xm, b, 6 Ruth: Study of Human Embryos 321 



of the fertilized ova would develop into cyclopes, or one-eyed 

 monsters. Werber obtained similar results by treating fish eggs 

 with very dilute solutions containing acetone and butiric acid. 



Table I shows a complete list of the embryos collected in the 

 Philippine .Islands. All measurements are computed in milli- 

 meters. The crown-rump measurement is taken with calipers 

 from the vertex of the head to the most distal region of the 

 buttocks. The standing height, according to Mall, (6) is the 

 crown-rump plus the thigh and leg length. The thigh length 

 is taken by describing an arc about the head of the femur, 

 representing the distance from the head of the femur to the tip 

 of the buttocks. The distance from the described arc on the 

 thigh to the knee joint represents the length of the thigh below 

 the buttocks. This is necessary, as otherwise the distance from 

 the head of the femur to the described arc, which represents the 

 distance from the head of the femur to the distal tip of the but- 

 tocks, would be duplicated, if the embryo is measured when body 

 and lower extremities are placed in a straight line. 



The measurements of the chorionic sac were taken in three 

 dimensions. The weight of the embryos is taken in grams. 

 Only a few of the smaller ones were weighed in the fresh state ; 

 all others were taken after having been in a fixing fluid for some 

 time. In the terminology of the pathological specimens an at- 

 tempt is made to use terms that indicate to which group the 

 embryo belongs as adopted by Mall, (7) who divided his pathol- 

 ogical specimens into seven groups. This is especially adaptable 

 for the first four groups, in which no embryo is present. A brief 

 history of the mother is given, her age, number of pregnancies, 

 full-term pregnancies, and abortions. The menstrual age is reck- 

 oned from the first day of the last menstrual period to the date 

 of abortion. 



As stated in Table I, out of 266 pregnancies, 183, or 64.4 per 

 cent, were full-term births; 75, or 28.6 per cent, abortions; and 

 8, or 3.0 per cent, ectopic. The percentage of abortions in my 

 series is a great deal higher than Mall reports, who found ap- 

 proximately 80 full-term births to every 20 abortions. In this 

 series there are approximately 70 full-term births to every 30 

 abortions. The percentage here will be probably reduced when 

 a larger series of cases is collected. The causes of abortion 

 here are probably due in a large proportion of cases to general 

 systemic diseases, such as beriberi, and other tropical diseases. 

 Certainly a comparatively few, if any, are self-induced. Vene- 

 real disease is also almost unknown here, especially among the 

 laboring class. There is, however, a great deal of endometritis 



