264 



MEMOIRS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



So far as we are aware these are the only experiments in which the power of alcohol to pro- 

 tect fats has been determined by direct quantitative tests. While there are numerous experi- 

 ments on record which have seemed to indicate that alcohol has this power, we have found none 

 which seem to us to imply the opposite." Fortunately this question, which is one of no little 

 importance, thus seems to be so clearly settled as to require no further discussion. Such is not the 

 case with the similar question regarding the power of alcohol to protect protein from consumption. 



PROTECTION OF BODY PROTEIN. 



As regards the protection of body protein by alcohol, the results of the experiments are 

 variable, but on the whole the catabolism of protein, as measured by the amount of nitrogen 

 excreted by the kidneys, was slightly larger in the experiments with than in those without 

 alcohol. In discussing the effect of alcohol upon protein metabolism, we must consider the 

 variations from clay to day in the amount of nitrogen excreted in the urine when alcohol forms a 

 part of the diet, and compare them with the variations in similar experiments in which alcohol 

 is not included in the diet. The data of the daily eliminations of nitrogen by the different 

 subjects in experiments with and without alcohol are summarized in Table CXX1II in the 

 Appendix. 



What especially concerns us here is the influence of the substitution of alcohol for a portion 

 of the ordinary food upon the gain or loss of body protein. As this seems to depend largely 

 upon the individual, it will lie well to discuss the experiments with the three subjects separately. 



Experiments with K. 0. — With this subject there was a marked tendency to excrete more 

 nitrogen in the urine on either the day before or the day after he entered the respiration chamber. 

 This tendency was as noticeable in the experiments without as in those with alcohol. This varia- 

 tion in nitrogen excretion is independent of either the character of the food or the activity of the 

 subject, and appears to lie due to a psychic cause that is little understood. Since this variation 

 was often much larger than any which could be attributed to the alcohol, we hesitate to assign to 

 the latter any definite and uniform effect upon the metabolism of nitrogen. 



It is to be noted that there is no experiment with E. O. in which an alcohol diet immediately 

 preceded or followed a diet furnishing the same amount of energy from ordinary food materials 

 without alcohol. There are, however, a number of separate experiments which ma}' be compared, 

 as is done in Table 15. 



Table 15. — Experiments with E. 0. — Gains and losses of body protein and fat with and without alcohol. 



Experiments. 



MDKK DIRECTLY coMt' \K.\BLE. 



Rest ' .'7" Hint nts 



Without alcohol, Nos. 9, 24 

 With alcohol, Nos. LO, 22 ... 



Work experiments. 



Without alcohol, No. 1 1 

 With alcohol, No. 12 ... 



Rest and woi k ■ vp< nun nts. 



Without alcohol, Nos. 9, 24, 11. 

 With alcohol. Nos. in. 22, 12... 



Total 

 number 

 of days. 



11 

 11 



Average per flay. 



In available I I. 



Protein. Energy. 



114 

 116 



110 

 113 



L12 

 115 



Gain ( + ) or loss (— ). 



Protei::. Fat 



i 'alories. 

 2,618 

 2,602 



3,510 

 3,614 



2,915 

 2, 939 



Grams. 

 -1.0 



-2.8 



-3.0 

 -1.0 



-1.6 



_9 9 



Grams. 



4-39.0 

 +42.0 



-39.7 

 -32.2 



+12.7 

 +17.2 



1 Soo review of experiments on the effects of alcohol on the metabolism of carbon in the report of the Committee 

 of Fifty referred to on page 261. 



