NORMALITY OF CHILDREN STUDIED. 35 



Not infrequently the weights of children of all ages are given with 

 clothing by various writers and an attempt is made (a very crude 

 attempt) to correct for the clothing at the time of weighing. This 

 method is inaccurate, since the weight of clothing varies with sex, 

 with the seasons of the year, and with the social position of the child. 

 Anyone can convince himself of the probable errors involved simply 

 by emptying the pockets of a small boy. Scientifically accurate 

 figures can therefore be obtained only when the subject is weighed 

 naked. 



Bowditch, 1 Schmid-Monnard, 2 Vierordt, 3 Griffith, 4 and other in- 

 vestigators have at various times reported the results of their studies 

 of the weight of clothing worn by their subjects. In the measurements 

 of our children we took the opportunity of studying to some extent 

 the weight of clothing worn. Since, however, many of our children 

 came from an institution where the clothing was more or less of uni- 

 form style and amount, our estimates of weight of clothing are not of 

 sufficient value to record, for they may have only a local significance, 

 a fault in common with many other series. 



Another difficulty in using these two measurements of body-weight 

 and height as standards for determining the normality of children is 

 that usually they are taken on relatively few subjects, and for the 

 establishment of an average or a normal value very considerable 

 numbers of measurements of both height and body-weight at varying 

 ages are essential. Height can and should be obtained on an indefinite 

 number of subjects, weight also on a large number, although to be of 

 value the weights should be nude weights. Unusual significance has 

 been recently attached to the so-called "stem length," i. e., sitting 

 height. 5 



For greater accuracy, consideration should also be given to the 

 amount of food eaten and the amount of water taken; the quantity 

 of urine and feces unvoided are likewise of not inconsiderable im- 

 portance. It is the present custom in physiological laboratories, 

 where extreme accuracy is desired, to make sure, so far as possible, 

 that food has not been taken into the stomach for several hours 

 (usually 12) before the weight is measured, and that the bladder is 

 emptied immediately before weighing and feces passed, if possible. 

 It is obvious that these last refinements are with difficulty applicable 

 to the measurement of a series of children. In our own investigations 

 they were followed out in as many cases as possible. 



1 Bowditch, Eighth Annual Report Mass. State Board Health, 1877, p. 275. 



2 Schmid-Monnard, Jahrb. f. Kinderheilk., 1901, 53, p. 50. 



3 Vierordt, Daten und Tabellen fur Mediziner, Jena, 1906, 3 Aufl., pp. 23-24. 



4 Griffith, N. Y. Med. Journ., 1917, 106, p. 823. 



6 Walker, Proc. Roy. Soc., B, 1915, 89, p. 157; Dreyer, Lancet, Aug. 9, 1919; and von Pirquet, 

 System der Ernahrung, Berlin, 1917, p. 48. 



