94 Nutrition and Other Subjects of Allied Interest 



the factor of the ingestion of food. A critical examination is made of those factors 

 liable to influence the determination of the basal metabolism, as muscular activity, 

 sleep, condition of fasting, growth, climate, temperature, environment, etc. ; the 

 advantages and disadvantages are considered of the three types of basal periods 

 employed (basal periods lasting 24 hours or approximately 8 hours or approximately 

 15 minutes) ; the use of average basal values is likewise discussed. 



Measurements of carbon-dioxide production, oxygen consumption, and heat- 

 production, and in numerous instances records of pulse-rate, respiration-rate, and 

 blood-pressure were obtained with 39 male subjects in about 190 experiments. 

 Studies were made of metabolism during chewing and after the ingestion of water, 

 coffee, beef tea, and single food materials in which carbohydrate, fat, and protein 

 predominated. A number of experiments were also made with combinations of 

 food materials. 



The "cost of digestion," or the mathematical relationship between the fuel 

 value of the intake and the increase in heat reduction due to the ingestion of 

 food, is estimated with carbohydrates to be not far from 6 per cent on the average ; 

 with fat the increase is about 3 per cent of the fuel value of the intake, with a 

 protein-rich diet approximately 12 per cent, and with mixed diets 6 per cent. The 

 present series of experiments can not be used as experimental evidence for any 

 of the three current theories with regard to the cause of the rise in metabolism 

 after food ingestion, though experience in the Nutrition Laboratory points rather 

 strongly in favor of the theory of acid-body-stimuli. The report concludes with 

 suggestions as to the best method for studying the effect produced upon basal 

 metabolism by the ingestion of food or drugs. 



No 266. MILES, WALTER R. Effect of Alcohol on Psycho-Physiological Functions. 

 Octavo, 144 pages, 15 figures. Published 1919. Price $1.50. 



This alcohol study is unique in that it is a comparison of results from two 

 series of experiments, performed on the same subject, employing identical ap- 

 paratus, technique, and laboratory conditions, but by different investigators. The 

 importance of such repetition series of experiments is urged as fundamental to the 

 establishment of trustworthy results in this field. These data supplement and 

 amplify those reported by Dodge and Benedict on the psychological effects of 

 alcohol (publication No. 232 of the Carnegie Institution of Washington) and form 

 another contribution on the psychological side under the tentative plan for alcohol 

 investigation at the Nutrition Laboratory. The dose was 30 cubic centimeters of 

 absolute alcohol diluted with water and flavoring material to a total volume of 

 150 cubic centimeters. The normal and alcohol data were equal in amount and 

 control doses were used on the normal days. The subject who served in the repeti- 

 tion experiments treated of in this report was the one (No. VI) of the normal 

 group employed by Dodge and Benedict who showed the smallest general effect of 

 the alcohol. The experiments were more intensive than in the previous series, 

 covering as they did 5 hours per day for 6 consecutive days. Of the 30 results 

 in the second series which may be taken as indicators of the alcohol effect, 27 

 (a ratio of 9 to 1) show inferior functioning of processes after the dose. In 16 

 cases the change was less than 10 per cent and in 11 cases it ranged from 10 to 37 

 per cent. No one day exercised a predominating influence on the general findings. 

 The two series of results are in practical agreement as to the direction of the 

 alcohol effect, and together they establish the fact that this subject was influenced by 

 alcohol in substantially the same way as five or six other normal men, although 

 he clearly demonstrated certain individual peculiarities. Appended material in the 

 report supplies data concerning the use of alcoholic beverages outside of the 

 psychological laboratory by the subjects of Dodge and Benedict, the general effects 

 of alcohol as reported by these subjects, and also some recalculations of the pre- 

 viously published data. 



No. 279. HARRIS, J. ARTHUR, and FRANCIS G. BENEDICT. A Biometric Study of 

 Basal Metabolism in Man. Octavo, vi-(-266 pages, 30 diagrams. Pub- 

 lished 1919. Price $4.00. 



This volume presents the results of a first attempt at a more refined analysis of 

 the data of basal metabolism by means of the higher statistical or biometric 



