NUTRITION LABORATORY. 223 



is now being prepared for publication. The investigation and its suggestive 

 ramifications should lead ultimately to an adequate explanation of the phe- 

 nomena of increased metabolism following the ingestion of food. 



NORMAL METABOLISM OF MEN AND WOMEN. 



Measurements of the metabolism of normal men and women are secured 

 by Mr. L. E. Emmes whenever an opportunity offers in connection with the 

 work in the laboratory. Practically all of the cooperating and visiting in- 

 vestigators have at times volunteered to act as subjects and we are rapidly 

 accumulating a large amount of most valuable data with regard to the in- 

 fluence of bodily activity, body characteristics, height, size, age, sex, and 

 weight upon metabolism. Each year sees a substantial addition to our 

 valuable factors which are continually being used for comparison with patho- 

 logical cases. 



FACTORS AFFECTING THE REDUCTION OF COPPER BY REDUCING SUGARS. 



Dr. A. W. Peters has continued his work upon the determination of sugars 

 in diabetic urines, and has made an elaborate study of the factors influencing 

 the reduction of copper in alkaline tartrate solution, paying particular atten- 

 tion to the concentration of the solution, the temperature, and the time re- 

 lations involved in the reaction. This extremely careful study has made clear 

 many obscure points in the use of the well-known solutions of Fehling and 

 Allihn for the determination of sugar by the reduction of copper. Much of 

 the empiricism of the older methods has now been replaced by accurate 

 scientific manipulation. 



PUBLICATIONS. 



The following publications have been issued or are in press : 



(1) The metabolism of the hypophysectomized dog. Francis G. Benedict and John 

 Homans. Jour. Med. Research, 25, p. 409. 1912. 



This research, which has been in progress for two or three years, involved 

 the measurement of carbon-dioxide production, body temperature, pulse- 

 rate, and records of muscular activity of animals before and after the 

 removal of the hypophysis. The apparatus for determining the carbon- 

 dioxide production is described in detail and consists of modifications of the 

 small respiration apparatus regularly in use with man in this laboratory, a 

 chamber being attached when measuring the total carbon-dioxide production 

 of animals. The movements of the animals are recorded graphically by 

 means of a cage suspended on a knife-edge, using the motions of a pneu- 

 mograph to transmit air-pulsations to a tambour which writes upon a 

 smoked paper drum. The relationship of the carbon-dioxide production, 

 pulse-rate, and the muscular activity as recorded on the drum is very strik- 

 ing. The general effects of hypophysectomy as here studied were: a ten- 

 dency to retard the normal growth of the animal, the gain in weight being 

 due principally to the deposition of fat ; a slightly lower body temperature, 

 which may result ultimately in a disturbance of the heat regulation suf- 



