86 FOOD INGESTION AND ENERGY TRANSFORMATIONS. 



With the subject F. M. M., a larger number of prolonged experiments 

 were made, many of them continuing for 6 hours. The results are 

 given in table 30. An examination of the averages indicates again a 

 remarkable uniformity both from hour to hour and from day to day. 

 Individual variations, however, should not be lost sight of, as they 

 show that it is always possible to obtain both large and abnormally 

 small values. Strictly speaking, if the lowest value is accurately 

 measured, that alone should be regarded as the absolute basal metabo- 

 lism. The general picture of the basal metabolism is, however, not 

 unlike that reported in the earlier observations by us, 1 and leads us to 

 the general conclusion that the average carbon-dioxide production 

 per hour is independent of the time of day and does not vary, at least 

 with this subject, inside of a period of about 14 months. Somewhat 

 wider fluctuations appear in the individual periods for the oxygen 

 consumption and yet the average values are remarkably constant. 

 As with J. R., the variations in the values for the heat production in the 

 individual periods are considerable. While the average values do not 

 show so close an agreement as do those for the carbon-dioxide produc- 

 tion and the oxygen consumption, yet they indicate that this man 

 produced 77 calories per hour in the chair calorimeter. It should be 

 stated that this subject was somewhat unsatisfactory in that it was 

 difficult for him to remain perfectly quiet. Probably the lowest 

 measurements of the metabolism here do not indicate the basal metabo- 

 lism of this man, as he was in the sitting position, but they do represent 

 the minimum amount of extraneous muscular activity. For purposes 

 of comparison with the values obtained for the metabolism after food, 

 however, their use is justified, as the two series of determinations were 

 made under like conditions. 



An extended series of measurements of the basal metabolism, most 

 of them of only 2 hours' duration, was made with J. J. C. Both the 

 chair calorimeter and the bed calorimeter were used in this series. 

 This man was also a very unsatisfactory subject, owing to his tendency 

 to fall asleep, the degree of muscular repose thus being very irregular. 

 Even with this subject the average values remain remarkably constant, 

 especially for the carbon-dioxide production. It should be borne in 

 mind, however, that the values from the third to the fifth periods 

 are represented by only a single experiment. The measurements of 

 the heat output for this man were extremely unsatisfactory, as no meas- 

 urements of the body-temperature were obtained ; hence the determina- 

 tions for the heat have not been corrected for changes in this factor. 

 By reference to table 31 it is seen that on the average this subject 

 produced in the chair calorimeter 78 calories per hour, a rather remark- 

 able agreement with the subjects J. R. and F. M. M. 



Benedict and Carpenter, Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 126, 1910, pp. 171, 184, and 194, 

 tables 69, 73, and 77. 



