Atlas and epitome of diseases of children / by R. Hecker and J. Trumpp ; edited by Isaac A. Abt.

  • Rudolf Hecker
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Atlas and epitome of diseases of children / by R. Hecker and J. Trumpp ; edited by Isaac A. Abt. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    thc crawling and walking period, becomcs encased in fat, showing thc sarae skeletal structure as in the adult (Spitzy). The epiphyses of the long cylindric bones, the hand, and thfe tarsal bones are still cartilaginous; their ossification is not coinpleted until nearly the sixteenth year (Räuber, von Ranke). The body surface is much greater than in adults; to eacli kilogram [2.2 lbs.] of body weight there are 810 sq. min. [12.5 sq. in.] of surface in the newborn, 620 sq. mm. [9.6 sq. in.] in infants six months old, 450 sq. mm. [6.9 sq. in seven-year-old children, and 320 sq. mm. [4.9 sq. in adults. m. in. INTERNAL ORGANS The Thymus Gland.—This organ, occurring only in children, lies in the anterior mediastinum and is con- cerned in the formation of blood. Its size varies in individuals of the same age ; it is from 2 to 7 cm. [.8-1.4 in.] in width and from 5 to 10 cm. [2-4 in.] in length, aii( weighs in the newborn on an average 12 gm. [191 gr.]. The gland continues to grow during the first year of life, after which it diminishes in size on account of atrophy of thc glandular substance, which is replaced by connective tissue, and disappears at the time of puberty. The Liver.—This organ is relatively largcr and heavier than in adults. It weighs in newborn and nursing infants one-twentieth of the body weight, whereas in adults it weighs only one-fiftieth of the total weight of the body. The lower edge runs obliquely from the crest of the right ilium above the umbilicus toward the left to the region of the fundus of the stomach. The left lobe reaches the left anterior axillary line. The Kidneys.—These are lobulated and comparatively large. The histologic structure of the liver, kidneys, and pancreas at the time of hirth is still in a transitional stage of the process concerned in the formation of a definite structure. The liver and kidneys probably still possess for a time after birth the fetal blood-producing function.