OFFICE OF EXPEKIMENT STATIONS. 195 



abstracting of the literature of nutrition, partly for publication in the 

 Experiment Station Record; tlie conducting of a large correspondence 

 growing out of the nutrition investigations, and the distribution of 

 publications on this subject. 



The work of the office of the special agent in charge of the nutri- 

 tion investigations at Middletown. Conn., has included the planning 

 and direct supervision of these investigations in different parts of the 

 country, the conducting of special investigations with the respiration 

 calorimeter and bomb calorimeter, the compilation of the results of 

 nutrition investigations in this country and abroad, and a large cor- 

 respondence relating to these investigations. The special investiga- 

 tions carried on liere the past year in cooperation Avith Weslej^an 

 University and the Storrs experiment station have included ten 

 metabolism experiments with a man in the respiration calorimeter, 

 the results of which confirm in a striking degree the results previously 

 obtained regarding the action of the law of the conservation of energy. 



A number of digestion experiments have been made. In some of 

 these the nitrogen lag was studied. A digestion experiment was made 

 early in June with some of the athletes in the JIarvard boat crew 

 immediately preceding the boat race at New London, on the Thames. 

 Dr. Darling, of Harvard University, cooperated in this experiment, 

 taking charge of the more purely phj^siological side. 



Considerable work has been done also with the bomb calorimeter 

 in determining the heats of combustion of different food materials and 

 excretory products. 



During the year, also, a bomb calorimeter was constructed for exhi- 

 bition at the Paris Exposition, together with a model of the Atwater- 

 Rosa respiration calorimeter, reproducing the calorimeter with great 

 pej'fection of detail. 



Considerable work has also been done at Middletown along the line 

 of collating and abstracting the work of other investigators, and the 

 results have been put in form for future publication. The editorial 

 work necessary to make the results of the nutrition investigations in 

 the different fields available for publication is considerable and the 

 material is constantly increasing. 



Besides the investigations for this Department several other lines 

 of nutrition investigations are carried on at Middletown under Pro- 

 fessor Atwater's supervision. These include experiments conducted 

 under the auspices of the committee of fifty for the investigation of 

 the drink problem to study the question of the nutritive action of 

 alcohol, and investigations made bj^ authority of the State commission 

 in lunacy of New York to gain information regarding the x^roper 

 dietaries for the insane in the hospitals of that State. While this 

 Department is in no way responsible for these investigations, the 

 results are available for use with those of tlie nutrition investigations 

 conducted b}" this Office, and the information thus acquired is already 

 an interesting and valuable contribution to our knowledge on the sub- 

 ject of dietetics. In connection with the latter inquiry a considei'able 

 number of dietary studies have been conducted in the various hos- 

 l^itals for the insane in New York, and others are contemiilated. Prac- 

 tical results from this work are already apparent, and it is attracting 

 much attention. The further study of this question is sure to benefit 

 not only the hospitals directly interested, but other charitable institu- 

 tions as well, in New York State and also throtighout the country. 

 The successful application of the results of nutrition investigations 

 to the practical needs of institutions where large numbers of persons 



