approximating to the adult type, puberty having been already
accomplished. Adolescence corresponds to the latter half of the
developmental period, and may be prolonged even up to twenty-five
years.




CHAPTER I.

CHANGES OBSERVABLE DURING PUBERTY AND ADOLESCENCE IN GIRLS.


1. Changes in the Bodily Framework.--During this period the girl's
skeleton not only grows remarkably in size, but is also the subject of
well-marked alterations and development. Among the most evident
changes are those which occur in the shape and inclination of the
pelvis. During the years of childhood the female pelvis has a general
resemblance to that of the male, but with the advent of puberty the
vertical portion of the hip bones becomes expanded and altered in
shape, it becomes more curved, and its inner surface looks less
directly forward and more towards its fellow bone of the other side.
The brim of the pelvis, which in the child is more or less
heart-shaped, becomes a wide oval, and consequently the pelvic girdle
gains considerably in width. The heads of the thigh bones not only
actually, in consequence of growth, but also relatively, in
consequence of change of shape in the pelvis, become more widely
separated from each other than they are in childhood, and hence the
gait and the manner of running alters greatly in the adult woman. At
the same time the angle made by the junction of the spinal column with