92 
STATURES. 
organizations) was decidedly greater than that of the recruits who 
subsequently enlisted, and it is therefore a source of much regret 
that so large a proportion of our material is afforded by the latter 
only. The successive " counts " for different States indicate a 
decided tendency to diminution of the average stature as the war 
went on ; and it is doubtless owing to this fact that the mean stat- 
ures afforded by the present investigation, which comprises all 
those volunteers whose statures were recorded, range much higher 
than those given in the excellent report1 of Dr. Baxter, Chief Med- 
ical Officer of the Provost Marshal General's Bureau, inasmuch 
as these latter are deduced from the statistics of less than 350 000 
soldiers, all of whom were recruits, substitutes, or drafted men. 
The regulations prescribe that the heights be taken with a meas- 
uring rod, while the men are without clothing. There is doubtless 
some difference in the average results obtained by different exam- 
ining surgeons, but these must vanish from the mean of measure- 
ments by so many different officers. The most appropriate distri- 
bution of the soldiers according to nativities was a question of 
some difficulty, since it was necessary to decide upon the mode 
of distribution, before the relative numbers were known. The 
following eighteen classes were adopted, and although this division 
might with advantage be somewhat modified in the light of our 
present knowledge, it has, to preserve uniformity, been retained 
for all the statistics of the Commission. 
A. The six New England States. 
B. New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. 
C. Ohio and Indiana. 
D. Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. 
E. Slave States, not including F and G2. 
F. Kentucky and Tennessee. 
Gr Free States west of the Mississippi. 
G2. Slave States west of the Mississippi. 
H. British America, exclusive of Canada. 
I. Canada. 
J. England. 
K. Scotland. 
L. Ireland. 
M. France, Belgium, and Switzerland. 
N. Germany. 
O. • Scandinavia. 
P. Spain, Portugal, and Spanish America. 
Q. Miscellaneous. 
1 Pages 698, 699.