A sufferer from infantilism will have, for example at the age of eleven, a stature of 113 centimetres and a statural index of 56, while the average figures give:
| Age | Stature | Index |
|---|---|---|
| 7 years | 111 | 56 |
| 8 years | 117 | 55 |
| 9 years | 122 | 55 |
| 10 years | 128 | 54 |
| 11 years | 132 | 53 |
Consequently, in such a case the eleven-year-old patient would have the appearance of a child of seven, not only in stature but also in the relative proportions of his body. (And if we examined him psychically, we should probably find his speech was not yet perfected, that he showed a tendency toward childish games, a mental level corresponding to the age of seven or thereabouts; in school the child would be placed in the first or second elementary grade.)
Accordingly the anthropological verdict of infantilism must not be based upon limits of measurement alone, but also upon the proportions of the body. Every age has its own morphology.
Now, such changes are found not only in the reciprocal relations between the bust and the limbs, but also between the various parts of the bust, as we shall see when we come to an analytical study of the morphology of the head, the thorax and the abdomen; the detailed anthropological examination of the individual patient will furnish us with further accompanying symptoms helpful in establishing a diagnosis. Further on we shall give a summarised table of the morphology of the body from year to year (laws of growth); and of the most notable and fundamental psychological characteristics of the different years of childhood; so that a teacher may easily derive from it at a glance a comprehensive picture that will aid in a diagnosis of the age, and hence of the arrest of development, in subjects suffering from infantilism.
Before entering upon the important question of pathogenesis in its relation to infantilism, I will reproduce a few biographic notes of infantile types, taken from various authorities:
Giulio B. was brought to the clinic because of his continued love for toys, notwithstanding his age. At seventeen and a half he retained the manners, the games and the language of a child of between ten and twelve. In appearance, he gave the impression of being between thirteen and fourteen, and was as well proportioned as a lad of that age. His stature was 1.45 meters (at thirteen the average stature is 1.40 m. and at fourteen it is 1.48 m.; while at seventeen it ought to be 1.67 m.) and his weight was 39 kilograms (at fourteen the weight is 40 k. and at seventeen it is 57 k.). His appearance was lively, intelligent, but on the whole childish. His genital organs were like those of a boy of twelve (Fig. 30). The patient understood all that was said to him, he could read, write and sing, but could not apply himself to any serious occupation; he did not read the papers, but would amuse himself by looking at pictures in illustrated books; he could play draughts, but was equally pleased when playing with children's toys. During his stay at the clinic he was several times punished for childish pranks: he filled his neighbour's chamber vessel with stones, and amused himself by making little paper boats and sailing them in the urine, etc. He was employed as a page at an all-night café; his age permitted him to perform this work forbidden to children, while his appearance rendered him fitted for the task. When questioned discreetly regarding his sexual functions, or rather his sexual incapacity, he understood at once, and expressed in a childish way his deep regret, because he had heard it said that "that was why they wouldn't let him serve in the army."
Vittorio Ch. Is twenty-two years old and looks about eight or ten. Stature 1.15 metres (average stature for the age of seven being 1.11 m.; for eight, 1.17 m.). Has no beard, nor any signs of virility; genital organs like those of a child. His intelligence is alert, but does not surpass that of a boy of ten. He speaks correctly, can read, write and sing; plays draughts, but does not disdain children's toys, and prefers looking at pictures in illustrated books to reading the daily papers. After the death of the patient, it was found, as a result of the autopsy, that the epiphyses of the long bones had not yet united with the diaphyses, and that the bones of the skull were still as soft as those of a child (Fig. 31).
Here is another case, taken from Moige:[30]