8 



VITALITY AND EFFICIENCY WITH RESTRICTED DIET. 



Since the metabolism of Mr. Fletcher has been a matter of unusual 

 interest, the results thus far obtained with him are summarized in table 

 1, these including the early observations at Wesleyan University in 

 1903, the observations made by Zuntz and Schirokich in February and 

 March, 1912, and those made at the Nutrition Laboratory in May of 

 the same year. 



Table 1. — Basal metabolism of Horace Fletcher (lying). 



^ Body-surface computed from height-weight chart of Du Bois. Arch. Intern. Med., 1916, 17, p. 

 863. 



2 Benedict and Milner, U. S. Dept. Agr., Office Exp. Stas. Bui. 175, 1907, pp. 51, 84, and 199. 

 Values obtained between 1 a. m. and 7 a. m. Strictly speaking, subject not in post- 

 absorptive condition, as a predominatingly carbohydrate supper, containing about 500 

 calories, was eaten at 7 p. m. 



' Zuntz and Schirokich, Separate from Med. Klinik, 1912, No. 32, 5 pp. Subject had been 

 living on a continued scanty protein-poor diet (potato and butter). 



* Benedict, Emmes, Roth, and Smith, Journ. Biol. Chem., 1914, 18, p. 142. 



While unquestionably during the study of Zuntz and Schirokich the 

 subject was living on a scanty protein-poor diet and had been for 

 some time, we have no positive information as to his dietetic habits 

 during May of 1912, when he was studied at the Nutrition Laboratory. 

 From the body-weight in May one would be inclined to think that he 

 had been living upon a rather liberal diet, the weight being 82.1 kg. 

 as compared with 76 kg. in February and March. Nine years before 

 (in 1903), when the body-weight was 71.6 kg., the metabolism as 

 determined at Wesleyan University was distinctly higher. It is clear, 

 therefore, that the evidence presented by Mr. Fletcher may not be 

 taken alone as indication of a reduced metabolism resulting from 

 chronic undernutrition. While there is no doubt that the protein 

 intake during a considerable period of time may have been low, the 

 fluctuations in body-weight indicate somewhat wide variations in 

 the dietetic habits of this subject as to the energy intake. 



In the 1903 study, in the selected period between 1 and 7 a. m., when 

 the subject was in bed inside the respiration calorimeter and without 

 food, we find that the heat production per kilogram of body-weight was 



