On February 1, 11 members of Squad A were assembled in the gymnasium; pitted against them were 11 men selected from the college body. None of these latter were taken from Squad B, as Squad B had been on restricted diet and was in the realimentation period. The men were arranged in the form of an elongated horseshoe, with Squad A on one side and the volunteer squad on the other. At a given signal the subjects were told to extend the arms and hold them in the prescribed position. No talking was permitted, and although there were a number of spectators in the gallery, all were cautioned to make no comments, and to refrain from expressing appreciation or disapprobation in any way. We believe from this standpoint the test was successful. Two of us were present and one walked up and down behind either squad, cautioning the men to keep the arms from wavering and not to lower them unduly.

The experiment began at 2h28m p. m. The period of endurance for each man is given in table 199, the members of the control squad being designated by numbers. The experiment was concluded at the end of 1 hour, as other plans had been made. Furthermore, from the previous experience of Professor Fisher, it was deemed hardly probable that any number of the men in either squad could hold out their arms as long as this. Indeed, if we examine Professor Fisher's records, we find that of 15 flesh-eaters tested, the longest period the arms were held out was 22 minutes; the average of all was 10 minutes. Of the 32 flesh-abstainers, 9 men held out the arms longer than 1 hour. The average for the flesh-abstainer athletes was 39 minutes and the average for the sedentary flesh-abstainers was 64 minutes. It is important to point out that in our test flesh-abstainers did not enter, as both the men in Squad A and those in the competing'squad were flesh-eaters.

Table 199. - Results Of Endurance Test

[Duration, 1 hour; 2h 28m p. m. to 3h 28m p. m].

Whatever opinion one may have as to this test being a true measure of endurance, and obviously with the variance between the data secured by Professor Fisher and by us in our experiment, the test is open to great criticism, it is clear that the members of Squad A as a whole made equally as good a record as the competing control squad. Such tests are at best so uncertain that a strict comparison may not properly be made between the observations of Professor Fisher and our own. It was believed by the spectators that the men in Squad A were more frequently cautioned and kept to the mark more rigidly than the members of the volunteer squad, inasmuch as the arms were extended without appreciable lowering more accurately and more consistently. There was much alternate sagging and raising of arms, however, with both squads. To the observer it would appear as if both squads met identically the same conditions. We have here, if not an actual test of endurance, certainly a test of comparative endurance between a squad on restricted diet and a squad on ordinary diet.

Emphasis should be laid upon the fact that owing to the coal-conservation measures in force at that time, the gymnasium was extremely cold. Most of the spectators and some of the assistants wore overcoats and hats, while the competitors wore ordinary indoor clothing or light sweaters and no hats. Many of the members of Squad A complained of cold hands, and the experimenters observed that the hands of these men were distinctly blue with the cold. Furthermore, Squad A had been through a rather drastic athletic program, including two series of gymnastic exercises, diving, and particularly the exhausting "chinning-the-bar" tests in the morning about 1 1/2 or 2 hours before this endurance test took place. The element of competition also entered into the endurance test, for each member of Squad A was determined to outlast his opponent on the volunteer squad. Probably this stimulus did not obtain as strongly with the volunteer squad, for they had relatively little to gain by a prolonged test, although naturally they did not want to be defeated by their supposedly undernourished competitors.

The only interpretation permissible from this endurance test is that the members of Squad A, after living 4 months on a considerably reduced diet, showed an endurance, as measured by even this imperfect test, equally as good as that of 11 men selected from the college body who were living on full diet.

General Conclusions Regarding Physical Activity And Endurance

From the four main indices of capacity for physical performance, namely, pedometer records, activity records, subjective impressions, and endurance test, the first two and the last have demonstrated no material difference between Squad A and groups of students living on uncontrolled diet. The unfavorable subjective impressions are applicable more particularly to the transitional periods and bear with very much less force upon the period of maintenance. The prime object of this study is to note the capacity for physical exercise of a squad of men whose body-weight has been materially reduced by previous dietetic restriction and who are subsequently given calories for maintenance. Our evidence, more particularly the subjective impressions, clearly indicates that during the periods of low energy intake, i. e., transition periods, the capacity for effective work was materially lowered. That there was not a pronounced indication of a lowering both in the pedometer records and in the activity records is surprising. All four indices of capacity for physical exercise are concordant in showing that at the periods of weight maintenance the members of Squad A, who were not a selected group of prime athletes, lived normal lives, and performed as much physical exercise as was carried out by their colleagues who were not on reduced diet.