522 



Or RESPIRATION. 



by Dr. H. as necessary to health at the middle period of life, in the Male sex, 

 for each inch of height between five and six feet : 



Height. Vital Capacity. 



174 cubic in. 

 182 

 190 

 198 

 206 

 214 

 222 

 230 

 238 

 246 

 254 

 262 



This relation may be briefly expressed by the rule, that for every inch of stature, 

 from five to six feet, eight additional cubic inches of air (at 60 Fahr.) are 

 given out by a forced expiration after a full inspiration. There is also a rela- 

 tion between " vital capacity" and Weight; but of a different kind from that 

 which might have been anticipated. So far as the increase in weight is simply 

 proportional to the increase in height, the relation is of course the same for the 

 one as for the other. But if the excess of weight should depend upon corpu- 

 lence, the vital capacity decreases in a very marked manner, being always very 

 low in corpulent men. The general result of Dr. Hutchinson's observations 

 on this point is expressed by him as follows : When the man exceeds the average 

 weight (at each height) by 7 per cent., the vital capacity decreases 1 cub. in. 

 per Ib. for the next 35 Ibs. above this weight. The influence of Age upon the 

 "vital capacity" is less marked than might have been anticipated. The general 

 fact seems to be, that the "vital capacity" undergoes a slight increase between 15 

 to 35 years, and then gradually decreases, the decline being more rapid than the 

 augmentation, so that by the age of 66 it has diminished to about 4-5ths of the 

 maximum. There does not seem to be as close a relation between the " vital 

 capacity" and Muscular Vigor, as might & priori have been expected, and as an 

 attempt has been made to establish. 1 Cases are not unfrequent in which men 

 of athletic constitution have an absolute deficiency, whilst others by no means 

 remarkable for physical power present a large excess. 2 In fact, as Dr. R. Hall 

 has justly remarked, this measure indicates, not what a person does breathe, but 

 what he can breathe. The maximum " vital capacity" met with by Dr. Hutch- 

 inson, in his entire series of observations, was 464 cub. in. ; this was in a man 7 

 feet high, whose weight was 308 Ibs. The minimum was only 46 cub. in. ; this 

 was in a dwarf (Don Francisco) whose height was only 29 inches, and weight 

 40 Ibs. 



558. But however constant the above averages may prove to be, when tested 

 by a still larger number of observations, it yet remains to be determined within 

 what limits individual variation may range, without departure from the standard 

 of health. It is considered by Dr. Hutchinson (Op. cit. p. 1079) that a defi- 

 ciency of 16 per cent, (unless the individual should be very corpulent) should 

 excite suspicion of disease; but the observations of Dr. C. R. Hall (loc. cit.) 

 seem to show that the range is considerably wider, especially in females. They 

 also indicate that even a marked deficiency in vital capacity must not be re- 

 garded as indicative of pulmonary disease ; for it may be dependent upon dis- 

 order of the abdominal viscera, especially upon congested liver. 



1 See Dr. Jackson in "Philadelphia Medical Examiner," 1851, p. 51. 



2 See Dr. Radclyffe Hall in "Trans, of Prov. Med. and Surg. Assoc.," 1851. 



