REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 149 



studying human nutrition problems, but is equally well adapted to 

 the study of the feeding of domestic animals, as is shown by the 

 results obtained in the cooperative studies undertaken by the Bureau 

 of Animal Industry of this Department and the Pennsylvania Agri- 

 cultural College and Experiment Station with a respiration calorimeter 

 especially adapted to such work. Indeed, the devising and perfect- 

 ing of this apparatus may be justly regarded as a very important 

 contribution to general agricultural science. 



The respiration calorimeter which has been installed in the new 

 Department of Agriculture budding and is being used in the study of 

 the relative ease of digestion of cheese in comparison with meat and 

 of other important questions, has many new features which make for 

 accuracy and ease of operation. It has already been learned from 

 digestion experiments carried on as a part of the nutrition investiga- 

 tions that cheese is digested very thoroughly by the average individ- 

 ual and that it is not a common cause of physiological disturbance, 

 as is often claimed. Results obtained in recent tests with the res- 

 piration calorimeter indicate that when eaten in ordinary amounts 

 cheese does not require greater expenditure of energy for its digestion 

 than does meat in comparable quantities, and so it seems fair to 

 conclude from experimental data now available that this food material 

 is worthy to rank as a staple article of diet suitable for use in quantity. 

 Such a conclusion is of great importance to the American dairy 

 interests, since it has been the American custom hitherto to regard 

 cheese as something to be eaten in small quantities for its agreeable 

 flavor rather than a material suited to form an integral part of a meal. 

 To round out this work with cheese, tests are now being carried on hav- 

 ing for their object the accumulation of data regarding its preparation 

 for the table in palatable ways, so that the housewife who wishes to use 

 this food, which supplies such a large proportion of protein and fat at 

 a reasonable price, may have abundant and reliable information as to 

 its possible use as a welcome and integral part of the diet. 



It has always been a fact that one of the most interesting features 

 of the Department of Agriculture work is that the Department is so 

 generally regarded as a bureau of information by the people at large. 

 This turning to the Department for information is as marked in the 

 case of nutrition as in other branches of Department work. The 

 number of farmer's wives and other housekeepers and of teachers 

 and individuals who submit their problems to the Department and 

 ask for data and suggestions regarding food, diet, and other home 

 problems is very large and constantly increasing. This means that 

 directly and personally, as well as b}^ means of its publications, 

 experimental work, and its close relations with educational institu- 

 tions, the Department comes in touch with the people of the United 



