232 VITALITY AND EFFICIENCY WITH RESTRICTED DIET. 



was desirable. Such a series was made for the special purpose of 

 securing data for computing the surface area according to the formula 

 of Du Bois.^ Since the landmarks used by Du Bois are thoroughly 

 established and well known to all anatomists, and their measurements 

 give several rather characteristic circumferences or girths, this series 

 of records may be used not only for computing the body-surface, but 

 to show, as the research progressed, the change in body-measurements, 

 particularly in the girths, due to the degree of emaciation. 



It is the custom of many anatomists and physiologists to use other 

 circumferences and lengths and from these to compute various indices 

 of nutrition, but lack of time prohibited our obtaining further measure- 

 ments, for this series had to be made as a part of the extremely full 

 program of these men during their Saturday evening sojourn in Boston. 

 We believe, however, that the Du Bois measurements, which are now 

 coming to be considered as standards in physiology, give all the data 

 that can normally be required. 



Additional information regarding the body condition of our subjects 

 was supplied by a series of special photographs which were made on 

 the same days as the Du Bois measurements, in accordance with a 

 method previously outlined,^ and showed the subjects in profile, with 

 left arm extended. Conference with Professor Elmer Berry, of the 

 Y. M. C. A. College, has led us to believe that these photographs, 

 while perhaps not strictly in accord with the usage of physical directors, 

 are nevertheless sufficiently characteristic to indicate the general 

 muscular condition of the subjects. Furthermore, by a method de- 

 vised by one of us and subsequently described (see p. 242), these 

 photographs have been used for computing the body-surface of the 

 subjects, thus supplying a control upon the body-surface data computed 

 from the Du Bois measurements. 



Finally, for further comparison the predicted surface areas have 

 been drawn off from the height-weight chart more recently devised by 

 the Du Boises,^ which is based upon their earlier series of measurements. 



We have therefore been able to secure accurate information regard- 

 ing the effect of diet restriction upon the body condition of these men 

 by means of three methods: (1) The Du Bois measurements, which 

 show variations in circumferences and lengths and, by computation 

 with the factors in the Du Bois linear formula, the changes in surface 

 area; (2) the photographic method, which vSuppHes visual evidence 

 and, by computation, body-surface data for comparison with the 

 data secured by the Du Bois method; (3) the Du Bois height-weight 

 chart, which gives the body-surfaces of these men, based upon the 

 heights and weights of the individual subjects. 



1 Du Bois and Du Bois, Arch. Intern. Med., 1915, 15, p. 868. 



* Benedict, Am. Journ. Physiol., 1916, 41, p. 275. 



» Du Bois and Du Bois, Arch. Intern. Med., 1916, 17, p. 863. 



