NUTRITION AND OTHER SUBJECTS OF 

 ALLIED INTEREST. 



No. 42. ATWATER, W. O., and F. G. BENEDICT. A Respiration Calorimeter with 

 Appliances for the Direct Determination of Oxygen. Octavo, 193 

 pages, 49 figures. Published 1905. Price $1.25. 



A technical description of an apparatus for use in experiments with man, per- 

 mitting the simultaneous determination of carbon dioxide, water-vapor, heat elimi- 

 nation, and oxygen absorption. The respiration apparatus is of the closed-circuit 

 type of Regnault and Reiset, the unique feature of which is the accurate determina- 

 tion of oxygen. The calorimeter is of the continuous-flow type, provided with 

 arrangements for keeping the walls adiabatic. The apparatus was developed and 

 constructed in the Chemical Laboratory of Wesleyan University, where it was in 

 use for a number of years, and many experiments on man were made with it. One 

 such experiment is described in this report. 



No. 77. BENEDICT, F. G. The Influence of Inanition on Metabolism. Octavo, 



vn+542 pages, 2 text figures. Published 1907. Price $2.75. 

 An extended investigation by means of the respiration calorimeter on the influ- 

 ence of varying degrees of inanition upon metabolism. Fourteen experiments were 

 made with 10 different individuals and the fasting period extended from 2 to 7 days, 

 during which time the subject was inside the respiration chamber. The complete 

 metabolism was studied and the discussion includes an extended consideration of 

 the influence of inanition on body-weights, temperature, pulse, respiration, blood, 

 strength, feces, urine, water excretion, carbon-dioxide elimination, oxygen con- 

 sumption, and the transformation of energy. Two nitrogen metabolism experi- 

 ments throw considerable light upon recuperation after fasting. 



No. 123. BENEDICT, FRANCIS G., and T. M. CARPENTER. Respiration Calorimeters 

 for Studying the Respiratory Exchange and Energy Transformations 

 of Man. Octavo, vn+102 pages, 32 figs. Published 1910. Price $0.75. 



In the two calorimeters, one of them for bed-ridden patients, the heat, eliminated 

 by man is measured by a current of cold water passing through a heat-absorbing 

 system inside the chamber, the mass of water and the temperature rise being known. 

 Direct measurement of the water vaporized gives the latent heat of water-vapor. 

 By means of a system of thermal junctions, anv slight temperature differences 

 between the inner copper wall and an outer zinc wall are constantly noted. The 

 temperature of the zinc wall is arbitrarily adjusted by heating and cooling to main- 

 tain it at the temperature of the copper wall, thus holding the calorimeter in an 

 adiabatic condition. The chambers are large enough for a man to remain comfort- 

 ably seated or lying for several hours, an electric light furnishes illumination, con- 

 nection is made by call-bell and telephone with the outside, and a supply of air is 

 continually circulated through the chamber, and thence through weighed vessels 

 containing sulphuric acid and soda lime to absorb quantitatively water-vapor and 

 carbon dioxide. The oxygen consumed is determined by admitting the gas from 

 a weighed cylinder of highly compressed pure oxygen. Analyses of the air residual 

 in the chamber are made at the end of every period, and corrections for barometric 

 changes are applied. Electrical resistance thermometers are used to measure 

 calorimeter as well as body temperatures. A stethoscope and pneumograph permit 

 the measurement of the pulse-rate and respiration-rate. A graphic record of the 

 minor muscular movements is also furnished by the tracing of the pneumcgraph 

 tambour. The apparatus has been most carefully checked as a calorimeter by the 

 development of the heat from a known electrical current inside the chamber, and 

 the accuracy of measurement of all four factors carbon dioxide, water-vapor, 

 oxygen absorption, and heat production has been controlled by burning known 

 weights of pure ethyl alcohol. The methods of calculation and the details of the 

 routine of an experiment with man are included. 



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