370 
PHYSIOLOGY: HARRIS AND BENEDICT 
tance less than 8 e p from the point P, then X and P lie together in a connected sub-set of M 
every point of which is at a distance of less than e from the point P. The set M is said to 
be uniformly connected im kleinen if for every positive number e there exists a positive num- 
ber b e such that if P\ and P% are two points of if at a distance apart less than 5 e then they 
lie together in a connected sub-set of M every point of which is at a distance of less than e 
from Pi. Cf. Hahn, H., Jahresber. D. Math. Ver., Leipzig, 23, 1914, (318-322). 
6 Hausdorff, F., Grundziige der Mengenlehre, Veit & Co., Leipzig, 1914. 
7 Cf. my paper, A theorem concerning continuous curves, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc, 23, 
1917, (233-236). 
8 Cf . Theorem 43 of my paper, On the foundations of plane analysis situs, Trans. Amer. 
Math. Soc, New York, 17, 1916, (131-164). I take this opportunity to correct an error in 
the statement of Theorem 44 of this paper. In this statement the upper 'interior' and the 
two upper 'without's are to be omitted. 
A BIO METRIC STUDY OF HUMAN BASAL METABOLISM 
By J. Arthur Harris and Francis G. Benedict 
Nutrition Laboratory and Station for Experimental Evolution, 
Carnegie Institution of Washington 
Communicated October 8, 1918 
Investigators are now generally agreed that the metabolism, expressed in 
terms of calories per unit of time, of the normal subject shall be taken as a 
basis of comparison in the investigation of all the special problems of human 
nutrition, for example, that of the requirements for muscular activity, that of 
the influence of specific diseases or of the level of nutrition upon metabolism, 
that of the change of metabolic activity with age, and so forth. Critical in- 
vestigations in both European and American laboratories have shown that the 
gaseous metabolism is so affected by various factors that determinations which 
are to serve as a standard must be made under very exactly controlled condi- 
tions. It is not merely necessary to devise apparatus in which the physical 
difficulties of direct calorimetry (or of the exact measurement of gaseous ex- 
change from which heat production may be computed) are overcome. Cer- 
tain biological factors must be ruled out. Those of greatest importance as 
sources of experimental error are muscular activity and the stimulatory ac- 
tion of recently ingested food. The heat production of the individual in a 
state of complete muscular repose 12-14 hours after the last meal, i.e., in the 
postabsorptive condition, has been called the basal metabolism. 
For a decade the Nutrition Laboratory has been engaged in carrying out a 
series of determinations of basal metabolism in normal human individuals of 
both sexes and of widely different ages. These have been made with all the 
modern refinements of method and manipulation. The subjects were in pre- 
sumably good health. All those with febrile temperature were discarded. 
All were in the postabsorptive condition. Perfect muscular repose during the 
short periods required for indirect calorimetry was assured by an automatic 
record of all movements, even those imperceptible to a trained observer. 
