HEAT OF HUMAN BODY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20988, 26 September 1931, Page 7 (Supplement)

HEAT OF HUMAN BODY.

, VALUABLE RESEARCH WORK. Heat production capacity of tho human ' Tiody is tho subject of research at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Tlie results of this work have already proved 0 f definite practical value, notably in the investigation of diseases. The director of the Nutrition Laboratory at the institution, Dr. F. G. Benedict, in an article ..-on the subject states that in the last ten years several hundred normal men and women 'have been measured, and together with their heat production capacity, their height, weight and age have been recorded. . From an elaborate statistical analysis of these data,' four primary factors have been noted each independently affecting A basal metabolism —production of heat. These are weight, height, age and sex. It is not possible to compare uncritically the heavy man with tho short and small man, for this brings in two factors, weight and height. But when two men 0 { tiie same height are compared, it is found the heavier man will produce more heat than the lighter man of the same height. , Thus it is seen that weight alone increases the heat production. Height also raises the heat production. It, is not necessary to eat food in order fo develop heat in tho body; life still goes cn, and the body itself furnishes the energy. Animals subsist for an incredible time "without/ taking food, always drawling upon their body fat. The steer has fasted fourteen days, the dog as long as sixty days, and even the white rat, twenty days, and yet all these animals recovered . promptly when feeding was resumed. After such a fast these animals are. not as active as before fasting, but they are bv no means dead. They are ready to take food, and although they cannot do much heavy work, it is surprising what they can do., For example, the man at the thirty-first day of fasting delivered an oration for thirty minutes with strong gesticulations; he also danced and ran upstairs. The cold-blooded animals furnish some most astonishing illustrations of. the ability to subsist on body material for a long tiimb without feeding. The python lies quietly, almost inert. It has a- low body temperature, a low respiration vate and" a low heart rate. Its whole level of activity, and therefore the heat production. is very low. The reserves of bociy fat are slowly drawn upon. The python may last without food for as long as two or three years. Dr. Benedict proceeds to show that heat production is lowered by age. A man for example, at twenty-five years of age in full prime of physical vigour, produces more heat than a man of the same height and weight but seventy years of age. The fires of life arc burning at a somewhat lower ebb in old age. Age is an important factor to take, into consideration whenever basal metabolism is being measured or considered.

HANDY ELECTRICAL DEVICE. A simple attachment for any alarm clock converts it into an instrument that will turn on a stove or a wireless 'set bv electricity at the same time as it wakens the sleeper. The inventor, Mr. Alfred C. Alves, of San Antoma^ Texas, uses the device to turn on a ligilt and to cook his morning toast. The necessarv apparatus consists of an electiic switch in the form of a hollow cylinder fitted to the side of the clock. lhe uncoiling alarm spring closes two electric contacts, turning on the current. t>\ wing a multiple socket, not only can a \\2tlt be turned on, but several different appliances may be started at the same time. In cold weather the device might be adapted to close the windows and to turn on the heat. POWER FOR LAWNMOWERS. A labour-saving device for home gardeners is a new power-drive attachment which may easily be used with any standard type of hand lawnmower. The motor and" the driving mechanism are mounted as a complete unit on the handle. /, A cross shaft with two rollers turns the wheels of the mower by friction. The whole apparatus is clamped in place with a few bolts. Motors driven by either petrol or electricity may be supplied. A small electric motor receives current from a cord that is drawn behind the machine in the same manner as the cord on a vacuum sweeper. Uiis drive is used chiefly for small lawns. On larger lawns a two-cycle petrol engine pushes the mower. It will run for eight flours on one. gallon of petrol. The electric drive weighs 481b., and the petrol drive weighs 541b.