HQ
1206
517
TUDY OF THE PHYSICAL-
VIGOR OF AMERICAN
WOMEN
EDWIN ELMORE JACOBS
Fellow in Clark University Worcester Mass
A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Clark University-
Worcester, Mass, in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
SHORE

ARTES
LIBRARY
MAR
18T7)
VERITAS
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Z.PLURIBUS
UNUN
TUEBOR
SCIENTIA
OF THE
SI-QUÆRIS-PENINSULAM-AMŒENAM
CIRCUMSPICE
37 37 37 3/10) JI SI,¶§}.${
MAW?
GUĽ
7
RECEIVED IN EXCHANGE
FROM
Clark University Library
LA TRAS
}
}
·

218
на
1206
J17
A STUDY OF THE PHYSICAL
VIGOR OF AMERICAN
WOMEN
BY
EDWIN ELMORE JACOBS
Fellow in Clark University, Worcester, Mass.

¿
-
A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Clark University,
Worcester, Mass., in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
HQ
1206
.517
Erni
Lirary
Clark towar
1·30-87
FOREWORD
In seeking to determine the general native
physical vigor of any population, there are no
better or more representative groups perhaps than
those to which most attention is paid in the fol-
lowing pages, i. e., unmarried females. These, as
it will readily be seen, suffer less from whatever
ill effects there may be in industry and child-
bearing. Moreover, the female part of our popu-
lation suffers less also from the ill effects of alco-
hol, tobacco, and venereal diseases. Hence to get
at the most representative class which might be
taken as an index from the status of the basic
health of America, the women of the country were
selected as a basis of study and the greatest at-
tention was given to college girls.
The conclusions to be drawn are, therefore, not
to be confined to the classes studied only, but are
to be applied to the citizens of America in general.
It is easily conceivable that the male half of the
population of a country can neither be very far
ahead nor behind the female part in its general
health. Hence the selection of the groups for this
study.
Worcester, Mass.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Fertility
Progressive Functional Sterility
Potential Fecundity
Controlled Fertility
Chapter III Longevity and Anthropological
Measurements
Chapter I
Chapter II
Women's Shoes
Women's Gloves
Measurements at Wellesley College
Mt. Holyoke College
Smith College
Nebraska State University
Oberlin College
Summary
Chapter IV Interest and Participation in Ath-
letics
Chapter V Conclusion
A STUDY OF THE PHYSICAL VIGOR
OF AMERICAN WOMEN
CHAPTER I
Introduction
The physical vigor of any people is, beyond any
doubt, a powerful factor in their civilization for
it affects profoundly every aspect of their life.
Its effect is significant on their industrial life for
only the strong can be efficient workers. A na-
tion's physical vigor also affects its military
standing for only the physically fit can be able
soldiers. Furthermore, it affects a people's racial
continuity for the physically vigorous are more
likely to have not only a sufficient number of off-
spring, but at the same time the most vigorous
and healthy ones. Indeed, it takes but a mo-
ment's reflection to see that, "the first wealth is
health," that a nation's greatest asset is the phys-
ical vigor of its citizens, that a nation is bankrupt
which has an insufficient supply of virile men and
women, and that sound physiological vigor is all
essential for national prosperity and racial con-
tinuity.
Professor Giddings (1) says that "physical
vigor, physiological power, is the only sure basis.
of enduring human excellence," which statement
wholly agrees with John's inspiring motto that
(5)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
"Only strong muscles can make men great or a
nation free." So important to their own welfare,
is the physical vigor of their people, that many
nations from antiquity on down to the present
time, have given some attention to the health,
physical endurance, and prowess of their citizens.
This is shown by the Greeks in their striving after
a perfect human form and by their perennial in-
terest in public games and contests, an interest
which was also later exhibited by the Romans.
But in more recent years, the interest attached
to national vitality is indicated by the fact that it
has been the subject for frequent investigations
both of a public and private character. In both
Europe and America, numerous commissions have
been appointed by the governments of different
nations, whose duty it was to look into what is
often spoken of as "racial deterioration,
port whether they found indications of such a
decline, and to suggest methods of resisting it.
""
=
Among many writers (2) upon this subject
there seems to prevail the idea, that there is such
a decline. They hold that we as a race are illus-
trating that old adage, that "we are growing
weaker and wiser," notwithstanding all our in-
creased culture and our advance in the sciences.
Moreover, it is often pointed out that war espe-
cially is responsible for much of this so-called
physical decline. Madison Grant (3) suggests
that the Napoleonic wars are responsible for as
much as four inches decrease in the stature of the
(6)
INTRODUCTION
French people and further estimates that the
recent world war will greatly reduce the phys-
ical vigor of the people engaging in it.
David Starr Jordan (4) and others make esti-
mates of like character. It is furthermore pointed
out that during the Boer war (5) it was found
that only 10 percent of the men applying at the
recruiting station in Manchester, were found fit
for service, and that England had to lower her
physical standards for soldiers three times within
the past half century (6).
Hence, for these and other reasons, many have
concluded that the race both in England and
America, is undergoing a genuine physical deca-
dence. Without expressing an opinion upon the
facts presented above, it seems highly important
to investigate this subject, and to seek to deter-
mine whether such a decline has set in, and if so,
to ascertain whether it is measurable. Now wo-
man's contribution to the national vitality is of
great importance and doubtless as highly signifi-
cant as that of man's for taken by-and-large, the
men of a country can be no stronger than their
mothers. Indeed, Dr. Sargent (7) says that "as
a matter of fact, most of the famous athletes
whom I have examined, attribute their great phy-
sical power largely to the fine physique of their
mothers." And certainly the mother's part in re-
production would have far reaching results con-
sidered from the standpoint of eugenics.
(7)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
I purpose in this study, therefore, to show that
there is no real evidence of a decline in the physi-
cal vigor of the women of America, but on the
other hand to bring such evidence forward as will
show that there are now tendencies set going to
increase their physical vigor. By physical vigor
here is meant that condition of the physical life
in which there is energy enough developed not
only to keep the body alive and active, but more-
over a surplus which may be utilized in other
ways.
Now it is a well known fact, that beginning
about half a century ago, the social status of
woman began to undergo a most profound re-ad-
justment in America, for about this time, there
set in forces which were to bring about two very
remarkable changes, viz., (1) the reduction of the
size of the family, and (2) the passing of many
household arts and crafts. The first of these two
changes is shown by the following data (8) rela-
tive to the size of the family in America for the
past sixty years:
Year
1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910
No. in Family 5.6 5.3 5.1 5.0 4.9 4.7 4.3
It will be seen from these figures that there has
been a steady decline in the size of the family
within the last five or six decades and this could
not help but have a very striking effect upon the
health and physical vigor of woman. The second
of these changes, viz., the passing of many house-
hold arts and crafts, is shown by the fact that,
(8)
INTRODUCTION
soon after the close of the Civil war in America,
there was a very profound industrial re-adjust-
ment. The factory system of manufacture began
to replace home industries. Articles that for years
had been made by the women of the household,
were now made in improved ways in the shops.
This left both their minds and hands free from
drains that had for centuries sapped their ener-
gies.
I purpose, furthermore, to correlate these two,
viz., woman's increased physical vigor, and her re-
lease from excessive child-bearing and household
drudgery. I purpose to show that, with these
changes setting in, in woman's social status, she
had both time and energy to devote to other things
and that with this surplus of leisure and strength,
she blossomed out, gaining in intellectual and
physical vigor. Her energies no longer thus dis-
sipated, she had time to develop and grow. In
accordance with the principle of individuation
as laid down by Herbert Spencer, (9) the energy
which formerly was devoted to the reproduction
and care of offspring, could now be used in self-
development. Since there are two forces present
in every organism, one showing itself in the pro-
duction of other individuals, and one in all the
processes of self preservation, they must at all
times be in the process of equilibrium, and as one
increases the other must decrease. Hence if indi-
viduation includes all the processes which com-
plete and sustain the life of the individual, and if
(9)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
reproduction includes all the processes which re-
sult in the formation of new individuals, then be-
tween individuation and reproduction there must
always be more or less opposition. Hence when
woman was relieved of this age-old drain upon
her physical resources of bearing children, she
began to build up her own body. One would ex-
pect, then, to find that modern women, improved
both physically and mentally, would expend their
surplus energy in many new ways.
