I.— PHYSIOLOGY 



203 



may be a disadvantage. In a famine the short, light individual would 

 certainly require less food. 



Standards of Metabolism in Adults. 



Is there any advantage in taking height into consideration in addition 

 to weight and age, in calculating the basal metabolism of adults ? To 

 answer this question two equations have been derived from the same 

 series of published data for men. 



Log. carbon dioxide 



= 0-6204 log. body weight — 0-00357 age + I '3015 • • (^6) 



Log. carbon dioxide 



= o -51208 log. body weight + 0-5389 log height 



— 0-00357 age + 0-2573 • (17) 



The carbon dioxide is in c.cs. per minute, body weight in kilograms, 

 height in centimetres, age in years between 15 and 35. 



The CO 2 calculated from the two equations is then compared with the 

 actual CO 2 measured. For this purpose all the observations have been 

 separated in the table into 3 categories, according as the body weight lay 

 between + 10 per cent, and — 10 per cent, of the average body weight 

 for the height, between ±10 per cent, and i 20 per cent, and beyond 



^ In two cases both equations were equally good. 



