THE METABOLIC MEASUREMENT OF THE WATER EXCHANGE 1

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Abstract
Calculation of water exchange by the method proposed by Newburgh and his associates (water exchange = body wt. change + solids lost+foodstuffs burned) has yielded absurd results in many of the author''s expts. The data of Newburgh and of the author show that very significant errors may be incurred in the detn. of solids of the ingesta and excreta, and by the assumption that carbohydrate fed and burned are equal. To detn. fat burned, Newburgh took advantage of the constancy of the relationship between heat elimination and insensible perspiration. Study of direct detns. of this relationship collected from the literature reveals that even under carefully standardized conditions it varies [plus or minus] 10% from the mean. When temp. of the body changes heat elimination differs from heat production. The most extreme deviations from the av. normal relationship between insensible perspiration and metabolism noted by the author and by others occurred in expts. in which the water content of the body varied widely (6 such exps. reported). The possibility that changes in the osmotic pressure of the body fluids as well as changes in their volumes may alter the relationship between metabolism and insensible perspiration is discussed.

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