110 



COMPARISONS OF RESPIRATORY EXCHANGE. 



15-minute experiments each morning. This man was an unusually 

 good subject, as in the morning experiments he was absolutely quiet and 

 his respiration was remarkably uniform. The period in the bed 

 calorimeter was so long that the possibilities of error previously noted 

 played scarcely any role. The values obtained show a high degree 

 of uniformity, indicating that the respiratory exchange was practically 

 the same with both apparatus so far as the relation between the carbon 

 dioxide and the oxygen values is concerned. The amount of the gas- 

 eous exchange can not be considered in the experiments with this 

 particular subject, as in the bed calorimeter he was asleep more or less 

 of the time and with the respiration apparatus he was wide awake. 



Table 14. — Respiratory quotients for a fasting man in experiments with the bed calorimeter and 

 the Benedict respiration apparatus {spirometer unit) . 



l On the days preceding and following the fast the night experiments were made after the inges- 

 tion of food. The subject was without breakfast during the morning respiration experiments. 



In conclusion it can be stated that agreement between the respiratory 

 quotients obtained with the bed calorimeter and the respiration ap- 

 paratus is possible and that comparable values for both carbon dioxide 

 and oxygen can be secured with both apparatus. It is difficult, however, 

 to secure such agreement, as it is not easy to make sure of the same 

 degree of muscular activity in experiments with both apparatus or 

 to determine correctly the oxygen consumption of a subject while 

 inside the bed calorimeter. 



At the moment of writing, experiments are in progress with a new 

 chamber designed by Professor Benedict primarily for the determina- 

 tion of the respiratory quotient. The results of these experiments will 



