232 Metabolism of Healthy Max. 



experiments and consequently the body-weight and body-measurements would 

 have materially changed in the intervening period. 



The recent work of Oppenheimer l may be of value in suggesting some com- 

 parative basis for obtaining information regarding the different states of nutri- 

 tion. Unfortunately all the measurements used by Oppenheimer were not taken 

 upon our subjects and we cannot apply the method, but it is planned to take 

 these measurements in some of the subsequent experiments. 



The larger proportion of the subjects were young men, mostly college stu- 

 dents; hence the values obtained in these experiments deal for the greater part 

 with this class, and the investigation as a whole can only serve as a contribution 

 to our knowledge of the metabolism of young, healthy, normal men. One or 

 two of the individuals were very young, 1G or 17 years of age; there was one 

 group of men between 30 and 40, and 2 individuals were from 55 to 60 years of 

 age ; 2 women were also used as subjects. 



The following discussion of metabolism as influenced by differences in body- 

 weight, height, and general physical characteristics is based on data by no means 

 as elaborate as those of Sonden and Tigerstedt and of Magnus-Levy and Falk. 

 On the other hand, certain factors that could not be determined by either of these 

 investigators are here reported. 



INFLUENCE OF WEIGHT, HEIGHT, AND AGE ON METABOLISM DURING SLEEP. 



From among those subjects whose metabolism was studied during sleep we 

 are able to select a few of different types. These are recorded in table 97. The 

 classification includes, of course, many experiments with the same individuals 

 that are grouped under other heads ; thus, the two subjects W. 0. A. and H. F. 

 were both between 54 and 59 years of age and are also characterized as short, 

 fat men. 



Comparing the men according to the height and weight first, we find four 

 classifications short fat men, lean men, tall men, and short men (groups I, 

 II, III, and IV), respectively. As has been pointed out in the preceding 

 paragraph, it was very difficult to make the classification at the time of the 

 compilation and a large element of personal impression must enter into the 

 grouping. 



The excretion of water-vapor is subject to so many variable factors that it is 

 unnecessary to discuss it here. The heat produced per kilogram per hour is 

 noticeably less with the two short fat men than with any other group, while the 

 two lean men indicated the highest values. On the basis of per square meter of 

 body-surface per hour, the two fat men also showed the lowest heat-production. 

 A single exception to this is the case of A. H. M., a tall man, with but 29.1 

 calories. This subject has been used in a number of experiments and he invari- 

 ably indicates a decidedly low metabolism. The average pulse-rate of this sub- 

 ject is also very much lower than normal. If the averages of the various groups 



1 Oppenheimer, Deutsche med. Woch., 1909, 35, p. 1835. 



