Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 31.djvu/330

 and a half feet; small races, which are less than five and one fourth feet; and large races, which are more than five and a half feet in height.

From time to time there are found in different populations individuals whose stature departs much from the mean, either in excess—"giants"—or in deficiency—"dwarfs"; and teratology has failed to find adequate explanations of the causes of such variations.

If we may believe the ancient authors, a large number of giants and giantesses attained extraordinary stature, even for persons of that class. Pliny mentions the giant Gabbara, who was nine feet nine inches tall, and two other giants, Poison and Secundilla, who were half a foot taller; Garopius tells of a young giantess who was ten feet high; and Lecat, of a Scotch giant, eleven and a half feet in height. But we may take it for granted that these figures are greatly