64 KEl'OliT OK OFFICE OF KXI'KKIMKNT STATIONS. 



tioii. lociilcd :it Honolulu, developed its work ulonjjf Ji munlu'r of use- 

 ful lilies. riie Porto Kieo Station, the hejuhjuurters of wliicli were 

 removed to Maya<ifiie>c, hus been inon^ fully or<;iini/,ed, and its work 

 has hcen established on a pei'inanent basis. Foi- accounts of tiie work 

 of these stations see })ages 81, 108, and 174. 



NUTRITION INVESTIGATIONS. 



Durinj^ the fiscal year ended June 30, H>03, the iiKjuir}' re<^arding 

 the food and nutrition of man, conducted under the auspices of this 

 Office, has been continued along the same general lines as hitherto. 

 This work, as heretofore, has been in charge of Prof. W. O. Atwater. 

 There was no increase in the appropriation granted by Congress 

 ($20,000), and it has been impracticable to extend the work in some 

 directions, as was desired; but for the amount expended large results 

 have been obtained. 



As in former 3'ears, a considerable portion of the amount appro- 

 priated has been divided among various educational, scientific, and 

 similar institutions throughout the United States, the sum allotted 

 serving more as an encouragement to research than as actual compen- 

 sation for the work done. These cooperating institutions have thus 

 been made centers of scientitic research in this particular line of inves- 

 tigation and have in most cases contributed largely in laboratories, 

 apparatus, libraries, the counsel and assistance of experts, and similar 

 gratuitous service. By this method of cooperation the amount appro- 

 priated has been expended more economically and 3delded larger 

 returns, a greater variety of questions has been studied under di fie rent 

 local conditions, a more widespread interest in the investigations has 

 been aroused, a corps of skilled investigators throughout the country 

 has been trained for the carrying out of such inquir}', and the results 

 obtained have been made more extensively available. 



The nutrition investigations are devoted mainly to the study of the 

 physiological, hygienic, and economic branches of the subject. The 

 chemical work is confined chiefly to determinations of the composition 

 of different food materials and excretory products involved in the 

 experimental inquiries, and is only preliminary to the study of the 

 ph3'siological branch of the subject, the principal object of the inquiry 

 being to discover the fundamental laws of nutrition and their economic 

 and sociological application to the food of man. 



To this end four general classes of investigations have been carried 

 out: (1) Dietary studies; (2) digestion experiments; (3) cooking experi- 

 ments, and (4) metabolism experiments. 



The dietary studies have been made in several widely different 

 localities and have included the study of the diet of people varying in 

 occupation, age, sex, and circumstances. Their purpose has been to 

 procure data in regard to the kinds, amounts, and costs of food 



