856 EXPERIMKNT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 41 



huspilal attendants and patients fed the same meals (four studies comprising 

 G.405 rations), 3,464 calories with normal fat, slightly low protein, and slightly 

 high carbohydrate consumption; nonpatient groups (19 studies comprising 

 81,709 rations). 3,828 calories with approximately normal distribution of pro- 

 tein, fat, and carbohydrate; nurses' mess and ofiicers' mess included in the 

 above nonpatient group 2,859 and 3,G95 calories, respectively. 



Attention is called to the dietary idiosyncracies of medical oflicers, over- 

 consumption, inadequate balance, and high wastage constituting the rule in 

 such messes. This is further brought out in a table showing the average daily 

 expenditure for certain items of food for sis months in the different messes of 

 a certain base hospital. The food items included meat, eggs, fresh milk, 

 butter, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and canned milk. The daily expenditure 

 for these items and the total daily e:5:penditure per person were, respectively, 

 as follows : I'atieuts' mess 38.3 and 56.4 cts., detachments' mess 35.4 and 48.6, 

 imrses' mess 32 and 40.1, and officers' mess 80 mid 101 cts. 



A preliminary study of the energy expenditure and food requirements of 

 women workers, O. Rosenheim (I'roc. Roy. Soc. {LoikJoh], Scr. B, !Jt (lOlU), 

 No. B 635, pp. Ji^i-Bl, fig. 1). — The investigation reported in this paper deals 

 with women performing lathe work only. The general plan of the experiments 

 was to determine by indirect calorimetry the energy expenditure of an aver- 

 age adult woman during 24 hours, divided into three approximately equal 

 periods of sleep, woi'k, and recreation. The determinations were made by the 

 Douglas bag method as described by Cathcart (E. S. R., 41, p. 172), a fire- 

 man's smoke mask being used in most of the experiments in place of the 

 usual valve, head, and mouthpiece. Statistical data are given of the results 

 obtained with six normal subjects in periods of standard or basal metabolism, 

 metabolism during nonworking hoiirs, and metabolism during work, the latter 

 being divided into light, medium hard, and hard work. 



The average basal metabolism calculated by the DuBois formula was found 

 to be 37.4 calories per hour per square meter of body surface, with a maximum 

 variation from the mean of from — ^2.5 to +4 per cent. This Is in close agree- 

 ment with the figure of 37 calories (with ^^10 per cent maximum variation) 

 given by Gephart and DuBois (E. S. R., 35, p. 370) as the average basal heat 

 production of adult women between tlie ages of 20 to 50 years. The average 

 I'esting metabolism was only slightly higher than the basal. The energy- ex- 

 penditure during horizontal walking at the rate of from 2.7 to 3.1 miles per 

 hour varied considerably with the different subjects, due largely to their pre- 

 vious occupational training, the average for five subjects being 139.8 calories 

 per hour per square meter of body surface. The results in general indicate 

 that women expend practically the same amount of energy as men in moving 

 horizontally 1 kg. of body weight through a distance of 1 meter. 



The metabolism during work showed individual variations in work econ- 

 omy, particularly during hard work. The average increase in heat production 

 over the standard was 72 per cent for light work, 109 per cent for medium 

 hard work, and 181 per cent for hard work, as compared witli 274 per cent for 

 walking. These results indicate that the energj' re<iuired for lathe work is 

 relatively small. 



The daily food requirements of women lathe workei-s as calculated from the 

 data obtained varied from 2,400 to 2,800 calories. This is in absolute agree- 

 ment with the recommendations made by Hill (E. S. R., 40, p. 805) for moderate 

 munition work, as based on statistical inquiries. 



In conclusion the author emphasizes the importance, iu assessing the food 

 requirements of women workers, of paying due consideration not only to the 



