XII. Tables of the weights of the human body and internal organs in the sane and insane of both sexes at various ages, arranged from 2614 post-mortem examinations
These Tables have been compiled from notes of 2086 examinations made at St. Marylebone Infirmary, between 1839 and 1847; and of 528 examinations in cases of insanity made at the Somerset Lunatic Asylum, between 1848 and the end of December 1860, comprehending in all a period of twenty-one years. The calculations alone have been the labour of many months; a task, which, owing to the pressure of daily duties in a large establishment, I could not now have completed but for the able assistance of my relative Major Boyd. The Tables are submitted with a hope that they may aid in forming a standard of the weight of the human organs from early infancy to old age. The cases are arranged at eighteen periods of life, under eighteen different heads, showing the average height and weight of the body (the measurement of the head, and weight of the spinal marrow in. No. 2), the average weight of the encephalon and its several parts; also of each lung, of the heart, and of all the abdominal viscera. The assigned causes of death are given in the margin; also the variations in weight of the lungs, heart, and liver.