AGE, GROWTH AM) DEATH 



483 



remains, or thereabouts, through the remainder of life, though there 

 may be a small further diminution. This decrease in stature is due 

 largely to the changes in the vertebral column. First of all there is 

 a stoop. The vertebral column is, to be sure, never straight, but in 

 old age it becomes more curved, and the result is a falling of the total 

 stature. But this is not the chief cause, for in addition to this the 



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Fig. 2. Photograph from a Child at Birth. The original is owned by Dr. H. P. Bow- 

 ditch, by whose courtesy the present reproduction is published. 



softer cartilages and elements of the spinal column become harder, 

 change into bone, and as that change occurs they acquire a less extent 

 and become smaller, and the result is that the vertebral column as a 

 whole collapses somewhat and thus increases the diminution of height. 

 We find, as we look at the old, a great change to have come over 

 the face. The roundness of youth has departed ; the cheeks are 



