Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Principles of forensic medicine. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![Age. Body. Trunk. Upper Extremity. Lower Extremity. 1 year 3 years 10 years 14 years ^ (average) ] 20-25 years } (average) S Ft. In. 2 0 2 11 3 11 4 10 5 8 Lin. 0 3 0 8 2 Ft. In. Lin. 1 2 5 1 8 4 2 1 7 2 5 11 2 10 1 Ft. In. I-in. 0 9 7 1 3 0 1 8 4 2 4 1 2 8 0 Ft. In. Lin. 0 9 7 1 3 0 1 9 11 2 4 10 2 10 1 Towards the 20th, and from that to the 25th year, the superior border of the symphysis pubis forms the exact centre of the body, and this centre continues constant for the more advanced ages, the only change which takes place in old age being the curving of the spine. Before the adult age, the centre of the body varies according to the age. These measurements of M. Sue have been repeated by Orfila, both for the subject and for the skeleton.* On submitting these tables to a careful analysis, it appears that the statements of M. Sue must be received with caution. Thus of 44 males, who with 4 exceptions were adults, there were only 7 in whom the length from the vertex to the pubes was exactly equal to the length from the pubes to the sole of the foot; whilst in 23 instances, the former measurement exceeded the latter; and in 14 fell short of it. The greatest difference on either side was 2^ inches English. Again, out of 7 females submitted to measurement, there was not one in whom the above measurements were equal, and the upper half of the body was longest in 6 and shortest in 1. The males on an average were longer from the vertex to the pubes by more than | inch, the females by 1-^ inch. On pur- suing the examination of the tables still further, and throwing toge- ther the instances in which the length from the vertex to the pubes happens to be the same, we find a considerable difference in the length from the pubes to the sole of the foot. This will be seen in the fol- lowing table:— * Traite de Medicine Legale, torn. i. p. 105.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21055890_0048.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
