90 



METABOLISM IN SEVERE DIABETES. 



a record of hourly weighings taken when the subject was awake the whole 24 

 hours; curve II shows the results of hourly weighings made during the waking 

 hours, also a record of the total loss during the night sleep. 



In curve I it can be seen that except at the times when food was taken 

 there was a downward tendency of the curve throughout the whole 24 hours. 

 As a matter of fact, the general angle of the curve with the base-line is essen- 

 tially the same throughout the whole day. During this experiment the subject 

 was engaged in experimental work in the laboratory which necessitated con- 

 tinous observation during the 24 hours, and hence we find no variations in the 

 rapidity of the combustion of materials during the day or during the night. 

 On the other hand, when the same subject spent a normal amount of time in 

 bed asleep, the course of the curve (curve II) is somewhat different. During 

 the day its course is essentially the same as that of curve I, but during the night 



7-AM 



12 M 6-PM I2M 



Fig. 1. Curves showing hourly changes in body-weight for 24 hours. 



6AM 



Curve I shows the changes in body-weight when the subject was awake the entire 24 hours. 

 Curve II shows the changes in body-weight when the subject was awake from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and asleep 

 from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. 



the loss is much less; this would be expected from the fact that instead of being 

 engaged in rather active muscular work about the laboratory, the subject was 

 in bed asleep. Curve I furthermore shows that the long night work was rather 

 severe and the body-weight was noticeably less at the end than it was at the 

 beginning of the experiment. In curve II the body-weight returned to essen- 

 tially the same point at the end of the 24 hours, notwithstanding the fluctua- 

 tions due to the ingestion of food and drink and the loss in feces and urine. 

 The second curve shows clearly, therefore, that the body-weight varies at 

 different times of the day, but it may be noticeably different on different days, 

 easily varying 1 or 2 pounds in the course of a single day. 



It is obvious that, aside from the loss in weight due to the passing of urine 

 or feces, there is a general tendency for the body to lose weight from hour to 



