Argues that the slaves transported in interregional trade were not selected on the basis of their physical stature.

Argues that the decline in physical stature of the American population beginning with 1835 was related to the concomitants of the onset of modern economic growth and not entirely to changes in the disease environment.

We examine spatial convergence in biological well-being in the Habsburg Monarchy circa 1890-1910 on the basis of evidence on the physical stature of 21-year-old recruits disaggregated into 15 districts. We find that the shorter was the population in 1890 the faster its height grew thereafter....