PEDIATRICS Vol. 36 No. 6 December 1965, pp. 825-835
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TOWARD A NEW DIMENSION IN HUMAN GROWTH

Borden Award Address, October, 1964

Gilbert B. Forbes M.D.1

1 Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York

It is with a deep sense of appreciation that I accept this honor, and proudly join the roll of distinguished Borden Awardees. In doing so, I should like to pay special tribute to two of my mentors—Dr. William Bradford and the late Dr. Alexis Hartmann—who stimulated and encouraged me in my work, and more importantly, gave me time in which to pursue it; and to Dr. John Hursh, of the University of Rochester Atomic Energy Project, for his most generous collaboration.

The measurement of human subjects in systematic fashion is a recent innovation, dating only to the early nineteenth century. This period also marked the rise of modern chemistry, and by mid-century von Liebig had found that sodium was the principal cation in body fluids while potassium was predominant in cells, and Carl Schmidt had analyzed blood serum in great detail.

The year 1857 saw the publication of one of the first attempts to analyze the body as a whole. The young author, Albert von Bezold*, analyzed the bodies of small animals for water, solids, and ash1, and announced as a result of his findings a fundamental concept in regard to tissue composition, namely, that animals possess water, organic matter, and ash contents which are characteristic of species and age. He found that growth was accompanied by a decrease in percentage of water and an increase in ash; and further that these changes occurred more rapidly in the early phases of the growth process. Similar trends in composition were predicted for man.