NUTRITION LABORATORY. 285 



(10) A photographic method for measuring the surface area of the human body. Francis G. 



Benedict. Am. Jour. Physiol, 41, 275 (1916). 



Primarily with the object of securing measurements for a subject who had 

 undergone a 31-day fast, a photographic method was developed to establish 

 the relationship between the area of the body computed from certain definite 

 photographic poses (particularly a side view with arm extended) and that 

 actually measured by the Du Bois linear formula. A method for securing 

 accurate measurements of the body area resulted. Comparisons between the 

 photographed areas and the body-surface as computed from the Du Bois 

 linear formula show, even with the most diverse configurations of body, a 

 constancy rarely observed in anatomical measurements or in computed ratios 

 based upon such measurements. 



(11) The relationship between body-surface and heat-production, especially during pro- 



longed fasting. Francis G. Benedict. Am. Jour. Physiol., 41, 292 (1916). 



An historical consideration of the development of the idea of proportion- 

 ality between the body-surface area and heat-production shows that funda- 

 mentally it was originally based upon Newton's law of cooling. The idea of 

 a causal relationship between body-surface and heat-production is strongly 

 emphasized in foreign writings and distinctly to be inferred from those of a 

 number of American writers. The long-existing doubts as to the validity of 

 the older methods for the measurement of body-surface have been fully sub- 

 stantiated by the development of the linear formula of the Du Boises, which 

 gives measurements with a high degree of accuracy. 



By means of a photographic method recently devised for measuring the 

 body-surface, the body-area of the subject of a 31 -day fasting experiment was 

 redetermined and used in recomputing the heat-production per square meter 

 of body-surface. The values obtained showed a decrease similar to that pre- 

 viously found. The decrease in the heat-production per square meter of 

 body-surface, amounted to 28 per cent, a decrease that can be interpreted only 

 as proof of the inapplicability of the surface-area law to subjects with widely 

 varying states of nutrition. This shows it to be impossible to compare a 

 standard value obtained with a large number of robust, normal individuals 

 with that obtained with emaciated diabetics, and thus supplies strong proof 

 of the legitimacy and practicability of the group system of comparing patho- 

 logical cases with normal individuals of like height and weight, i. e., of general 

 anatomical and morphological similarity. 



(12) The energy metabolism of a cretin. Fritz B. Talbot. Am. Jom-. Diseases of Chil- 



dren, 12, 145 (1916). 



This brief study of the metabolism of a cretin is of significance, since it 

 gives evidence as to the influence of the internal secretion upon the metabolism. 

 The cretin was 3 years' and 8 months old, weighed 12 kg., and had the mental 

 development of a 4 to 6 months' old infant. After treatment with thyroid 

 extract he improved markedly, showed more intelligence, and became more 

 active. Before treatment two very quiet periods were obtained with him, 

 but, unfortunately from the standpoint of observation, after treatment he 

 showed signs of discomfort in the restricted space of the chamber and it was 

 impossible to secure comparable quiet periods. His metabolism in the quiet 

 periods is compared with that of two normal infants 8^ and 10 months old, 

 respectively, the observations showing that, in general, the metabolism of the 

 cretin was 25 per cent lower than that of the two normal infants. 



