Weight of Man at Different Ages. 337 



ject, for one of the most frequent problems, is to determine af- 

 ter death, the probable age of an individual, from the assemblage 

 of physical qualities. On this grave question, we are gene- 

 rally reduced to the estimation of practitioners more or less 

 vague ; but if, in a case of infanticide, for example, we stated 

 in the proces-verhal the weight and stature of the infant, as 

 well as those physical characters susceptible of measure, and as 

 we might have by the side of that, well constructed tables, which 

 would give us, for the different ages, the values of these phy- 

 sical qualities and their mean variations, we would have terms of 

 comparison which would be better than the appreciation of prac- 

 titioners, or which would serve at least to control their asser- 

 tions. We see from these examples, that the inquiries concern- 

 ing the weight of man, have more than one application. 



The observations of M. Quelelet were made at Brussels in 

 the Maternal Hospice of St. Peter; he compares them with 

 those made at Moscow and Paris^ in similar hospices ; and he 

 finds little difference between the means obtained. Unfortu* 

 nately the Russian and French practitioners have not distin- 

 guished, with as much care as M. Quetelet, the sex, the stature, 

 and the weight of children observed at their birth. This renders 

 the results less capable of comparison. M. Quetelet found for 

 sixty, three male children, and fifty-six female, newly born, the 

 following quantities, 



Weights. Stature. 



Male Children 7-057536 lb. Avoird. 1.62732 feet 



Female 6.4179468 1.58467 



The extremes are : 



' Boys. Gijd&k 



Minimum 5.1608232 lb. Avoird. 2.4701376 lb. Avoird. 



Maximum 9.02466 9.36329 



The mean weight without distinction of sex, is 6.7377414 lb, 

 Avoird. It has been found at Paris on 20,000 observations 

 6.74656332 lb. Avoird.* 



M. Quetelet has made similar inquiries concerning children 

 from four to twelve years of age, in the schools of Brussels, and 

 in the orphan hospital, — concerning young people in the colleges 

 and in the medical school, — finally, concerning old men in the 



• Dictionary of Medical Science, article F(Etus. 



