Part 8

Ploss has collected observations made in various countries and towns regarding the age at which menstruation begins, and the mean results of these observations are given below.

The average age at which menstruation began was:

In Swedish Lapland 18 years, 0 months, 0 days. In Christiania 16 years, 9 months, 25 days. In Copenhagen 16 years, 9 months, 12 days. In Munich 16 years, 5 months, 12 days. In Göttingen 16 years, 2 months, 2 days. In Vienna 15 years, 8 months, 15 days. In Berlin 15 years, 7 months, 6 days. In Stockholm 15 years, 6 months, 22 days. In Manchester 15 years, 6 months, 0 days. In Warsaw 15 years, 1 month, 23 days. In London, between 15 years, 1 month, 4 days. and 14 years, 9 months, 9 days. In Paris, between 15 years, 7 months, 18 days. and 14 years, 5 months, 17 days. In Madeira 14 years, 3 months, 0 days. In Montpellier 14 years, 2 months, 0 days. In Corfu 14 years, 0 months, 0 days. In Marseilles 13 years, 11 months, 11 days. In Calcutta 12 years, 6 months, 0 days. In Egypt 10 years, 0 months, 0 days.

The collective results of the investigations of French authors regarding the average age at which menstruation first appears are given in the following table:

I. IN TEMPERATE CLIMATES:

Observer. Place. No. of Average Age. Cases.

De Soye Paris 1,000 15 years, 0 months. Dubois Paris 600 15 years, 3 months. Raciborski Paris 200 14 years, 5 months. M. Despines Paris 85 14 years, 11 months. Arau Paris 100 15 years, 4 months. Courty Montpellier 600 14 years, 3 months. Puech Nîmes 941 14 years, 2 months. M. Despines Toulon 43 14 years, 1 month. M. Despines Marseilles 25 14 years, 1 month. Puech Toulon 144 14 years, 1 month. Grey London 1,498 15 years, 6 months. Lee & Murphy London 1,719 15 years, 6 month Torisiano Corfu 33 14 years, 6 months. Lebrun Warsaw 100 15 years, 1 month.

from these observations we obtain an average of 15 years.

II. IN COLD CLIMATES:

Observer. Place. No. of Average Age. Cases.

Ravn Copenhagen 3,840 16 years, 9 months. Frugel Christiania 157 16 years, 6 months. Dubois Russia 600 16 years, 8 months. Faye Norway 100 15 years, 6 months. Lundborg Esquimaux 16 15 years, 6 months. Wistrand Stockholm 100 15 years, 7 months.

from these observations we obtain an average of 16 years and 3 months.

III. IN HOT CLIMATES:

Observer. Place. No. of Average Age. Cases.

Goodeve Calcutta 239 12 years, 5 months. Lith Deccan 217 13 years, 5 months. Robertson Calcutta 540 12 years, 6 months. Webb Calcutta 39 12 years, 5 months. Dubois Asia 600 12 years, 11 months.

from these observations we obtain an average of 12 years and 7 months.

In 6,550 cases collected by Krieger menstruation first appeared:

At the age of:

9 years in 1 instance. 10 years in 7 instances. 11 years in 43 instances. 12 years in 184 instances. 13 years in 605 instances. 14 years in 1193 instances. 15 years in 1240 instances. 16 years in 1026 instances. 17 years in 758 instances. 18 years in 582 instances. 19 years in 425 instances. 20 years in 281 instances. 21 years in 111 instances. 22 years in 55 instances. 23 years in 15 instances. 24 years in 15 instances. 25 years in 1 instance. 26 years in 4 instances. 27 years in 2 instances. 28 years in 1 instance. 29 years in 1 instance.

From these figures it appears that in the 6,550 cases under consideration, the age 15 was that at which the first appearance of menstruation was most frequently observed, namely in 1,240 instances, or 18.9 per cent. The age 14 comes next, with 1,193 instances, or 18.2 per cent. The case in this series in which menstruation appeared earliest, namely in the ninth year, was observed by Mayer, the girl being a blonde of average height, good family, and German descent; the case in which menstruation appeared latest, namely in the twenty-ninth year, was that of a woman living in Berlin, who was sickly and chlorotic up to the time of her marriage, and in whom menstruation did not appear until some years after that event.

As regards climatic influences, all the data at our disposal prove that the hotter the climate the earlier the menarche. According to Marc d’Espine the age at puberty varies in an almost geometrical ratio with the mean annual temperature.

The dependence of the menarche upon climatic influences is clearly shown by the statistical data collected from various regions of the world. We append the general compilation of Gebhard dealing with this question.

A. EUROPE.

For Europe the data furnished by Ploss are grouped by Gebhard in the following manner.

1. Northern Europe.

The average age at which menstruation first appears, according to the older statistics, is in Swedish Lapland 18, in Norway, 16.12. In Copenhagen it is 16.75, in St. Petersburg 14.5.

More recent statistics for Finland are furnished by Engström. Among 3,500 women of pure Finnish descent, he found that menstruation began:

At the age of: