242 



FOOD INGESTION AND ENERGY TRANSFORMATIONS. 



With dextrose the quotient for only one period was over unity. As 

 it has been shown that the non-protein respiratory quotients are gener- 

 ally two or three points higher than the measured quotients, all values 

 of 0.98 or over would, strictly speaking, represent a non-protein respi- 

 ratory quotient of unity. Even on this basis but relatively few peri- 

 ods, i. e., 6 periods, show a non-protein respiratory quotient above 1. 

 Respiratory quotients above 1 are commonly considered to indicate the 

 formation of fat from carbohydrate. Furthermore, it is often inferred 

 that the formation of fat from carbohydrate can occur only when the 

 respiratory quotient is above 1, but this we do not believe to be true. 



LEVULOSE. 



The respiratory quotients in 7 experiments with levulose are given 

 in table 180. The post-absorptive basal quotients range from 0.77 to 

 0.91, with an average of 0.85, somewhat higher than for the dextrose 

 basal quotients, which averaged only 0.80. The general course of any 

 one of the experiments is characteristic of the whole series in that there 

 is an almost immediate rise after the ingestion of the carbohydrate and 

 a tendency after several hours to return to approximately the basal 

 value. The height of the respiratory quotient is much greater on the 

 whole than was obtained with dextrose, as in all but one experiment it 

 reached 1 or over. The lowest basal quotient, 0.77, was accompanied 

 by one of the lowest maxima after food, while the highest basal quo- 

 tient of 0.91 was followed by the highest observed maximum, 1.11. 



TABLE 180. Influence of ingestion of 100 grams levulose on the respiratory quotient in 



respiration experiments. 



'Average of two quotients, 0.82 and 0.76. 



2 Average of two quotients, 0.85 and 0.86. 



3 Average of four quotients, 0.96, 1.07, 1.09, and 1.07 (3 to 5 minute periods). 



4 Avcrage of two quotients, 1.10 and 1.05 (5-minute periods). 



As the time of determining the quotients was not the same in all of 

 the experiments, necessitating several gaps in their arrangement in the 



