WORLD'S TALLEST MEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19061, 4 July 1925, Page 5 (Supplement)

WORLD'S TALLEST MEN.

INTERESTING STATISTICS, OCCUPATIONS ANTi INCHES. It is often said that the tallest peopla are found in the tcmpe-ste zones, but the general idea is that the British anj the Scandinavians are t.iie tallest races >n the world. If, however, one goes car* fully into figures, ho will find that this is not' the case. The average height of English, Scots, and Scandinavians is the same. A full-grown man of each race averages sft. 7 2-sin. in height. The Irish axe a fraction of an inch shorter, and nest come the Danes and Belgians. But these are not the tallest races. In the matter of inches the records are held by Zulus, Iroqu&is Indians, Polynesians, and Patagonians. The last, the tallest raca it? the world, average sft. 10 l-3iru Now the Zulus live in a senri-tropicaJ climate, the Iroquois in a temperate orio, and the Polynesians in some of tho hottest parts of the world, while the Patagonians inhabit the Horn of South America, one of the coldest and most miserabla places on earth. In remarkable contrast to the Patagonians aro the Laplanders, who, residing almost on the Arcti'a circle, are the shortest race on earth. Tho more one studies the matter ths more puzzling it becomes, but one point seems clear enough—that climate and latitude have nothing to do with height. Food and fresh air, indeed, have mora io do with the development of the individual than tho climate, as is proved by the fact that everywhere the farm, .labourer is taller than the artisan. _ . A striking example l is provided by Scotland, where the fanm labourer is 4m. taller nnd 361b. heavier than the average Glasgow artisan. Again, the fislul1 S lation of tho Yorkshire coast exceed th« Sheffield workers by <sin, m height ana 241b. in weight. ■ '