THE KANSAS UNIVERSITY 



SCIENCE BULLETIN 



Vol. XIV.] October, 1922. [No. 19. 



A Study of the Relation Between Function and Growth 



in Body Cells. 



BY MONTROSE T. BURROWS, M. D. 



The Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine and the Barnard Free 



Skin and Cancer Hospital, St. Louis, Mo. 



IN THE BODY, growth is a definitely regulated act, which dur- 

 ing development takes place irregularly in one part and then in 

 another. At maturity it ceases in most tissues, except as it is neces- 

 sary to replace tissue or cells lost by injury, to meet the demands 

 of an increased function of the whole or a part, and to take care of 

 the general wear and tear. Function, on the other hand, such as 

 heart-muscle contraction, is something that, once established, goes 

 on continuously throughout the life of the individual. 



Growth in the body is, therefore, that which has a maturity or 

 has limits, while function (rhythmical heart-muscle contraction) 

 has none. 



These two processes are related in only one regard: for a given 

 amount of work of contraction there is a constant size. A stimulus 

 which induces an increase in work on the part of the heart induces 

 also an increase in the size of the organ, while one which induces a 

 decrease in work leads to atrophy. What is true for the heart is also 

 true for muscles in general and for the kidneys, liver and other or- 

 gans of the body. Growth of the muscle fibers and cells of these or- 

 gans is proportional, therefore, to their rate of activity or to the rate 

 of their metabolism. That the same is true in the embryo, even be- 

 fore differentiation and the development of function, has been clearly 

 pointed out by Child.* ^ Child again points out that with each de- 

 crease in growth rate there is a decrease in the rate of metabolism, 



* Superior figures refer to numbered paragraphs of the bibliography at the end of this 

 article. 



(475) 



