170 METABOLISM AND GROWTH FROM BIRTH TO PUBERTY. 



earlier investigations for the total metabolism and the body-weight, 

 and occasionally for height and age, we may compute the surface 

 areas for the children studied, probably with considerable exactness. 



In computing the body-surfaces of children whose metabolism is 

 given in the earlier literature, we have been guided in large part 

 (1) by the clearly established legality of the Lissauer formula for chil- 

 dren up to 10 kg. in weight; (2) by the reasonably satisfactory agree- 

 ment of the Du Bois height-weight chart down to 20 kg. with body- 

 surfaces actually measured. For the children studied by Murlin and 

 Hoobler, the body-surface was computed by means of the Lissauer 

 surface formula. For the majority of those studied by Magnus-Levy 

 and Falk, the surface areas were derived from the height-weight chart 

 of Du Bois. Since no heights were given for Scharling's children, the 

 two boys of Sonden and Tigerstedt, and a few of Magnus-Levy and 

 Falk's children, the surface areas were computed from the body-weights 

 by means of the formula K VwJ 2 an d our new values for the factor K. 

 (See tables 14 and 15, pages 61 and 62.) 



The use of these computed surface areas is permissible in computing 

 the calories per square meter of body-surface ; but it hardly seems that 

 such a computed area can be used in a comparison of the calories 

 per square meter of body-surface and the body-surface itself, and 

 this has not been attempted. In referring the calories per square 

 meter to weight and to age, the units of measurement for comparison 

 are perfectly definite and hence proper to use. 



To avoid any misunderstanding, we call attention again to the 

 fact that for some of the very young children (20 boys and 19 girls) 

 in our own series of observations, the body-surfaces were not measured, 

 but were likewise computed. 1 For these children the Lissauer formula 

 was used, as it was not possible to employ the height-weight chart, 

 since the body-weight was less than 20 kg., which is the lower limit 

 of this chart. As our own results show that the Lissauer formula 

 agrees remarkably well with the measured surfaces for other children 

 weighing less than 10 kg., we feel justified in including these in our 

 tables with the actually measured surfaces. 



If we disregard the age of the child measured by Sawyer, Stone, and 

 Du Bois, 2 and consider only weight, it seems quite reasonable to argue 

 that since the Du Bois measurements applied to a child weighing a 

 little over 6 kg. and the Lissauer formula and the linear measure- 

 ments agree up to 10 kg., we can logically employ the Du Bois linear 

 formula in measuring the body-surface of children weighing somewhat 

 less than 6.3 kg. Du Bois specifically questions the use of the linear 

 formula for body-surface calculations for children under 2 years of age. 

 It would appear, however, that the agreement between the Lissauer 



1 See tables 27 and 28, pp. 116 and 120. 



2 Sawyer, Stone, and Du Bois, Arch. Intern. Med., 1916, 17, p. 855. 