Accordingly, one would expect them to enter
wider fields of activity such as business and the
professions. This they did as will be shown by an
examination of the Reports of the Census for the
past half dozen decades. In 1870 only about 13
percent of the total female population over ten
years of age, was engaged in gainful occupations
while by the year 1910, the percent had risen to
23.4. The expression, "gainful occupations" as
used in the Census Reports, does not include
housekeeping. About this time, that is, about the
decade beginning with the year 1870, there was a
most significant increase in women's attendance
in the schools and colleges, for in 1879 there was
but one white girl out of every 916 white women
in a school of higher learning in the United
States. By the year 1915 there was one out of
every 371 in some school of higher learning. (10).
And calculations based upon the distribution of
"commencement prizes and honors" as listed in
the catalogues of upwards of one hundred co-edu-
(10)
INTRODUCTION
cational colleges, shows that these were almost
exactly equally divided, about half going to men
and half to women.
Also during this period, according to a recent
study by Patee, (11) there was a veritable out-
burst of feminine activity in the field of literature.
This was represented by such a brilliant galaxy
of literary women as Louisa Alcott, Helen Hunt
Jackson, Celia Thaxter, Sarah Jewett, Mary Free-
man, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and others. To be
added to these, are many present day writers such
as Jean Stratton Porter, Mrs. Perkins Gilman,
Anna Howard Shaw, and many others. So also
are the women of the present day interested in
art, music, the drama, and public matters gener-
ally. If spontaneous, earnest endeavor is any in-
dication of vigor, then these women together with
others, such as Jane Addams, Harriet Keeler, Ella
Flagg Young, etc., who are active in public mat-
ters generally, furnish evidence of feminine phys-
ical vigor, for taken by-and-large, vigorous people
are the originators of vigorous ideas.
This study, however, will deal more particular-
ly with woman's physical vigor as indicated by
physical conditions. Hence an investigation will
be made of those physical conditions which tend
most to exhibit her rising power and which can
be detected with some degree of accuracy. This
investigation will be along the following four
lines, viz., 1, fertility, 2, longevity, 3, anthropolo-
gical measurements, and 4, interest and participa-
(11)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
tion in athletics. For if it is true that women
have profited physically by the changes which
have taken place in their social status, then they
ought to have increased and better body propor-
tions. They ought, then, to show an increase in
height, their vital index should be larger, so also
with Goldstein's index, lung capacity, chest girth,
and muscular strength. With increasing physical
vigor, they ought to enter increasingly into spon-
taneous and vigorous play, for only the old, de-
crepit, greatly exhausted, and physically wasted,
do not play. Spencer held that the play of the
young is to release surplus energy and as much
can be said of the spontaneous play of adults.
Such play doubtless is a very accurate measure
of abundant exuberance of physical vigor.
These four subjects, then, fertility, longevity,
anthropological measurements, and woman's ath-
letics together with a conclusion, will be the topics
for the following chapters.
(12)
1
}
CHAPTER II
Fertility
Since the processes of reproduction very greatly
affect every part of a woman's being, it has been
justly taken as a test of her physical vigor. J.
Lewis Bonhote (12), in a recent study of vigor
and heredity, finds that infertility is correlated
with a lack of vigor and that health and vitality
tend to bring about normal reproduction. He says
that in captivity, most animals are "notoriously
infertile," and that they show by their coats and
in other ways, that they are out of condition.
Lion, quail, and other wild forms which are fer-
tile under domestication, he says, show great bod-
ily vigor. Karl Pearson (13) also holds that there
may be a possible correlation between strong phy-
siques and fertility. Dr. G. E. Lydston (14) in
his book on social disease, quotes with approval
Moreau's statement that both sterility and inabil-
ity to bring the young to a complete development
are evidence of racial decline. Certainly, when
the animal body is vigorous and healthy, all nor-
mal functions tend to be properly discharged.
Hence if the mother is possessed of great vigor,
the offspring will, in the absence of artificial lim-
itation, be numerous and healthy and such deliv-
(13)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
aa
eries as still-births and excessive plural births, as
will be shown later, will occur only infrequently.
Hence, a study of the comparative fertility of the
women of the present with those of several gen-
erations ago, will tend to show their comparative
bodily vigor.
As already indicated, the size of the family in
America has shown a steady decline during the
past several decades. This decline is variously
spoken of as an increase in sterility, a lack of
fecundity, or a decline in fertility. Hence these
terms are used interchangeably although they do
not denote exactly the same condition. When a
marriage is without children, it is said to be a
sterile marriage or that the union is unfertile.
But a lack of fecundity refers more particularly
to the organic inability to have children. Doubt-
less, there are many factors operating to bring.
about a reduced birth-rate in America, but what-
ever they may be, they may be classified as func-
tional sterility, potential fecundity and controlled
fertility. That is to say, there is either a progres-
sive change in the organic functions of reproduc-
tion on the part of women, or else marriage is
taking place under such conditions as to make it
impossible of fertility, such as later unions, ven-
ereal disease, etc., or else the fertility is controlled
for social or personal reasons. If it is found that
the latter two operate to reduce the birth-rate,
then this decline would not indicate at all any de-
cline in organic fertility and hence no decrease in
(14)
FERTILITY
the physical vigor. But if the former appears to
be the determining factor in birth decline, then
it would show a tendency toward physical decay,
These topics, functional sterility, potential fecun-
dity, and controlled fertility will be taken up in
order.
PROGRESSIVE FUNCTIONAL STERILITY
An increase in the deaths from nervous and
pelvic disorders in the women of the present day
as compared with those of former years, would
indicate a tendency towards a disturbance of the
factors of reproduction and hence would be indi-
cative of physical decline. The following table
compiled from the Reports of the Federal Census
for the various years, indicates the percentage of
female deaths from such diseases to the total num-
ber of female deaths:
Years
Causes of Death
Nervous Disease
Puerperal State
Disease of the Female Or-
gan of Generation
1870 1880 1890 1900 1910
.110 .100 .100 .110 .090
.020 .020 .027 .019 .023
.057 .067 .070 .065 .067
Making all due allowance for the different meth-
ods of recording deaths in the different decades
and for the fact that in recent years records are
more accurately kept, it will be noted that the
differences for the separate figures are so slight
as to show no trend one way or the other. The
fact that, with the advance in modern surgery
and medicine, deaths have been delayed for the
above diseases, does not affect the validity of the
}
(15)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
above statistics for the deaths with which these
have been compared were similarly delayed.
A more recent form of classification of diseases
in later Federal Censuses brings to light data on
the following diseases, viz., cancer of the breast
and ovaries, diseases of the genito-urinary organs,
and the ills due to the puerperal state. The table
below exhibits the percentages of female deaths
from these diseases to the total number of female
deaths by two year periods beginning with the
year 1905:
Years
Cancer of Breast
.022
and Ovaries
Diseases of the Gen-
ito-urinary Organs .074
Accidents of the Puer
pal State
.020
事
​1905-6 1907-8 1909-10 1910-11 1913
.022
,030
.083
.025
.021
.021
.078
.023
.075
.076
.021
.020
It will be noted here that, for the percentage
of deaths due to cancer of the breast and ovaries
there has been an increase of less than 1 percent
within the last eight years, while the deaths from
cancer for the whole population rose from 63 per
100,000 of the population in 1900 to 78.9 by the
year 1913. Deaths due to diseases of the genito-
urinary organs also increased less than 1 percent
while the deaths due to Bright's disease, which is
included in the above classification, rose from 89
per 100,000 of the population in 1900 to 102.9 by
the year 1913 (15). The cause of the increase in
these two diseases for the whole population has
yet to be determined and in comparison, woman
has certainly held her own.
(16)
FERTILITY
Another condition that may be taken as a test
of physical decadence is that which tends to make
still-births more common. Alfred Russel Wallace
(16) lays considerable stress upon this point in
his discussion of the increasing number of still-
births in certain English towns. He points out
that the increase in the percentage of still-and
non-viable births clearly indicates that the women
of these towns are undergoing a physical decline.
Of course, in those cases he relates it to unwhole-
some factory conditions. Talbot (17) in his list
of degenerate stigmata does not mention still-
births as a mark of degeneracy in women, but fur-
ther does say that the offspring of women who
have neurasthenic disorders do "not retain
enough vigor to pass through the normal proc-
esses of development." It seems wholly reason-
able to suppose that when the mother possesses
great physical vigor and is in normal good health,
she will properly nourish the foetus and bring it
to a healthy birth.
