The morning call., 1894-10-24
HOW MUCH DC YOU WEIGH

A contributor to the Correspondent
newspaper of Paris has just written an
interesting paper on the subject OF the
weight of the human body. 1t will be
news TO some dyspeptics and malades i'm
aginaires, who are forever weighing them-
selves and noting the result in memo
randum-boo How large this class Is
may be inferred from the money which
has been made by the inventors OF the
nickel-in-tbe-slot machine.
The theory of the inyalids. which is to
some extent confirmed by the doctors, is
that in a normal case increased weight in
one who is suffering from or threatened
by disease signifies Improvement, and de-
creased weight means a setback. The
theory is sound when applied to wide huc-
tuatons. A gain or loss of say ten
pounds usually indicates a change Of
health. But people who get into the habit
Of weighing themselves take note of fiuctu-
ations as small as pound, or even a few
ounces, and here the theory is at fault A
change of clothing or footgear may ac-
count for an apparent gain or loss of a
pound 10 weight. People are heavier or
lighter at different hours in the day. They
weigh more after hearty meal. and less
after active exercise which has promoted
copious respiration. A man with a
well-filled purse, pocket-knife, match-safe.
bunch of keys, and other odds and
ends in his pockets will weigh more than
the same man with empty pockets. There
was once a prince in Persia who owned a
fruit orchard and permitted visitors to eat
all the fruit they wanted on condition that
they paid so much for each ounce they
had gained in weight during their stay in
the orchard. A wag filed his pockets
with stones before entering and threw
them away in the orchard, so that when
he retired he actually weighed less than
when he entered. The wise men of Persia
were paralgzed by the anomaly and have
been puZZling over it ever since.
Those who have observed the inf ite
care with which assayers' scales are con-
structed and guarded will have no diff
Guilty in understanding that the ordinary
weighing-machine are rarely accurate.
They vary from each other by as much as
a pound or two. Thus an invalid who is
watching his weight anxiously may be
misled by comparing returns of weight on
different scales. One scale may gladden.
gained pound or two, while another on
the same day may plunge him in the
de ( tbs Of despair by announcing that tie
gain was IN reali Y loss. The invalid
should always weigh himself on the same
scales. and ne should avoid scales which
are used to weigh potatoes or bags Of coal
or other heavy articles, for a pair of scales
naturally deteriorates with use. For the
same reason the nickeliD-th -the-slot ma
chimes, which are subject to rough usage,
are not reliable. Where a score or more
persons jump on and off the platform
daily the machinery must get out of gear
in time. An invalid, to whom fluctuations
in weight are of vital Importance, should
own his own weighing-machine, and it
should be Of the very best make.
But all calculations based on changes of
weight are defeated by the fact that 20
per cent Of the human body is water. This
of the frame varies with the
Transportation of moisture. the pressure of
the atmosphere, the volume of atmos-
pheric humidity and the temperature of
the air. Increased heat accompanied by
will increase the volume of
water in the body, and increased weight
will follow; when tie heat is relieved bv
pers piration the volume of water will
diminish and the weight consequently de-
cline. Thus those who watch their weight
to determine whether they are getting
better or worse must consult the ther-
mometer as well as the weighing scale.
The weights compared should be taken as
nearly as possible at the same degree OF
Even such comparisons will
not be absolutely accurate. The writer in
the French paper reports that he made
machine for himself which was mathemati-
cally exact and weighed himself on II
every day for five years. at the same hour
and under the same conditions, noting the
barometric and hygrometric variations,
the temperature and the menu of his last
meal. He found that the weights seldom
agreed, from which he inferred that the
weight of the body is always fiuctuating
from unperceived causes, and he concluded
that while it is useful in cases of sickness
to note changes of weight they cannot be
used as positive indications of improved
or lowered health, especially where the
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