Evening star., 1924-11-18
PROGRESS OF: AGE
ON BODY TRACED
Scientist Defines Life as Dis
charge of Molecular Pc.
tentiaIities.

Curate measure of the actual mate
ability of the subjects, DIR. Ales
1Irdlicka, head OF the Department OF
Physical Anthropology of the Smith
sonian Institution, said in a lecture
at the New National Museum yester-
day afternoon.
Dr. Hrdlicka had explained that
with advancing age striking mental
and physical changes take place In
/. the human being. and that important
details in the constitution of the in
dividual lay dormant in early life.
None OF US at 20 are what we should
be at 40" he said. 1T is impossible
to examine an individual. except at
given time, when he or she does not
represent what lis all there and
which may be manifested 5 or 10
years later. This is one of the diff
culties under which psychology must
labor. There is no character, physical
or mental, which is stable through
life and age alone is potent in bring
ing on important variations. Many
characteristics. especially mental.
may not develop until their time comes
~ the course of existence"
Life and Age.
With the exception or this brief
reference to mental eXamna tions, DR..
1irdlicka devoted his lecture to data.
some presented for the first time, on
fhe physical changes that take place
in men and women from the cradle
10 the grave. He first gave two new
scientific definitions of age" and
life The former he defined as the
stage in the life course or develop
ment up to the particularly year
northumberland is, that when one
speaks of a persons age he means
the period of development and not
the actual lapse of time since birth.
Ii n he noft tive
gradual discharge of molecular po-
tentialities of an organic being under
such biological conditions as the
species has acquired in the course of
its evolution of biological life"
Organic molecules, DR.. Hrdlicka ex-
planned. can be taken as the final
units of the human being or other liv-
ing thing, from which every other
bodily organ is constructed. With
that fact accepted. he said, the length
OF the life course can be considered as
regulated by those conditions that
control the molecular constructions of
individuals.
Average Energy Discharge.
Take definite group, like white
Americans he said, and you will
lind an average discharge of molecu-
lar energy. There will be others who
are perfectly normal. but yet phlee-
!. matte, slow; then. varying in the other
direction, there will be the firebrands,
or folks burning up with the energy
discharge This energy discharge.
he said, represented the individuals
life.
A good average of this discharge for
the white race. he said. was the
Rihlical standard of three score and
ten years, although the normal fin
ishing of life is a rare event, most
oeathS resulting at an earlier date
from accident or disease. With this
average, normal variations upward of
10 or even lis years are 10 be ex-
Dected. and there are number Of
ouch on record. But if the norm ends
at 10 years in one direction. he said.
one is almost forced to the conclusion
that some men may be naturally in a
perlod OF senility, ready to die of old
age without any other Intervening
cause. at 35 years. since normal varia-
tions extend as far in one direction as
another.
Changes In Body.
One of the most notable bodily
changes that mark advancing age
lie said, was the increasing and de-
Creasing bulk of the body. The aver
age American white man, the result
OF an average struck by the examina-
tion of thousands, Is feet inches
tall, and, between the ages of 25 ard
% weighs $50 pounds with his clothes
and shoes. Between 80 and "a he
weighs 154 pounds; between 80 and
SO. 157 pounds; between 40 and A.
$50 pounds; between 45 and az. 1s2
pounds, and between so and "a, 163
pounds. At 81 he has reached the
acme of his physical bulk. and after
co there is d decline, for which exact
figures have not been prepared.
The average American woman Is
feet inches tall, and, between the
ages Of 25 and % weighs 125 pounds:
from 80 TO 81. 12S pounds; between
50 and 50, 1872 pounds; between 40
and ~. 13o; between IS and 4s. 1S9
pounds, and between so and 81, 14l
pounds. Then she also passes into a
brief stationary period. after which
she starts losing bulk and continues
until death.
Persons in Normal Life.
All these cases are considered as of
persons who are not afflicted with any
disease and with whom the normal
passage of life moves without inter
ruption.
For each inch less than the average
in males the weight of males should
differ from the absolute normal by
about BE pounds and for each inch
more by Az pounds. The weight of
a woman for each inch less in height
should diminish 3 pounds and for
each inch more should increase
pounds.
After the forty-ffth year, DR..
Hrdlicka said. there is a steady di-
minishing in the weight of the bones.
He illustrated this by taking speci-
mems of the same bone from indIvid-
uals of approximately the same size
one 40 years old. one 73 and one II.
The bone of the man of 40 outweigh
ed more than both the two others.
After middle life, he pointed out
the teeth begin to loosen. and once
they have been shed the absorption of
the jawbone begins. The jawbone of
an elderly person is mere shell COM
the same size.
Differences In Races.
Among civilized white men. Dr.
Hrdlicka said, the bodily variations
brought on by advancing years ap-
pear noticeably later than among
primitive peoples, while mentality, or
anything pertaining to the intelli-
Eence, appears earlier.
Any function of the body or the
mind, he said, cannot be considered
as a single straight line. but rather
as tho space between two parallel
straight lines. This function in ap-
proairnately 65 per cent of an average
zoo individuals will lie very nearly
in the center of this space, which
might be compared to a river flowing
between two banks. On each side
there will be a gradually diminishing
number of variations in each direc-
tion. SO long as all fall within the
boundaries there will be only. normal
variations.