On February 9, a nitrogen balance was attempted, when for a period of six days a careful comparison of intake and output of nitrogen was made. The results show that while during this period of six days 52.999 grams of nitrogen were ingested, there was an output through the urine and fæces of 61.13 grams of nitrogen, thus indicating a minus balance for this period of 1.355 grams of nitrogen per day. The average daily intake of nitrogen was 8.83 grams. The average daily output of nitrogen through the kidneys was 8.77 grams, being 0.22 gram less than the average daily excretion through the kidneys for the six months’ period. The fuel value of the food for this period averaged 2529 calories per day. The nitrogen balance, however, is so strikingly a minus balance that we are forced to conclude the above quantities of food were not quite sufficient to meet the needs of the body under the then existing conditions. Still, the fact that the body-weight during the entire period of six months showed no tendency downward implies that during this longer period the body must have been essentially in nitrogen equilibrium, under conditions whereby there was a metabolism of only 56 grams of proteid per day. As before stated, this means a physiological economy, as contrasted with existing standards, of about 50 per cent in proteid food. So far as was to be seen, the bodily strength and vigor of the subject, like his body-weight, were fully maintained under the restricted diet, but, for some reason, he did not apparently take as kindly to a reduction of proteid food, and did not accomplish so great a lowering in the rate of proteid metabolism.
Following are the data of the balance experiment:
Tuesday, February 9, 1904.
Breakfast.—Coffee 210 grams, bread 38.5 grams, oatmeal 127 grams, cream 92 grams, sugar 20 grams.
Lunch.—Bread 63.5 grams, butter 12.5 grams, potato 155 grams, consommé 150 grams, stewed tomato 109 grams, coffee 210 grams, sugar 20 grams, pudding 85 grams.
Dinner.—Roast beef 17.5 grams, potato 177 grams, bread 39.1 grams, butter 12 grams, string beans 110 grams, apple pie 237.6 grams.
| Food. | Grams. | Per cent Nitrogen. | Total Nitrogen. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee | 210.0 | × | 0.10 | = | 0.210 | grams. | |
| Bread | 38.5 + 63.5 + 39.1 = | 141.1 | × | 1.36 | = | 1.918 | |
| Oatmeal | 127.0 | × | 0.64 | = | 0.812 | ||
| Cream | 92.0 | × | 0.40 | = | 0.368 | ||
| Butter | 12.5 + 12 = | 24.5 | × | 0.088 | = | 0.021 | |
| Potato | 155.0 | × | 0.28 | = | 0.434 | ||
| Consommé | 150.0 | × | 0.38 | = | 0.570 | ||
| Tomato | 109.0 | × | 0.19 | = | 0.207 | ||
| Sugar | 20 + 20 = | 40.0 | × | 0.00 | = | 0.000 | |
| Pudding | 85.0 | × | 0.69 | = | 0.586 | ||
| Roast beef | 17.5 | × | 2.64 | = | 0.462 | ||
| Potato | 177.0 | × | 0.36 | = | 0.637 | ||
| String beans | 110.0 | × | 0.26 | = | 0.286 | ||
| Apple pie | 237.6 | × | 0.49 | = | 1.164 | ||
| Coffee | 210.0 | × | 0.099 | = | 0.208 | ||
| Total nitrogen in food | 7.883 | grams. | |||||
| Total nitrogen in urine | 8.640 | ||||||
| Fuel value of the food | 2576 calories. |
Wednesday, February 10, 1904.