The land of the little people

Once again we fear that we are entering one of those patches where blog-worthy material is somewhat thin. Here in the USA, the only thing that can be said for certain is that visits to the Washington shrine to St Condi of Palo Alto will probably be down somewhat from the level of the past three years. So of peripheral Irish interest, we refer you to this fascinating article from this week's New Yorker, about trends in height through the centuries.

The motivating puzzle is that the USA's assumed advantage in quality of life is no longer translating into gains in height relative to the rest of the world, with northwestern Europe's more egalitarian healthcare system leading to a concentration of Gullivers in that part of the world. But we couldn't overlook this detail provided by a German professor who has spent years putting this height data together:

He [Professor Komlos] showed me [New Yorker writer Burkhard Bilger] an ad from the Pennsylvania Gazette, dated September 26, 1771. An Irish servant named Nathaniel Anster had run away for the third time. He was thirty years old, with a sandy complexion and short bushy hair. He had on a felt hat and a striped blanket coat, was “much inclined to strong drink,” and had “a natural propensity to steal.” He was also five feet seven inches tall.

We hope that Nathaniel made good on his 3rd escape.