20 GASEOUS METABOLISM OF INFANTS. 



In a paper which has only recently appeared 1 Schlossmann again 

 discusses the degree of activity and the amount of work done by infants 

 in crying. He strongly emphasizes the necessity of noting the degree 

 of repose during the observation, either by the ocular method used by 

 himself or the graphic record devised in this laboratory. Unfortunately 

 at the time this paper was written, Schlossmann had not been able to 

 compare the two methods. 



Two later communications by Schlossmann and Murschhauser 2 on 

 the metabolism of fasting infants have particular significance in 

 connection with this report, as they discuss the ideal conditions for 

 obtaining the basal metabolism. 



Using a Pettenkofer-Voit respiration apparatus 3 in the Kaiserin 

 Auguste Victoria-Haus in Charlottenburg, Birk and Edelstein 4 studied 

 the respiratory exchange of a healthy, new-born infant weighing 3.2 

 kilograms and having a length of 50 cm. The infant was completely 

 wound in cotton wool so as to keep the body-temperature at a normal 

 level. Although he was removed from the respiration chamber several 

 times during the day, the infant remained in the apparatus for the 

 greater part of the 24 hours. On the second day the carbon-dioxide 

 production per 24 hours was 55.6 grams, or 18.2 grams per kilogram; 

 on the third day the total amount was 47.59 grams, or 15.76 grams per 

 kilogram per 24 hours. The authors criticize the use of short experi- 

 ments with a respiration apparatus by which the oxygen consumption 

 can be determined and the respiratory quotients calculated, but they 

 express regret that with their method the oxygen consumption can 

 not be determined. 



In a study made by Carpenter and Murlin of the energy metabolism 

 of pregnant women before and after the birth of the child, 5 the energy 

 metabolism of three new-born infants was also found per unit of weight 

 and per unit of body-surface. The values were obtained by subtracting 

 the measured metabolism of the mother from that of the mother and 

 infant. 



The metabolism of an atrophic infant was studied by Niemann, 6 

 who used a Pettenkofer-Voit respiration apparatus in the children's 

 clinic of the University of Berlin. The observation continued 6 days, 

 the infant remaining in the chamber the greater part of each day. The 

 measurements of the carbon-dioxide production on the basis of 24 

 hours are given in table 9. When these results are computed on the 

 basis of carbon dioxide produced per square meter of body-surface, 



Schlossmann, Monatsschr. f. Kinderheilk., 1913, 12, p. 47. See also Am. Journ. Diseases of 

 Children, 1913, 6, p. 15. 



Schlossmann and Murschhauser, Biochem. Zeitschr., 1913, 56, p. 355, ibid., 1914, 58, p. 483. 

 3 Bahrdt and Edelstein, Jahrb. f. Kinderheilk., 1910, 72, p. 43. 

 4 Birk and Edelstein, Monatsschr. f. Kinderheilk., 1910, 9, p. 505. 

 B Carpenter and Murlin, Arch. Internal Med., 1911, 7, p. 184. 

 6 Niemann, Zeitschr. f. Kinderheilk., 1913, 6, p. 375. 



