DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 



121 



was 4.54 c.c. per kilogram per minute, while with the normal subjects the 

 average oxygen consumption was 3.75 c.c. This corresponds to an increase 

 of 0.79 c.c. per minute above normal, or somewhat over 20 per cent. 1 



In the earlier publication it was stated that the increase in metabolism was 

 not far from 15 to 20 per cent, and it will be seen that these figures bear out 

 perfectly this conclusion. Furthermore, taking into consideration the inti- 

 mate relationship between minor muscular activity and metabolism, it is evi- 

 dent that these subjects should have been under exactly the same conditions 

 in regard to the muscular activity. An examination of the many pneumograph 

 curves obtained on these subjects shows that in these as in the earlier experi- 

 ments the normal individuals were invariably somewhat more restless than 

 were the diabetics, which would tend to increase their oxygen consumption 

 above that of the diabetics. If the normals had shown as little muscular activity 

 as did the diabetics, it is obvious that their oxygen consumption would have been 

 still less than reported, and that the increase due to the diabetes woidd be even greater 

 than here shown. 



While the observations on this point have to deal more particularly with 

 the comparison between the cases of severe diabetes and normals, it is of inter- 



1 Roily (Deutsch. Archiv f. klin. Med., 1912, 105, p. 494) gives the following values for 

 his cases of severe diabetes: 



Leirndorfer (Biochem. Ztschr., 1912, 40, p. 326) reports the niichtern value for five 



severe cases as follows: 



The abnormally low quotients found by Leirndorfer with the Zuntz-Geppert method 

 are strikingly at variance with those commonly found by us using the respiration apparatus 

 designed in this laboratory and by Roily using a modified form of it. 



