3Q 



Scientific Proceedings (26). 





Weight. 



Height. 



Strength. 





kilos. 



cm. 



kilos. 



Prepubescent. 



36-7 



I49.8 



32-5 



Pubescent. 



4I.8 



153- 1 



3°-4 



Postpubescent. 



49- 3 



162.6 



42.9 



The differences in weight, height and strength between pre- 

 pubescents and postpubescents of the same age are equal to the 

 differences between age groups that are 6 to 8 years apart. 



Conclusion. — Age groups are heterogeneous and cannot serve 

 as a unit for reference and experiment. We must substitute groups 

 based upon physiological age. 



16 (272) 



Gastric peristalsis after section of the vagi and splanchnic 



nerves. 



By JOHN AUER. 



\_From the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology of the 

 Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.^ 



Some time ago I described a method by means of which gas- 

 tric peristalsis in the rabbit could be studied under normal condi- 

 tions, without any operative interference whatsoever. The method 

 is briefly as follows : If the hair of the epigastrium of a rabbit, fed 

 well two hours before, is cut short, the stomach is largely outlined 

 through the abdominal wall, and the peristaltic waves may be 

 studied by inspection or by registering the waves with a tambour. 



As the stomach is provided with extrinsic nerves (vagi and 

 splanchnic) and with an intrinsic system (plexuses of Meissner and 

 Auerbach) it was of interest to study the mobility of the stomach 

 when deprived partly or entirely of its extrinsic innervation. This 

 question has been studied by a number of observers, most recently 

 and thoroughly by Cannon who used the X-ray method on cats. 

 By means of the simple and physiological method outlined above 

 the effects of sectioning the vagi or the splanchnics or both were 

 studied. The vagi were, in this series, invariably cut below the 

 diaphragm in order to preserve the vagus innervation of the thor- 

 acic viscera. 



First series. Subdiaphragmatic section of the vagi only. — Two 



