NUTRITION INVESTIGATIONS. 23 



with native coffees and in improving methods of culture have been 

 highly successful. Some attention is now being directed to arousing 

 an interest in improved breeds of cattle and to starting experimental 

 work with domestic animals. The experiment station farm has been 

 greatly improved and an adjoining tract of about 7 acres, formerly 

 the Agronomic Station under Spanish rule, has been turned over to 

 the station for its use. 



NUTRITION INVESTIGATIONS. 



The chief object of the investigations on the nutrition of man, 

 which have been carried on during the past year under the auspices 

 of this Office upon much the same general lines as heretofore, is to 

 learn the nutritive value of agricultural food products of animal and 

 vegetable origin and the proportions in which food materials of dif- 

 ferent kinds may be most intelligently used to the advantage of both 

 producer and consumer. Such work involves a study of digestibility, 

 effects of cooking on composition and related matter, as well as of 

 the fundamental laws of nutrition and the practical application of 

 these laws to the health and well-being of man. Particular atten- 

 tion is given in this work to the physiology, hygiene, pedagogics, 

 and economics of nutrition, with sjDccial reference to improving the 

 diet of people of different age and sex living under varied conditions 

 of work, climate, and surroundings. 



Attention has been paid during the past year particularly to diet- 

 ary studies, cooking experiments, digestion experiments, and experi- 

 ments with the respiration calorimeter. Some pedagogical work has 

 also been undertaken with special reference to formulating consist- 

 ent courses in nutrition from available data. In addition to the 

 experimental work a large amount of editorial Avork has been re- 

 quired for the calculation of the results of the experiments, for the 

 preparation of experimental data for publication in technical and in 

 popular form, and in other ways. 



The method of cooperation by which the work of investigation has 

 been distributed among various educational, scientific, and similar 

 institutions throughout the country has, as heretofore, given most 

 excellent results, and a large amount of investigation has been carried 

 on. In a considerable measure this has been made possible by the 

 generous support of the cooperating institutions. These have con- 

 tributed in some cases money, and in practically all cases the use of 

 laboratories, apparatus, and libraries, the advice and counsel of 

 skilled experts, and similar assistance, so that the Department funds 

 available for nutrition work have been much extended. Had funds 

 permitted, it would have been possible to extend considerably the co- 

 operative investigations, as other institutions have expressed a readi- 

 ness to join in such enterprises provided a comparatively small 

 amount could be allotted to them. 