The following table compiled from the annual
Reports of the state Boards of Health, exhibits
the percentages of still-births to the total number
of births in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connec-
ticut, for the years indicated:
(17)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
Massachusetts
Vermont
Connecticut
1865-70...
1870-75.
1875-80.
1880-85.
1885-90..
1890-95.
1895-00.
..
•
1900-05..
1905-10.
1910-13.
•
1857-67..
1867-77.
1877-87.
1887-97
1902-13.
• •
1893-98..
1898-03
1903-08.
1908-13.
1913-14.
• •
•
•
.2.9
.3.6
.2.9
.3.2
.3.4
3.5
.3.7
.3.7
.3.5
.3.5
.1.6
2.5
.3.0
.3.1
.4.5
•
.4.2
4.3
4.3
4.0
3.7
•
•
•
It will be observed from these tables that in
Massachusetts there has been a gain in the num-
ber of still-births of less than 1 percent during
the period of nearly fifty years. In Vermont the
gain has been less than 3 percent for a period of
over fifty years while in Connecticut there has
been a slight loss during a period of over twenty
years. These changes seem too slight to be indica-
tive of a tendency in any direction but it might
be well to bear in mind that there have been at
the same time much immigration to the New Eng-
land States and some emigration from them to
western states. This latter movement would
doubtless take the more vigorous and leave the
less sturdy at home. Moreover, local conditions
may operate to cause an increase in the percent-
(18)
FERTILITY
age of still-births for in New England there are
more females over ten years of age engaged in
gainful occupations than in any other section of
the United States. In New England there is
26.6 percent of such females so engaged, in the
Mountain Division, 12.6 percent, while in the Pa-
cific Division there is only 14.6 percent.
Dr. Talbot further lists the tendency to plural
births as one of the stigmata of degeneracy. He
finds that frequent and multiple births occur most
frequently in families of hereditary lunatics. This
has been corroborated by Keirman and Harriet
Alexander (17) in connection with the Cook Coun-
ty Hospital, Chicago. They found that twins,
triplets and quadruplets, were six times as fre-
quent among abnormal parents as among normal
ones. Mannin has found similar conditions pre-
vailing in Australia. Valenta (17) in Vienna has
noted like results there. He reports the case of
an epileptic mother who gave birth to 36 children,
including twins six times, quadruplets four times,
and twice triplets. Dr. Talbot concludes that re-
sults of the same order occur among other classes
of the physically degenerate.
According to Spencer's principle of individua-
tion already stated, excessive fertility would indi-
cate a tendency to generalize function rather than
to specialize it. That is to say, that among lower
types of animals, much of the energy of the fe-
male is expended upon reproduction and in not a
few cases, the mother forfeits her own life in
(19)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
order to bring many offspring into being. Exces-
sive ovulation, therefore, would seem to be an in-
dication of a return to a lower and earlier type.
Moreover, according to a study made some years
ago by Hall and Smith (18), it seems that families
of excessive fertility were inclined to die out.
After studying some of the larger families of
early New England, they conclude that, where the
mother expended her vigor upon a few children,
the family continued through many generations
and where there were large families, death was
excessive and family extinction more common.
Hence if excessive ovulation resulting in plural
births is an indication of physical decline, it would
seem that it ought to show itself in the percentage
of plural births of the last half century.
The percentage of plural births to the total
number of births in Massachusetts, Vermont, and
Connecticut (19) for the years indicated is given
in the table below:
Massachusetts
Years %
1870-75 1.3
1875-80 1.3
1880-85 1.4
1885-90 1.7
1890-95
1.8
1895-00 2.0
1900-05 2.1
1905-10 2.1
1910-13 2.2
Vermont
Years
1857-62
1862-67
%
1.9
1.6
1867-72
1.9
1872-77
2.0
1877-82 1.5
1882-87 1.7
1887-92 1.7
1892-97 1.3
1897-02
1902-07
1907-13
2.0
2.3
Connecticut
Years
%
1893-98
2.0
1898-03
2.3
1903-08 2.2
1908-13
1.9
2.1
1913-14
It will be noted that for Massachusetts there
has been an increase of less than 1 percent in
(20)
FERTILITY
plural births during a period of almost forty
years. In Vermont the percent of increase has
been less than 1, for a period of over fifty years
and that for Connecticut the change has been
negligible during a period of about twenty years.
Considering the data as a whole, it indicates that
there has been probably no change one way or
the other for the years covered. Hence, it must
again be born in mind that these figures do not
include whatever changes there may have been
due to immigration and emigration.
The inability to nurse children at the breast is
often taken as a very direct sign of lack of physi-
cal vigor and as positively indicative of approach-
ing sterility. Dr. G. Stanley Hall (20) writing in
a recent number of the Cosmopolitan Magazine
says, that "the progressive civilization of the last
hundred years has worked terribly against the
health and the perpetuity of the whole race. This
is seen in the reduced vitality of the multitude
that inhabit closely built cities in the diminished
size of the family, in the incapacity of many wo-
men to bear and nurse children.”
Dr. Talbot also thinks that the degeneracy of
the female breast, as well as the over-development
of the male breast, is a mark of physical degener-
acy. It is a well known fact that many mothers
of the present day do not nurse their children.
However, just at the present, there seems to have
set in a tendency which makes breast nursing
more fashionable. Because mothers of a few years
(21)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
ago did not nurse their children, some have rather
hastily concluded that they have lost the ability
to do so; that if the function is once allowed to
remain unused it would atrophy and could then
never be regained. This latter statement seems
doubtful but in any case it is not at all clearly
proven that the ability has been lost but on the
contrary there is evidence that the ability has
simply been unrecognized.
Von Bunge (22) who has made an extended
study of this subject in Germany thinks that not
more than 30 to 50 percent of the mothers of
Berlin are able to nourish their children properly.
This decline, however, he attributes to alcoholism,
tuberculosis, etc., and not directly to organic in-
ability. According to Woodruff (23) the cause
of the inability to nurse their children in the
cases of 12,000 mothers in New York who came
under his observation in 1908, was lack of proper
and sufficient food. Dr. Abram Jacobi (24) says,
"Our women, poor and rich, suffer from no or-
ganic mammary degeneration." Dr. Sedgwick
(25) finds that 93 percent of the mothers were
able to nurse their children at least one month
under proper instructions and that 88 percent
were able to do so for three months, and that 77
percent for six months. These are the results of
1,501 clinic cases. Basing his calculations on two
questionaires sent out to the wives of American
physicians, he further concludes that 80 percent
of them were able to nurse their children three
-
27
(22)
FERTILITY
months or longer. In a study made by a Fall
River physician (26), it was found that there
were no cases where there was a deficiency of
milk, "although almost every mother thought she
could not nurse her child." Dr. L. Emmett Holt
(28) writing in the American Journal of the Dis-
eases of Children, estimates that not over 25 per-
cent of the well-to-do mothers in New York are
able to nurse their children. Mme Dluskin (29)
thinks that in Paris only 1 per cent of the well-
to-do mothers nurse their children at the breast.
Von Bunge (22) in an attempt to determine
whether the ability to nurse children at the breast
was in any way hereditary, made a very careful
study of several groups of mothers and their mar-
ried daughters in Germany. His first group con-
sisted of 519 cases. The results were as follows:
Mothers of these daughters, able 422 cases or 99.8 %
Mothers of these daughters, unable 1 cases or .2 %
In 1110 cases where daughters were unable to nurse
their children:
Mothers of these daughters unable, 436 cases or 60.8 %
Mothers of these daughters, able 281 cases or 39.2 %
In 703 cases where the mothers were able to nurse
their children:
Daughters of these mothers able 60 per cent.
Daughters of these mothers unable 40 per cent.
In 436 cases where the mothers were unable to nurse
their children:
Daughters of these mothers unable 99.8 per cent.
Daughters of these mothers able .2 per cent.
The evidence here plainly is that the ability to
nurse children is of an hereditary nature but Von
Bunge concludes further that the ability to do so
is often unrecognized and needs training. He also
(23)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
suggests that even in cases where the women of
earlier generations did nurse their children, they
may have been under-nourished and that this may
have contributed to the excessive infant mortality
of former years. That is, babies may then have
died from partial starvation and that now since
breast feeding has been supplemented by artificial
infant food, babies are better nourished and
therefore die of under-nourishment less frequent-
ly.
