A Biometric Study of Basal Metabolism in Man

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1919 Excerpt: ...loss of heat in the former case is met by an increased production. In this aspect the effect is simply an extension of the influence of falling temperature, the increased demand for heat being met by an increased supply, so that the extent of surface appears as the determining factor of the amount of metabolism. Moulton, who (on the basis of a series of graphs) has given a detailed discussion of the interrelationship between body-surface, body-weight, blood-volume, nitrogen-content of body, etc., in cattle in various conditions, says:24 A better conception of the basal needs of animals for food can be obtained from a comparison of the relative surface areas of the animals. Since Rubner and Richet presented evidence to show that the heat production of living animals was proportional to the body surface, this has been a much used unit of reference. In other current (1915) literature we find such statements as the following:25 'Rubner's law, ' to quote from Lusk, is that 'the metabolism is proportional to the superficial area of an animal. In other words, the metabolism varies as the amount of heat loss at the surface, and its variance in accordance with this law is necessary for the maintenance of a constant temperature.' In a popular text-book on nutrition 26 we also find: Since the body loses heat in proportion to the extension of its surface it is not strange that this is the determining factor for the metabolism. Du Bois, in his Harvey lecture 27 of November 27, 1915, said: Rubner demonstrated many years ago that the metabolism is proportional to the surface-area of the body and that for each square meter of skin large men, small men, dogs, horses, and mice have about the same heat pro a Armsby, The Principle...