accuracy of average. through is only 2 lbs., whereas between 5 feet 1 inch and 13 aimed at, it must be preserved 5 feet 2 inches it is 4 lbs., and this too after some all the details or it will not appear in the of observations ? If 1,000 prisoners at thousands treated he ultimate result, consequently if 1 inch feet 5 his exactly and another 1,000 at 5 feet 28,000 does 10 million cases in the way he an 6 inches were accurately weighed to fractions, take To the result would still be wrong. 5 feet and the average taken (fractions included), a individual case he says, for heights of inch (to find very good idea would be given of the weights for 8 inches and upward, add 41bs. per those respective heights. Having done this, the weight of a 5 feet y-inch man). By ignoring the on nothing is easier than to find out the increment put fractions, a man 5 feet 8/^ inch is his weight of increase per inch, by dividing the difference table as 5 feet 8 inches; therefore is shown,in the weights by the difference in heights, and he than ought to be nearl}T 41bs. heavier this increment being found it becomes only a whereas that is, he is looked on as 5 feet 8 inches, of addition or substraction to find the question m reality his weight should closely approximate, for any corresponding height in the scale. to that of a man 5 feet 9 inches in height. Addweight After all, when this is done, I do not see that to this the variation allowed from the standard, table the any very practical result comes from it. Comthat and the total deviation is so great mon every-day observation goes to show that becomes absolutely inapplicable and worthless. the relaof wiry muscular coolie, who is much below When recruiting for the army, a table we canweight, is far more capable of putting in a Here useful. tive heights and weights is hard day's work than the fat, pot-bellied pick and choose and have every right to reject tor Bengali Babu, who has led a sedentary life, and standard, recruits who deviate much from the who should be a regular Hercules if judged by Lanky else. appearance' sake if for nothing the table. What is more, the coolie will be nor pot-bellied men are neither as ornamental found to put on flesh with the jail diet, whereas who are neither one f .ru'e as good as thosewanted the Babu will most probably dwindle away for the army, in ot,^er' and are not want of those small delicacies to which he was as but -n volevs we must take our prisoners ? accustomed in his home. Yet if the table is our case & What is a useful guide in one lein* fi case. guide, the coolie is put on light labour and the 3 leiefore be of little use in the other arise to portly Babu on hard labour. .Besides the fallacies that are liable I think I have said quite enough on the loin adopted manner the compiling a table in of getting a table of weights to do the of futility y -Dr. Buchanan, there are other sources
Surgeon-Captain
1
.
error
not
so
INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE. work of the medical officer in charge of a jail, but there is another point that requires notice, and that is the method of allowing non-medical subordinates to classify men for labour. It places in their hands a powerful weapon for the extraction of bribes and the bestowal of favours. The Bengali jailor may be above this, but if he is, he is an exception to his brethren in other portions of the Empire. A trained eye and a skilled hand are a far better means of coming to a sound opinion as to a man's fitness or not for labour than all the tables that could be prepared from this till Doomsday. If a man is much below weight, it is so palpable, that reference to a table of any kind is unnecessary, and if he is near the prescribed weight, reference is equally unnecessary, as a certain amount of deviation from the standard is allowable. Tables of weights have been circulated to all the jails in the Punjab, but though I have had opportunities of speaking to several medical officers on the subject, I have never yet met with one who considered the tables worth the paper they were printed on, or that they were at all reliable as a means for fixing labour and tasks. In our tables it is expressly stated in a note that they are not intended to replace the Had it medical examination hitherto made. been suggested that they were for the use of jailors and other non-medical officers, I fear the only argument in their favour would have vanished. An ordinary prisoner gets a pound of bread besides other articles of diet for his morning meal. If he washes this down, as he often does in the hot weather in these parts, with a quart lbs. heavier than of water, he becomes at once he was before. Add to this the effect of temporary constipation or diarrhoea, and long fasting and standing, and it will be apparent at once that there is not much use in going into ecstasies over a pound or two one way or the other. Prisoners too are not above taking advantage of the anxiety felt on their behalf as regards body weight. It is no uncommon thing with them not to finish their food in order to keep their weights down, and so be put on lighter labour, and perhaps extras, so the table very often defeats its own object and does more harm than
good. We are promised statistics on chest girth in a future communication. There is no doubt they will be interesting, but may I express a hope, that without very weighty reasons they may not be converted into a "safe rule" for jailors and other non-medical officials, unless there are some stronger arguments to go on than those that have up to the present been put forward in support of the system of gauging fitness for labour from an inaccurate table of heights and
weights.
iv
[Jan.
1898.
