l8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. IIO 



With the increase in anthropological knowledge, the number of 

 concrete morphological problems grows. Much attention is paid not 

 only to research in the variations of the structure of the skull and 

 individual bones of the skeleton but also to the brain convolutions, 

 the skin and hair, the bones and cartilage, the nose, eyelids, lips, 

 muscles, internal organs, and outer forms of the body, and in the 

 proportion of its parts. 



In recent years a number of works in comparative anatomical 

 research, the study of topographical and functional correlations, onto- 

 genetic alterations and the laws of growth have been published. 



In the period from birth to approximately 20 years of age, the 

 growth of individual organs and parts of the body differs in respect 

 to speed and length of time. For the organism in general the growth 

 of the total size of the body, its length, weight, and chest measurement, 

 is most characteristic. These measurements determine the size of the 

 body surface and its volume. Available data establish a definite rela- 

 tion between the increase of the total size of the body and its separate 

 parts. 



As is known, during the growth period there are 3 to 4 years during 

 which the annual increase in the total size of the body is very great. 

 Some experts regard this so-called puberty phase in boys as extending 

 from the ages of 11 to 15 and others from 12 to 17. An analysis of 

 charts seems to indicate that puberty comes between 13 and 17 years 

 for boys and 13 and 16 for girls. In comparing such widely differing 

 groups in respect to body size as the Japanese and Americans, it is 

 seen that variations in the above-mentioned periods are no more than 

 4 to 6 months. 



At the same time another important circumstance becomes evident : 

 a sharp increase in growth during puberty is characteristic for only 

 one type. If growth is very intensive preceding puberty then the 

 intensity of growth during the period of sexual maturing is hardly 

 noticeable. On this basis it was possible to distinguish several types 

 of growth and to find basic magnitudes according to which it is 

 possible to establish the type of growth of the child in a comparatively 

 short period of observation. 



There is little relationship between the type of growth and the final 

 size of the body. Both short and tall persons may grow according 

 to the accelerated as well as the gradual type. At the same time it 

 becomes clear that between the final size and the magnitude of the 

 body at one or another age there is a relation which varies within 

 comparatively narrow limits. In addition to being of great interest for 

 understanding the formative process of an organism, the establishment 



