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Abstract
The data of Mechanik on the distribution of bone tissue mass were analyzed statistically, summarized and tabulated in a form convenient for reference. For comparison, analyses were made of Mechanik''s data on the distribution of bone marrow mass and of the data on the relation of skeletal mass or bone tissue mass to body weight as given by Mechanik in 1926 and by Borisov and Marei in 1974. About half of the bone tissue mass was in the limbs. The fraction in the arms and shoulder girdle was slightly greater in the males and that in the pelvic girdle was greater in the females. Standard deviations of the fractions of bone tissue in individual bones in each sex averaged about 10% but ranged as high as 20%. Within this uncertainty, extrapolation to total body mineral may be made from measurements of a single bone. There were marked differences between the distributions of bone tissue and of marrow within the skeleton. The spine and pelvis contained 31% of the total marrow and 22% of the total bone tissue, while the skull and mandible contained only 7% of the total marrow but 15% of the total bone. While differences in other parts of the skeleton were smaller than these, it is clear that the weights of whole bones cannot properly be used in studies on bone mineral metabolism. The skeletal weight was rather constant at 13-14% of the body weight in the males of the 2 populations over a wide age range. There was no sex difference in this parameter in the 4th and 5th decades of age, but the skeletons of older women tended to the lighter than those of contemporary men. Bone tissue averages 8.4% of body weights in men and 6.9% in women, with considerable variation in the latter.

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