EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN 



177 



actual increase in the brain weight, which often appears to correspond to the 

 age, rather than the body weight. He concluded that: 



"Les mensurations faites sur le crane des enfants hypotrophiques vivants, 

 aussi bien que les pesees du cerveau apres la mort, semblent concordantes 

 pour nous montrer que les processus hypotrophique ne s'exerce pas sur les 

 centres nerveux comme sur le reste de 1'organisme." 



This conclusion was confirmed by Variot and Lassabliere ('09), who give 

 data on 12 hypotrophic infants autopsied at 3-21 (average 13%) months of 

 age. Compared with the normal for corresponding age, the brain weight 

 averages nearly normal, ranging from 18 per cent below to 20 per cent above; 

 whereas the corresponding height of the body averaged 10 per cent below nor- 



Fig. 6o. — A graph showing the individual brain weights in emaciated, atrophic infants. 

 The larger dots represent original Minnesota cases; the others are from various sources. The 

 curve represents the normal brain weight, according to body length, from data compiled by 

 Prof. R. E. Scammon. It is evident that inanition had little or no effect upon the weight of the 

 brain. 



mal, and the body weight 37 per cent below normal. Thus during inanition 

 in infants the brain appears capable of continued growth at the expense of 

 the remainder of the body. 



Variot's conclusion was also confirmed by the extensive data of Fayolle 

 ('10). In a series of 128 infants, he found the average brain weight in the 

 hypotrophic 0.2 per cent above the normal for corresponding age; the body 

 height being 7.2 per cent below, and the body weight 36.4 per cent below. In 

 a second series of hypotrophies, the head circumference averages 0.01 per cent 

 above normal for age (indicating normal size for the brain); the body height 

 being 5.14 per cent below, and the body weight 24.19 per cent below. 



