Project of an instrument for the identification of persons : for use in military establishments, police offices, &c. and for physiological and artistic research / by Joseph Bonomi.

  • Bonomi, Joseph, 1796-1878.
Date:
1872
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Project of an instrument for the identification of persons : for use in military establishments, police offices, &c. and for physiological and artistic research / by Joseph Bonomi. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    NORMAL PROPORTION OF THE HUMAN FIGURE. ‘ Nature, in the construction of the human frame, has so ordained, that the measure of the distance from the extremity of one hand to the extremity of the other, when the arms are extended, should be the same as the measure from the top of the head to the sole of the foot.’ This proportional measure of the human figure, like all the others given by Vitruvius/1,2 is to be regarded as the normal proportion which the extended arms should bear to the entire height; for, in some individuals the measure of the extended arms exceeds that of the height, while, in others, it falls short, and in others again, it exactly equals the height. From this fact it follows, that every individual of the human family must belong to one or other of three classes: for, either they must belong to that class in ■which the measure of the extended arms exceeds the height; or, to the class in which the height exceeds the measure of the arms ; or, thirdly, to that class in which the measure of the extended arms is exactly equal to that of the height.