INTRODUCTION. 



21 



using the formula of Meeh and the constant 11.9, the author finds that 

 this infant with an average body- weight during the 6 days of 3.28 

 kilograms had a body-surface corresponding to 0.2626 square meter, 

 and that the carbon-dioxide excretion per square meter of body-surface 

 was 18.5 grams per hour. 



Table 9. — Results of an experiment with an atrophic infant (Niemann). 



The metabolism of another atrophic infant was studied in the Univer- 

 sitats-Kinderklinik, Berlin, by Frank and Wolff. 1 Using the Petten- 

 kofer-Voit respiration apparatus modified by Rubner, they made two 

 series of experiments of 4 days each. The average values for carbon 

 dioxide are given in table 10. The authors especially comment upon 



Table 10. — Average carbon-dioxide excretion in experiments vrith an atrophic infant 



(Frank and Wolff). 



the unusually high figures for the carbon-dioxide excretion and attempt 

 to explain them by the disturbance between the computed body-surface 

 and body-weight and the effect of a protein-rich diet, but expressly 

 maintain that muscular activity played no role, as the infant, except 

 on the first day, was "sehr ruhig." 



Bahrdt and Edelstein 2 also report an experiment with an atrophic 

 infant, in which they used the respiration apparatus in Langstein's 

 laboratory in the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria-Haus. The observation 

 was made in three periods of four days each. In the first and last 

 periods, the infant remained inside the chamber for the greater part of 

 the 24 hours, being removed periodically, as is customary in experiments 

 with this type of apparatus. Their final conclusion was that the heat- 



*Frank and Wolff, Jahrb. f. Kinderheilk., 1913, 78, p. 1. 



2 Bahrdt and Edelstein, Festschrift Dr. Otto L. Heubner, Berlin, 1913. 



