Dr. J. Burdon Sanderson on the process of fever.

  • Burdon-Sanderson, John Scott, 1828-1905.
Date:
[1875]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. J. Burdon Sanderson on the process of fever. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    18/38 (page 26)
    Arr. No. 1. On the Process of Fever, by Dr. Burdon Sanderson. in health, those relating to fever and repeating the process, we arrive at a comparable result as to the febrile production of heat. In fever, ac- cording to Senator’s estimate, the urea discharge is increased to about 40 grammes daily, i.e,, it is about two and a third times as great as it would be on the same diet in health. Leyden’s estimate of the carbonic acid discharge has already been given as 780 grammes daily. The physiological heat value of 120 grammes of albumin (the quantity which corresponds to 40 grammes of urea) is 511-56 heat units. The 120 grammes contain 63-6 grammes of carbon, of which 8 grammes leave the organism in the form of urea. The remainder of carbon (55-6 grammes) having been deducted from 2127 grammes, the total carbon-discharge by respiration (i.e., the quantity of carbon corre- sponding to 780 grammes of carbonic acid) we have 157'1 grammes as the weight of carbon to be accounted for by the consumption of fat in the body. The weight of fat required for this purpose is 205-3 grammes, which would yield 1862-4 k.-units. Adding this, as before, to the quantity of heat derived from the disintegration of albumin, we have 2373-9 as the total heat production of fever. Ranke found in his experiments on himself that on an adequate mixed diet, i.e., on a diet sufficient, and not more than sufficient, to maintain nutritive equilibrium, he discharged in twenty-four hours a quantity of nitrogen corresponding to 32-3 grammes of urea, and that his respiratory discharge of carbonic acid was 791 grammes. Proceeding as before we have 413*5 k.-units as the quantity of heat yielded by the disintegration of 97 grammes of albumin, which in this case was of course derived from food. Of the carbon contained in this 97 grammes, 45 grammes would have to be discharged in carbonic acid. Deducting these from the total discharge of carbon, viz. 215-7 grammes, we have 170*7 grammes of carbon, to be accounted for as derived from the non-nitrogenous constituents of food. The diet consisted of 250 grammes of meat, (containing a very small proportion ‘ of fat,) 400 grammes of bread, 70 grammes of farinaceous food, 70 grammes of egg-albumen, and 100 grammes of butter and lard. From previous determinations it was estimated that the fat of the meat contained about 2-8 grammes of carbon, the butter and lard about 67'9 grammes, the farinaceous food about 26 grammes. This leaves 74 grammes to be accounted for as having been derived from the bread, for 2’8 + 67*9 + 26 -f 74 = 170*7. 170*7 grammes therefore represents the balance of carbon in the expired carbonic acid, not already accounted for as derived from the disintegration of albumin. (The actual quantity of carbon contained iu the carbonic hydrates of the bread was 80 grammes, so that we have an excess of 6 grammes unaccounted for.) According to Frankland’s table the fat would yield 33 -19 k.-units, the butter 852’7 k.-units, the bread and other farinaceous food, (supposing them to contain 156-5 grammes of starch of which the heat value is 5-232,) 819 k.-units. Adding these to the 413*5 k.-units derived from the disintegration of albumin we have 33-19 + 852-7 + 819 + 413-5 = 2118-39 k.-units as the heat production of a healthy adult on a mixed adequate diet. On similar data derived from other experiments on himself, Ranke estimated his own mean heat production on adequate diet at 2,200 k.-units. Thus we have for the three conditions we have been considering, namely, inadequate or fever diet without fever, inadequate diet with fever, and adequate diet in health, the following results:— Inanition - - 1648*0 k.-units Fever - - - 2373*9 k.-units . Health - - - 2118-4 k.-units