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IX.—Sources of Variation in Human Birth Weights
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 September 2014
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At times when processes of great ontogenetic importance are taking place, the interaction of heredity and environment presents problems of considerable interest. Laying as it does the foundations of future independent existence, prenatal development must be the concern of all those interested in the mental and physical suitability of human beings for the environment in which they have to live. Owing to lack of information, pregnancy from the point of view of the fœtus has perforce been largely neglected by the physician and sociologist, but the need to remedy this defect in our knowledge had been clearly indicated by Hogben (1931). As an of example of a field of research that would repay much attention, the work of Pearson (1914) and S. Hansen (1920) may be mentioned. These author wrote suggestively of the handicap of the first-born, using extensive data on the incidence of disease, mental defect, and the physical qualities of the new-born child in relation to birth order.
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- Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1940
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