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group in the school. The results are so interesting and suggestive that the records
are reproduced here in graphic form. The monthly averages are plotted from
January, 1927, to January, 1928.
The expected features of such a record are well brought out, including (1) the
prepubescent rapid acceleration in weight of the boys at the ages of twelve and
thirteen years as compared with the slower and more regular increase of the younger
boys, (2) the already known phenomenon of acceleration in weight increase during the
early autumnal period with retarded increases in the winter and spring months—that
is well shown in each age group. In addition, this chart is remarkable because it
includes one group of boys born or conceived before the war, and two groups of boys
born in the two first post war years. The chart is arranged in such a way that in
each group the records at the extreme right hand (e.g., January, 1928) are of boys
who are at the same age and phase of growth as those in the group next above
charted on the extreme left of the chart (January, 1927).
If all things were equal the termination of each curve on the right should coincide
exactly with the commencement of the curve next above on the left. This holds
with the 1917, 1918 and 1919 groups but fails with the 1915 and 1916 and 1920
groups; but while the 1915 and 1916 groups fall off from the groups above them
the 1920 varies in the other direction, i.e., exceeds the 1919 group. It is impossible
to avoid the inference that these variations are the effect of circumstances connected
with the war. The following is a tentative explanation.
The London birth rate in 1914 was 24.3 per 1,000 living, but had fallen in 1918
to 16.0 per 1,000. This fall was of course due to the fact that a very large number
of potential fathers were absent on military duty. In fact, every able bodied man