BODY-WEIGHT. 223 



the excess food eaten on this unrestricted day. With 10 subjects this 

 rise is also shown after November 25, and with many of the subjects 

 to an even greater degree. The increase in weight after November 25 

 represents for five of the subjects the second appreciable increase in the 

 weight curve. If one disregards the slight increase with Tom of 250 

 grams between the fortieth and fifty-fifth days, his curve likewise shows 

 the second noticeable increase in the period following November 25. 



The increase in weight shown after the Sunday meal is still more 

 evident in the weights recorded after the Christmas vacation during 

 which the diet was unrestricted for a considerable period. In spite of 

 the utmost care on the part of the experimenters, the emphasis laid 

 upon the importance of retaining, so far as possible, the original body- 

 weight and the definitely expressed hope that the men would return at 

 or near the body-weight at which they left Springfield, practically all 

 the men came back to college after the Christmas recess with a very 

 much larger body-weight. Certain members of the diet squad carried 

 out the dietetic restrictions during the period of absence, holding their 

 weight at essentially a constant level; these men are especially to be 

 commended. In regard to the other men, it should be stated that it 

 was expressly stipulated that if they continued as subjects after 

 Christmas they should be allowed to go home for the holidays without 

 restriction as to diet, the only condition being that they should, so far 

 as possible, curtail the protein and fat intake. This caution to reduce 

 the protein and fat, even when on unrestricted diet, was not disliked by 

 the men, who had craved carbohydrate food particularly throughout 

 the entire experiment. Hence we find an excessive consumption of 

 cakes, candies, pies, and other sweets in the record of food eaten 

 during the Christmas recess. 



An examination of the nitrogen in the food (see table 34, p. 270) 

 shows that, in spite of the injunctions given them, the subjects con- 

 sumed not a little nitrogen in the unrestricted meals, which at times 

 reached an excessive amount, and unquestionably led to nitrogen 

 storage. An examination of the nitrogen excretion on the Mondays 

 following these days of excess food shows that usually, when there was 

 a reasonably regular loss of nitrogen prior to the Sunday meal, this loss 

 either ceased, and became a slight positive gain, or was very much 

 decreased. Unfortunately, the absence of a record of the urine for 

 these Sundays makes the whole question of nitrogen balance somewhat 

 uncertain. 



SPECIAL FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGES IN BODY- WEIGHT. 



Following the initial period of loss in weight resulting from the 

 material curtailment of diet, there was with all of the men in Squad A 

 more or less variation above or below the lower weight-level. These 

 fluctuations can be explained in several ways: First, they may 



