CHARACTER OF KATABOLISM 
93 
lated wotk the respiratory quotient was 0.94. Of significance are the increase 
in the respiratory quotient after the beginning of severe work and the char- 
acteristic high quotients found throughout all of the three work-periods. 
While the transition from low intensity to high intensity did not lead 
to any definite conclusions as to the character of the katabolism, when the 
conditions were reversed and the period of fight muscular work followed 
the severe work, the picture presented is quite different. The results for the 
experiments with this routine are given in table 98. 
Table 98. — Respiratory quotients in experiments without food, severe work preceding light 
work. 
[Figures in light-face type represent accumulated work to end of period expressed in calories.] 
Calories of 
Calories of 
Date. 
Subject. 
work per 
minute 
Respiratory- 
quotient. 
Date. 
Subject. 
work per 
minute 
Respiratory quotient. 
during 
during 
period. 1 
period. 1 
1912. 
Mar. 5 
E. P. C. 
1.50 
f 38 70 
1 0.92 0.98 
1912. 
Mar. 7 
K. H. A. 
1.70 
( 70 104 
\ 0.86 0.94 
.50 
j 82 92 
\ 0.74 0.73 
.50 
j 125 136 
' 0.81 0.84 
Mar. 1 
H. L. H. 
1.50 
J 39 79 
•■ 1.01 0.93 
Mar. 14 
M. A. If. 
1.70 
1 65 106 145 
\ 0.89 0.92 0.89 
.50 
j 96 109 
i 0.75 0.76 
.50 
1 190 201 211 
■ 0.82 0.87 0.82 
Mar. 16 
J. J. C. 
1.70 
j 67 97 
i 0.94 0.87 
Mar. 18 
M. A. M. 
1.70 
j 65 
\ 0.89 
.50 
( 115 125 
1 0.80 0.80 
2.10 
( 127 169 
t 0.89 0.90 
Mar. 2 
J. E. F. 
1.70 
.50 
S 49 104 
i 0.90 0.89 
( 119 132 
j 0.96 0.97 
.50 
(188 
0.82 
Approximate. 
The data given in this table agree perfectly with the results found 
in table 97 in that with a high intensity of work, such as 1.50 calories or over 
per minute, the respiratory quotients are high, the lowest value for such pe- 
riods being 0.86 on March 7. On the other hand the values obtained in periods 
with light work present a striking contrast to the results given in table 97, 
as the values with a light load are almost invariably small. The single ex- 
ception to this is the experiment of March 2 with J. E. F., in which the highest 
values were found with 0.50 calorie per minute, an explanation of which is by 
no means clear. The natural inference from the results given in this table 
would be that after severe muscular work the light work of 0.50 calorie per 
minute can be considered as having approximated resting katabolism, so 
that the "specific muscular katabolism" called into play by excessive muscu- 
lar work was no longer in action, and the body was then nearing the condition 
of normal repose. 
Finally, in table 99 are given the results of two experiments with the 
professional bicyclist M. A. M., in which the subject rode first with a light 
load, next with a heavy load, and then again with a lighter load. On Febru- 
ary 28 there was a marked rise in the respiratory quotient with the severe 
muscular work which was followed by a slight fall on resuming the light load; 
on March 4, however, the katabolism during the first two periods with a light 
load evidently consisted in large part of carbohydrates, since the respiratory 
