352 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 819 



mined by weighing at the table all food eaten, 

 except water, for 29 days in November and 

 December. The first (P) was 12 years and 

 six months of age and approaching puberty. 

 His weight without clothing was 50.5 kilo- 

 grams and his height 5 feet. The second (A) 

 was 8 years and 6 months old, weighed with- 

 out clothing 27.4 kilograms and measured 4 

 feet, 5 inches in height. The health of both 

 was good before, during and has been 

 since the test. The composition of the food 

 was calculated,' either directly or from the ma- 

 terials known to have been used in its prepa- 

 ration. The quantities eaten did not differ 

 from those usually taken by these children. 

 The quality was plain but wholesome — for 

 breakfast, a cup of cocoa made with much 

 milk, buttered toast, fruit and occasionally a 

 piece of cheese; at noon, meat or fish with 

 bread, butter and potatoes, an additional veg- 

 etable, often pudding and a glass of milk ; for 

 supper, ordinarily no meat, bread and butter, 

 with an egg or cheese, fruit and milk. The 

 results follow : 



Naturally the food contained relatively 

 much more energy than that regarded as nec- 

 essary for adults; 35 calories per kilogram of 

 body weight (Chittenden") ; 44 calories per 

 kilogram (Voit') ; or 35-38 calories per kilo- 

 gram for actual body maintenance (Maurer). 

 Comparison with the standards for children 

 can be made on the basis of age or on that of 

 body weight. On the basis of age the amounts 



= " The Chemical Composition of American Food 

 Materials," Atwater and Bryant, Washington, 

 1906. 



""The Nutrition of Man," New York, 1907, 

 p. 177. 



' " Physiologie des allgemeinen Stoflfwechsels und 

 der Erniihnmg," p. 520. 



» Rev. Soc. Sci. Byg. Aliment., 3, 1906, p. 763. 



of protein and of total energy used here are 

 higher than those of the most common stand- 

 ards. Comparing on the basis of body weight, 

 the energy value of the food consumed by 

 these children was also greater than that of 

 most standards, differing least from that of 

 the United States Bureau of Labor. It will 

 be noted that the weights of both children are 

 greater than those commonly assumed for such 

 ages." 



Maurel allows 1.Y5 grams of protein per 

 kilogram of body weight below the age of 

 sixteen for maintenance and growth of the 

 organism, without providing for muscular 

 work. Eeckoned in this way there should 

 have been 88.4 grams of protein for P and 48 

 grams for A. This corresponds to the amount 

 used by P but is much less than was used by 

 A. As far as conclusions can be drawn from 

 two cases it would seem that Maurel's standard 

 is not sufficiently elastic to use for all ages of 

 childhood. 



In order to be of the greatest value a stand- 

 ard should be independent of variable or un- 

 certain factors. Hence there is an objection 

 to basing one for children's food upon a per- 

 centage of an adult standard which may vary 

 from that of Chittenden (I. c.) of less than 

 2,000 calories per day to that of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture (I. c.) of 

 3,500 calories. 



The methods employed in this investigation 

 are perhaps open to the usual criticisms; that 

 the amounts eaten are not necessarily those 

 required for keeping the organism in its best 

 condition and that neither the food nor the 

 excreta were analyzed to determine exactly the 

 income and outgo. As opposed to these we 

 may consider that the food eaten was the 

 same in kind and amount as that ordinarily 

 consumed, that at all times the diet has been 

 carefully supervised, a plain and wholesome 

 food being provided and over-eating being 

 habitually discouraged, and that the appetite 

 must, therefore, be regarded as normal and 

 some indication of the needs of the body. 



E. W. AND L. C. EOCKWOOD 

 ' Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tables. 

 Bowditch, " Diseases of Infancy and Childhood." 



