The composition of the adult human body as determined by chemical analysis.

Published analytical data on the chemical composition of the adult, human body are scant, and statistically inadequate. References to the earlier literature may be found in a previous communication from this laboratory (1) and in a more recent contribution by Widdowson, McCance, and Spray (2), which are the most complete reports available. An important application of such data relates to the validity of met,abolic balance studies of nitrogen, calcium, iron, etc., as measures of the daily net requirements of humans for these nutrients. If the results of such studies, conducted at various stages of growth, are integrated, and the total amount. of nutrients so calculated to be present in the adult are in good agreement with analytical data obtained by direct chemical analysis of the adult,, then the use of metabolic balances for the above purpose would appear to be a valid technique.