494 VITALITY AND EFFICIENCY WITH RESTRICTED DIET. 



measurements of Squad A. Recently Dr. T. M. Carpenter, Mr. L. 

 E. Emmes, and Miss M. F. Hendry, of the Nutrition Laboratory 

 staff, have measured the metabolism of 17 Harvard Medical School 

 students,^ who showed an average respiratory quotient of 0.82. The 

 heat production per hour per square meter of body-surface found with 

 these 17 men was, on the average, 38.3 calories, a value about 3 per 

 cent less than that found by us with the members of Squad A, i. e., 

 39.5 calories. A possible explanation of the slightly higher values 

 obtained in our measurements is the fact that our subjects included 

 a relatively large number of men in excellent physical training, and 

 it has previously been shown that athletes have a perceptibly higher 

 basal metabolism than is found with normal non-athletic individuals.^ 

 A comparison between the values found for total heat production 

 per 24 hours and those predicted by the new equations is of special 

 interest. Paying particular attention to the differences, which are 

 shown in the next to the last column of the table, we find that 8 out 

 of the 13 men of Squad A show plus values, that is, have a somewhat 

 higher metabolism than that predicted. The most striking variation 

 from the predicted value is that of Mon, whose total heat production 

 as measured per 24 hours was 1,858 calories as compared with a pre- 

 dicted value of 1,652 calories. A more careful consideration of this 

 case seems desirable. It should be stated, however, at the outset 

 that the value of 1,858 calories was based upon measurements made 

 on one day only, although in two well-agreeing periods with the respira- 

 tory-valve apparatus. Until recently the experimenters in the Nutri- 

 tion Laboratory have been inclined to consider the element of novelty 

 a rather important one, inasmuch as the results obtained in the first 

 experiment with a subject were liable, we believed, to be somewhat 

 higher than normal. The recent experiments with Harvard Medical 

 School students have completely disproved this contention, however, 

 and a carefully conducted respiratory exchange experiment, with due 

 allowance for a period of quiet prior to the actual gaseous metabolism 

 test, should give values that are trustworthy. In every instance the 

 subject should be lying down in complete muscular repose at least 

 one-half hour before the metabolism experiments are made. This 

 restriction obtained in the -Springfield experiments as well as in those 

 made with the Harvard Medical School students. Consequently we 

 may not ascribe the high value here to the element of novelty. From 

 table 80 we see that unquestionably Mon 's pulse-rate was perceptibly 

 higher on this particular day than those obtained for other days, the 

 pulse-rate for this day being 69 beats per minute as compared with 59 

 beats per minute two days before. It so happens that Mon was a 

 well-trained man, who had done a great deal of wrestfing and was dis- 



' Published in abstract with data for members of Squad A by Harris and Benedict, Carnegie 



Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 279, 1919, p. 234, table 91. 

 ^ Benedict and Smith, Journ. Biol. Chem., 1915, 20, p. 243. 



