In a previous paper of this series,1 basal standards were presented for the insensible perspiration of normal and marasmic infants. The constancy of these standards was demonstrated within a range of environmental conditions2 analogous to the standard conditions for measuring their basal metabolism. Beyond this range, the extrinsic factors of clothing, temperature, humidity, diet and muscular activity were shown to exert a notable influence on this measurement.
With basal standards available for normal infants, the next problem was to investigate the effect of pathologic states on this mechanism during infancy. Since water vapor forms the main component of the insensible perspiration,3 it seemed reasonable to assume that the state of hydration of the body was an important factor in its regulation and that any derangement of the water metabolism might lead to alterations in its measurement. A classic example of deranged water exchange in the infantile organism