The increase in the sale and manufacture of in-
fant foods has an interesting bearing on this
question. According to the Report of the Manu-
facturers for 1912, the sale of condensed milk had
risen from 187 million pounds in 1900 to 495 mil-
lion pounds in 1910. In personal letters to the
author several of the manufacturers and import-
ers (30) of infant foods state that their business
has greatly increased within the last seven years,
in one case the increase being as much as 500 per
cent.
From all the evidence here presented, it appears
that breast nursing has greatly declined within
recent years but there is no conclusive evidence
that the ability to do so has decreased. More-
over, it seems probable that changes in fashion
making nursing more respectable and the wider
realization of the value of exercising this func-
tion, will greatly increase its prevalence.
POTENTIAL FECUNDITY
If there is no marked tendency towards pro-
(24)
FERTILITY
gressive organic infertility, as shown above, then
the decline in the apparent fertility as shown by
the falling birth-rate, must be due to other fac-
tors. As already indicated, it may be due to a de-
cline in the potential fecundity, i. e., to marriages
taking place under conditions in which it would
be impossible to exhibit as high a degree of fer-
tility as formerly. Among these conditions, school
life, which delays the time of marriage, and ven-
ereal disease, doubtless are very important.
It is a well established fact, that fecundity is
inversely proportional to the age of the woman,
declining somewhat after the age of twenty-five,
being greatest about nineteen or twenty. Dr.
Hankins (31) finds that the age of marriage for
the whole population at large has been decreasing
since about the year 1900 but he shows that statis-
tical evidence seems to minimize its significance
and that no large part of the decrease in the num-
ber of births can be attributed to this.
Hall and Smith (18) working on the graduates
of Harvard and other eastern colleges, found that
the birth-rate among them was less than for the
the population at large. Reckoned per father,
the number of children of Harvard graduates fell
during the decade 1880-90 from 3.44 to 2.22 and
during the next decade from 2.22 to 1.92. But
with the increasing age at marriage for those who
spend four years in college this would not neces-
sarily indicate any increase in organic unfertility.
Indeed, if viewed in the light of studies made on
(25)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
other college women, it indicates nothing more
than infertility due to an increased age and a de-
sire for higher standards of personal comfort.
There is a common belief that intellectual pur-
suits and school life are particularly unfavorable
to both the physical vigor of women and to their
fertility. The following studies tend to show the
fallacy of such belief. One of the latest studies
along this line is that of Mrs. Hollingsworth (32)
who quotes evidence to show that school life is
not particularly injurious to women. John Dew-
ey, she points out, made a study of 290 girls as
long ago as 1886 among whom he found only 3
percent who had any real disturbances in their
functional periodicity and many were even im-
proved, all but 4 percent being in better health
during their residence in college than they were
after graduation. Mr. G. A. Preston (33), study-
ing the same question, found that at Amherst
College, out of over 200 girls only 2.75 percent
dropped out of school as the result of ill health
as compared with 2.85 per cent for the boys.
Observations (34) made on 2,000 girls in finish-
ing schools and colleges in America, showed that
60 percent had some rather serious functional
disturbance but that it dated, not from entry into
school, but from puberty. However those who re-
mained in school for four years and submitted to
four yearly examinations, 30 percent showed a
marked improvement, 30 percent were uninflu-
enced, while 40 percent were undecided. In the
(26)
FERTILITY
case of 100 Oberlin College girls (35), in 1899, 48
reported that their health since entering school
was the same as before, 43 reported a decided im-
provement, and 9 were not so well as before.
Eighty had gained in muscular strength, 12 had
lost, 98 had gained in lung capacity while 2 had
lost.
Mrs. Henry Sedgwick (36) as far back as 1890.
made a study of the health of the women students
at Oxford and concluded that they married later
than their sisters who did not attend college but
found that their health was as good. Her studies
included 84 families. She found the average age
of students at marriage to be 26.7 years and that
of their sisters 25.6. She concludes that "we may
say with confidence that there is nothing in a uni-
versity education at all especially injurious to the
constitution of woman or involving any greater
strain than she can ordinarily bear without in-
jury. As mothers of healthy families, we have
seen that students are more satisfactory than
their sisters."
If intellectual pursuits tend to induce organic
sterility, the great increase in the attendance of
women in high schools, colleges, and technical
schools would present a grave problem from this
standpoint alone but from the above it seems that
normal functional activity is not disturbed by
school life.
Another factor contributing to reduced fecund-
ity is venereal disease. If it is as wide-spread as
(27)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
is estimated by some writers, it would certainly
have a very marked effect upon the birth-rate and
might, moreover, contribute in time to a reduced
physical vigor.
Erb (37) estimates that from 10 to 12 percent
of the whole adult population of Berlin is syphil-
etic. Le Noir (38) estimates that 13 percent of
the population of Paris is similarly infected. Lour-
nier (39) of the British Venereal Commission, in
a Wasserman survey of 500 healthy English work-
ingmen, found that 9.2 percent gave a positive re-
action. Barrett (40) in Melbourne in like manner
found 14.4 percent syphiletic. It is also estimated
that from 7 to 12 percent of the U. S. army is
syphiletic but Nichols (41) thinks this is too high
and places it at 5 percent and thinks that the per-
cent is no higher here than for the male popula-
tion of the United States generally.
If it is true that five times as many males have
it as females (42), then something over 3 percent
of the entire population is infected with syphilis.
Furthermore, it is contracted mostly during ages
of otherwise greatest fecundity, the average max-
imum age for men being from about 22 to 25 years
and for women from about 18 to 22.
Other estimates of the percentage of infected
population vary. One estimate (43) puts the per-
centage for the United States at from 5 to 18 per-
cent. The estimate is furthermore made that 60
percent of the men of the United States have
either gonorrhoea or syphilis. Another writer
(28)
FERTILITY
(44) estimates that at least 1 out of every 3 males
in the United States suffer from some form of ven-
ereal disease.
The effect which such a wide-spread infection
would have on fertility would be very marked.
Jacques Bertillon (45) estimates that from 10 to
13 percent of the French marriages are sterile.
Neisser regards gonorrhoea as responsible for 45
percent of all sterile marriages. Dr. Prince Mor-
row (46) thinks that some form of venereal dis-
ease is responsible for as much as 50 or 75 per
cent of sterility in marriage and that at least one
out of every seven marriages in the United States
is sterile. Another estimate (47) is that 45 per-
cent of sterility is due to gonorrhoeal infection.
Even if one accepts with confidence the lower
of these estimates, it is certain that venereal in-
fection is a very widespread source of decreased
fecundity and this may be taken as a prominent
cause in the decline of the birth-rate. To be sure,
this infection, does at the same time affect the
physical vigor of our population unfavorably but
at present one can not but believe that its effect
upon fecundity is greater than upon the physical
vigor, especially in the case of women who are
less infected than men.
CONTROLLED FERTILITY
This is another important factor in birth de-
cline. It is exceedingly difficult to estimate just
what part this plays in the rather world-wide de-
cline. For various reasons, married people will
(29)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
not furnish information which would make possi-
ble reliable conclusions here. However, some
studies have been made by questionaire methods
and otherwise which have furnished some inter-
esting data.
Professor Cattel (48) investigated the decline
in the size of the family among the graduates of
three leading eastern universities by means of a
questionaire. He found that their families at the
beginning of this century consisted of 5.6 children
and of 2.5 or of 2 in 1875 and that at that rate of
decrease, the families would be childless by the
year 1935. He further found that out of 461
leading scientific men, 167 did not willingly limit
their offspring, 285 did voluntarily limit it and
those who were childless were so from choice in
about two-thirds of the cases. He further adds
that social control of births is necessary if we are
to maintain our physical vigor, for in the struggle
for existence, it is better to bring two strong chil-
dren into the world than twelve weak ones. More-
over, he says "It is evident that a limit of off-
spring is essential to the conditions of the evolu-
tion of a higher race." Geddes and Thompson
(49) in England say that "the practise of some
form of Neo-Malthusianism is very prevalent
among persons of intelligence," and writers are
universally agreed that this is an important fac-
tor in the decline in the birth-rate generally.
Reviewing the evidence brought forward in this
chapter, it seems evident that the decline in the
(30)
FERTILITY
birth-rate for the women of America at least, is
not due to any progressive organic infertility but
rather to what may be called controlled fertility.
The modern woman of America seems to be un-
willing to be longer under the control of the tyr-
annies of certain biological laws, but rather de-
sires to take advantage of them for her own good.
