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<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
<h1>The Osseous Type</h1>
<h3>"The Stayer"</h3>
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<p>en and women in whom the Osseous or bony framework of the body is more
highly developed than any other system are called the Osseous type.</p>
<p>This system consists of the bones of the body and makes what we call the
skeleton.</p>
<p>Just as the previous systems were developed during man's biological
evolution for purposes serving the needs of the organism—first, a
stomach-sack, then a freight system in the form of arteries to carry the
food to remoter parts of the body, and later muscles with which to move
itself about—so this bony scaffolding was developed to hold the body
upright and better enable it to defend and assert itself.<br/><br/><br/><br/><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></SPAN></span></p>
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<p>Man is a creature who, in spite of his height, walks erect. He can so do
only by means of the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></SPAN></span> support given him by his bony framework. The
human body is like a tall building—the muscles are like the mortar and
plaster, the bones are like the steel framework around which everything
else is built and without which the structure could not stand upright.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>How to Know Him</h4>
<p>� Prominent ankles, wrists, knuckles and elbows are sure signs that such
an individual has a large osseous or bony element in his makeup.</p>
<p>When you look at any person you quickly discern whether fat, bone or
muscle predominates in his construction. If fat predominates he leans
toward the Alimentive, no matter what other types he may have in
combination; if firm, well-defined muscles are conspicuous, he is
largely Muscular; but if his bones are <i>proportionately large for his
body</i> he has much of the Osseous type in his makeup.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The "Raw-Boned" Man</h4>
<p>� "Raw-boned" exactly describes the appearance of the extreme Osseous.
(See Chart 7)</p>
<p>Such a man is a contrast to others in any group and a figure with which
all of us are familiar. But that<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></SPAN></span> his inner nature differs as widely
from others as his external appearance differs from theirs is something
only recently discovered.</p>
<p>As we proceed through this chapter you will be interested to note how
every trait attributed to this type applies with absolute accuracy to
every extremely raw-boned, angular person you have ever known. You will
also notice how these traits have predominated in every person whose
bones were large for his body.</p>
<p>Though this type was the last to be classified by science it is the most
extreme of them all.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>Physical Rigidity</h4>
<p>� An impression of physical rigidity is given by the extreme Osseous.
Such a man or woman looks stable, unchanging, immovable—as though he
could take a stand and keep to it through thick and thin.</p>
<p>So vividly do very tall, angular, raw-boned people convey this
impression that they are seldom approached by beggars, barked at by
street vendors, or told to "step lively."<br/><br/></p>
<h4>His Size Looks Formidable</h4>
<p>� The power of his physique is evident to all who look at him. The
strength indicated by his large<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></SPAN></span> joints, angular hands and general bulk
intuitively warns others to let this kind of person alone.</p>
<p>He is therefore unmolested for the most part, whether he walks down the
streets of his home town or wanders the byways of dangerous vicinities.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>His Ruggedness</h4>
<p>� This type also looks rugged. He reminds us of "the rugged Rockies." He
appears firm, fixed, impassive—as though everything about him was
permanent.</p>
<p>Externals are not accidental; they always correspond to the internal
nature in every form of life. And it is not accidental that the Osseous
looks all of these things. He is all of them as definitely as they can
be expressed in human nature.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The Steady Man</h4>
<p>� Of all human types the Osseous is the most dependable and reliable.
