A study of the respiratory quotients after the ingestion of sucrose is given in table 181. The post-absorptive values for these experiments ranged from 0.72 to 0.88, with an average value of 0.83. The general course of the quotient after the ingestion of the carbohydrate was uniform for practically all of the experiments, i. e., an immediate marked rise reaching the maximum usually inside of the first hour of the experiment, this being followed by a continuous and slow return to approximately the basal value. The number of quotients 0.98 or over is 16. A considerable number of quotients of 1 or over appear inside of the first 40 minutes, the average maximum of 1.03 occurring in the 20 to 40 minute period.

The maximum rise in the quotient was reached in the experiment with H. H. A. on January 2, 1912, when an increment of 33 points over the basal was obtained. This is of special significance, as the subject had an extraordinarily low initial quotient of 0.72, which was due to the fact that he had just completed a series of experiments with a carbohydrate-free diet and was in consequence supposedly in a glycogen-poor condition. The course of the quotient in this experiment, which showed an immediate great rise with a maximum inside of 40 minutes and a subsequent period of 3 hours with quotients of 0.84 or above, is somewhat difficult to explain. The fact that this man showed a less severe degree of acidosis than usual on the carbohydrate-free diet is of special interest in this connection as possibly indicating a greater storage of glycogen or a more tenacious hold of the previous store than is ordinarily the case.1

Table 181. - Influence Of Ingestion Of 100 Grams Sucrose On The Respiratory Quotient In Respiration Experiments

1Average of two quotients, 0.83 and 0.82.

2Average of three quotients, 1.03, 1.08, and 1.12 (3 to 5 minute periods).

3Average of three quotients, 1.14, 1.14, and 1.11 (5 minute periods).

The smallest rise in the quotient was obtained in the experiment with A. F. G. on May 20,1911, this being but 11 points above the basal. The averages for all of the experiments show, with an average basal quotient of 0.83, a maximum value after the ingestion of sucrose of 1.03. The average maximum rise was 21 points. It should be observed that the average is obtained in this and similar tables by averaging the maximum increases for the individual experiments.

Lactose

The respiratory quotients in five experiments with 100 grams of lactose are given in table 182. The basal values were remarkably uniform, ranging from 0.81 to 0.84, with an average of 0.83. None of the men had served as subjects for the carbohydrate-free experiments. Without laying stress upon the individual experiments and considering only the general picture, we find that there was a slow, steady rise in the quotient which was followed by a fall; the rise in this series was longer continued than in any of those previously discussed. Values of 0.98 or over are rare in the experiments with lactose, there being but three in all. The maximum rise of 18 points was found in the experiment with K. H. A., May 23, 1912; the minimum rise of 7 points occurred with C. H. H., on May 23, 1911; the average maximum rise for the whole series was 14 points.

1Benedict and Joslin, Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 176, 1912, p. 131.

Table 182. - Influence Of Ingestion Of 100 Grams Lactose On The Respiratory Quotient In Respiration Experiments

1Average of two quotients, 0.86 and 0.84.

2Average of four quotients, 0.88, 0.88, 0.90, and 0.94 (3 to 5-minute periods).

3Average of two quotients, 1.01 and 1.01 (5-minute periods).