She seems to be reaching a plane, where instead
of yielding both her strength and her own indi-
viduality to her offspring alone, she desires to
use them for the advancement of her own physi-
cal well-being. No longer is she willing to pay
her whole debt to the race by bringing forth chil-
dren in pain, but is seeking to offer in part pay-
ment an increase in her own being. If so, then
the decline in her apparent fertility is to be cor-
related with an increase in her physical vigor and
not with a lack of it. If this interpretation is
correct, then it should show itself in increasing
body proportions and an increasing life span.
These will be the subjects for the next chapter.
(31)
CHAPTER III
Longevity and Anthropological Measurements
One of the best indications of physical vigor is
survival power which tends to prolong life.
Strong, vigorous people usually live longer than
those who are weak for their resistance to disease
is greater. Indeed, if there were some accurate
method of determining whether, under normal cir-
cumstances, the span of life was lengthening, it
would furnish very conclusive evidence that the
physical vigor was on the rise. The following
table calculated from the Reports of the Federal
Census (50) for the various years, exhibits the
percentage of white females to the total number
of white females for the different age periods:
Years
1860
1910
1860
1910 ·
1860
1910
1850
1910
Age Period
10-15
40-50
50 60
£D-70
%
11.6
11.9
8.0
9.1
5.3
6.3
2.1
3.6
It will be noted that the percentages of white
women in all the age periods are relatively larger
for the year 1910 than for the year 1860. More-
over, the ratios are larger for the later periods of
life, showing an increase in longevity. Of course,
infant mortality has been greatly reduced in re-
cent years by improved methods in hygiene but it
will be noted that the greatest gain was not in the
(32)
ANTHROPOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS
early periods, but in the later ones, being greatest
for the age period 60-70 years.
Calculations based on the Reports of the Cen-
sus, show that the percentage of women of child-
bearing age, 15 to 50 years, has also increased.
This also denotes an increased longevity.
Years
1860
1870
1910
Age
0
5
15
25
35
45
55
65
75
85
95
Longevity tables based on records kept for
America are not available in years early enough
to be of value in this study but the following table
for England and Wales kindly furnished by one
of the large life insurance companies of America
(51), exhibits the conditions there.
1851-186)
42.15
50.86
44.12
37.37
30.17
21.12
17.30
11.19
6.45
3.48
1.81
1881-90
46.67
54.27
46.40
38.51
31.08
24.01
17.12
Percent
20
24
26
11.17
6.62
3.69
1.97
1891-1900
47,72
55.69
47.51
39.27
31.42
24.08
17.13
11.18
6.66
3.81
2.11
This table exhibits what is commonly known as
the "expectation of life." Now the expectation
of life at any age is the mean after-lifetime of
persons who reach that age. Thus, persons who,
in the period 1851-60, reached the age of 25
(33)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
could expect to live, on the average, at least
37.37 years more. In the period 1881-90 per-
sons reaching that age could expect to live 38.51
years more and in the period 1891 to 1900, 39.27
years more. Tables similar to the above for the
males of England and Wales show an increase also
in the expectation of life, but on the whole much
less than for females.
Table showing the mean annual death rate for
females in England and Wales for the different
age periods from the year 1850 to the year 1900.
Age
5
10
15
20
25
35
45
55
65
75
85
1851-1860
62.7
8.4
5.1
7.4
8.5
9.9
12.2
15.2
27.0
58.7
134.5
288.9
1881-1890
51.9
5.3
3.1
4.4
5.5
7.4
10.6
15.1
28.5
60.4
130.6
270.8
1891-1900
52.8
4.4
2.6
3.7
4.5
6.1
9.6
14.7
28.4
60.7
130.6
261.4
A study of this table will show that the death-
rate for almost all the different age periods has
shown a steady and persistent fall during the
past fifty years. Professor Irving Fisher (52)
quotes figures to show that results of the same
order obtain for practically all the states of west-
ern Europe and adds that "it is noticeable that in
practically all cases improvement is more among
female than males. This is one expression of
progress which womankind is now making in all
lands:" Thus a study from the two foregoing
(34)
ANTHROPOLOICAL MEASUREMENTS
tables will show that, estimated from their expec-
tation of life and of their longevity, the physical
vigor of women generally is on the rise. It may
be also noted that in the Orient (52), with its per-
fectly enormous birth-rate, the expectation of life
is slight and the death-rate has probably been sta-
tionary for centuries.
Another indication that woman's physical well-
being is advancing, is the tendency to wear cer-
tain articles of clothing larger, more comfortable,
and therefore more hygienic than formerly. In
attempting to measure this tendency, the author
sent out some personal letters to some of the prin-
cipal manufacturers of women's shoes, gloves, and
corsets, asking whether they have noticed such a
tendency within the past twenty or twenty-five
years. Their answers were as follows:
WOMEN'S SHOES
Two questions were asked in regards to the size
of the shoes:
1 What is the most common size of women's
shoe now?
2 What was the most common size twenty
years ago?
The first manufacturer (53) replied that there
was a tendency in their trade for shoes to be
longer but no wider. This, it was said, gave the
foot more room and brought it further back from
the box and thus had virtually the effect of mak-
ing it wider.
(35)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
The second manufacturer (54) gave practically
the same answer and also furnished the follow-
ing table showing the comparative number of
shoes made in the width "C.”
Size
3
+45
42
512
6
62
7
742
∞o
81/2
9
Size
212
3
The third manufacturer (55) thought that the
prevailing size now is "5" and that it was the
same 20 years ago but that now the shoes are be-
ing made longer in the last. His comparative
numbers follow:
♡
32
4
42
5
512
6
62
7
No. Pairs
25
37
67
71/2
8
67
73
57
42
27
18
9
4
3
No. of Pairs
12
214
2 3-4
4 3-4
514
6 3-4
512
3 3-4
1 3-4
114
014
014
The fourth manufacturer (56) said that in his
judgment, the most common size now is "52"
and that 20 years ago it was "5." Taking these
(36)
ANTHROPOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS
four answers as a whole, there seems to be a ten-
dency on the part of women to wear larger shoes.
WOMEN'S GLOVES
In answer to similar questions in regards to
women's gloves, the first manufacturer (57) re-
plied that the size varies with the years but "the
impression that women now are wearing more
comfortably fitting gloves than formerly, is cer-
tainly borne out by the facts and we today are
cutting all our gloves on broader lines than we
did twenty years ago." The second manufacturer
(58) in replying bore out the above statement and
added that this was especially true in the cheaper
grade of gloves, "7" now being the most commoù
size.
WOMEN'S CORSETS
But two manufacturers of corsets replied but
they were among the largest concerns of this kind
in the country. The first (59) gave the most com-
mon size corset in 1915 as 25 to 27 inches waist
measure and that for 1914 as 21 to 23 inches. The
second manufacturer (60) said that "up to ten
years ago the prevailing sizes were, 18, 19 and 20
inches with but few above 26 inches in the waist.
Today, it was further said, there are practically
no corsets sold in size 18 and very few in 19 or
20 and that a woman who would then have bought
a number 18 would now buy a 22, the sizes most
in demand being 22 to 28. This data is meagre
and doubtless would vary somewhat with the
(37)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
years, but both of the above manufacturers are
certain that the old "hour-glass figure" is gone
never to return.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS
The evidence, however, to which most signifi-
cance will be attached in this study, is the mea-
surements made of the Freshmen girls of five col-
leges, viz., 200 entering Wellesley (61) in 1881,
200 entering in 1901 and 200 entering in 1915; 50
entering Mt. Holyoke (63) in 1885, 50 entering in
1890, 50 entering in 1895, 50 entering in 1900, 50
entering in 1905, 50 entering in 1910, and 50 en-
tering in 1915; 50 entering Smith College (62) in
1889, 50 entering in 1897, 50 entering in 1900, 50
entering in 1905, 50 entering in 1910, and 50 en-
tering in 1915; 200 entering the University of Ne-
braska (64) in 1892, 200 entering in 1903, and 200
entering in 1915; and 1600 entering Oberlin Col-
lege (65) during the period 1886-1903, and 1600
entering during the period 1909-15.
Tables exhibiting the averages of these mea-
surements for all five colleges follow:
(38)
ANTHROPOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS
Arithmetical Averages for the Various Physical Measure-
ments of 200 Girls Entering Wellesley College in the
Years 1881-4, 200 Entering in the Year 1901,
200 Entering in the Year 1915
1881-4
19.2
118.5
Year
Age
Weight
Height
Lung Capacity
Strength Right Forearm
Strength Left Forearm
Strength Back
158
159.2
6-Ill
24.4
Strength Legs
Chest Depth
Vital Index
Goldstein's Index
20.8
61.7
84.8
21.7
13.4
13.7
1901
18
119
161.1
159.8
24.1
22
Chest Girth
Vital Index
Goldstein's Ind.
