Supper.—Fried bacon 25 grams, fried sweet potato 200 grams, bread 35 grams, butter 20 grams, jam 100 grams, apple-tapioca pudding 300 grams, one cup tea 350 grams.
Total nitrogen content of the day’s food = 7.342 grams.
These dietaries are fair samples of the daily food given the men during the last five months of the experiment. If we place the intake of nitrogen at 8.5 grams per day, or even 9 grams daily, it would mean at the most an average daily consumption of 56 grams of proteid; viz., about one-third the amount they were accustomed to take under their ordinary modes of life. Of greater interest, however, is the rate of proteid katabolism shown by these men under the above conditions of diet, during the five months’ period. The average daily output of metabolized nitrogen for each man ranged from 7.03 grams—the lowest—to 8.91 grams—the highest. An excretion of 7.03 grams of nitrogen per day means a katabolism, or breaking down, of 43.9 grams of proteid matter; while the excretion of 8.91 grams of nitrogen corresponds to a katabolism of 55.6 grams of proteid. The grand average, i. e., the average daily output of nitrogen of all the men for the five months’ period amounted to 7.8 grams per man, corresponding to an average daily katabolism of 48.75 grams of proteid. The heaviest man of the group had a body-weight of 74 kilograms, while his average daily output of metabolized nitrogen amounted to 7.84 grams. This corresponds to 0.106 gram of metabolized nitrogen per kilo of body-weight; a figure which agrees quite closely with the lowest figures obtained with the preceding subjects when calculated to the same unit of weight. Many of the men, however, metabolized considerably more nitrogen or proteid in proportion to their body-weight, due in a measure at least to the fact that they were being fed more liberally with proteid food than was really necessary for the needs of the body. In this group, we have a body of men doing a reasonable amount of physical work, who lived without discomfort for five consecutive months on a daily consumption of proteid food not much, if any, greater than one-third the amount called for by common usage, and the average fuel value of which certainly did not exceed 3000 calories per day. Indeed, so far as could be determined on the basis of chemical composition, the heat value of the food was quite a little less than this figure would imply.
If the relatively small amount of proteid food made use of in this trial was inadequate for the real necessities of the body, some indication of it would be expected to reveal itself, with at least some of the men, by the end of the period. One criticism frequently made is that the subject draws in some measure upon his store of body material. Should this be the case, it is evident that body-weight—in such a long experiment as this—will gradually but surely diminish. Further, the subject will show a minus nitrogen balance, i. e., there will be a constant tendency for the body to give off more nitrogen than it takes in. As bearing on the first point, the following table showing the body-weights of the men at the commencement of the experiment in October, and at the close of the experiment in April will be of interest:
TABLE OF BODY-WEIGHTS
| October, 1903 | April, 1904 | |
|---|---|---|
| kilos | kilos | |
| Steltz | 52.3 | 53.0 |
| Zooman | 54.0 | 55.0 |
| Coffman | 59.1 | 58.0 |
| Morris | 59.2 | 59.0 |
| Broyles | 59.4 | 61.0 |
| Loewenthal | 60.1 | 59.0 |
| Sliney | 61.3 | 60.6 |
| Cohn | 65.0 | 62.6 |
| Oakman | 66.7 | 62.1 |
| Henderson | 71.3 | 71.0 |
| Fritz | 76.0 | 72.6 |
| Bates | 72.7 | 64.3 (Feb.) |
| Davis | 59.3 | 57.2 (Jan.) |
As is readily seen, five of the men practically retained their weight or made a slight gain. Of the others, Coffman, Loewenthal, Sliney, and Cohn lost somewhat, but the amount was very small. Further, the loss occurred during the first few weeks of the experiment, after which their weight remained practically stationary. Fritz and Oakman lost weight somewhat more noticeably, but this loss likewise occurred during the earlier part of the trial. The accompanying photographs of Fritz, taken at the close of the experiment, show plainly that such loss of weight as he suffered did not detract from the appearance of his well-developed musculature. Certainly, the photographs do not show any signs of nitrogen starvation, or suggest the lack of any kind of food.
Of all the men, Bates was the only one who underwent any great loss of weight. He, however, was quite stout, and the work in the gymnasium, reinforced by the change in diet, brought about what was for him a very desirable loss of body-weight. It is evident, therefore, that there was no marked or prolonged loss of body-weight as a result of the continued use of the low proteid diet. Regarding the second point, viz., nitrogen equilibrium, the following illustrations will suffice to indicate the relationship existing between the income and outgo of nitrogen. A balance experiment with each of the men, lasting seven days, February 29 to March 6, is here shown, the figures given being the daily averages for the period:
| Nitrogen of Food. | Nitrogen of Urine. | Nitrogen of Excrement. | Nitrogen Balance. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| grams | grams | grams | grams | |
| Oakman | 9.52 | 7.24 | 1.76 | +0.52 |
| Henderson | 9.40 | 7.90 | 1.00 | +0.50 |
| Morris | 9.49 | 6.05 | 2.30 | +1.14 |
| Coffman | 9.53 | 7.92 | 1.47 | +0.14 |
| Steltz | 9.62 | 7.16 | 1.95 | +0.51 |
| Loewenthal | 9.64 | 7.00 | 1.71 | +0.95 |
| Cohn | 9.27 | 7.63 | 1.41 | +0.23 |
| Zooman | 9.49 | 7.13 | 1.76 | +0.60 |
| Sliney | 9.52 | 8.08 | 1.92 | –0.48 |
| Broyles | 9.43 | 7.01 | 1.19 | +1.23 |
| Fritz | 9.37 | 6.36 | 1.81 | +1.20 |
