El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-02

| man is put into il, and lives in it
for a week or fortnight. He sleeps
| in it, and is not allowed TO leave it day
or night. It is his home for the time
| being. SO far as possible, he is made
| comfortable. with folding bed, a lit
! tie table, and a chair. A telephone en-
ables him TO speak 10 the watchers out
! side. and, with the help of an incan-
! descent light, he can read if he so
wishes.
! Now, the man is looked upon, for the
purposes of the experiment, exactly as
! if he were a stove The fOod given him
to eat (Which is passed through a
small window in the boX) lis just as
truly fuel as the coal or wood that
/ is put into an ordinary iron stove. Like
| the wood or coal, it produces a certain
! amount of energy. Part of this energy
! is used for running the mans inter
! nal meehanism-tO keep his heart pump
! going, to accomplish the digestive pro-
/ cesses, and so on. The balance may be
utilized for VASCULAR work. -.
But all OF this energy, however en-
ployed. is eventually transformed into
heat And, in terms of heat, it can be
measured with utmost accuracy. For
a current of water is kept continually
| flowing through the box while the man
is inside OF it. The water to keep up the
! heat which his body (the human stOve)
gives off; and. inasmuch as the origin
al temperature of the water, its guam
THY, and its rate of glow are exactly
| known, there is no difficulty in reck-
! oning the quantity of heat added.
Electric Thermometers Used.
The heat is measured by electric Their
mometers of extraordinary delicacy,
which mark even the hundreth part of
: degree Fahrenheit. So sensitive are
these instruments that, if the man in
the box turns over in bed, they show
| q rise of temperature. If he yawns
| and stretches his arms. they show a
further rise. If he sits up in bed,
they go up a little more. If he gets out
of bed and walks around, they jump
considerably
Even while the man is fast asleep, he
is using energy for breathing, for his
heart pump, ETC., and this energy is eX-
actly measured, in terms of heat, by
the thermometers outside. But it is
easy enough to ascertain by the same
means the amount of energy consumed
by human being hard at work. II
woman, for example were put into the
box, and spent half an hour sweeping
the floor, the apparatus would show
exactly how much energy she expended
in the operation. Or, if preferred, she
might run a sewing machine. Before
long, in just this way, it will be ascer-
tanned what q woman power is-a
thing at present unknown. 1t will be
interesting to know what is the rela-
ton between a woman power and a
man power.
New Use for Bicycle.
An ingenious method adopted for de-
termihing the amount of energy expend-
ed in muscular work is to put into the
box stationary bicycle, on which the
occupant is mounted. 1t has no front
wheel and the rear wheel revoIves in
such a way that its rim passes be-
tween the armatures of an electro
magnet BY this means the energy de-
veloped is converted into electricity.
which can be accurately measured
Meanwhile, and at ali times while the
man is in the box, he is giving off in
his breath invisible material which cor
responds to the smoke and gases that
pass out of the chimney of the stove
and this is caught and analysed
For ventilation. a current of air is
kept continually passing through the
box. Its composition when it enters is
known-just how much oxygen it cons
tains, how much carbonsc acid gas.
and on When it comes out. it is
again analyzed-that is to say, samples
Of it are taken from time to time for
analysis. Sometimes there is more
oxygen left in the air than comes out,
and sometimes less; the same is true of
the earbOnic acid gas. The varying ra-
ito between the two indicates changes
in the bodily condition of the man.
Oxygen Supply Varies.
One fact aScertained, which seems
strange, is that the proportion Of oxy-
gen in the air inside of the box may
vary very much without exciting the