1913] Sergius Morgulis 73 



fat, in which case a loss of 770 gm. should have been occasioned. 

 In other words, the body weight would have changed from 7.53 kg, 

 to 6.76 kg.; the weight actually observed at that time was 6.96 kg. 

 Likewise, on the 20th of July, when the body weight had diminished 

 to 6.36 kg., the observed loss fully agreed with the expectation based 

 upon resuhs of the respiration experiments. 



After I left Beriin, the dog was maintained on the same diet and, 

 in January 1913, my colleague, Dr. Diakow, continued the series of 

 experiments which had been begun a year ago. In the concluding 

 period of 82 days, i. e., until the animal died, Dr. Diakow per- 

 formed five respiration experiments. The excess of energy pro- 

 diiced has been 117 cal. per day, which is equivalent to 11.7 gm. of 

 fat. Since 1,400 gm. were lost during that period, or 17.1 gm. per 

 day, it is evident that some of that energy must have been derived 

 from protein. Unfortunately, Dr. Diakow made no determinations 

 of the total nitrogen in the food and in the urines, but Professor 

 Zuntz computes that an average of at least 0.2 gm. must have been 

 lost daily. 



The most remarkable fact in connection with the second part 

 of this research is the rise in the energy requirement which, in spite 

 of the fact that the body temperature was very low, increased to the 

 same level as before the underfeeding. Professor Zuntz's conjec- 

 ture that this rise in the metabolism was coincident with an increased 

 nitrogen elimination, as the fat was being exhausted, is entirely 

 borne out by the results of my recent unpublished work on the 

 metabolism of chronic underfeeding wherein this matter has been 

 studied from a much wider point of view. 



Sergius Morgulis 



College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York 



