NOEMAL PEOCESSES OF ENEEGY METABOLISM 633 



TABLE 27 



of all those between 2.70 and 3.00 kilos in weight and within the same 

 range of ages is 2.00 calories per kilogram and hour. The observations of 

 Benedict and Talbot are thus in substantial agreement with those of 

 Bailey and Murlin. One cannot say, however, that every individual case 

 in these groups as compared with every other shows a metabolism which is 

 inversely proportional to weight. The influence of body weight (fat) can 

 be shown best by contrasting the extremes. 



Within the age of one week the metabolism is by no means constant. 

 The average of 31 cases less than 12 hours of age is, according to the re- 

 sults of Benedict and Talbot, 1.59 calories per kilogram and hour, while 

 for their ten infants from 12 to 22 hours of age it is 1.87 calories. Be- 

 yond the first day there is but little fluctuation in the average. Thus for 

 fourteen infants two days old the average is 1.86 calories per kilogram 

 and hour and for thirteen infants four, four and a half, and five days of 

 age, the average is 1.85 calories. It is evident from these calculations 

 that the lower value noted above for Benedict and Talbot's longer series 

 is due to the large number of infants less than 12 hours of age included 

 in their observations. Summing up all the modern results, it may be 

 stated categorically that the metabolism per unit of weight for the first 

 twelve hours is approximately 15 per cent lower than it is the rest of the 

 first week. 



3. Metabolism of the Newborn Infant per Unit of Body Surface. 

 When the metabolism per unit of surface area of the newborn is compared 

 with that of the adult, account must once more be taken of the actual age. 

 The average for the first two weeks may be illustrated by the following 

 table from Carpenter and Murlin slightly modified by Lusk(&). Here it 

 is seen that the metabolism of the pregnant mother with an average weight 

 for the three subjects of 63 kilograms was 33.4 calories per square meter 

 of body surface (Meeh's formula). After parturition the average weight 

 was 53 kilograms and the heat production 33.2 calories per square meter. 



