CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Introduction 7 



Embryonic conditions 7 



Post-natal conditions 8 



Loss in body-weight 



Earlier researches with new-born infants 12 



Observations by Hasselbalch 15 



Purpose and plan of the research 38 



Apparatus and tests for accuracy 



Method of computation 39 



Care of the new-born infant 41 



Statistics of the observations 43 



Discussion of results 80 



Character of the katabolism 80 



Respiratory quotient during the first 24 hours of life 80 



Respiratory quotient during the first week of life 89 



Influence of body-weight upon the respiratory quotient 91 



General conclusions as to character of katabolism of new-born infants .... 92 



Basal katabolism 94 



Total minimum heat-production per 24 hours 97 



Minimum heat-output per kilogram of body-weight per 24 hours 98 



Minimum heat-output per square meter per 24 hours 99 



Influence of age upon the katabolism 102 



Influence of age upon the heat-production in the first day 103 



Influence of age upon the heat-production from the second to the 



seventh day 105 



Influence of length upon the basal katabolism 106 



Influence of activity upon the basal katabolism Ill 



Pulse-rate 



Physiological needs ^s. supply 17 



The conservation of energy 



Body temperature 118 



Methods for reducing the energy loss 121 



The energy intake 



Probable 24-hour energy requirement of a new-born infant for maintenance . 126 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



FIG. 1. Respiratory quotients of infants found at times during the first 24 hours. . 88 



2. Respiratory quotient of infants in first 24 hours referred to total body- 



weight 91 



3. Respiratory quotient of infants in first 24 hours referred to body-weight 



per unit of length of infant 



4. Minimum heat-production of new-born infants per 24 hours referred to the 



body-weight 97 



5. Minimum heat-production of new-born infants per kilogram per 24 hours 



referred to the body-weight 



6. Minimum heat-production of new-born infants per square meter of body- 



surface per 24 hours referred to the body-weight 



7. Minimum heat-production of new-born infants per 24 hours referred to age . . 103 



8. Minimum heat-production of new-born infants per kilogram of body-weight 



per 24 hours referred to age 104 



9. Minimum heat-production of new-born infants per square meter of body- 



surface per 24 hours referred to age 105 



10. Minimum heat-production of new-born infants per square meter per 24 

 hours computed per centimeter of length for infants between 1J and 

 6 days old 107 



