1871.] Effect of Diet fyc. on Elimination of Nitrogen. 351 



who had never had a day's illness in his life. He was 25 years of age, 

 weighed usually 145 lbs., and is of very temperate habits. He had been 

 an iron- worker before enlistment, and is an extremely powerful man j the 

 girth of the chest was 37 j inches. 



First Series of Experiments. 



Ordinary regulated diet. 



During 20 days the man received daily beefsteak weighing 14 ounces 

 when raw, 1 ounce of fat for cooking, 16 ounces of bread, 1 ounce of butter, 

 6 ounces of milk, 16 ounces of potatoes, l\ ounce of sugar, 36 fluid ounces 

 of infusions of tea and coffee, and 1 6 ounces of water. The amount of nitro- 

 gen was determined at 300 grains ; it might be a little more or less, but 

 still from day to day its amount was the same as far as it could possibly be 

 kept so. This diet was selected in this, as in the former experiments, 

 because it is the usual ration of the Army Hospital Corps to which this 

 man belonged, and therefore there was no fear of a change in the food itself 

 producing any effect. 



He took his meals always at the same time ; viz. breakfast at 10 a.m., 

 dinner at 3 p.m. (when he took the whole of his meat), and tea at | to 6, 

 After tea he took 6 ounces of water at 10 p.m., but no solid food. 



The urine was collected from 10 a.m. to 6 a.m. on the following morn- 

 ing; then from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. As all food 

 was taken between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., it was expected that the urine from 

 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. (viz. from the 13th to the 16th hours after food) would 

 be of tolerably constant composition ; at any rate there would be less chance 

 of error from the effect of food. In this way, and by keeping as far as 

 possible an equal daily diet, it was hoped to lessen or remove the chances 

 of fallacy from varying ingress of nitrogen. An unexpected circumstance 

 partly disconcerted this hope. 



It was anticipated that the amount of urine passing in the two hours 

 from 8 to 10 a.m. would be less than in the two hours from 6 to 8, as 

 being further removed from the time when fluid was taken. But the result 

 was otherwise ; there was always more urine passed from 8 to 10 a.m. than 

 in the previous two hours. When this was first noted, it was supposed that 

 an error in collecting the urine had been made ; but day after day the 

 result was the same. It seemed to be owing to the influence of sleep and 

 wakefulness. From 6 to 8 the man slept, but from 8 to 10 he was not 

 only awake, but his mind was active, and he talked to two men who worked 

 in the room where he slept ; and though his body was kept as quiet as 

 during the previous two hours, the mental condition seemed to cause an 

 increased passage of urine ; at least there seemed nothing else to account 

 for the fact that on every day during ten days while he was still in bed, 

 there was more urine passed from 8 to 10 than from 6 to 8 a.m., although 

 no water had been taken except at 10 the night before. The result was 



2 e 2 



