APPENDIX II. 



159 



case during the ascent and for six hours after- 

 wards : 



It is thus evident that the muscular power ex- 

 pended by these gentlemen in the ascent of the 

 Faulhorn could not be exclusively derived from the 

 oxidation, either of their muscles, or of other 

 nitrogenous constituents of their bodies, since the 

 maximum of power capable of being derived from 

 this source even under very favourable assumptions 

 is, in both cases, less than one-half of the work 

 actually performed. But the deficiency becomes 

 much greater if we take into consideration the fact, 

 that the actual energy developed by oxidation or 

 combustion cannot be wholly transformed into me- 

 chanical work. In the best-constructed steam- 

 engine, for instance, only -j^th of the actual energy 

 developed by the burning fuel can be obtained in 

 the form of mechanical power ; and in the case of 



