178 Metabolism of Healthy Man. 



weight per hour, or 5.25 c. c. per kilogram of body-weight per minute when in 

 a state of fasting. In a state of digestion they conclude that there is an ab- 

 sorption of 0.50 gram of oxygen per kilogram per hour or 5.84 c. c. per kilo- 

 gram per minute. 



By means of the large respiration apparatus of Hoppe-Seyler, Laves 1 made 

 7 experiments on the same individual, lasting from 8 to 24 hours. Calculating 

 the total amount of oxygen consumed in 24 hours, he found that the results 

 in the different experiments varied from 357.2 liters to 445 liters for 24 hours 

 or 3.725 c. c.to 4.585 c. c. per kilogram and per minute. In the 2 experiments 

 in which the experimental period covered 24 hours, the results were totals of 

 409.5 liters and 391 liters, respectively, or 4.247 c. c. and 4.059 c. c. per kilo- 

 gram of body-weight per minute. In this apparatus the oxygen was directly 

 determined. 



In the original description of his apparatus, Jaquet 2 gives the results of 

 2 experiments with man in which the oxygen consumption per hour was directly 

 determined. In 1 experiment with a subject 32 years of age, and weighing 

 59.5 kilos, the hourly oxygen consumption from 8 a. m. until 7 p. m. was 23.2, 

 24.6, 31.9, 27.6, 29.7, 31.2, 29.1, 26.5, 27.2, 25.8, and 25.4 grams, respectively. 

 With a second subject, 52 years of age, weighing 55 kilos, the experiment con- 

 tinued from 7 p. m. until 3 a. m., and the oxygen consumption per hour was 

 during the 8 periods as follows: 32.3, 35.1, 32, 25.1, 27.7, 28.4, 27, and 23.7 

 grams, respectively. 



Using the Jaquet apparatus in Basel, Staehelin 3 made 5 experiments with 

 himself and obtained the oxygen calculated on the basis of 12 hours. The experi- 

 ments were all made during the night, when the subject was asleep or resting 

 quietly, covered, in the respiration chamber, after having partaken of a par- 

 ticular diet or, as in 1 experiment, 12 hours after the last meal. In the fasting- 

 experiment the oxygen consumption during the 12 hours of the night was 209.4 

 grams. In the experiment with a meal containing protein it increased to 270.56 

 grams for 12 hours; in the meal containing fat, 262.64 grams; in the meal with 

 rice, 257 grams, and in the meal with protein and rice, 283.42 gTams. 



Describing his substitution of a helmet for the more elaborate respiration 

 chamber in the Jaquet respiration apparatus, Grafe 4 reports experiments in 

 which he concludes that on the average, adult man absorbs 4.04 c. c. of oxygen 

 per minute and per kilogram of body-weight in a healthy individual. 



1 Laves, Zeitschr. f. Physiol., 1894, 19, p. 602. 



2 Jaquet, loc. cit. 



3 Staehelin, Zeitschr. f. klin. Med., 1906, 66, p. 201. 



4 Grafe, Deutsch. Archiv f. klin. Med., 1909, 95, p. 541. 