^I
HEIGHTS AND WEIGHTS OF PRISONERS. By Surgn.-Capt. R. J.
Macnamara, m.d.,i.m.s., Supdt., Central Jail, Multan. In the Indian Medical Gazette for October 1897, Surgeon-Captain Buchanan goes into the subject of the relative heights and weights of Bengali prisoners, and furnishes us with a table drawn up from an observation of 28,000 cases. He tells us that his experience has shown him that the table is a safe rule for jailors and nonmedical officials to judge as to whether a given individual is suited for hard labour or not, and further on expresses regret that more weights and measurements are not taken in other parts
consequence. At the outset I may say that judging health solely from a table, and without any other aid, and that too by a non-medical official, is very likely to lead to disastrous results. It is easy to conceive a man being up to the standard weight or even above it for his height, but he may have enlarged spleen, anaemia, drops}7 or a dozen other complaints, about which your non-medical official knows nothing, still forsooth he may, or I might say must, be passed as tit for hard labour, if the examination solely depends the table. This is what Surgeon-Captain on Buchanan says is a safe rule, and the main benefit which he considers the table has achieved is that now the jailor can determine with mathematical accuracy whether a man is fit or not for hard labour, whereas formerly, when there was no table, the work of declaring a man's fitness rested after examination with the medical officer. Though the statistics of height and weight are valuable from a scientific standpoint, I venture to say that if thej7 are used as suggested, either to allow non-medical officials to judge health or to act in any way as a substitute for the careful medical examination hitherto made, their application will be mischievous. Indeed, it was a fear of this very mischief resulting from their that retarded their introduction into the use jails of the Punjab. Referring the matter further led to the reply that the table was in no way intended to be a substitute for the ordinary medical examination heretofore carried out in the case of each individual convict, but was merely intended to be a help in determining whether a man whose health was otherwise satisfactory, was fit for a certain kind of labour It was contended that the table was to or not. show the average weight for each height, and as the natives of this country who usually find their way into jail were not as a rule overburdened with flesh, any reduction in weight had a serious import, meant loss of health, and as a consequence unfitted them for the Without time being at least for hard work. questioning the general truth of this, it may reasonably be asked what deviation from the standard is allowable before it becomes neces-
s f
1
'
?Tan..
1898.]
MACNAMARA ON
HEIGHTS, &c.,
the labour, or, if it sary to alter the character of tens of to is really worth the trouble go into for a an strike weight to average -thousands, the worth also given height, should it not be limit the fix and further trouble to go a step labour where hard labour leaves off and medium
OF PRISONERS.
which have to be calculated. Men are much dead matter like wood or stone that can be measured and weighed, and can be depended on to undergo but little change in the progress of time. They change not alone in height and especially weight from year to year but from day to da}', and from one part of the raudom at begins ? Do this, take 100 prisoners da\7 to another. The ratio of weight to height belief and allot their work accordingly, and my in men undoubtedly would health}', and fit for hard -is that the majority of medical officers labour is seldom the same, and the same person that and allotted, consider the tasks unfairly measured by different people very often gives a to mathematics and medicine cannot be got different result. Any table constructed out of run in line. such shifting elements, and even when the greatThe object of striking averages from large as est care is taken, can scarcely pretend to be an truth numbers is to arrive as near the to accuracy, and bringing in the aid of into approach out repreit possible, and if necessary run the multiplication table does not materially imBuchanan sentative decimals of a lb. and an prove matters. If 100 healthy men of the same coolly brushes aside fractions and class, measuring exactly 5 feet 5 inches are inch, when dealing with 28,000 heights291bs. and weighed, and fractions of a pound are neglected weights, varying within 9 inches not alone in each individual case, but in the himself respectively, and then congratulates it follows almost as a matter of that his original investigations on 5,000 cases average weight, men course that 1,000 cases. By weighed under the same were confirmed by 20,000 subsequent the same result. This would circumstances and give of pounds striking out those fractions the would probably never be the case, if small fracabout to bring inches he certainly helped satisfied. By tions were looked on as important, and taken agreement with which he is so There would always be a error of into the calculation. discarding fractions there is a possibleand over difference, no matter how small; perhaps it might total the heights nearly 800 yards in con- be in the decimal place, but still it is there, 12 tons in the total weights of his 28,000 out though the whole numbers may correspond. victs. It seems a bit ridiculous scoring On the face of it Dr. Buchanan's table appears numbers the make to fractions with one hand to be incorrect. Who will believe that the inother the round and seeking large figures with crement of weight from 5 feet to 5 feet 1 inch accuracy When j-0 ensure accuracy of average. through is only 2 lbs., whereas between 5 feet 1 inch and 13 aimed at, it must be preserved 5 feet 2 inches it is 4 lbs., and this too after some all the details or it will not appear in the of observations ? If 1,000 prisoners at thousands treated he ultimate result, consequently if 1 inch feet 5 his exactly and another 1,000 at 5 feet 28,000 does 10 million cases in the way he an 6 inches were accurately weighed to fractions, take To the result would still be wrong. 