The phrases, "that man is steady," "never flies off the handle," "always
the same," etc., are invariably used concerning those of more than
average bony structure.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>Immovability His Keynote</h4>
<p>� The keynote of the bony man's whole nature—mental, physical and
moral—is immovability.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></SPAN></span></p>
<p>Once he settles into a place of any kind—a town, a home, or even a
chair—he is disinclined to move. He does not settle as quickly as other
types but when he does it is for a longer stay.</p>
<p>Think how different he is from others in this psychological trait and
how it coincides exactly with his physiological structure.</p>
<p>The fat man lets you make temporary dents in his plans just as you make
them in a piece of fat meat. But the bony man is exactly the opposite,
just as bone is difficult to twist, or turn, or alter in any way. It
takes a long time and much effort—but once it is changed it is there
for good.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The "Six-Footer"</h4>
<p>� Because any individual's height is determined by his skeleton, extreme
tallness is a sign of a larger than average bony structure. The extreme
Osseous is therefore tall.</p>
<p>But you must remember that large joints are more significant than
height. Even when found in short people they indicate a large osseous
tendency.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>Large Bones for His Body</h4>
<p>� So bear in mind that any person whose <i>bones are large for his body</i>
is somewhat of the Osseous<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></SPAN></span> type, regardless of whether he is short or
tall and regardless of how much fat or muscle he may have. The
large-jointed person when fat is an Osseous-Alimentive. A large-jointed
man of muscle would be an Osseous-Muscular.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The "Small Osseous"</h4>
<p>� A very short person then may be predominantly Osseous if his bones are
proportionately large for his body. Such an individual is called a
"Small Osseous."</p>
<p>A head that is high for his body and inclines to be straight up and down
goes with the extreme Osseous type. (See Chart 8) It does not resemble a
sphere like the Alimentive, is not kite-shaped like the Thoracic, nor
square like the Muscular. It is higher than any of the others, stands on
a longer, more angular neck, and his "Adam's Apple" is usually in
evidence.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The Pioneer Type</h4>
<p>� Like each of the other types, the Osseous is a result of a certain
environment. Rigorous, remote regions require just such people, and
these finally gave rise to this stoical nature. The outposts of
civilization are responsible for his evolution.<br/><br/><br/><br/><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-184.png" width-obs="290" height-obs="400" alt="" title="" /> <br/><br/><br/></div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></SPAN></span></p>
<p>Pioneering, with its hardship, its menacing cold and dearth of comforts,
in far countries at last produced a man who could stand them, who could
"live through" almost anything and still dominate his surroundings.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>Not a "Softie"</h4>
<p>� The Osseous does not give way to his feelings. He keeps his griefs,
sorrows, ambitions and most of his real opinions to himself. He is the
farthest from a "softie" of any type.</p>
<p>If you desire to know at once what kind of person the Osseous is, put
the Alimentive and Thoracic types together and mix them thoroughly. The
Osseous is the <i>opposite</i> of that mixture.</p>
<p>Each and every trait he possesses is one whose exact opposite you will
find in one or the other of these first two types.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>Consistency in Types</h4>
<p>� As we go on in this chapter you will see why all kinds of people make
up the world, for Nature has outdone herself in the distinctions between
the five human types.</p>
<p>Each type is made up of certain groups of traits with which we have come
in contact all our lives<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></SPAN></span> but which we have never classified; and each
"set" of traits comprising a type has a consistency which nothing less
than Mother Nature could have produced. You will be interested to see
how accurate are the statements concerning each type and how they are
proven again and again in every type you associate with.</p>
<p>Guesswork is no longer necessary in the sizing up of strangers. You can
know them better than their mothers know them if you will get these
nutshells of facts clearly in your mind and then <i>apply</i> them.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>His High Cheek Bones</h4>
<p>� Cheek bones standing higher than the average are always indicative
either of a large Thoracic or a large Osseous element.</p>
<p>If the distance between the cheeks is so wide as to make this the widest
section of the face, it is probable that the person is more Thoracic
than Osseous. But if his face is narrow across the cheek bones, and
especially if it runs perpendicularly down to the jaw-corners from that
point instead of tapering, the person is large of the Osseous type.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>Built on the Oblong</h4>
<p>� An oblong is what the Osseous brings to mind.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></SPAN></span> His body outlines
approximate the oblong—a squareness plus length. He is full of right
angles and sharp corners. (See Chart 7)</p>
<p>His face is built on the oblong (See Chart 8) and if you will notice the
side-head of the next Osseous man you meet you will see that even a side
view presents more nearly the appearance of the oblong than of any other
geometrical figure.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The Oblong Hand</h4>
<p>� "The gnarled hand" well describes that of the Osseous. The hand
outlines of this type also approximate the oblong. (See Chart 8) It runs
straight down instead of tapering when the fingers are held close
together.</p>
<p>The hand of the Osseous matches his body, head and face. It is bony,
angular, large-jointed and as rigid as it looks. The inflexibility of
his hand is always apparent in his handshake.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>Knotty Fingers</h4>
<p>� Knotty fingers characterize the hands of this type. Their irregular
appearance comes from the size of the joints which are large, in keeping
with all the joints running throughout his organism.</p>
<p>Everything in one of Nature's creatures matches<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></SPAN></span> the other parts.