62.2
24.8
13.4
15.5
1915
18
Arithmetical Averages of the Various Physical Measure-
ments of 50 Girls Entering Mr. Holyoke College in the
Year 1885, 50 Entering in 1890, 50 Entering in
1895, 50 Entering in 1900, 50 Entering in
1905, 50 Entering in 1910, and 50 Enter-
ing in 1915.
117.4
161.3
161.4
25.2
22.2
67.2
84
26.4
13.8
16
Year
Age
Weight
Height
1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 1910 1915
20.8 19.9 18.9 18.5 19.1 19.1 18.7
112.8
110.3 110.8 117.6 119.4 117.9
159.2 160.2 159.3 165.1 160.8 160.7 159.1
Lung Cap'y 164 160.2 159.9 159.9
164.9 162.5
Strength R. Frm. 20 21.7 19.2 29.2 27.2 29.7 28.8
Strength Back 61.3 70 49.3 48.1 65.2 63 71.3
81.1 80.6 79.7 79.9 82.9 84.2 81.5
14.6
13.6 13.6 14.9 13.9 13.7
50.9 50.3 51.2 51.2 51.5 51.4 51.3
(39)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
Arithmetical Averages of the Various Physical Measure-
mets of 50 Girls Entering Smith College in the year
1889, 50 Entering in 1897, 50 Entering in 1900,
50 Entering in 1905, 50 Entering in 1910,
and 50 Entering in 1915
1889
1897 1900 1905 1910
Year
Age
Weight
Height
Waist
21.5
114 115.7
159.1
162.1
62.5
61.5
18.7 18.4 17.3
116.1 120.3
162.4
160.2
60.8
58.5
164.2
174.1
23.2
25.5
96
78.2
84.4 84.8
14.5
13.6
52.7
52
140
Lung Capacity
Strength R. F'm. 19.8
Strength Back 71.9
23.6 23
60.7
79.8
Chest Girth (full) 80.5
Vital Index
12.6
Goldstein's Index 50.6 49.2
13.1
Year
156
68.1
80.9
14.1
49.8
Age
Weight
Height
Lung Capacity
Chest Girth (not full)
Vital Index
Goldstein's Index
Arithmetical Averages of the Various Physical Measure-
ments if 200 Girls Entering the University of Ne-
braska in the Year 1892, 200 Entering in 1903,
and 200 Entering in 1915
1915
18.6
123.7
163
122
161.5
63.5 61.5
167
162.9
24.9
77.3
83.7
13.3
51.8
1903
19.6
1892
19.6
110.1
157.8
-All
115.7
160.5
148
151
74.7
79.6
13.7
12.8
49.5
47.5
1915
19.4
123.6
160.1
164
79
13.2
49.4
(40)
ANTHROPOLOICAL MEASUREMENTS
Arithmetical Averages of the Physical Measurements of
1,600 Girls entering Oberlin College During the Per-
iod 1886 to 1903, and 1,600 Entering During the
Period 1909 to 1915
1886-1903
19.3
112.4
159
MIT
Age
Weight
Height
Lung Capacity
Strength, Back
Strength Right Arm
Strength, Legs
141.3
119
Chest Girth (not full)
Vital Index
Goldstein's Index
47.2
168.6
75.2
12.5
47.1
Arithmetical Averages of the Foregoing Tables, which
includes the Physical Measurements of 300 Fresh-
men Girls in Wellesly College for a period of 33
years, 350 Freshman Girls in Mt. Holyoks College
during a period of 30 years, 300 Freshman Girls in
Smith College during a period of 26 years, 600 Fresh-
Man Girls in Nebraska University during a period
of 23 years and 3,200 Freshman Girls in Oberlin Col-
lege during a period of 29 years. All the records
were divided into an earlier and later half and these
two averaged against each other.
Colleges
Periods
1909-1915
19.2
117.2
160.8
157
137.3
61.7
147.9
79.8
13.3
50.1
Age
Weight
Height
Chest Girth
Lung Capacity
Vital Index
Goldstein Index
Wellesley Hol yoke Nebraska
1
Smith Oberlin
1st 2d 1st 2d 1st 2d 1st 2d 1st 2d
18.6 18.0 19,5 18.8 19.6 18.5 19.5 18.4 19.3 19.2
118.7 118.2 111,3 116.4 112.9 119.6 114.4 122.0 112.4 117.2
159.5 161.2 158 7 159.1 159.1 160.3 161.2 161.6 159.0 160.8
76.9 840 80.3 82.1 77.1 78.3 80.4 84.3 75.9 79.8
159 5 160 6156 5 163.0,149.0 156.0 152.0 167.9 141.3 157.0
134 13.6 13.9 14.0 13.2 13.0 13.2 13.8 12.5 13.3
48.2 52,1 50.9 51.3 48.5 49.9 49.8 51.3 47.1 50.1
The last table is worth studying with some care
for it shows the arithmetical averages of all the
different groups. It will be observed that
(41)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
1. For all five colleges there has been a slight
decline in the age of entrance, the average now
being not far from 19 years. After this age,
changes in the essential measurements such as
vital index, height, lung capacity, and Goldstein's
index, are exceedingly slight.
2. The weight, with the single exception of
Wellesley, shows also a slight gain. This of itself
has no beneficial significance but if it is in excess,
might indicate a detrimental trend. It is possible
that it is correlated with more and better food,
and more exercise in the open air.
3. The height in all cases shows a slight gain
and while it is small, yet it would seem as if any
increase in height would be significant (66). It
has always been taken as a test of military fitness.
Ripley (67) says that "the relation between stat-
ure and health is brought to a concrete expression
in the armies of Europe through a rejection of all
recruits for service who fall below a certain
height, generally about 5 feet. Other things be-
ing equal, a goodly stature in youth implies a
surplus of energy over and above the amount rea-
uisite merely to sustain life. Hence it follows,
more often than otherwise, that a tall population
implies a relatively healthy one." Moreover,
there is evidence that tallness in children is cor-
related with success in school. Dr. Burnham (68)
gives the following data: among 8,000 children
examined of the same age,
(42)
ANTHROPOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS
those 105 cm in height none were perfect in health
those 110 cm in height 17% were perfect in health
those 115 cm in height 20% were perfect in health
those 120 cm in height 38% were perfect in health
over 120 cm in height 45% were perfect in health
This plainly indicates the importance of height
as a factor in physical vigor.
4. It will be noted that in all cases the chest
girth has increased. In the case of Wellesley, the
increase is as much as 7 cm. Moreover, it will be
seen that there is no uniformity among the dif-
ferent groups for this measurement. This may be
due to the methods of taking the measurements
for sometimes the chest is partially expanded and
sometimes fully relaxed Also the styles of dress
prevailing at different times may not have been
without some influence. The significance of the
chest girth will be discussed under Goldstein's
index.
5. The measurements of the lung capacity are
subject to the same variations as were found in
taking the chest measurements. Its importance
will be discussed under the vital index.
6. The vital index (69), is a very important
physical index for it shows the relation between
the amount of oxygen supplied to the tissues and
the amount of oxidizable tissue, and is found by
dividing the vital capacity of the lungs by the
weight of the body. If then, the vital capacity of
the lungs be large in proportion to the body
weight, the body will have a good supply of oxy-
(43)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
gen, metabolism will be vigorous, and the resist-
ance to disease will be high but if the proportions
be reversed, then the metabolism will be more
sluggish. Now it is to be noticed that four out
of the five colleges, there has been a change in
this index, and although small, it has been all in
one direction, that is, it has constantly and per-
sistently increased. This can have but one inter-
pretation, namely, that there has been an increase
in the physical vigor of the later groups over that
of the former ones.
7. Goldstein's index is of like importance. It
is the chest-girth-height index and is found by
multiplying the chest girth by 100 and dividing
by the height. The chest circumference as always
received considerable attention and has always
been regarded as a test for military fitness. The
amount it exceeds half the height has been taken
as a test of physical vigor. According to DeBusk
(70) there is an inverse proportion between the
amount the chest circumference exceeds half the
height and the rate of infant mortality. Now it
will be seen from the last table, that in all cases
where it was possible to compute it, Goldstein's
index has increased.