5 feet and the average taken (fractions included), a individual case he says, for heights of inch (to find very good idea would be given of the weights for 8 inches and upward, add 41bs. per those respective heights. Having done this, the weight of a 5 feet y-inch man). By ignoring the on nothing is easier than to find out the increment put fractions, a man 5 feet 8/^ inch is his weight of increase per inch, by dividing the difference table as 5 feet 8 inches; therefore is shown,in the weights by the difference in heights, and he than ought to be nearl}T 41bs. heavier this increment being found it becomes only a whereas that is, he is looked on as 5 feet 8 inches, of addition or substraction to find the question m reality his weight should closely approximate, for any corresponding height in the scale. to that of a man 5 feet 9 inches in height. Addweight After all, when this is done, I do not see that to this the variation allowed from the standard, table the any very practical result comes from it. Comthat and the total deviation is so great mon every-day observation goes to show that becomes absolutely inapplicable and worthless. the relaof wiry muscular coolie, who is much below When recruiting for the army, a table we canweight, is far more capable of putting in a Here useful. tive heights and weights is hard day's work than the fat, pot-bellied pick and choose and have every right to reject tor Bengali Babu, who has led a sedentary life, and standard, recruits who deviate much from the who should be a regular Hercules if judged by Lanky else. appearance' sake if for nothing the table. What is more, the coolie will be nor pot-bellied men are neither as ornamental found to put on flesh with the jail diet, whereas who are neither one f .ru'e as good as thosewanted the Babu will most probably dwindle away for the army, in ot,^er' and are not want of those small delicacies to which he was as but -n volevs we must take our prisoners ? accustomed in his home. Yet if the table is our case & What is a useful guide in one lein* fi case. guide, the coolie is put on light labour and the 3 leiefore be of little use in the other arise to portly Babu on hard labour. .Besides the fallacies that are liable I think I have said quite enough on the loin adopted manner the compiling a table in of getting a table of weights to do the of futility y -Dr. Buchanan, there are other sources
Surgeon-Captain
1
.
error
not
so
INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE. work of the medical officer in charge of a jail, but there is another point that requires notice, and that is the method of allowing non-medical subordinates to classify men for labour. It places in their hands a powerful weapon for the extraction of bribes and the bestowal of favours. The Bengali jailor may be above this, but if he is, he is an exception to his brethren in other portions of the Empire. A trained eye and a skilled hand are a far better means of coming to a sound opinion as to a man's fitness or not for labour than all the tables that could be prepared from this till Doomsday. If a man is much below weight, it is so palpable, that reference to a table of any kind is unnecessary, and if he is near the prescribed weight, reference is equally unnecessary, as a certain amount of deviation from the standard is allowable. Tables of weights have been circulated to all the jails in the Punjab, but though I have had opportunities of speaking to several medical officers on the subject, I have never yet met with one who considered the tables worth the paper they were printed on, or that they were at all reliable as a means for fixing labour and tasks. In our tables it is expressly stated in a note that they are not intended to replace the Had it medical examination hitherto made. been suggested that they were for the use of jailors and other non-medical officers, I fear the only argument in their favour would have vanished. An ordinary prisoner gets a pound of bread besides other articles of diet for his morning meal. If he washes this down, as he often does in the hot weather in these parts, with a quart lbs. heavier than of water, he becomes at once he was before. Add to this the effect of temporary constipation or diarrhoea, and long fasting and standing, and it will be apparent at once that there is not much use in going into ecstasies over a pound or two one way or the other. Prisoners too are not above taking advantage of the anxiety felt on their behalf as regards body weight. It is no uncommon thing with them not to finish their food in order to keep their weights down, and so be put on lighter labour, and perhaps extras, so the table very often defeats its own object and does more harm than
good. We are promised statistics on chest girth in a future communication. There is no doubt they will be interesting, but may I express a hope, that without very weighty reasons they may not be converted into a "safe rule" for jailors and other non-medical officials, unless there are some stronger arguments to go on than those that have up to the present been put forward in support of the system of gauging fitness for labour from an inaccurate table of heights and
weights.
iv
[Jan.
1898.
^I