Agassiz, the great naturalist, when given the scale of a fish could
reconstruct for you the complete organism of the type of fish from which
it came. Give a tree-leaf to a botanist and he will reconstruct the
size, shape, structure and color of the tree back of it. He will
describe to you its native environment and its functions; what its bark,
blossoms and branches look like and what to do to make it grow.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>No Guesswork in Nature</h4>
<p>� Nature has no accidents. With her everything is organized, everything
has a purpose, and every part of a thing, inside and out, matches the
whole. So the hand of the Osseous and the face of the Osseous match the
body and head.</p>
<p>This is also true of every other type. The Alimentive has small, fat,
dimpled hands and feet like his body; the Thoracic has tapering hands
and feet to match his face and body; the Muscular's body, hands and feet
are all square; but the Osseous has a bony body, so his hands and feet
are equally bony.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The Man of Slow Movements</h4>
<p>� "He is too slow for me," you have heard some one say of another.
Perhaps you heard it said today.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></SPAN></span> Review the outward appearance of all
the people you know who have this reputation, from those of your
earliest childhood down to that person of whom it was spoken today—and
you will find that every one of them resembled the bony type we have
just been describing.</p>
<p>Look back and call to mind the appearance of all the "rapid" ones and
you will find that in every case they possessed high color, high chests
or high-bridged noses. Take another look for the easy-going amenable
ones, and see how plump they all were!<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The Straight-Laced</h4>
<p>� None of these things "just happened." They are the result of the law
of cause and effect. The connection between external and internal traits
is becoming clearer every day and reveals some very unexpected things.</p>
<p>One that has been discovered very recently is that the straight-faced
are the straight-laced. Notice for yourself and you will find that every
person who is really "straight-laced" is a person with a straight
face—that is, a face with straighter up-and-down lines than the
average.</p>
<p>Think back over those you have known who come<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></SPAN></span> under this heading and
you will find no actually round-faced people amongst them.</p>
<p>No matter how sanctimonious, religious or correct a person may act when
his position or the occasion demands it, if he has a round, "moon" face
he is not really straight-laced at heart. Any one who knows him well
enough to know his real nature will tell you so.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The Naturally Conventional</h4>
<p>� The "born Puritan," the ascetic, and the naturally conventional person
is, on the other hand, invariably an individual of more severe facial
outlines.</p>
<p>This person may be in an unconventional position; your straight-faced,
severe-lined person may be a gambler, a boot-legger, or follow any other
line defying the conventions; but he is at heart a conservative after
all. For instance, you will always find, when you know him, that he does
things in a way that is very conventional to him. That is, he has
decided standards, rules, habits and requirements, and he clings rigidly
to them in the transaction of his business, regardless of how lax the
business itself may be.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></SPAN></span></p>
<p>"A certain way of doing things" means as much to him, at heart, as it
means little to the circular-faced people.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>Systematic and Methodical</h4>
<p>� "A place for everything and everything in its place" is a rule
preached and practised by people of this type.</p>
<p>The Osseous person does not mislay his things. He knows so well where
they are that he can "go straight to them in the dark." Such a man is
careful of his tools and keeps his work-bench or desk "shipshape." A
woman of this type is an excellent housekeeper. Her sewing basket,
dresser drawers and pantry shelves are all systematically arranged in
apple-pie order.</p>
<p>The typical New England housewife, who washes on Mondays, irons on
Tuesdays and bakes on Saturdays for forty years, is a direct descendant
of the Puritans, most of whom belong to this bony, pioneering type.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The Stiff Sitter</h4>
<p>� Extremely Osseous people are inclined to be somewhat formal in their
movements. They make fewer motions than any other type. They do not<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></SPAN></span>
wave their hands or arms about when talking and are almost devoid of
gesticulation of any kind. They sit upright instead of slumping down in
their chairs, except when tall and lanky, and usually prefer
