228 



CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



Table 2. — Reduced diet and heat required per man during horizontal walking, rate 

 69 meters per minute {2.6 miles per hour). 



The energy requirement per kilogram of body-weight for walking one hori- 

 zontal meter is given in table 3, in which calculation the basal metaboUsm, 

 i. e., that required to maintain the body while standing quietly, is deducted 

 in all cases. 



Table 3.- 



-Reduced diet and heat required per kilogram of body-weight in walking 

 1 horizontal meter. 



"The results of these experiments are quite positive and show a marked 

 saving in the energy requirements for walking in favor of the reduced diet, 

 whether considered on the basis of the gross energy expended, which repre- 

 sents the real cost to the individual and to the national food reservoirs, or on 

 the basis of the energy required per horizontal kilogrammeter. Although the 

 results here submitted are confined to one form of muscular activity, never- 

 theless it is believed that the quantitative results obtained would be dupli- 

 cated if other forms of muscular work were studied." 



(3) Physiological effects of a prolonged reduction in diet on twenty-five men. Francis G. 

 Benedict. Proc. Am. Phil. Soc, 57, 479 (1918). 



In this paper, which was read before the American Philosophical Society 

 in the spring of 1918 and is based upon observations made in the study 

 of the effects of a prolonged reduction in diet, a semi-popular presentation is 

 given of some of the important practical considerations which may be deduced 

 from the results. It is emphasized that the data obtained indicate the legality 

 of Professor Chittenden's conclusions with regard to the practicability of a 

 low-protein diet, although it is pointed out that the minimum may not neces- 

 sarily be the optimum protein. The fact that this group of 25 men underwent 

 this rigid diet restriction and performed their college duties, both intellectu- 

 ally and physically, without obvious reduction in stamina, is taken as the 

 basis of a suggestion that the civilian population may, without danger, for a 

 relatively long period of time, materially reduce their food consumption by 

 the simple process of weight reduction, weight reduction carrying with it 

 lesser food demand. This applies particularly to the civilians not doing severe 

 muscular work. The importance of underweight rather than overweight for 



