232 A BIOMETRIC STUDY OF BASAL METABOLISM IN MAN. 



standard, as the actual constants may indicate. The differences are 

 therefore taken 



(actual metabolism) less (calculated metabolism) 

 to give the proper sign to the difference. 



Without exception the 8 men are subnormal in their daily heat- 

 production. The differences range from 13 to 186 calories and are on 

 an average 78.6 calories. Expressed as a percentage of the calculated 

 heat-production, the differences range from 0.8 to 10.3 with a general 

 average of 4.4 per cent. 



In the case of the women, in which the theoretical heat-production 

 is calculated by inserting the values for weight, stature, and age of the 

 individual under consideration in our equation based on 103 women, 

 the deviation of the actual from the theoretical values is not so great. 

 In 3 cases metabolism is higher and in 4 cases lower than would be 

 expected. The average difference is (+170 471)/7 = 43.0 calories. 

 Thus while the young women are more nearly typical than the young 

 men studied by Palmer, Means, and Gamble, their individuals of both 

 sexes show a tendency to a defective metabolism rate. 



We have no suggestion to offer concerning the technical or physio- 

 logical explanation of the apparent tendency of this series to subnormal 

 metabolism. The suggestion may of course be offered that it is our 

 standards which are at fault. There are various evidences that this is 

 not the case. First of all, the observations upon which our standards 

 are based have been made by a carefully standardized technique but 

 by a number of observers. Thus the probability of an influence of 

 personal equation is to a considerable extent reduced. The large 

 number and great diversity of individuals dealt with furnishes a strong 

 guarantee for the validity of the constants. Furthermore the applica- 

 tion of our method to other series of data indicates supernormal metab- 

 olism in comparison with our standards. Thus we have abstracted 

 from the classical paper of Magnus-Levy and Falk 10 the ages, weights, 

 and statures of a number of men and women and have calculated the 

 total calories per 24 hours from their measurements of the respiratory 

 exchange. The essential values are given in table 90. Of the 10 men 

 7 show a heat-production above standard as compared with 3 which 

 show heat-production below standard. The deficiencies range from 

 13 to 61 calories, whereas the excesses range from +6 to +203 

 calories. With one exception the 14 women show a daily heat-produc- 

 tion above normal. The excess ranges from 22 to 359 calories per 

 24 hours or from 1.6 to 25.7 per cent. 



The average excess for the 10 men is 54.5 calories, while for the 14 

 women it is 110.2 calories per 24 hours. The average percentage 

 deviation from standard without regard to sign is 5.3 for men and 8.5 



10 Magnus- Levy and Falk, Arch. f. Anat. u. Physiol., Physiol. Abt., Suppl. 1899, pp. 314-381. 

 Tables I and III. 