"straight-backs" to rockers.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The Osseous Walk</h4>
<p>� The extremely raw-boned person has also a formal gait. His walk, like
all his other movements, is inclined to be deliberate and somewhat
mechanical.</p>
<p>� Nothing about the five types is more interesting than the walk which
distinguishes each. The Alimentive undulates or rolls along; the
Thoracic is an impulsive walker, and the Muscular is forceful in his
walk. But the Osseous walks mechanically, deliberately, and refuses to
hurry or speed up.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The Naturally Poised</h4>
<p>� The Osseous has more natural poise than any other type.</p>
<p>He is not impressionable, excitable or arousable. Things do not "stir
him up" as they do other people. He is more self-contained,
self-controlled and self-sufficient than any other. He is not easily
carried off his feet and seldom yields to impulse. It is difficult to
get him to do anything on the spur<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></SPAN></span> of the moment. He usually has his
evenings, Sundays and vacations all planned in advance and won't change
his schedule.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>Not Given to "Nerves"</h4>
<p>� Literally as well as figuratively the Osseous is not a man of
"nerves." Every fiber of his being is less susceptible to outside
stimuli than that of other types. In this he is the exact opposite of
the Thoracic whose nerves, as we have pointed out, are so finely
organized that he is hypersensitive.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>Resists Change</h4>
<p>� Osseous people do not change anything, from their hair dress to their
minds, any oftener than necessary. When they do, it is for what they
consider overpoweringly good reasons.</p>
<p>These people are not flighty. They have their work, their time and their
lives laid out systematically and do not allow trivialities to upset
them. They take a longer time to deliberate on a proposed line of
action, but once they have made a decision, adhere to it with much
greater tenacity than any other type.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The Constant</h4>
<p>� People of this type are not fickle nor flirtatious.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></SPAN></span> They love few;
but once having become enamored are not easily turned aside. It is this
type that remains true to one love through many years, sometimes for
life.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The Implacable</h4>
<p>� The Osseous are not prone to sudden outbursts of temper. But they have
the unbending kind when it is aroused.</p>
<p>Never forgiving and never forgetting is a trait of these people as
contrasted with the Thoracic.</p>
<p>The Alimentive avoids those he does not like and forgets them because it
is too much bother to hate; the Thoracic flames up one moment and
forgives the next; the Muscular takes it out in a fight then and there,
or argues with you about it.</p>
<p>But the Osseous despises, hates and loathes—and keeps on for years
after every one else has forgotten all about it. The "rock-bound
Puritan" type, as stony as the New England land from which it gets its
living, is always bony. The implacable father who turns his child away
from home, with orders "never to darken his door again," always has a
lot of bone in his structure. Those who refuse to be softened into
forgiveness by the years are always of this type.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></SPAN></span><br/><br/></p>
<h4>Not Adaptable</h4>
<p>� It is difficult for the Osseous to "fit in." He is not adaptable and
in this is once again the opposite of the Thoracic. It is impossible for
him to adjust himself quickly to people or places.</p>
<p>Because he is unyielding, unbending and unadjustable he is called "sot
in his ways."</p>
<p>He should not be misjudged for this inadaptability, however, for it is
as natural to him as smoothness is to the Alimentive and impulsiveness
to the Thoracic. He is made that way and is no more to blame for it than
you are for having brown eyes instead of blue.<br/><br/></p>
<h4>The One-Track Man</h4>
<p>� "Single-track minds" are characteristic of this type. They get an idea
or an attitude and it is there to stay. They think the same things for
many years and follow a few definite lines of action most of their
lives.</p>
<p>But it is to be remembered in this connection that this type often
accomplishes more through his intensive concentration than more
versatile types. While they follow many by-paths in search of their goal
the Osseous sticks to the main track.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></SPAN></span><br/><br/></p>
<h4>The Born Specialist</h4>
<p>� "This one thing I do," is a motto of the Osseous. They are the least
versatile of any type and do not like to jump from one kind of work to
another.</p>
<p>They prefer to do one thing at a time, do it well and finish it before
starting anything else. Because of this the Osseous stars in
specialities.<br/><br/></p>
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