MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY OF THE HITMAN BODY 
119 
resistance to be overcome being that of the ergometer itself. Under these 
conditions the work would be simply the internal friction of the legs. The un- 
equal balancing of the legs discussed by Berg, du Bois-Reymond, and Zuntz, 
with consequent muscular work in raising the legs when rotating the pedals, 
should be taken into account in these experiments also. 
Measurements were made only with subject M. A. M., ergometer I 
being used in two experiments and ergometer II in three experiments. The 
results are brought together in table 114. The speed varied from 60 to 98 
revolutions per minute, but the results obtained with the two machines 
are singularly concordant. The increase in the oxygen consumption during 
the muscular activity ranged from 90 per cent to 308 per cent, increasing 
regularly with the speed. The marked influence of changes in speed is noted 
when it is seen that the increase in the oxygen consumption is more than 
doubled in the change from 60 to 84 revolutions per minute, while at 98 
revolutions per minute the metabolism was practically four times that of 
rest. All of the values for the lying metabolism were secured on the day of 
the riding experiment, and hence it was not necessary to use an average value 
as in some of the other tables. 
Table 114. — Metabolism in experiments without food with subject lying on couch compared 
with the metabolism of the subject in no-load experiments on ergomettr without motor. 
{Subject M. A. M.) 
Respir- 
1 
• 
"8 
Carbon dioxide per 
minute. 
Oxygen per minute. 
Pulse-rate per 
minute. 
ation- 
rate per 
1 
I 
•c 
- 
minute. 
3 
Increase 
-*> 
3 
Increase 
3 
Increase 
3 
Date. 
'- 
over 
ja 
over 
A 
over 
I 
■B 
3 
1 
■ 
X 
o 
1 
a 
"8 
6 
i-I 
1 = 
: z 
z = 
lying. 
i 
* 
li 
.2 o 
lying. 
c 
■3 
lying. 
w 
a 
\3 
1 
5 
4 
s 
a 
3 
o 
£ 
< 
a 
o 
o 
b 
— 
3 
o 
I 
Ergometer I. 
e.e. 
c.c. 
c.e. 
e.c. 
CJC 
e.c. 
Dec. 19, 1911. 
60 
3 
2(X) 
398 
198 
99 
238 
453 
215 
90 
63 
86 
23 37 
20 
20 
Dec. 13, 1911. 
SI 
3 
200 
615 
415 
208 
226 
744 
518 
229 
63 
89 
26 < 41 
24 
25 
Ergometer II. 
Feb. 21. 1912. 
91 
1 
191 
637 
446 
234 
236 
817 
581 
24f, 
59 
»102 
43 73 
20 
Feb. 20, 1912. 
96 
1 
200 
727 
527 
264 
247 
904 
657 
206 
61 
99 
38 ! 62 
19 
Feb. 21, 1912. 
" 
1 
191 
771 
580 
304 
236 
963 
727 
MM 
59 
'104 
45 76 
20 
1 One record of pulse. 
Accompanying the increased metabolism we find a similar increase in 
the pulse-rate which usually proceeds more or less regularly with the incre- 
ment in the speed; the one exception is the unusually high pulse-rate found 
in the first period of February 21. It should, however, be stated that this 
record is the result of but a single observation. The few records of the respi- 
ration-rate again show slight, if any, change in the rate. 
It is obvious, therefore, that riding on an ergometer with no resistance 
is accompanied by a considerable increase in the muscular work, an increase 
very much greater than would be expected from the small amount of muscular 
activity incidental to overcoming the very slight friction of the machine. 
Here again it should be stated that in all of these experiments the subject 
found it extremely trying to ride without load, and continually complained 
of inability to hold himself at any given speed, his tendency being to "spurt," 
