STANDARD BASAL METABOLISM CONSTANTS. 



241 



Magnus-Levy and Falk. ls The comparison of observed and theo- 

 retical values in table 97 shows that with one exception the observed 

 are higher than the calculated values. The differences range from 

 2.2 to 27.5 per cent higher than the standard. The results tend, 

 therefore, to confirm those of Aub and Du Bois. At first glance this 

 might seem to indicate that our formula is erroneous, at least when 

 applied to individuals falling quite outside the age range covered by 

 the series of observations upon which it is based. We make no claim 

 whatever for the strict validity of our formula in extreme old age. Such 

 a claim can only be made when far more extensive series of old men and 

 women are included in the standard series. 



TABLE 96. Compari'son of metabolism of old men studied by Aub and Du Bois with adult 



normal (multiple prediction] standard. 



TABLE 97. Comparison of metabolism of old men and women (German) measured by Magnus- 

 Levy and Falk with American normal (multiple prediction) standard. 



In emphasizing the fact that our equations predict a metabolism 

 for these octogenarians below their observed heat-productions we must 

 point out that exactly the same relationship is found if the original 

 line as drawn by Du Bois is used. Thus in the explanation of their 

 figure 1, Aub and Du Bois remark: 19 "In accordance with the findings 

 in?the present series, the line is somewhat higher in old age than in 



18 Magnus-Levy and Falk, loc. cit. 



19 Aubfand Du Bois, Arch. Intern. Med., 1917, 19, p. 824. 



