CHAPTER III. 

 THE PHASES OF LIFE. 



712. THE child has at birth, on an average, rather less 

 than one-third the maximum length, and about one-twentieth 

 the maximum weight, to which in future years it will attain. 



'1 ; composition of the body of the new-born babe, as com- 

 pared '.'th that of the a^lult, will be seen from the following 

 table, in which the details are more full than those given in 

 413 ; the figures in brackets are more recent observations. 



Weight of organ in percentage Weight of organ in 

 t of Body-weight. adult, as compared 



with that of new-born 

 babe taken as 1. 



1-7 



3-7 (3-34) 

 12 

 12 



13-6 (11-05) 

 15 (12-1) 



20 



20 

 26 



48 

 60 



It will be observed that the brain and eyes are, relatively 

 to the whole body-weight, very much larger in the babe than 

 in the adult. This disproportion is a very marked embryonic 

 feature, and has a morphological or phylogenic, as well as a 

 physiological or teleological, significance. Inasmuch as the 

 smaller body has relatively the larger surface, the skin is natur- 

 ally proportionately greater in the babe ; but the same dispro- 

 portion is observed in the kidneys, these like the skin increasing 



1144 



