NUTRITION LABORATORY. 



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(o) The influence of athletic training upon basal metabolism. Francis G. Benedict and 

 H. Monmouth Smith. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 1, 102 (1915). 



An abbreviated presentation of the material in the foregoing article. 



(6) A comparison of the basal metabolism of normal men and women. Francis G. Bene- 

 dict and L. E. Emmes. Journ. Biol. Chem., 20, 253 (1915). 



The possibihty of a fundamental difference in the gaseous basal metabolism 

 in men and women has been the subject of long study. It is particularly 

 significant in the present-day discussion of energy output, for the composition 

 of the body of a woman is notably different from that of a man of like height 

 and weight, as with the woman there is a larger proportion of subcutaneous 

 fat with a consequent decrease in the proportion of protoplasmic tissue. The 

 research involves the comparison of a large number of subjects, 89 men and 

 68 women of varying height and age. For stricter comparison the group 

 system was employed, in which the influence of body-surface was eliminated 

 by employing, for purposes of comparison, individuals of like height and weight. 

 A comparison of several groups is given in the accompanying table. 



Summary of comparison of normal vien and women of like body-iveight and height. 



In 8 of the 11 groups, the men show a greater metabolism per kilogram of 

 body-weight than the women. The average data show that the men hadfa 

 heat-production of 26.5 calories per kilogram per 24 hours as compared with'a 

 heat-production of 25.0 calories for the women, approximately a 5 per cent 

 increase. A similar increase is noted with the comparison on the basis of the 

 square meter of body-surface. 



Since athletes were carefully excluded from these observations, we deal 

 here only with approximately normal individuals, and in any event individuals 

 of similar height and weight appear in the compared groups. The conclusion 

 is reached that the increased metaboHsm with man is due to the larger pro- 

 portion of active protoplasmic tissue. 



(7) A comparison of the basal metabohsm of normal men and women. Francis G. Bene- 

 dict and Louis E. Emmes. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 1, 104 (1915). 

 An abbreviated presentation of the material in the foregoing article. 



