2 24 INANITION AND MALNUTRITION 



extensive series of 459 autopsies upon victims of the Indian famine, Porter 

 ('89) noted that in 45 per cent of the men the heart weight was under 6 oz. 

 (average 5^ oz.) and in the remaining cases it averaged only 7 oz. In 37.4 

 per cent of the women it was below 5 oz. (average 4.24 oz.) and in the remainder 

 averaged barely 6 oz. For all the men autopsied, the heart weight averaged 

 6.17 oz. (ratio to body weight 1 :i96); and for all the women 5.3 oz. (ratio 

 1 :i8o). As a norm for comparison, he cited Quain's (European) ratio of 

 1 : 158 for men and 1 : 149 for women; which would indicate a loss of heart weight 

 in the famine victims relatively greater than the loss in body weight. This is 

 somewhat doubtful, however. Most of the cases above childhood represented 

 in the chart of Fig. 70 are from Porter's data. 



Fig. 70. — Graph showing the individual weights of the heart, according to body length, in 

 atrophic human cases, newborn to adult, from various sources. The curve of normal heart 

 weight is from data compiled by Prof. R. E. Scammon. It will be noted that, although there 

 is much individual variation, in most cases the heart weight is below normal, the degree of 

 atrophy apparently becoming greater with increasing age and body length. 



Askanazy ('13) claimed that during inanition relatively the least loss occurs 

 in the heart, brain and bones, the heart losing relatively much less than the 

 whole body. Hirsch ('99), however, stated that in cachexias the cardiac muscle 

 is reduced in proportion to the skeletal muscle and body weight (edemas 

 excepted). This is confirmed by the observation of Meyer ('17), and by the 

 extensive data of Roessle ('19). 



Bean and Baker ('19) in data from autopsies at the Johns Hopkins Hospital 

 and the Charity Hospital of New Orleans, found the average cardiac weight 

 (excluding pathological hearts) in adults, classified according to their nutri- 

 tional appearance (body weight unknown), as shown in the accompanying table. 



