184 REPORTS ON INVESTIGATIONS AND PROJECTS. 



cal expert, and Mr. E. P. Slack, for two years an assistant in the electrical 

 laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been associated 

 with the laboratory for the past year. During this time he has been occupied 

 in developing accessory apparatus for use with the respiration calorimeter, 

 and more particularly upon a development of the thermo-electrical method 

 for determining body-temperature. 



The office work and administration of the laboratory have been so modified 

 as to utilize to much better advantage the editorial skill of Miss A. N. Dar- 

 ling, whose long association with the Nutrition Laboratory and with the 

 investigations in Middletown, Connecticut, make her peculiarly fitted for 

 this kind of work. 



INVESTIGATIONS NOW IN PROGRESS. 

 METABOLISM IN DIABETES. 



The investigation of metabolism during diabetes continues to be the most 

 important single investigation now in progress in the laboratory. Cooperat- 

 ing with Dr. Elliott P. Joslin, a number of experiments have been made., 

 some with the subjects of previous years and some with new subjects. The 

 abnormal metabolism noted in many of the older subjects was such as to 

 make it advisable to secure as many cases of severe diabetes as possible. 

 The gravity of the cases may be inferred from the fact that out of the 13 

 cases studied, 9 have already died, for the most part in coma. Although it 

 was found in the two previous years that the ingestion of food other than 

 protein did not result in any material alteration in the metabolism of dia- 

 betics, the plan of studying these cases 12 hours after the last meal is still 

 for the most part adhered to. The whole equipment of the laboratory appa- 

 ratus is used in these investigations — the bed and chair calorimeter as well 

 as the respiration apparatus. Incidentally, observations with regard to pulse- 

 rate, respiration-rate, and body activity are made simultaneously. The re- 

 sults of the first two years' work on this subject are most gratifying and 

 the plan of a definite, long-continued research leading toward a fundamental 

 knowledge of this disease is fully substantiated by the results thus far. It 

 has been made obvious that investigations including but one or two cases are 

 wholly inadequate for any fundamental knowledge of this obscure disturb- 

 ance of metabolism. During a recent tour in Europe the Director was in 

 touch with all the foremost clinicians, and the policy of the Nutrition Labora- 

 tory in attacking the problem in this way was thoroughly approved by all. 



INFLUENCE OF INGESTION OF FOOD ON METABOLISM. 



In connection with the investigations carried out at Wesleyan University, 

 Middletown, Connecticut, approximately 100 experiments were made to 

 study the influence on metabolism of the ingestion of food. In collecting the 

 results of these experiments for publication it was found necessary to sup- 

 plement them by further research on the subject, and accordingly, as often 