Taking the data of the colleges as a whole, they
show an upward trend within the past four dec-
ades. This is synchronous with the release of
woman from excessive household duties and child-
bearing. Also, about this time there was a notice-
able increase in the number of high schools in the
(44)
ANTHROPOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS
country and the Reports of the United States
Commissioner of schools show that the girls en-
tered these in large numbers, in many cases out-
numbering the boys. This is another indication.
that the surplus energy of the younger women of
America, as soon as opportunity presented itself,
is being expended in increasing the physical vigor.
Moreover, while the younger women are thus in-
creasing in height, chest, girth, and vital index,
women of all ages, according to the data in the
earlier part of this chapter, are showing a reduced
mortality and a higher expectation of life. These
are certainly most significant indications of wo-
man's increasing physical vigor.
(45)
CHAPTER IV
Interest and Participation in Athletics
That the nature of a people's sports is a rather
sure index of their physical vigor is well known.
Professor Fetter (71) says that, "The choice of
sports and the temperance in their pursuit are
among the surest tests of the wisdom in men and
societies. A love of vigorous play, no less than
the power of sustained work, marks the dominant
and progressive peoples of the earth." When
physical vigor declines, so does the interest in
sports decline. When the Greeks were at their
best, so were the Olympic Games at the highest
point of their excellence, and during the palmy
days of Rome, the arena was the scene of sturdy
and vigorous, even if savage, sports while in her
declining days these deteriorated into the circus
and into unspeakable cruelties.
Vigorous people engage in vigorous play. Spen-
cer, as already pointed out, held that play in the
young is to release surplus energy. Karl Groos
(73) held that play is getting ready for the activ-
ities of after life. Stanley Hall and others think
that play represents inherent motor reactions but
all three theories assume a close correlation with
physical vigor. This is suggested by the rise in
(46)
PARTICIPATION IN ATHLETICS
the strenuousness of the child's play as he ad-
vances in years. Gulick (72) notes this and points.
out that in infancy, play is mild in form but as
the child increases in years and vigor, its play
tends to become more strenuous until at last it
culminates in such games as boxing, foot-ball,
wrestling, etc.
If this be true, then the women of America
have made notable progress in their physical
vigor within recent years for they have entered
increasingly into athletics. This shows not only
a vigor of body but a change of mental attitude as
well for it bespeaks the breaking down of many
useless and outgrown taboos in reference to her
mode of dress and freer bodily movements. Her
engaging in mixed tennis matches, etc., not only
gives indication of enlarging physical powers but
of the passing of much former prudery, this lat-
ter being probably as great a gain as the former.
This increase in woman's interest in athletics
is also to be correlated with her release from for-
mer modes of activity which used up much of her
available energy and with these gone, it is now
no unusual sight to see mothers engaging in ten-
nis, golf, etc., with their own sons and daughters.
This present interest may also be related to her
increased attendance in schools and colleges for
there, with an abundance of young life, sports
and games are sure to find place.
In order to obtain data from which an estimate
could be made of this increased participation in
(47)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
athletics, the author wrote to one of the largest
dealers in athletic goods in this country, Mr. A. G.
Spalding and Brother (74), in reference to the
comparative increase in the sale of women's ath-
letic goods. Their estimate follows:
Percent of tennis rackets bought by women as
compared with men twenty years ago, 1896, 10.
Percent of tennis rackets bought by women as
compared with men, 1916, 30.
Percent of golf clubs bought by women as com-
pared with men twenty years ago, 1896, 3.
Percent of golf clubs bought by women as com-
pared with men, 1916, 15.
It will be seen from this comparison that the
sale of these two forms of athletic goods has in-
creased many fold within the last twenty years
nor does this take into account the great number
of men's tennis rackets, golf clubs, etc., constant-
ly used and preferred by women.
Not only so, but there has been a notable in-
crease in the participation of women of the col-
leges in the various forms of athletic games. In
an attempt to estimate this, the author sent out
a questionaire of six questions to 100 women's
and co-educational colleges. The questions were:
What athletic games were played, 1916,
by the women of your college?
1.
2. What athletic games were played 20 years
ago by the women of your college?
3.
What percent of your students take part in
at least some of the games now?
P
(48)
PARTICIPATION IN ATHLETICS
4. What percent of your students took part in
some of the games 20 years ago?
5. Are inter-class or inter-scholastic games al-
lowed?
6. In what year was systematic physical train-
ing introduced?
To this questionaire sixty-one answers were re-
ceived. The answers to the first two questions are
tabulated as follows:
Colleges
15
4
'Tennis
Basketball
Hockey
Baseball (indoor and out)
Rowing
1
Field and Track
Swimming
Archery
Volleyball
Handball
promenad
1
1896
%
24.5
6.5
1.6
1.6
1.6
Colleges
60
61
28
32
11
24
18
8
10
3
1916
%
98.3
100
45.9
52.4
18
39.3
29.5
13.1
16.3
4.9
1
In addition at least two colleges engaged in
cricket, golf, croquet, riding, fencing, or bowling.
It will be observed from this table that the
number of colleges in which these games were
played twenty years ago was very small as com-
pared with the number playing them today and
that in all the colleges, basket ball is now played
and tennis in all but one. Baseball, either indoor
or outdoor, is played now by over half the col-
leges while twenty years ago it was played in no
college. The recent survey of the Cleveland
schools (75) reports that 91 percent of the high
school girls play baseball on the school grounds
(49)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
and many more play it elsewhere and that 35 per-
cent play basket ball.
The answers to the third and fourth questions,
viz., the percent of students taking part in at least
one sport twenty years ago and now are tabu-
lated as follows:
1896
% Students Playing No. Colleges
8
10
20
30
40
50
60
3
∞∞AT p
1
2
1
1
1
1916
No. Colleges
4
3
m so m
6
3
8
4
11
7
4
70
80
90
100
1
It will be seen from this table that every college
replying (some did not answer questions 3 and 4)
has some form of woman's athletics now and that
the percent of women taking part in them has
steadily increased since 1896 and that by 1916, in
10 colleges every woman enrolled took some part
in the sports, while twenty years ago only in 1
college all of the women enrolled played in the
games.
The answers to question 5 were as follows:
No. of colleges playing inter-class games only, 48
inter-school
14
13
10
both
neither but among
themselves
10
From this table it will be seen that there is very
little of the spectacular or circus element in col-
រ
(50)
PARTICIPATION IN ATHLETICS
lege women's athletics. Some schools in answer-
ing this question replied that their games were
limited to certain schools or athletic clubs.
The answers to question 6, viz., the year in
which systematic physical training was intro-
duced, are as follows:
Year in which
physical train-
ing was intro-
duced
1890 1895 1900 1905 1910-15
29 42
54
No. of colleges 18 22
Not introduced at all, 7
From a review of the foregoing data in regards
to women's athletics in college, it is evident that
within the last twenty years, there has been a very
marked increase, not only in the number of col-
leges interested, but in the number of students
who take part in them. This is especially signifi-
cant when it is recalled that Mr. Durrant (96) in
equipping Wellesley College no longer ago than
1880, found no women's tennis equipment in this
country but was obliged to send to England for it.
Moreover, in not a few cases where colleges re-
plied that athletics was neglected because of lack
of equipment, there was expressed a note of re-
gret and in no case was it said that the women
had no athletics and did not want any. This too
is significant when it is remembered that not so
many years ago, to be a delicate, dainty and doll-
like was an unfailing mark of female culture.
T
(51)
CHAPTER V
Conclusion.
What does the foregoing array of facts indicate
in regard to the physical vigor of the women of
America? Before formulating a final answer, let
us review the facts separately.
1. Soon after the period which was spoken of
in this study as the one in which the large family
began to disappear, the women of America began
to enter the schools and colleges in greater num-
bers than heretofore, the attendance increasing
148.7 percent during the decade 1890 to 1900 over
any previous decade. Likewise the percent of
gain for the period 1880 to 1890 was greater than
for any earlier decade. Women also entered the
professions and business, especially the profession
of teaching where the number of female teachers
increased from 84,000 in 1870 to 467,000 by the
year 1910.
