458 VITALITY AND EFFICIENCY WITH RESTRICTED DIET. 



From table 104 several important facts may be observed. In the first 

 place, attention is called to the great increase in pulse-rate due to the 

 work on the ergometer, which is shown by the records for the first 

 minute after riding. With one or two subjects with low pulse-rate 

 before work like Vea, Pea, and Gul on January 31, the pulse-rate is 

 more than doubled as a result of the work of riding. In a number of 

 cases the pulse-rate is almost doubled, notably with Kon, Gar, Moy, 

 and Pec. 



A second important point is the pronounced increase in pulse-rate 

 prior to riding on days with full diet in February which is likewise 

 reflected in the increase noted after the first minute. Coincidental 

 with this is an almost invariable lengthening in the time required for 

 the return to normal. 



A more complete analysis of the situation is given in table 105, in 

 which we have summarized for the individual subjects and for each 

 day of Professor Johnson's observations the length of time required 

 for the pulse-rate to return to normal. Although it is somewhat in- 

 consistent to strike a general average, an examination of the average 

 figures for reduced diet near the bottom of table 105 shows that the 

 shortest average period was found with Vea, who returned to the normal 

 inside of 4.0 minutes; Pec reached normal in 4.3 minutes. Can in 5.1 

 minutes, and Pea in 5.9 -f- minutes. Of these men, Pea and Pec were 

 trained athletes, while Vea and Can were distinctly of the non-athletic 

 type. The records shown for Vea are of special interest as indicating 

 how regular his return to normal usually was. With the restricted 

 diet there were only three occasions when he required more than 5 

 minutes to reach the normal level. The one instance in which 10 

 minutes was required occurred on February 11 after the restriction 

 in diet had ended. On the other hand, with Tom, an entirely untrained 

 man, an average value of 16.7-}- minutes was obtained for the return to 

 normal, the individual data remaining very long throughout the obser- 

 vations. It is perhaps somewhat surprising that the high values of 13 

 and 12 were noted with Kon, Mon, and Moy, who were all physically 

 well-trained men. Mon, particularly, shows a consistently long time 

 for his return to normal; in only three instances was less than 7 min- 

 utes required. 



A general inspection of the table seems to indicate that the longer 

 periods for the return to the normal level occur with practically all 

 the men about November 9 to December 7. A consideration of the 

 figures in the last column at the right shows that this is borne out by the 

 daily averages for the whole squad. On the other hand, most of the 

 squad showed a long period of return on February 8 to 18, when the 

 body-weight was rapidly increasing (see table 104) and a greater 

 amount of nourishment was being received than during January, when 

 the men were on a restricted diet and the weight was below normal. 

 The average time for January 31 (a low-diet day) was 6.2 minutes. On 



