214 



FREDERICK TILXKV AND LUTHER F. WARREN 



this organ should be to manifest the signs of regression through 

 the periods of growth in num. Or if, on the other hand, as is 

 thought to be the case by many, the organ is functional only 

 in the fetal and in the early postnatal stages, then the relative 

 weight of the organ to the rest of the brain should show an 

 alteration in its ratio, indicating a progressive retrograde process 

 taking place in its structural elements. 



In ))]< 'paring the figures of Cutore, in order most effectively to 

 assemble the facts necessary to this argument, his cases were 

 grouped in such a way as to constitute five more or less well- 

 drfined epochs of life. 



1. Six examples of infante in the first year. 



2. Five examples of infants in the second year. 



3. Six examples of children from 3 to 14 years. 



4. Five examples of adults from 15 to 25 years. 



5. Three examples of adults from 60 to 70 years. 



It will be seen from these figures that of the three structures 

 considered, the average weight of the epiphysis alone tends to 

 increase constantly through the five epochs differentiated in 

 this study. The brain itself shows a constant increment in 

 weight from the first year to and through the twenty-fifth year, 

 but in the fifth epoch, from sixty to seventy years, there is an 

 apparent decrease of nearly 100 grams in brain weight. The 

 increase in the hypophysis runs parallel to that of the brain, 

 for up to the fourth epoch and including it the increment in 

 weight in the hypophysis is constant, but in the fifth epoch, 

 from sixty to seventy years, the figures seem to indicate a defi- 

 nite decrease in weight. The indices expressing the epiphyso- 



