Technical Procedure.—It is necessary to know how to place the subject in an erect position, heels together and toes turned out, shoulders square, arms pendent, head orientated, i.e., occipital point touching the wall, gaze horizontal.
In measuring the individual stature it is customary to use an instrument called an anthropometer (Fig. 142).
It consists of a horizontal board on which the subject stands, a stationary vertical rod marked with the metric scale against which the subject rests his back, and another small movable rod perpendicular to the first and projecting forward from it; this is lowered until it is tangent to the apex of the cranium; and the scale upon the upright rod gives the number corresponding to the stature.
Fig. 141.—Diagram representing the cycle of stature of man (unbroken line) and woman (dotted line), from birth to the end of life.
Certain anthropologists are now trying to perfect the anthropometer (Mosso's school). And, indeed, how is it possible to bring the entire person posteriorly in contact with the vertical rod of the anthropometer? The rod is straight while the body follows the curves of the vertebral column and the gluteus muscles. Accordingly, Professor Monti, an assistant to Professor Mosso, has proposed a new anthropometer which, in place of the single rod at the back, has a pair of rods, so that the more prominent portions of the body may occupy the intermediate space; a similar anthropometer was already in use for measuring kyphotics.
Fig. 142.—Anthropometer.
Fig. 143.—A square.