THE anthropometric examinations given in the University of Porto Rico
during the last two years have provided data from which to determine the
physical development of the Porto Rican. A total of 1,412 examinations
has been made, including 616 men and 796 women. These students ranged in
age from fifteen to thirty years.
A comparison of the physical development of American and Porto Rican
boys and girls of the same age shows that the Porto Rican surpasses the
American in nearly every point, at the ages of fifteen, sixteen, and
seventeen. At eighteen the physical development is about the same, but
from that time there seems to be little additional growth on the part of
the Porto Rican, while the American continues to develop up to and
including the twenty-second year. This seems to confirm the generally
accepted theory that a person matures earlier in the tropics than he
does in a temperate climate. That the slighter physical development is
the effect of geographic or climatic conditions, and is not entirely due
to race, is proved by the fact that measurements of Chilean boys, who
are of Spanish blood, more nearly approximate those of North American
boys than they do those of Porto Ricans. The following tables show a
comparison of the development of the Porto Rican students with the
average development of American men and women. The measurements are in
pounds and inches.