WE SHAN'T BE THERE TO SEE.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 2177, 24 June 1890, Page 3

WE SHAN'T BE THERE TO SEE.

A French statistician who has been studying military and other records with a view of determining the height of men at different periods has reached some wonderful results. The recorded facts extend over nearly three centuries. It is found that in 1610 the average height of a man in Europe was sft. i)in. In 1790 it was sft. Gin. In 1820 it was sft. s in. and a fraction. At the present time it is sft. 3fin. By his calculation it is determined that the first men attained the surprising average of lGft. 9in. Truly there were giants on the earth in those days. The race had already deteriorated in the clays of Ogg, and Goliath was quite a degenerate offspring of the giants. Coming down to the beginning of our era the average height of man was 9ft., and in the time of Charlemagne it was Bft. Bin., a fact quite sufficient to account for the heroic deeds of the Paladins. But the most astonishing result of this scientific study comes from the application of the same inexorable law of diminution to the future. The calculation shows that by the year 4000 a.d., the stature of the average man will be reduced to Ism. At that epoch there will be only Liliputians on the earth.