66 KKroK'I" OF OFKKI': <»|- I'lXl'KllIMKNT STATIONS. 



II<)si)il:il for till' IiisMiir. A\'jisliiMot()n. 1 >. ( '. Tlu'sc invest ijrjitions 

 >V(M'o iii:iu<jfiii:it»'(l at the drsirc of tin' liili- l>r. A. 15. Ricluirdsoii, super- 

 intendent of tlie ( lo\ crnnient li()sj)itiil, as a j)ait of liis j^renei-al plan for 

 niaintainiiit:" a liiuli standard for tlu' conditions under \\hicli the 

 patients and iMuplovees li\'ed in this j^reat institution. By reason of 

 his intellij^ent appreciation of the re(|uirenients of such work satisfac- 

 tory arrungonients were made foi' its prosecution. ilie studios were 

 under the direct chariife of II. A. Pratt, who had i)reviously assisted 

 in such investijj^ations at the Khnira Hefonnatory, Elniira, N. Y., and 

 elsewhere in connection \\ ith similar studies made under Professor 

 At water's direction. 



Twenty-seven dietary studies we're made in all, with ahout 1, (!<»() 

 male patients and 125 employees. The results of these studies have 

 been edited and are nearly read}' for pul)lication. Investi<;atiou has 

 shown that in general the food of the Goveriunent hosi)ital is whole- 

 some in (jualitv and adequate in an)ount. In many cases it was found 

 that the waste was excessive. Steps were immediately taken to check 

 the waste, and as a result tlie cost of the food for the year was con- 

 siderably lowered without afl'ectino- in any way the quality or amount. 

 A consideration of the details of the studies su^^gests numerous ways 

 in which the results can be further a})])licd. 



The work at jSliddletown, Conn., under Prof. W. (). Atwater, chief 

 of the nutrition investigations, has included the planning and direct 

 supervision of the cooperative investigations throughout the country; 

 improvements in apparatus and methods; the carrying out of special 

 inquiries with the bomb and respiration calorimeters; such analytical 

 work as was necessar}- in connection witli the investigations; editorial 

 work in preparing the results of the iinjuiries for pu])lication; the 

 compilation of results of investigation in this and other countries on 

 the food and nutrition of man; correspondence and general adminis- 

 trative work. 



The work with the respiration calorimeter, which is under the more 

 immediate supervision of Prof. F. (i. Benedict, has been largely 

 devoted to the modification and im})rovement of the apparatus, with 

 such experimental work as was re([uired to test its accuracy'. In its 

 modified form, the ventilation air current is in a "closed circuit," 

 that is, the same air is used over and over again. The water and 

 carbon dioxid imparted to the air by the subject are <'onstantly 

 removed l)y passing the current through sulphuric acid and through 

 soda lime; ox3"gen is then added to replace that used by the man 

 mider experiment. This arrangement permits the more accurate 

 determination of carbon dioxid and water and, a still more important 

 feature, the direct determination of oxygen, which has been made 

 possible by the changes in the apparatus .made under a grant from the 

 Carnegie Institution.. 



