244 MEMOIRS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



GROUP B. EXPERIMENTS NOS. 2-i AND 22, WITH NO. 23 FOR COMPARISON. REST EXPERIMENTS 



WITH ORDINARY DIET AND WITH ALCOHOL. 



The experiments of this group are a series of 3 carried out with E. O. in March, 1899. The 

 purpose was to compare the effects of alcohol with those of sugar upon the metabolism of nitrogen 

 and especially of carbon and energy, when the subject had little muscular or mental activity. 

 During this series the subject remained in the calorimeter 9 days and It) nights without inter- 

 mission, and each experiment continued 3 days and nights. The plan of the experiments was to 

 give the subject a diet consisting of a so-called basal ration which was the same in all 3 experi- 

 ments, and a supplemental ration which was different in each experiment, The basal ration given 

 was as large as the average of the rations that had been used in the previous experiments with the 

 same subject. It furnished 123 grains of protein and 2,535 calories of energy per day. The 

 supplemental ration consisted of alcohol in experiment No. 22 and sugar in experiment No. 24, 

 each in quantity sufficient to furnish a little over 500 calories per day, as explained below. In 

 experiment No. 23 the basal ration alone was given. 



The preliminary digestion experiment continued 1 days, beginning with breakfast on March 

 9, the lampblack for the separation of the feces having been taken with the supper the night 

 before. During this preliminary period the subject was engaged in his usual occupation as 

 laboratory assistant, but had as little muscular exercise as practicable. For 3 days of this 

 preliminary experiment the subject lived on the basal ration alone. On the fourth day 79.2 

 grams of commercial ethyl alcohol, with 90.9 per cent or 72 grams of absolute alcohol, were 

 added to the diet, The alcohol was taken by the subject in coffee infusion, the total amount 

 for the day being divided into 6 portions, one being taken at each meal and the other 3 portions 

 between meals. 



The subject entered the respiration chamber on the evening of March 12, and experiment 

 No. 22 began at 7 o'clock in the morning of March 13 and continued until 7 a. m. March L6. 

 During this experiment the diet consisted of the basal ration, supplemented each day by 72 grams 

 of alcohol, as stated above. This amount of alcohol added 509 calories per day to the energy of 

 the basal ration. 



Experiment No. 23 began at 7 a. m. on March 16 and continued until 7 a. in. March 19. The 

 diet in this experiment consisted of the basal ration alone without the alcohol, but at the request 

 of the subject with the addition of a small amount of horseradish to add flavor to the diet, 



Experiment No. 21 began at 7 a. m. March 19 and continued until 7 a. m. March 21. The 

 diet in this experiment consisted of the basal ration and the horseradish, supplemented each day 

 by 130 grams of cane sugar in the form of rock candy. The daily ration of candy was given to 

 the subject each morning with breakfast, and he ate it as he felt disposed during the day. This 

 amount of sugar added 515 calories per day to the energy of the basal ration, a similar amount to 

 that added by the alcohol in experiment No. 22. 



The following table summarizes the results of experiments Nos. 22 and 21. The results of 

 No. 23 are also included, although they are not strictly comparable with either 22 or 21. because 

 removal of the alcohol without replacement by any other material reduced the energy of the 

 diet by about 500 calories. Detailed data of No. 22 will be found in the Appendix, pp. 330 to 

 312, and those of Nos. 23 and 21 will be found in Bulletin 109 of the Office of Experiment 

 Stations. 



