METABOLISM AS AFFECTED BY GROWTH. 115 



computed by the erroneous formula of Meeh, nor was it even com- 

 puted up to 10 kg. by the more exact formula of Lissauer, but it 

 was actually determined from an elaborate series of Du Bois body- 

 surface measurements. Even with these most favorable conditions 

 for comparing the surface of the body with the heat production, we 

 find very great irregularity instead of the constancy hopefully pre- 

 dicted by earlier writers. 



The individual blocks indicating the height of the pulse-rate show a 

 tendency for this factor to decrease with increasing age, a low level 

 being reached at not far from 27 months, with but slight fluctuations 

 thereafter. 



Were the observations of this series the only ones available for 

 drawing final conclusions, the evidence accumulated in tables 25 

 and 26 and in figure 15 would warrant more refined analysis, with a 

 more extensive series of deductions. The hint of great individual 

 irregularities shown in all the curves except that of body-weight, and 

 particularly the curve for calories per square meter of body-surface, 

 would alone make us somewhat cautious in drawing general con- 

 clusions. Since 22 other subjects were studied (though not so ex- 

 tensively, as a rule, as in this particular case), it seems desirable first 

 to consider giving the data individually by means of charts. These 

 charts include children at ages ranging from below 5 months to more 

 than 41 months, and of both sexes. Generalized conclusions may then 

 be drawn from the whole series in addition to those tentatively drawn 

 from the picture presented by the data for No. 145. 



OBSERVATIONS WITH 22 CHILDREN DURING PERIODS OF 4 MONTHS TO 3j YEARS. 



As the detailed results for the other 22 subjects studied over rela- 

 tively long periods would require considerable space for tabular 

 presentation, it did not seem desirable to give the data in full, and the 

 basal metabolism of these children is therefore shown by means of 

 the curves in figures 16 to 21. Tables 27 and 28 give the data used in 

 the charts for boys and girls, respectively. These tables were pre- 

 pared primarily to show the data used in plotting the general group 

 charts (figures 22 to 47, pages 133 to 175), but additional data em- 

 ployed in plotting the individual charts (figures 16 to 21) were like- 

 wise included. As in table 26, the data not used in the general charts 

 are indicated by an asterisk, but all of the data in these tables appear 

 in the charts in figures 16 to 21 for the individual children. 



Two of these twenty-two children, Nos. 139 and 171, were studied 

 during a period of time as long as that represented by the chart for 

 No. 145, i. e., approximately 3 years. The others were studied for 

 the most part during periods of a few months or a year or two. Since 

 the charts for Nos. 139 and 171 are strictly comparable with that for 

 No. 145, at least so far as period of study and elaborateness of measure- 



