DETERMINATION OF THE SURFACE AREA OF THE WHITE RAT WITH ITS APPLICATION TO THE EXPRESSION OF METABOLIC RESULTS

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Abstract
The skin areas of 72 rats, ranging from 19 to 418 gm. in weight and in various conditions of nutrition, were measured by a method which eliminates errors due to stretching. The animals were given a coating of a quickly drying varnish before skinning. Formulae for the prediction of body surface were constructed on the basis of the data obtained. Two formulae were selected which gave the best agreement with the data. The simpler but slightly less accurate one is a modified Meeh-Rubner formula, in which the exponent of W is 0.60 and the constant 12.54. The best formula found involves the use of a correction factor for the nutritional state. The heat production of the rat expressed with reference to body surface, as predicted by these formulae, is brought into closer agreement than hitherto with the heat production of human beings.

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