38 FOOD INGESTION AND ENERGY TRANSFORMATIONS. 



put increased after the same amount of sugar from a basal value of 

 1.257 calories per minute to a maximum of 1.463 calories in the first 

 hour after feeding. In the fourth hour the basal values were again 

 reached. The respiratory quotients did not exceed unity in any case. 



Gigon, 1909. An important contribution from the Stockholm labor- 

 atory on the influence of protein and carbohydrate ingestion upon 

 metabolism was published by Gigon 1 in 1909. Since it is well estab- 

 lished that both sugar and protein cause an increase in the carbon-diox- 

 ide production, the experiments were especially designed to study the 

 influence of a combination of sugar and protein. As was usual with 

 the experiments in the Stockholm laboratory, the carbon-dioxide 

 excretion alone was determined. The fasting value was found to be 

 23.8 grams carbon dioxide per hour. After 46 grams of dextrose this 

 increased to 29.9 grams, and in experiments with 16 grams casein it 

 increased to 28 grams. When these same amounts of dextrose and 

 casein were given together, the carbon dioxide rose to 34 grams. Since 

 the increase in the carbon-dioxide production in the last series of experi- 

 ments was practically the sum of the increments noted in the dextrose 

 and casein experiments, the author concludes that there is a summation 

 effect. Furthermore, if carbohydrate or protein is taken in several 

 equal amounts at regular intervals, the increased carbon-dioxide pro- 

 duction remains at an unchanged height for several hours. The author 

 concludes with an interesting discussion of the Verdauungsarbeit and the 

 specific dynamic action theories, defending the latter. 



Gigon, 1911. The most extended discussion of the influence of food 

 on the metabolism of man since the research of Magnus-Levy was 

 contributed by Gigon in 191 1. 2 His research, which was carried out 

 with himself as the only subject, and exclusively with pure food mate- 

 rials, was made in part with the Sonde*n-Tigerstedt respiration chamber 

 in Stockholm, and in part with the Jaquet respiration chamber in the 

 Medical Clinic in Basel. A few basal metabolism experiments, 3 but 

 no food experiments, were made with a respiration apparatus employing 

 the mouthpiece, Miiller valves, and spirometer in the Poliklinik in 

 Basel. 



Unfortunately, as has been frequently pointed out, the Stockholm 

 experiments do not include determinations of the oxygen consumption. 

 This deficiency in experimental methods is of special significance in 

 considering the question of carbohydrate ingestion; it likewise renders 

 problematical the calculations and assumptions made by Gigon with 

 regard to the character of the katabolism both during the fasting 

 period and after food. 



'Gigon, Skand. Arch. f. Physiol., 1908-09. 21, p. 351. 



*Gigon, Munchen. med. Wochenschr., 1911, 58, p. 1343; and Arch. f. d. ges. Physiol., 1911, 



140, p. 509. 

 See Gigon, Munchen. med. Wochenachr., 1911, 58, p. 1343. 