2. There was found to be no real evidence of
any increasing functional sterility as shown by
(a) no notable increase in female pelvic diseases,
(b) no significant increase in the percent of still-
births, (c) likewise none in the number of plural
births, (d) no evidence of any organic atrophy of
the mammary glands, but that apparent sterility
-
(52)
CONCLUSION
is due to (e) social and personal reasons, (f) that
school life is not detrimental to fertility and that
(g) much of the apparent sterility is due to ven-
ereal disease.
3. It was furthermore found that the longevity
was increasing for women even more rapidly than
for men.
4. The anthropological measurements of un-
selected groups of girls entering Wellesley Col-
lege, Mt. Holyoke College, Smith College, Nebras-
ka State University, and Oberlin College, cover-
ing in all a period of years from 1881 to 1916,
were found to show a tendency to change and
that that change to be all in one direction, viz.,
to increase. This was thought to be important,
notwithstanding the fact that out of the whole
female population of America, anthropometric
data could be obtained for only so few women.
However, there is a considerable mixing of the
different strata in American society so that in
these colleges, many, perhaps all, classes of society
were represented. Furthermore, by the decade
1900 to 1910, nearly one out of every sixty white.
girls under the age of 24 has been in some school
of higher learning (77). Moreover, every state in
the Union was represented in these college groups,
although data of comparative values was unob-
tainable for southern colleges.
5. In women's athletics, there was seen to be
a great advance especially among college women.
This was shown by the greatly increasing num-
(53)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
bers of colleges taking up various forms of ath-
letic sports.
Finally, the sober student of humanity can be
neither wholly pessimistic nor yet unqualifiedly
optimistic in attempting to judge its progress, yet
from a study of the preceding pages, it appears
that, so far as the female part of the population
is concerned, the women of America are giving
unmistakable evidence of an advance in their phy-
sical vigor. And this we have correlated with
forces now at work tending towards woman's
greater individuation.
There are doubtless, some classes of women who
had small representation in this study. There are
those who never go to college, nor enter the pro-
fessions, nor play games, and who do not get into
the classifications of the life insurance tables. It
might be that those would not show so great phy-
sical advance but if they would not, that would
only go to prove the present thesis, that release
from former excessive household cares affords en-
ergy for growth and development. What this un-
represented portion of our female population
doubtless needs most, is to have better and more
food, fewer children, less household drudgery,
more time for recreation, and more opportunity
for schooling. What it would mean for a very
large number of our women to have good whole-
some food, and leisure to be out in the open air,
and enough vigor remaining to really play, is be-
yond calculation. It wholly staggers the imagin-
(54)
CONCLUSION
ation to picture some of these women, who now
eat, work, and sleep in a few dirty rooms in the
midst of an all too numerous offspring, out in the
open engaging in any sort of spontaneous activity
which bespeaks abounding physical life. And if
they did the benefit to the nation at large in after
years, could hardly be estimated.
When it is suggested that women ought to be
given an enlarged place especially as suggested in
the foregoing pages, a common reply is, that wo-
man's place is in the home, by which is meant
that she ought to keep house and bear children.
This contains a truth but not all the truth, for it
does seem as if these duties ought not be so ex-
cessive as to prevent her own development.
}
(55)
REFERENCES
1 Franklin H. Giddings, Democracy and Em-
pire, page 348.
2 W. E. Castle, Genetics and Eugenics, page
262.
3 Madison Grant, The Passing of the Great
Race.
4 David Starr Jordan, War and the Breed,
page 62.
5 Walter M. Gallichan, The Great Unmarried,
page 41.
6 A. W. Smyth, Physical Deterioration, Its
Cause and Cure, Chapters I, II, and III.
7 Sargent, Am. Phys. Ed. Review, 11, page
176.
8 C. A. Elwood, Modern Social Problems, page
144.
9 Herbert Spencer, Principles of Biology, Vol.
2. Chapters 12 and 13.
10 Calculations based on Report of the Depart-
ment of Education for the year 1915.
11 F. L. Patee, History of Am. Lit. since 1870,
page 220ff.
12 J. Lewis Bonhote, Vigor and Heredity, Chap-
ter II.
(56)
REFERENCES
13 Karl Pearson, The Chances of Death and
Other Studies in Evolution, page 66, Vol. I.
14 G. F. Lydston, Disease of Society, page 88.
15 Mortality Statistics for 1913, page 23.
16 A. R. Russel, Social Environment and Moral
Progress, page 72.
17 Eugene S. Talbot, Degeneracy, page 28ff.
G. Stanley Hall and Theodate Smith, Ped.
Sem. Vol. X, page 275.
18
19 Calculated from the Report of Vital Statis-
tics for these States, published yearly.
20 G. Stanley Hall, Cosmopolitan No. 48, page
660ff.
21
C. A. Ellwood, Modern Social Problems
22 G von Bunge, Die zunehemende Unfaghig-
keit der Frauen ihre Kinder zu Stillen,
page 17ff.
23 C. E. Woodruff, Expansion of the Races, page
43.
24 Abram Jacobi, American Association for the
Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality.
Third annual meeting, report, page 195.
25 J. P. Sedgwick, as above.
26, 27 American Association for the Study and
prevention of Infant Mortality, Report of
Third Annual Meeting, page 195ff.
28, 29 American Journal of the Diseases of Chil-
dren, 1913, Vol 5.
30 Nestle's Food Co., N. Y., Eskay's Food, Smith
and Co., Philadelphia.
31 F. H. Hankins, Journal of Heredity, Vol. 5,
(57)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
page 361.
32 Mrs. Hollingsworth, Functional Periodicity,
page 4ff.
33 G. A. Preston, Influence of College Life on
Health, page 167.
34 American Physical Education Review, 1902,
Vol. VII, page 145.
35 American Physical Education Review, 1899,
Vol. IV., page 279.
36 Mrs. Henry Sedgwick, Health Statistics of
Women Students of Oxford and Cam-
bridge, page 60.
37-42 Allen Pusey, M. D., Syphilis as a Modern
Problem, Chapter XI.
43-44 Lavina L. Dock, Hygiene and Morality, page
29 and 49.
45 Jacques Bertillon, La Depopulation de la
France, page 94.
46 Prince Morrow, M. D., Social Disease and
Marriage, page 161.
47 Michael F. Guyer, Being Well Born, page 183.
48 McKeen Cattel, Independent, Sept. 25, 1915.
49 Geddes and Thompson, Evolution of Sex,
Chapter II.
50 Abstract of the Census for 1910, Volume on
Population, page 122.
51 Equitable Life Assurance Co., by Mr. F. W.
Frankland, consulting actuary.
52 Irving Fisher, The National Vitality, page 19.
53 W. L. Douglas Shoe Company, Brockton,
Mass.
(58)
REFERENCES
54 Walk-Over Shoe Co, Campello, Mass.
55 Rice and Hutchins, Boston, Mass.
56 Krohn, Flechheimer and Co., Cincinnati, O.
57 Bachner, Moses, Louis and Co., Gloversville,
N. Y.
58 Julius Kayser and Co., New York.
59 The Royal Corset Co., Worcester, Mass.
60 Weingarten Bros., New York.
61 Department of Physical Education, Wellesley
College, Wellesley, Mass.
62 Kindly furnished by Dr. Florence Gilman,
Smith College.
63 Kindly furnished by Grace L. Bennett, Mt.
Holyoke College.
64 Kindly furnished by Mrs. Ina Gittings, Uni-
versity of Nebraska.
65 Kindly furnished and the calculations made
by Dr. Adelphine Hanna, Oberlin, Ohio.
66 Sir Francis Galton, Inquiries Into the Human
Faculties, page 22.
67 W. Z. Ripley, The Races of Europe, page 85.
68 Wm. H. Burnham, Unpublished data, Clark
University, Worcester, Mass.
69 G. M. Whipple, Manual of Mental and Phy-
sical Tests, page 72.
70 DeBusk. Pedagogical Seminary, No. 3, 1917.
71 Frank Fetter, Principles of Economics, page
174.
72 Luther Gulick, Ped. Sem. Vol. VI, 1898-9
page 137.
73 Karl Groos, Play of Man, page 364.
...
...
(59)
PHYSICAL VIGOR OF AMERICAN WOMEN
74 A. G. Spalding and Bro., New York.
75 Education Through Recreation, Cleveland
School Survey, page 55.
76 Florence Converse, The Story of Wellesley,
page 37.
77 Based on the Report of the Commissioner of
Education and the Federal Census Reports
of the year 1910.
(60)
BOUNO
ALGAE
JUN 10 1937
UN.. W MICH.
LIBRARY

•
***
Die' d'a
**-*