M. Greenwood and J. W. Brown 
475 
classed as abnormal*. It therefore seemed desirable to re-investigate this par- 
ticular problem and a special motive for doing so now is that one of us hopes 
shortly to collaborate with Dr Mott in the reduction of similar but more extensive 
data collected in Claybury Asylum. To make this latter inquiry complete, some 
comparison of biometric constants derived from an insane population with those 
yielded by sane stock is essential. The sane population as a whole not being 
available, and the economic strata which provide general hospital and county 
asylum patients being similar, it seemed probable that an extension of the earlier 
inquiry would be of value. Under these circumstances recourse was once more 
had to the pathological department of the London Hospital. We took this step 
with the more confidence because we knew that since the date of the first investi- 
gation the pathological records of the London Hospital had been enormously 
improved, under the supervision of Dr H. M. Turnbull, Director of the Pathological 
Institute. 
Dr Turnbull kindly supplied us with data prepared in accordance with his 
instructions and we desire to express our gratitude to him not only for placing the 
material at our disposal but for much friendly advice and criticism throughout the 
inquiry. 
The data provided by Dr Turnbull include, with the exception of the weight of 
the spleen, all the measurements recorded in the former series and in addition the 
weight of the brain (in most cases), and the weight of the whole body and its 
length. We must, however, remark that the last mentioned datum, although 
included in one of our tables, has been shown to be unreliable, so that no sound 
conclusions can be based upon it. We shall refer to this point later. 
With respect to the methods by which these data were prepared, we have 
somewhat exact details. Dr Turnbull permits us to quote the following passage 
from a private letter addressed to one of us. 
"Before the bodies are put on the P.M. tables they are weighed and measured 
and the results are entered by the porters upon the tops of the sheets for the 
description of the necropsy. Each organ after it has been removed, cut and de- 
scribed is placed in the tray at the end of the table and left there until Dr Bartlett 
or I have gone through the case dictating the diagnosis of the case as a whole and 
of each organ. So soon as most of the organs have been completely separated the 
porters lift them from the trays, weigh them and write down the weights on the 
large slate in the P.M. room. Occasionally an assistant places an organ in the tray 
before slicing into it; it may therefore be weighed before it is sliced, but this is 
exceptional. The organs are almost always completely separated and therefore 
weighed before Dr Bartlett and I go through the case. In special circumstances 
they are placed in the trays without separation, e.g., in disease of the bile ducts 
the liver, pancreas, stomach and duodenum would be placed together in the tray 
without separation until Dr Bartlett or I examined them. Such organs would be 
* Biometrika, Vol. iv. p. 188. 
