The fact that it is possible for a human being to maintain from year to year a stationary weight, has always appeared to me one of the most wonderful evidences of the perfection of vital existence.

When we consider the vicissitudes - of rest, of activity and of food, both bodily and mental - to which an average human being is subjected in average daily life, and the myriads of intricate processes concerned in nutrition, development, maintenance, growth, and repair; it is simply marvellous that waste and repair should be equally balanced, not only from day to day, but from year to year. Yet it is not uncommon to meet with both men and women whose average weight has not appreciably altered for many years.

A proper weight having been attained, after the complete growth and development of the organism, it is no doubt the normal condition of things that it should be equally maintained through a large portion of adult life. That it has been so maintained without artificial intervention is one of the most unequivocal proofs of health; while, on the other hand, any marked tendency either to gain or lose should always be a subject for serious investigation by the physician.

Many and diverse circumstances may necessitate a change of weight without any necessary divergence from a healthy state, and all of these must be considerately investigated before we decide that loss or gain in weight is a sign of disease. - See the Author's work "On Loss of Weight, Blood Spitting, and Lung Disease," 2nd Ed., p. 149.