Experiments on the metabolism of matter and energy in the human body / By W.O. Atwater, PH.D., and F.G. Benedict, PH.D., with the cooperation of A.W. Smith, M.S., and A.P. Bryant, M.S.
- Wilbur Olin Atwater
- Date:
- 1899
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Experiments on the metabolism of matter and energy in the human body / By W.O. Atwater, PH.D., and F.G. Benedict, PH.D., with the cooperation of A.W. Smith, M.S., and A.P. Bryant, M.S. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.
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![METABOLISM OF MATTER AND ENERGY IN THE HUMAN BODY. INTRODUCTION. The present report describes in detail six of a series of experi- ments upon tbe metabolism of matter and energy in the human body. These experiments were made with the respiration calorimeter de- scribed in detail in a previous bulletin,^ which also summarized the results of two of the six experiments here described. Four experi- ments in which only the balance of income and outgo of matter was determined were previously made with this apparatus, or, more accu- rately speaking, that portion of it which is properly called a respiration apparatus, and reported in Bulletin 44 of this Office. Ihe ultimate purpose of the research to which these experiments belong is the study of some of the fundamental laws of nutrition. The plan of the whole inquiry is based upon the ijrinciple that the chemical and ])hysical changes which take place within the body, and to which the general term metabolism is applied, occur in obedience to the laws of the conservation of matter and energy. That the law of the conservation of matter applies within the living organism no one would question. It might seem equally certain that the metabolism of energy within the bodj^ takes place in accordance with the law of the conservation of energy. The quantitative demonstration is, however, desirable, and an attested method for such demonstration is of funda- mental importance for the study of the general laws of metabolism of both matter and energy. Accordingly the more immediate object of the present inquiry has been to develop an apparatus and method of inquiry by which the metabolism of both matter and energy in the body could be quanti- tatively measured and the action of the law of the conservation of energy demonstrated, if practicable. It was believed tliat if this first object could be accomplished, at least within reasonable limits, it would be possible to devise and carry out experiments for the satisfactory study of a number of important questions, including among others the functions of the several classes of nutrients of food and the demands of the body under the different conditions.^ ^U. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations Bui. 63. See also Bui. 44 of tbe same oflSce and account of the apparatus as a calorimeter and of the results of experiments in Storrs (Conn.) Sta. Rpt. 1897, p. 212. ^For further statements upon this subject see 11. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experi- ment Stations Bui. 63, pp. 7-12, and Bui. 21 of the same office, pp. 99-135. For a discussion of the sources of error iu these experiments see Bui. 63, jnst mentioned, pp. 90-94.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21229636_0009.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
