692 VITALITY AND EFFICIENCY WITH RESTRICTED DIET. 



mas recess, with a tendency to fall thereafter, and a fair approximation 

 to a level at the end of the period. 



When one considers these measurements of metaboHsm as a whole 

 and the factors of circulation and respiration, it is astonishing what 

 regular pictures they present when compared with the body-weight 

 and, indeed, with the intake of food. The entire picture shows the 

 depression of all activities during the early part of the session, charac- 

 teristic rises following the recuperation period during the Christmas 

 recess, a rather sharp fall thereafter, with a tendency towards con- 

 stancy during the month of January. Certain observations that were 

 made after the period of low diet ceased show a pronounced rise in the 

 pulse-rate, lying before riding, the pulse-rate 1 minute after riding on 

 the ergometer, and a very great rise in the body-weight. This implies 

 that the correlation between actual body-weight and these various 

 factors is very close. 



It is certainly clear that during the period of transition, when the 

 body-weight was rapidly falUng, all of the factors of metabolism and all 

 of the physiological activities were markedly depressed. When the 

 body-weight finally reached a level, namely, during the month of 

 December and the latter part of January, there was a distinct tendency 

 for these activities also to assume a level, although they are by no 

 means absolutely comparable. With the resumption of increased 

 food intake at the end of the experiment, the two factors measured 

 both followed the body-weight, indicating a pronounced increase. 



It is also of great significance to note here the two neuro-muscular 

 processes that have been charted, namely, the number of finger move- 

 ments made in 10 seconds and the eye movements as recorded in the 

 length of time required to move the eye through an arc of 40°. The 

 speed of the finger movements, which has been shown in an earlier 

 research from this Laboratory to be representative of motor coordina- 

 tion, decreased definitely. At about the Christmas recess there was 

 somewhat of a recovery and evidence of a distinct spurt on the last 

 day of the experiment. The eye movements, which have likewise been 

 shown to be characteristic motor coordinations, distinctly increase in 

 the time required for a definite movement from the day when the 

 observations were begun, namely, October 28, to the last day of the 

 series, this increase being progressive and reasonably regular. 



The general picture presented by this chart is a depression of the 

 physiological, particularly the metabolic, activities, throughout the 

 greater part of the time. This is Hkewise true with regard to the two 

 neuro-muscular processes here charted. That these are in large part 

 affected by the state of nutrition is shown by the close relationship 

 between the various curves and the body-weight curves, and, incident- 

 ally, the food-intake curve. In view of the close relationship between 

 pulse-rate and metabolism, and in the absence of metabohsm measure- 



