title: [Surface law and allometric analysis of functions].
abstract: Since Rubner established in 1883 the "surface law", the basal metabolic rate (kcal/24 h) is expressed per square meter of body surface. This so-called biological law has been extrapolated to the standardization of several other functions as, for instance, to variables of the cardiovascular, respiratory and renal systems, which may lead to erroneous conclusions. The present paper is an attempt to establish, by means of the dimensional analysis and one of the theories of biological similarity, an allometric indexation procedure, which yields mass-independent numbers (MIN) for all functions which can be defined by means of the MLT-system of physics (M = mass; L = length; and T = time).
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisiología y Biofisica, Facultad de Medicina, Hospital Clinico de la Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Günther
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vargas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001830:Body Surface Area; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D010828:Physiology, Comparative / Q000266:history
vernacular_title: Ley de la superficie e indexación alométrica de diversas funciones.