Abstract
The ponderal growth of the pancreas, with respect to body-weight, has been studied from 319 observations on human fetuses, varying from 26 to 4380 gm. in total body-weight. When the weight of the fetal pancreas is plotted against the weight of the body as a whole, it follows the course of a straight line which may be approximated by the expression:
PW = 0.0010335 BW + 0.19 (1)
where “PW” is the pancreas weight in grams and “BW” is the total weight of the body in grams. This formula was computed from the means of 500 gm. ranges of body-weight, from 0 to 4500 gm. inclusive, by the method of means (weighting by the square root of the number of cases in each interval). The calculated values thus obtained show a mean, weighted, absolute, deviation of 0.123 gm. and a mean, weighted, relative deviation of 6.07 per cent from the observed averages. A similar relationship to total body-weight is characteristic of the weights of many of the other organs and parts of the body.
The relation of pancreas-weight to body-length, as determined from 325 observations, is shown in Figure 2. As in the case of the weight of the body as a whole and many of its parts, the weight of the pancreas may be approximated by a small fraction of the body-length raised to a power approaching a cube. The empirical formula, determined from the averages of pancreas-weight for 5 cm. intervals of body-length from 15 to 55 cm. inclusive (weighting by the square root of the number of cases in each interval) is:
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