482
POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY
We know, first of all, from our common observation, that the very old grow shorter in stature. We see that they are not so tall as in the prime of life. The figures which have been compiled upon this subject are instructive, for they show that at the age of some thirty years the average height of men—these figures refer to Germans—is 174
Fig. 1. Photograph of Chevreul, taken on his one hundredth birthday. He was asked to write in an album and replied "Que voulez vous que jécrive sur votre album. Je vais écrire mon premier principe philosophique, ce n'est par moi, qui l'ai formulé, c'est Malebranche "On doit tendre avec effort à l'infallibilité. sans y prétendre." Chevreul was born Aug. 31, 1786 and died Aug. 9, 1889. For the privilege of using this portrait I am indebted to Dr. Henry P. Bowditch, to whom the interesting original belongs.
centimeters. It remains at that, however, only for a short period; then it decreases and at forty it is already less; at fifty decidedly less; and at sixty the change has become more marked; until at seventy years we find that the height has shrunk from 174 to 161. There it
